The Discarded Luna

Hand-off

Seeing the beautiful decor of Alpha King Rhydian's room, I was surprised at how different it felt from anything I had known before. Everything was clean, well arranged, and warm that it made the room feel alive.

It was nothing like Kade's room, the place I had once believed would be mine forever. That room had always felt cold and lonely, much like the way the entire pack had made me feel unwanted, day after day, until I finally left with nothing but my broken pride.

Here, things felt different already.

Even the way Alpha King Rhydian had instructed his maid to treat me with kindness made something in my chest loosen a little. For the first time in a long while, I felt like I could breathe without bracing myself for the next insult. I found myself slowly falling in love with this new life I had been given, even though it had only just begun.

After sitting in the room for a while, letting my thoughts settle, I decided to take a walk around the pack house. I wanted to see more of the place I would now be calling home. Besides, staying still in one room only gave my mind more room to worry, and I needed a distraction.

As I stepped out and made my way down the long staircase, I could not help admiring how beautiful everything was. The pack house was grand, with polished floors and tall windows that let in soft light from outside. This pack, without a doubt, was far more beautiful than anything Kade's pack ever had.

Halfway down the stairs, I noticed a man standing near the entrance, speaking to the head maid. His voice was firm, almost demanding, as he asked for Alpha King Rhydian.

Before the head maid could answer, Nadia stepped in, cutting the conversation short.

"Alpha King Rhydian is not around," she said flatly.

The man's eyes narrowed. "Where is he?"

"He's settling pack business," Nadia replied, her tone just as sharp as his.

The two of them continued going back and forth, their voices rising slightly with each exchange. I stayed a few steps back, unsure if I should continue walking past them or wait until their conversation ended. But before I could decide, the man's eyes shifted away from Nadia and landed directly on me.

His whole expression changed the moment he saw me. Whatever argument he was having with Nadia seemed to lose its importance instantly.

He turned to the head maid, ignoring Nadia completely now. "Is this the mate Rhydian brought home?"

The head maid nodded. "Yes."

A slow, mocking smile spread across the man's face as he began walking toward me. I did not know who he was, and I certainly could not ask, not with the way he was already looking at me, like I was something amusing he had stumbled upon.

When he reached me, he studied my face for a long moment before speaking.

"How much does Rhydian pay you to put on a facade as a Luna for him?"

The question hit me so suddenly that I could not find any words to respond. My mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out. I simply stood there, stunned, trying to understand why a stranger would ask me something so cruel within minutes of meeting me.

Before I could recover, Nadia spoke up, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Rhydian must've been so impatient of you taking his place as the Alpha King," she said, looking at the man before turning her eyes to me, "so he must have pulled her up to play the dutiful Luna."

Just like that, the two of them, who had been arguing with each other only seconds ago, turned their attention toward me, tossing words back and forth like I was some kind of joke they were both allowed to laugh at. I stood frozen between them, unable to say anything in my own defense. Every word they threw at me landed somewhere deep, but I refused to let my face show just how much it hurt.

Still, through everything Nadia had said, one thing became clear to me. This man standing in front of me, mocking me with that cold smile, was Rhydian's rival. He wanted Rhydian's position as Alpha King for himself.

The man circled around me slowly, the same way someone might walk around an item they were thinking of buying, examining every inch of it before deciding if it was worth the price.

"You're not going to last with Rhydian," he said finally, his voice low and confident. "And I'm sure this little plan he's pulling, he's never going to see it through to the end."

His words were meant to shake me, and in some ways, they did. I had no answer for him. I did not know Rhydian well enough yet to defend him with confidence, and I certainly did not know enough about pack politics to understand exactly what this man meant by his warning.

He kept talking, his voice calm but full of quiet threats, each sentence designed to make me doubt everything that had happened since Rhydian took my hand back at his old pack. I felt smaller with every word, the same way I had felt when the whole pack turned against me days ago.

Then, cutting through his voice like a blade, I heard footsteps approaching fast, followed by a voice I now recognized instantly.

The voice i heard next was certain and I'm sure was Alpha king Rhydian voice, woth a sharp and full authority, “Uncle, hand off my Luna."

The man's smile faded slightly as he turned to face Rhydian, who was now standing just a few steps away from us, his eyes locked on his uncle with an intensity that made the air in the hallway feel heavier.

I stayed still, my heart pounding with the hope that my savior is here for me, wa

iting to see what would happen next between Alpha Rhydian and his so called Uncle.