The Weak Luna's Second Chance

I had learned to recognize the sound of laughter stopping whenever I entered a room.

It happened at breakfast, in the training yard, and even in the corridors of the pack house. Some wolves tried to hide their smiles behind their cups, while others didn't bother pretending they respected me. To them, I was Amelia Bennet, the weakest wolf in the pack and the most disappointing mate that could ever bounded to an Alpha.

I had grown used to it, or at least I told myself I had. What I couldn't get used to was the way my own wolf, Vexa, remained silent whenever I reached for her. Sometimes, after calling to her for minutes, I felt the faintest flicker of her presence. Other times, there was nothing, the pack healer said I needed rest, but rest had never made much difference.

Still, I had one thing to hold on to.

Aiden Lucian.

He was the Alpha of our pack, my mate, and the man I had spent years trying to please. He rarely showed affection to me in public, and he could go days without asking how I was doing, but I kept making excuses for him. An Alpha carried responsibilities. He had enemies to deal with, meetings to attend, and a pack to lead. Surely, I thought, he couldn't be cold toward me all the time, perhaps he simply needed time to accept me.

That morning, I had even gone to the trouble of preparing his favorite meal, only for a servant to tell me he had left early. I felt foolish standing there with a covered plate in my hands already getting cold. I wanted to speak to him that morning concerning the great news. For the first time in weeks, Vexa had responded when I called her.

It wasn't much, just a weak flicker of warmth somewhere inside me, but it was enough to make me hopeful. I wanted to tell Aiden. Maybe he would finally stop looking at me as though I were a mistake.

By late afternoon, I was still waiting for him.

When I asked one of the guards whether the Alpha had returned, he nodded pointing towards the eastern wing of the pack house. I thanked him and went upstairs; carrying the small gift I had bought for him earlier that week. It was a silver wolf pendant, nothing particularly expensive, but I had saved for it because I thought he might appreciate it.

I was almost at his bedroom when I heard a woman's laughter.

The sound came from behind his closed door. At first, I assumed he was entertaining a guest, and I nearly turned away. Then I heard a voice I knew too well.

Seraphina, my half-sister.

I stared at the door, trying to understand why she was in Aiden's private quarters when neither of them had mentioned meeting. Seraphina had always found a way to make me feel small. If I received praise, she found a reason to mock me. If someone showed me kindness, she would remind me that it was probably out of pity. But she was still my sister, and Aiden was my mate.

Whatever was happening behind that door, I wanted to believe there was a reasonable explanation.

I knocked once but there was no response.

I waited, but nobody answered, my fingers tightened around the little gift box. Perhaps they hadn't heard me, so I reached for the handle and pushed the door open.

I wish I hadn't.

Aiden was on the bed with Seraphina, her legs were tangled with his beneath the sheets, her finger caressing his face as he kissed her passionately, she was leaning close to him, her hair falling over her shoulder, and his hand rested at her waist. They were so comfortable with each other that, for one terrible second, I wondered whether I had walked into the wrong room.

Then Aiden turned his head, and he spotted me .

I waited for him to move away from her, I waited for him to explain himself, or even to say my name. Anything would have been better than the irritated expression that crossed his face.

Seraphina looked at me too; she didn't scramble away or try to explain why she was there. Instead, she adjusted the sheet and watched me with an expression I couldn't quite read.

My mouth opened, but no words came out, the gift slipped from my fingers and landed on the floor.

"Aiden?" My voice sounded strange, even to me. "What is happening here?"

He sighed as though I had interrupted something important "What does it look like, Amelia?"

I looked at Seraphina, hoping she would at least have the decency to look ashamed. She only raised her eyebrows.

"Tell her, Aiden," she said softly "Since she's already here."

My stomach twisted, I looked back at him. "For how long have all this been going on."

"Stop embarrassing yourself." He sat up, his expression hardening. "You walked into my room without permission, and now you're making a scene."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Your room? I'm your mate for crying out loud!"

"And?".

That single word hurt more than I expected, I had endured insults from strangers, cruel jokes from pack members, and years of being reminded that my wolf was too weak. I had survived all of it by telling myself that, at least I had Aiden.

But he was looking at me as if the bond between us meant nothing.

"You’re my sister," I whispered, turning toward Seraphina. "How could you do this to me?"

She finally stood up, wrapping a robe around herself. "Don't make this about me, Amelia. Perhaps if you were the Luna Aiden needed, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

I stared at her, for a while, she had known exactly what she was doing. She knew he was my mate and knew he was the only thing I had left but yet she still chosen to betray me.

