The Stand-In Queen

My sister fled on the day of her Bonding Ceremony.

I was forced to marry the Lycan King known for his brutality.

Six years later, she returned.

Still as bold and brazen as ever, she pressed a crimson kiss against Kael’s collar—right in front of the entire Council of Elders.

Kael went rigid.

Then she turned to me, her eyes gleaming with mockery.

“Little sister, thank you for keeping my throne warm all these years. Now that I’m back, it’s time you gave me back my place as Luna Queen.”

Silence swallowed the hall.

Everyone remembered what happened when she ran away. Kael had nearly slaughtered half a rival territory in his rage.

So now?

I wondered too. Would this unpredictable, brutal King lose his mind for her once again?

...

Kael stripped off the robe bearing her lipstick mark.

I said nothing, only gathered the wool blanket I had used for six years, and turned toward the side chamber.

Kael blocked my path. “Where are you going?”

I paused. Thinking that after six years of sharing my bed, he was simply attached to the blanket, I laid it gently back on the edge of the mattress.

“Don’t worry, My King. I remember our agreement. I never dared to dream of replacing my sister.”

I kept my voice steady, but it still came out rough.

“Since she’s back, the position of Luna Queen should be returned to her.”

We had agreed on this six years ago.

But saying it aloud still felt like a needle piercing my heart.

Six years ago, after crushing the rival packs, Kael returned victorious. His first act was to petition the Council of Elders to arrange a Bonding Ceremony with my sister, Elara.

But on the day of the ceremony, she fled. She ran off with a rogue wolf.

Father panicked. That night, he sent me to the altar in her place.

On our wedding night, Kael was devastated. To preserve the Pack’s dignity, he drank himself into oblivion and completed the Bond with me.

For six years, I gave everything.

The title of Luna Queen looked glorious, but I walked on shattered glass.

While Elara wandered the world without a care, I navigated Pack politics, managed the great families, and took arrows meant for him in the dark.

His enemies once captured me to learn his whereabouts. They tortured me with silver chains. I never spoke a word.

Three years ago, a rival pack launched a night assault.

That night, I didn’t know I was eight weeks pregnant.

I fought with the guards until Kael’s reinforcements arrived. But as pain tore through my abdomen and I curled on the floor of the side chamber, bleeding, every single Healer had been summoned away.

To the master chamber.

To revive a pot of silver-edged lilies.

It was the only thing Elara had left behind. It was dying, and Kael had ordered everyone to save it.

The only person with me was a maid who knew nothing of childbirth.

By the time a Healer was dragged through the door, the bleeding wouldn’t stop.

The child, not yet formed, was gone.

I lay in a pool of blood, my heart turned to ash.

Seeing my grief, he visited every sacred altar in the territory. He built a shrine for our child and lit eternal flames.

Before the Moon Goddess, he braided strands of our hair into the wick of a ritual candle, swearing to continue the fate we had never finished.

From that day, he seized absolute power over the Pack with ruthless precision, unstoppable in his rise.

Not long ago, he had personally petitioned the Council to bestow their highest honor upon me.

But before the ink on that decree had dried, Elara returned.

Thinking of the child who had left without ever opening their eyes, my chest hurt so badly I could barely breathe.

Kael noticed my expression and immediately signaled for Mother to remove Elara. Then he took my hand.

“Ayla, Elara has lived away for so long. She doesn’t know the full story.”

“She has a simple nature and speaks bluntly. Don’t take it to heart…”

I gently withdrew my hand and lowered my lashes.

“My King, you act strangely today. You never involve yourself in disputes among the Pack’s women.”

“Yet the moment Elara appears, you change. Such devotion.”

Kael’s gaze darkened, pain flooding his eyes.

“Is that truly what you think of me?”

“Ayla… you still blame me for what happened, don’t you?”