Chapter One: The Castaway Luna

Elira’s POV

“I will be taking Nyra Rothwell as my mistress.”

The words cut through the ballroom and slashed right through me, making me question my very existence.

My fingers curled into the fabric of my dress, gripping it like an anchor while my husband—King Leon Virel—turned to the woman beside him with a soft smile, an expression so soft and foreign that it made my throat tighten.

She smiled back at him, her cheeks dusted pink as he pulled her closer to his side. A face I had never seen before, breathtakingly beautiful beneath the moonlight pouring through the palace windows. Her golden dress shimmered against her skin, and Leon’s hand rested possessively against the small of her back.

The hall erupted into whispers, and they were probably wondering why the King had brought back a mistress from his long expedition.

Leon had been away for six good months, even when the trip was only meant to last for three. They had told me he needed to attend to some urgent matters, but now the true reason stood right in front of me, glaring and painful.

He glanced at me from across the hall, his smile flattering as our eyes met, settling back into that cold look he always threw my way.

“Nyra is my fated mate,” he proclaimed calmly, his voice firm and final. “She will remain in the palace from this day onward.”

That was it.

The final blow.

I stood still, tears blurring my vision as my heart drummed in my ears, louder than the gasps that rippled through the crowd.

Fated Mate.

The words echoed in my head like a mocking tune, shattering the hope I had held onto for years in the blink of an eye.

This couldn’t be happening.

Leon was my husband. The Moon Goddess herself had chosen me as the Astral Luna, chosen me to stand beside the king of Eryndor.

So why?

Why would he bring another woman as his fated mate?

What does that make me then?

The ballroom suddenly felt suffocating, the music too loud, the chandeliers too bright, and the stares too sharp.

Everyone was looking at me. Waiting for my reaction—to see how the omega queen would survive another humiliation.

“Elira,” Leon called to me, his voice devoid of any emotion. Even still, I searched desperately for a hint of hesitation in his gaze, maybe guilt. Anything.

But there was nothing.

“You will take care of Nyra and get her accustomed to how things work in the palace.”

That was all he had to say to me, adding salt to my wounds.

Another wave of murmurs swept through the hall.

Slowly, my gaze shifted towards Nyra as she stepped forward.

“I’m honored to make your acquaintance, my queen,” she said, offering a courtesy bow with the perfect picture of innocence painted across her face. Yet I didn’t miss the slight smugness in her tone, or how her smile almost slipped into a smirk before she quickly fixed it.

I acknowledge her with a stiff nod, swallowing my pain behind a forced smile of my own. I couldn’t afford to let myself break here. Not when everyone was expecting me to come apart.

I took note of how the council members didn’t even bother to look surprised, and it was clear that they had known about this from the very beginning.

Some of them exchanged knowing glances while some chuckled under their breaths, seemingly pleased with themselves and Leon’s decision.

Typical.

Given that most of them had doubted me from the very beginning, their reactions were understandable.

In Eryndor, being the Astral Luna meant more than simply becoming queen. The Astral Luna was believed to be the Moon Goddess’s blessing upon the throne itself. Legends claimed that whenever an Astral Luna married the King, the kingdom flourished and the royal bloodline grew stronger with every generation.

Throughout history, these women have always come from high-ranking packs. But in recent times, an Astral Luna has not been born in over a century.

Then I was born.

An omega and the daughter of a palace maid.

It was the biggest news in the kingdom, and my mother was even accused of faking the divine mark that appeared on my wrist.

But when it was confirmed that it was indeed real, our lives changed overnight.

The royal family brought me into the palace and raised me alongside Leon, making me realize that my future no longer belonged to me.

I was trained to become a queen. Taught diplomacy, royal etiquette, history, and governance. But even then, servants still whispered whenever I passed, and council members spoke behind closed doors, appalled by the thought of being ruled by an omega.

The discrimination I faced pushed me to work harder, wanting to prove that the Moon Goddess chose me for a reason.

It was hard, and the only thing that made those years bearable was Leon.

As a child, he never treated me differently. Whenever anyone mocked me for being an omega, Leon always stood up for me, promising to protect me.

He stayed with me long after the tutors left, sneaking into my room with snacks he stole from the kitchen so we could share.

With Leon, I felt I could do anything, and somewhere along the way, I fell hopelessly in love with him.

The mate bond had not manifested between us yet, but I believed we were mates. But as we grew older, Leon changed.

He became colder, only speaking to me when it was necessary or during events where we had to attend together. When he finally ascended the throne, the man I knew and loved slowly disappeared beneath duty and distance.

At first, I tried to understand, taking it as him being absorbed by his role as king and the responsibilities on his shoulders.

So I stayed patient.

Even when he started looking at me less and less.

Even when our conversations became shorter.

Even when the palace began feeling lonelier than ever before.

The real damage came after my wedding to Leon. The mating bond that was supposed to form between us never happened, and from that moment onward, more rumors began circulating the kingdom.

People wondered if the Moon Goddess had made a mistake.

Perhaps the omega girl was never the true Astral Luna at all.

And now that Leon returned with Nyra as his true mate, I felt like a child again, cowering under the scrutiny of their judgmental gazes.

But this time, I was utterly and completely alone.

Whispers floated to my ears, hanging over my head like a dark cloud.

“I always knew an omega could never be the king’s mate.”

“And to think someone like her was chosen by the moon goddess.”

“So the real Luna finally appeared.”

My teeth sank into my bottom lip, the humiliation threatening to consume me alive.

Maybe they were right.

The Moon Goddess must have made a mistake, but as I looked down at the silver crescent etched into the skin of my wrist, I couldn’t help but wonder why she had chosen me only to make me suffer for it.