“Why?” I said glancing at both of them, “what did I ever do wrong?”

Aiden rose from the bed, and I instinctively took a step back. He was tall, had broad shoulder, with a blue eyes that always made me stare at him. The room seemed to shrink as he approached.

"I have tolerated your weakness long enough," he said. "You think being my mate gives you the right to question me? You can barely communicate with your own wolf. What makes you think you deserve to stand beside an Alpha?"

I wanted to tell him that she had finally answered me that morning that perhaps things were finally changing. The words were there, but they felt ridiculous now. Why was I still trying to prove myself to a man who had just shown me exactly what he thought of me?

"You don't get to blame me for what you did," I said, though my voice trembled. "If you no longer want me, then at least have the courage to say it instead of humiliating me."

His eyes narrowed.

"Be careful, don’t push your luck."

"No." The word escaped before I could stop it. Tears were gathering in my eyes, but I refused to look away. "I've spent years trying to make you happy. I've defended you when people asked why you never treated me like your mate. I've made excuses for you, even when you couldn't spare me a kind word, and this is what you do?"

Seraphina let out a mocking laugh from where she stood. “Oh, stop embarrassing yourself. Aiden never loved you; you were just too blind to see it.”

“Stay out of this, Seraphina,” I snapped, turning toward her. “This is all your fault, or have you forgotten that you’re the one who betrayed me?”

She smirked “well at least I know how to keep a man company. Maybe you should learn from me.”

“How proud you must be, stealing what belongs to your own sister,” I shot back. “But then again, you’ve never cared about anyone but yourself.”

Her smile disappeared “watch your mouth, young lady. You’re in no position to speak to me like that.”

“Or what?” I challenged, refusing to look away, “Always being so manipulative, maybe that’s why you haven’t found your mate?”

Before I could say another word, Seraphina reached for my face and slapped me. I stumbled, stunned by her sudden action, but quickly straightened and stepped toward her, stretching my hands toward her unwilling to let her hit me and get away with it.

Aiden caught my wrist before I could reach her, he pushed me back looking at me with rage, I have never seen him as angry before.

“Apologize,” he ordered coldly.

I stared at him in disbelief, trying to figure out who he was talking to, but he was staring fully at m . “Are you serious? She slapped me! How can you defend her after everything? You betrayed me, yet somehow I’m the one you want to punish?”

“Enough!” he barked “Am giving you a last chance to apologize and we can pretend nothing ever happened”.

“I won't apologize for something I didn't do!” I snapped. “For once, why don't you admit the fact that you're wrong? You expect me to stand here quietly while you humiliate me for loving you?”

His expression hardened. Before I could finish, he struck me across the face.

I froze, my hand rising to my cheek as I stared at the man I had spent years trying to please, and for a moment, I couldn't even speak. The pain wasn't only in my cheeks; it was in the realization that the man I had given my all to for so long had no problem hurting me to protect the woman who I had called my sister.

“You would regret this Aiden” I was about to walk out when he finally spoke.

"If you want to challenge me so badly, perhaps I should give you a reason to regret it." His voice dropped. "I can break this bond, Amelia. You know what separation would do to a wolf like yours, so don't push me into making that decision."

Vexa stirred faintly inside me, frightened by the threat. I pressed a hand against my chest, struggling to steady my breathing.

He knew how fragile my wolf was, and he was willing to use that against me.

I glanced at Seraphina, standing firmly behind him, but there was something in her face that made my skin shiver. She looked less like someone who was regretting her action and more like someone who had finally gotten what she wanted.

"Break it for all I care, I have nothing else to lose," I said.

He gave a humorless laugh "Then get out."

I glanced at Seraphina once last time before leaving, I had thought the worst thing she could do was betray me, I was wrong.

I left his room with my heart in pieces, I reached my chambers and closed the door, finally allowing my tears to fall. Then I noticed the small object lying on my dressing table.

My fingers went cold; it was the silver wolf pendant I had brought for Aiden a moment ago.

But I had left it in his room, so what is it doing here, beneath it was a folded piece of paper with just five words written on it.

“It was always her plan.”

I read the words again, my mind racing, whose plan? I said to myself Before remembering what had just happened, it might never have been a coincidence that I caught them, maybe it had been seraphina plan all along.

Then I remembered the look on her face when I walked in, she hadn't looked surprised or shocked to see me.

She had this look like she had been waiting for me all along, but... why?.