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•Chapter 30•
Last Updated:
2025-05-05 21:34:09
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The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 31•
AshleyZane's request had me staring at him in shock, with my jaw slack. “Spend the night with y-you?” The very notion of it sent a barrage of thoughts too scandalous for my liking through my mind. The heat in my cheeks didn't make matters easier. I must have looked like a tomato.He seemed to find my embarrassment amusing, because his lips twitched in that very familiar way, curving as though he was fighting a smile.“Yes, I believe that's what I said.”“Why? I mean . . . You said you spend time away from people at night, because of your powers . . .”“Are you scared I'll hurt you?”I shook my head. That was the last thing I wanted him to think. I might not have known him as long as the people of his land, but I knew enough to know that he wouldn't do such to me—not on purpose anyway. I already trusted him that much.The reason for my hesitance wasn't him, exactly. “No, not at all. It's just that . . . I'm not sure if I'm ready for that.”“Ready for . . . sharing the same space with
Last Updated : 2025-05-06The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 32•
Ashley Chirping birds coaxed me out of my sleep. I moved to get up, before remembering that I hadn't slept in my own room the night before. I almost panicked, before Zane's playful face flashed through my mind. I actually slept in his room. It wasn't a dream. I tried to move my body, but a weight kept my torso pinned down. I looked down and noticed an arm thrown over me like a cage made out of a limb. Tracing it down with my eyes, I saw who it was connected to, and nearly gasped from the surprise.“Good morning,” he simply said, watching me with those serious eyes of his. “I hope you slept well.”I blinked a few more times before looking around the room in mock confusion. “How did I get here?” “I have no idea either,” he said, lips twitching again. With my focus drawn to his lips, the first thought that came to my mind was to lean across and kiss him. But I feared that might have been too brazen, so I kept my desires in check. “What time is it? I have to get to the Grove to work,
Last Updated : 2025-05-07The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 1•
Ashley The day everything changed for the worse started like any other morning. As the strongest warrior of the Moonlit Silver Pack, I led my team through the northwest border, with my muscles tense and my senses sharp. I was doing all of this not because I wanted to, but because even if Jace and I weren’t officially mates yet, I had already stepped into the role of Luna. Also because, deep down, I did it for him. Always for him.We pushed through the woods, but in an instant, my team was gone. My heart raced as I spun, looking for them. Five—no—six Rogues emerged from the trees, their grins sharper than my fighting blades. I couldn't move my limbs, which felt unusually sluggish. Worst of all, I couldn't sense the presence of my wolf, Amy, inside my mind. I was on my own, and something was horribly wrong. “This one belongs to the Alpha, does she not?” One sneered, eyes glinting with malice. “We can use her to get our leader back.” “It’s no wonder he wants her.” Anot
Last Updated : 2025-03-28The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 2•
Ashley I repeated without hesitation, "I want us to break up. Please. Reject me." My voice trembled, raw with pain. Jace’s expression darkened, his jaw tight, fingers twitching as though fighting the urge to do something dangerous. "No," he growled, his voice laced with finality. "Don’t even think about it." The Alpha Command slammed into me like invisible chains, locking me in place. I couldn’t even breathe under the weight of his words. "I’ve already told the elders about our bonding ceremony. The neighboring packs are invited. Soon, you’ll be Luna. No one else can take your place." His grip tightened on my wrists, his warmth searing. "I know I wasn’t enough before," he murmured, voice thick with emotion. "But I want only you. Blaze is furious, heartbroken. We already lost Amy. We can’t lose you too." The protest died on my lips as I slowly shook my head. Oh, how I wanted to believe him. How I wanted to believe for just a moment that his words were true. But then the
Last Updated : 2025-03-28The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 3•
Ashley The joy of Jace's earlier proposal felt like nothing but a cruel joke. "What about my arm?" My voice trembled, but I refused to back down. "This happened because I was trying to stop her from getting hurt.” Jace’s gaze flickered to the blood pooling at my feet. For a moment, he hesitated. Then, releasing Carina, he rushed to my side. His hands cradled my injured arm with a gentleness that made my chest tighten. "I’m . . . sorry, my dear." His voice softened, full of regret. "I’m just so used to worrying about Carina. I didn't mean to lash out at you." Carina shot me a glare of pure resentment before storming out. But Jace didn’t chase after her—he was waiting for my response. Once, his apology would have reassured me. But now, I was just tired. Tired of being an afterthought. Tired of always being overlooked and neglected. "I know you and Carina have nothing going on, but you needed to hear the things she said to me before you got here." I met his gaze, searching for an
Last Updated : 2025-03-28The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 4•
Ashley I couldn't get away from the door fast enough, before I was grabbed and dragged into the hall. With a single jab to my back, I was forced to my knees before the Elders and Jace. I tried to fight it off but I wasn’t strong enough. Elder Joseph was quick to speak. “Kill her. We can’t risk this getting out. Keeping her around at this point is more of a risk.” He got up from his seat and came over to me. His cold eyes watched me like a hawk, assessing my every move. I was completely helpless—my limbs bound, my mouth gagged. He knelt down and pressed his hands into my throat, with the clear intent of ending my life. Panic surged within me as I struggled for breath. My eyes started to roll back into my head and the edges of my vision started to darken. All I could think about was how Jace, who I had trusted, was watching while I was getting strangled to death. “I agree. She’s just an orphan,” another elder chimed. “Getting rid of her would be no loss to us at all.” “Fo
