The Luna’s Choice Chapter 01
When the most trusted account on the pack’s online forum broke the news that I was nothing more than Alpha Julian’s latest plaything, a fake Luna pretending to belong beside him, I was standing there heavily pregnant, cleaning up another scandal for him.
This time, it was leaked bedroom photos of Julian with some fresh-faced pack model.
High society used to joke that I was the most dedicated crisis manager in the werewolf world.
My Alpha’s affairs would go viral, and as his lawful Luna, I was always right behind him, calmly sweeping away the wreckage.
I had handled hundreds of scandals for Julian.
I had sent legal warnings and hush money to more women than I cared to count.
I just never thought that one day, I would become the scandal that needed managing.
When I found Julian, he and Kaven were lying naked together in the nursery I had prepared for our pup.
Discarded wrapper foils littered the floor.
At the sight of me, the usually careless Alpha lifted a finger to his lips.
“Let’s talk outside. Kaven’s a light sleeper.”
I did not snap.
I only asked calmly, “Do you need me to spin today’s headlines?”
Thinking of the AI-generated wedding photos Kaven had posted, he gave a low, amused laugh.
“My precious Kaven has thin skin. Don’t expose her.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
Then I turned around and posted a statement on the forum.
[I am indeed not Alpha Julian’s mate. I wish the Alpha a happy marriage.]
The comments below exploded with mockery, but Julian looked pleased. He even reached out and took my hand.
“After you give birth, we’ll make up for it with a proper Moon Goddess ceremony.”
I said nothing.
He did not know that once this pup was born, my debt to the Blackwood Pack would be paid in full.
And someone else had already been waiting for me for ten years.
A Moon Goddess ceremony had been prepared for me long ago.
…
When I initiated the mind-link, his deep voice crackled with pure, unrestrained joy.
“Bella, you finally woke up to reality. Wait for me. I’m leaving for the Blackwood Pack right now to bring you home.”
By the time I severed the link, Julian had materialized behind me.
“Did you talk to the reporters? Is everything handled?”
I froze for a second before I remembered that, after all these years as Luna, my life had revolved entirely around him and the pack.
I no longer had anyone close enough to confide in.
He assumed I had just been contacting the major pack media outlets.
When I did not answer, Julian frowned and leaned closer.
“What are you thinking about?”
I stepped back without making it obvious, my voice quiet. “Nothing.”
The front door was wide open.
Maids were carrying luxury boxes into the nursery one after another until the room looked like a mountain of designer packaging.
There were so many brands I had coveted for years but could never justify buying.
Seeing the smile tugging at Julian’s mouth, I instinctively reminded him, “I’m about to give birth. I won’t be able to wear any of this…”
Before I could finish, Julian was already giving orders with excitement.
“Turn the nursery into a walk-in closet. Move everything in there.”
Then he held out his hand to me for the keys.
“Kaven went back to pack her things. She likes it here. As for you, move out for now.”
My heart felt as if it had been sliced open by a silver blade, the wound burning all the way through.
“What do you mean?” My voice actually trembled.
Julian smiled as if it were nothing and stepped closer, watching my reddened eyes.
Generously, he handed me a property deed. “Consider it a bonus for your hard work this time.”
I watched as the maids turned the home I knew into something unrecognizable.
Even the curtains I had chosen so carefully were taken down.
Sunlight poured in, sharp enough to sting.
My wolf paced restlessly inside me.
All at once, I remembered the day Julian first brought me to the packhouse.
The sunlight had been just as bright then.
Standing in that light, he had sworn to me with solemn eyes, “Bella, from now on, this is your home and your pack. No one has the right to drive you away.”
I had once hinted to him that my mother and I had been cast out of our pack, forced to live as rogues.
He knew exactly what I had wanted most.
A home.
Somewhere I could finally be safe from the storm.
He had given me that once.
I fell for the security he offered me in that moment, and that feeling lasted ten years.
It carried me through every night he did not come home.
Through every woman who came to provoke me.
Through every wave of ridicule from upper-class werewolf society.
Ten years later, I was being driven out of my home again.
Fine.
I had been planning to leave anyway.
I handed him the packhouse keys, took the property deed, and turned to go.
Seeing that I did not scream or fight, Julian looked surprised.
In truth, I had never been as calm and indifferent to his betrayals as the outside world believed.
Every time he betrayed me, the pain sliced through our mating bond, agonizing enough to scrape bone.
Again and again, I had demanded to know why.
I had fought with him like a lunatic. I had even threatened my own life just to make him come home.
Julian had always brushed over my wounds with a few careless words, then tossed me plane tickets, jewelry, or some expensive gift as if that made everything even.
But this time, I had gone numb to that bone-deep pain.
I did not even want to fight anymore.
Julian could betray me with anyone.
Anyone except Kaven.
She was living proof of the affair of my father, Alpha Mike.
She and her mother were the ones who had pushed my mother toward death.
They had driven her into the Forbidden Grounds of the pack, knowing she would never return.
Only I knew the truth.
My mother had never gone willingly.
