Chapter 4: Soon-to-be Luna.

I'm being held hostage in the house I once took as a sign of my freedom.

Food and water are delivered to the door of my bedroom, but I'm not allowed outside and no one is allowed in.

Coren doesn't come to see me and for the first two days, I do nothing but lay in the bed and let random fits of sadness make me burst into sudden tears and violent sobs.

Each time I try to reach out to him through the mind-link, I find myself blocked.

This one time he picks his phone entirely by mistake, I hear Tracy's voice in the background, her high-pitched laughter rolling through the line like a slap and the cry of a baby in the background before the call is cut the next second.

I don't bother reaching out through the mind-link after that, or calling his phone anymore.

It's the third day of being confined in my room when the door finally comes open, and the one person I don't want to see comes walking through. With ebony black hair and bright blue eyes, Tracy is unmistakable.

"Well, well, if it isn't the barren Luna."

Her voice can be likened to ringing bells, but it always gives me the sensation of an annoying fly hovering too close.

My eyes drift from the window where I'm perched with a book in my hand, over to her, and I slowly take in the features of the woman I know has wanted to come here and rub her baby in my face the minute she popped him out.

Despite the fact that she’s a warrior wolf, Tracy still looks like a woman who has just given birth but isn’t giving herself enough rest.

If these were normal circumstances, I would’ve gone to pay her a visit as the Luna, but they’re not and I've been expecting her to visit. These past three days, I’ve been mentally preparing myself for it even.

"Congratulations on a safe birth, Tracy.

May your child grow in health and wisdom, and may the light of the moon goddess guide every step he takes."

Those are the words to the ceremonial blessing a Luna says over every new mother and new pup born into the pack.

As Luna, I made it a point to personally curate a care basket and present them on my visit to the new mother and child. Each time I've done so, it has filled me with a kind of peace.

Even though I knew I was yet to have a child of my own, I never felt darkness when I paid the ceremonial visit to a new mother and offered what support and piece of wisdom I could.

Tracy of course isn't like the other women, so she doesn't make it easy for me not to feel darkness. A scoff leaves her cupid-shaped lips right as a sneer lines her face, "Keep your pretentious Luna blessing to yourself, you barren bitch.

My son is the Alpha's child and heaven knows he doesn't need the blessings of a woman who has no child of her own."

I get up from the ledge by the windowsill and walk over to sit on the bed, ignoring Tracy's words as always no matter how much they sting. That only makes her anger grow.

"Coren is probably keeping you locked in here because he doesn't want you to do something horrible, like poison his new child and soon-to-be Luna. You hear that? I’ll soon be his Luna."

That gets my attention even though I don’t want it to.

I look at Tracy and try to think of any good emotion I might have overlooked hiding in the depths of my heart for her. I can't.

For as long as I can remember, Tracy has been hungry for the position of Luna.

She has always positioned herself as my rival and has been scheming for the longest time to get Coren's attention. That's one of the reasons I found it so hard to accept the news that Coren had a one-night stand with her.

There's no way he couldn't have seen the tension between us.

Sleeping with her only felt like betrayal, and it's what it has been ever since.

Tracy's lips curl into a devious smile as she sees the unsettled look in my eyes and she nods, gloating, "You heard me right. You're looking at the soon-to-be Luna of Alpha Coren Silver.

Did you really believe what happened between us was just a one-night stand? Haha! Remember I told you it was only a matter of time.

Well, the time has come and yours is up, barren Luna."

Tracy's the only one who's had the guts to refer to me as "barren Luna."

Every time she has, I let it slide because she was pregnant with Coren's child but she's no longer pregnant now and that means all bets are off the table.

Making a show of inspecting my nails I respond calmly, "I like how even when you try to insult me, you still always remember I'm the Luna.

YOUR Luna.

That title makes your insults less of what they are and more of what all this truly is, an attempt by you, a cheap slut, to be something she can never be.

If what happened between you and Coren could ever be more than a one-night stand, then he would have made you the Luna the moment he knocked you up. But what do we have instead?"

Tracy's face has gone red with anger but I'm not done so I give the knife in her heart one last twist, "I'm here, still the Luna.

I'm still the one he has to lock up in this house so I don't leave.

You think because you've had his child, you'll decide when my time is up? Like the idiot you are you've gotten it all wrong.

I am the only one who decides when my time as Luna is up. If I don't leave, you'll always just be the Alpha's side piece."

Like every warrior werewolf, Tracy's first instinct is to resort to violence the moment she's losing. She marches over and raises her hand, poised to slap me in a fit of rage.

My hand holds the book in my hand tighter and I get ready to hit her square on the head with it when a hand stops hers from coming down.

Tracy screams in frustration but the sound of a male voice overpowers hers, "Get a hold of yourself, Tracy! Don't ruin your future over something like this.

You know what the consequences for attacking the Luna of the pack are."

My eyes gaze sharpens because I know just because he stopped her doesn't mean I'm any safer.

Tristan, Coren’s Beta, is staring at me with intense blue eyes, the same color as Tracy's. He's her brother and the fact that he's here too means something is either about to go very wrong, or like his sister, he's also here to rub the birth of her child in my face.

Tristan's eyes linger on me for a moment more than is comfortable and I confidently cock an eyebrow, "Like what you see?"

His eyes dart away a second later and he takes his still struggling sister to the door. I hear the harsh growl he throws her way as he ushers her off, "Walk it off, Tracy. Wait for me in the car."

Yeah, she better.

I'm about to go back to opening the last read page of my book when Tristan turns back into the room, his hand on the handle of the door and a look of contemplation on his face.

I should be scared of being alone with a man, but I know he wouldn't try anything stupid. Coren would kill him.

"The elders support Tracy becoming Luna."

Unlike Tracy, Tristan has a plain, direct tone and a severe air around him that makes me take his words seriously.

I sound shaky when I respond, "Oh yeah?"

Tristan ignores the snark in my tone and only continues matter-of-factly, "Every member of the Alpha council is in support of the idea that the mother of the Alpha's child should be the Luna.

Only the former Alpha hasn't added any contributions so far."

Coren's father….

An unsettled feeling creeps up my spine.

If all the elders of the Alpha council want Tracy to become Luna.... I take a sharp breath. If all the elders want it, then it's bound to happen sooner or later.

Coren's father is just one man. He's respected, but not so powerful that his silence can keep me as Luna forever.

Does Coren also want Tracy to be his Luna? Is that what he's been planning to do while he keeps me locked up in here?

My heart involuntarily tightens when I think about the possibility. That Coren may plan to replace me with Tracy behind my back… it hurts me, and I shouldn't feel that anymore. 

This is what I want to run away from. I want to leave and find peace.

"The entire pack isn't always ruled by Coren's dictatorship as Alpha, Luna Destiny. He'll have to give the people what they want soon."

My eyes track every bit of Tristan’s movements as he makes to leave, expecting him to close the door behind him, keeping me trapped in here in obedience to the orders of his Alpha as always, but he doesn't.

Tristan maintains eye contact with me as he leaves the lock of the door open and says words that rattle fiercely in my heart, "The house is unguarded right now and Coren doesn't know we were here.

If you still want to leave the Silvercrest pack, do it now.

It's what's better for everyone.”