Last Updated : 2025-03-28The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 5•
Ashley Like an iron cage, the Mating Ceremony loomed over me. The entire pack had gathered, elders and warriors alike, along with visiting wolves from other packs. Inside the dressing chamber where I waited to be called upon, I fastened the intricate waist chain around my ceremonial gown, the weight of my expensive cloak pressing on my shoulders. Outside, four high-ranking warriors stood guard. Four. As if I were a high-value prisoner rather than a former warrior stripped of my wolf and status.Carina stormed in, eyes gleaming with malice.She wore a gown so similar to mine that at a glance, you’d mistake her for the Luna."Feeling proud of yourself?” she sneered. “Don’t get too comfortable. I’ll make sure everyone remembers who the real Luna is." I’m pretty sure Carina has no idea that I’m truly just her substitute. Otherwise, she wouldn’t waste her time. She used to ignore me—even after I got together with Jace. But once he started talking about marrying me, everything cha
Last Updated : 2025-03-28The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 6•
Ashley From the very beginning, it was all a part of their plan. I didn't know how I didn't notice it earlier—how I had been so blinded. How someone once considered a formidable warrior could be so oblivious to such sinister plans. I clutched my head in my hands, feeling the world spinning and spinning around me. The rescue. The raising. Jace’s confession. Amy getting stripped away from me. It was all part of their plan. I was a perfectly played pawn in this chess game, and I was only finding out after I had been swept off the board. How pathetic. “Was our mate bond . . . even real?” I hated the shakiness in my voice, but the inside of me has become cold . . . So very cold. “Or was that part also perfectly orchestrated?” The silence gave me enough answers. I laughed in response, the sound hollow in my ears. “I saw this place as home. I considered you all family, despite everything, despite how many times you all showed me the very opposite of what family should be.” Jace
Last Updated : 2025-04-17
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The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 32•
Ashley Chirping birds coaxed me out of my sleep. I moved to get up, before remembering that I hadn't slept in my own room the night before. I almost panicked, before Zane's playful face flashed through my mind. I actually slept in his room. It wasn't a dream. I tried to move my body, but a weight kept my torso pinned down. I looked down and noticed an arm thrown over me like a cage made out of a limb. Tracing it down with my eyes, I saw who it was connected to, and nearly gasped from the surprise.“Good morning,” he simply said, watching me with those serious eyes of his. “I hope you slept well.”I blinked a few more times before looking around the room in mock confusion. “How did I get here?” “I have no idea either,” he said, lips twitching again. With my focus drawn to his lips, the first thought that came to my mind was to lean across and kiss him. But I feared that might have been too brazen, so I kept my desires in check. “What time is it? I have to get to the Grove to work,
The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 31•
AshleyZane's request had me staring at him in shock, with my jaw slack. “Spend the night with y-you?” The very notion of it sent a barrage of thoughts too scandalous for my liking through my mind. The heat in my cheeks didn't make matters easier. I must have looked like a tomato.He seemed to find my embarrassment amusing, because his lips twitched in that very familiar way, curving as though he was fighting a smile.“Yes, I believe that's what I said.”“Why? I mean . . . You said you spend time away from people at night, because of your powers . . .”“Are you scared I'll hurt you?”I shook my head. That was the last thing I wanted him to think. I might not have known him as long as the people of his land, but I knew enough to know that he wouldn't do such to me—not on purpose anyway. I already trusted him that much.The reason for my hesitance wasn't him, exactly. “No, not at all. It's just that . . . I'm not sure if I'm ready for that.”“Ready for . . . sharing the same space with
The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 30•
AshleyZane's smirk told me all I needed to know concerning his thoughts on my question. My eyes went to his lips, as I was pleasantly surprised by his sudden reaction. “Why do you want to know our connection, Ashley?” he asked, eyes burning into my forehead as we stood close to each other, bodies almost pressing together. I became hyoer aware of his presence, remembering that we were very much alone once again.The kiss we shared burned through my mind like it had only happened the day before.“I just, want to know. You two seem very close.”“We are. We've been friends since childhood.”“Oh.” I chewed on my lower lip. “Alright then.” Bonds childhood friends had were usually very powerful that an outsider couldn't just come between.Zane's brow quirked up, and using my arm as leverage, he brought me closer to him. “Did you perhaps think we had another kind of relationship?”I shook my head, also trying to remove my intrusive thoughts. I could feel the hard muscles of his body through
The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 29•
Ashley“Zane? Are you in there?” Clara kept knocking. “Look, I know you don't like visitors at this time but this is very important.”I stared at him, at a loss on what to actually do. The only saving grace was the fact that Zane had locked the door before we started talking, so at least we could buy ourselves some time.“Should I leave?” I whispered, inching towards his window, which I was glad was quite open. A cool breeze slipped in, gently playing with the thin curtains. “You could get hurt,” he whispered back, casting a disdainful look at the window. “I know Clara can be . . . Tough, but she's a rational woman. She can be trusted.”“It didn't seem that way when she nearly threw me into the dungeons.”We must have looked hilarious, arguing with whispers while there was someone knocking outside and trying to get in.He gave me one of those his trademark sighs and pointed to his walk-in wardrobe. “Go in there, stay quiet, don't make any noises. I'll go let her in now before she bre
The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 28•
AshleyDeep breaths. All I had to do, was simply put my knuckles against his door, and I was going to be fine. I told myself over and over again that it was nothing, and that I simply wanted answers.“But who are you to demand answers from him, Ashley?” The sound of my own criticism muttered hung in the air around me. Did I really have that right to question him? The Lycan King? I rapped gently against the door of his room, and took a single step back. I just hoped that he hadn't gone to that dungeon to stay the night.As my mind started to wander off in a complex web of thoughts, the door unlocked, and Zane stepped between the door and the wall. He looked mildly surprised. “Ashley? Is there something wrong?”It took a long time for my brain to process his question, because he just happened to step into virw without a shirt. His muscles rippled with every breath, reminding me of the strength he carried. I shook my head a little and blinked, hoping that he didn't catch me putting as
The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 27•
Jace“Elder Joseph!” I could barely mask the frustration in my voice as I knocked on the door of his home. “We have serious matters to discuss.” I knocked two more times before placing my hand on my hips and pacing back and forth by the door.Footsteps approached from the other side, and the door opened to reveal the Elder's wife. She mostly kept to herself, and was hardly seen around the pack. Slight surprise coated her face. She wrapped the shawl over her shoulders tighter, as though the air was chilly. Which I found funny because the heat growing inside of me was unbearable, or maybe it had been born as a result of my anger.“Where is your husband?” I asked her when she kept looking at me quietly. “He's not here,” she said in an almost perfect tone.Aa though she had practiced that line over and over in front of a mirror. “There where is he?”“I don't know. All I know is that he isn't home.” As she finished the sentence her eyes darted away. I probed deeper with my werewolf sense
The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 26•
Ashley“Now that you know all that you do now, I expect that you'll be more cautious, Ashley,” James said once we were out of the pack house’s hidden site. Zane’s cage. Silver moonlight slid through his hair, making him appear like an angel—but I knew better. Eager to get away from him, I nodded. “Yes, I understand now.” The coldness in my chest from Zane's behaviour still lingered, although I tried to tell myself otherwise. I wondered why I still kept holding on to hope that he would open up to me, even when he had shown me differently more than once.Thoughts of Zane abandoned my mind when James moved closer to me, clasping both of my hands protectively in his. It made me all the more aware of how taller he was, and bigger too. His attitude may have been off putting, but he was an undeniably attractive person. And he was very much aware of it from the way he looked at me with heavily-lidded eyes.“I regret to leave your side this evening, but I have important matters to attend to.
The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 25•
AshleyWe went down a familiar darkened path, our footsteps making echoes over the walls. A light chill hung in the air, and I pulled my jacket tighter around me to keep it out. “What are we doing here?” I asked, looking left and right for any sign of people. The path here was too secluded to have been open for just anyone to pass through, so either James had the right to be there, or we were doing something very dangerous.“This is the one place that I'm certain will make you understand just how dangerous your King is.” He glanced it me out of the corner of his sly eyes. “Telling you just wouldn't suffice.”I kept quiet and continued to follow along, wondering what he had to show me and why he was so hellbent on making me see Zane as a bad person.We reached the great silver doors, the same ones that I had followed Bryce to. How did James know about this place, or was it merely a secret amongst the high-ranking pack members?“It is such a shame that the Leventis family would rather
The Stand-In Luna •Chapter 24•
AshleyThe exquisite stone carving must have taken months to complete because its delicate carving was unlike anything I had seen before. It told a story, without having to utter a word. “It's magnificent,” I said, unable to keep myself from running a hand over its surface. “This is the reason for our century old war for power,” said Gamma James, looking up at the statue himself with his hands clasped behind him. He looked regal in his embroidered matching two-piece. “The current Lycan King’s ancestor.”After he had come into the apothecary to see me, he asked to speak with me about something important, and since I'd heard enough about his family and their tendency for cruelty, I thought it better to avoid any issues and simply accept his offer.The first place he had taken me to was the heart of the tribe, which wasn't so far from the Grove. There, a huge statue rose from the centre of a circular platform, reaching for the sky. It was of a man in little clothing, focused on a targe
