Reborn of the Betrayed Luna

Chapter 2

Melody Madison. That was me. My mother died an hour after giving birth to me, but not before she whispered my name - Melody. It means music or song. I’ve always thought it was a cruel irony, naming me something so beautiful when my life was anything but cruel.

I am the only daughter of Alpha Andrew Madison, the man who led the extermination in our kingdom and earned his title as the Zeta Werewolf - the rarest and most powerful class of werewolf. To the world, he was a ruthless leader, but to me, he was barely a shadow. I looked too much like my mother for him to be around me. We lived in the same mansion, yet I could go months without seeing him. His absence carved a hollow ache in my chest, but I learned to live with it.

I grew up alone, without family, without friends, locked up in my father's mansion, unable to step outside for fear of kidnap. The servants’ whispers followed me through the halls, tales of my father’s battles and the blood that stained his hands. It didn't surprise anyone that I grew to hate him. Yes, he was cold to me, but I was colder to him. I used to run away at the mere sight of him, a ghost fleeing a nightmare.

I kept thinking that my father hated me because my mother became weaker after giving birth to me and eventually succumb to death. Perhaps he did blame me. Perhaps I blamed myself.

My father was… drop-dead gorgeous. His deep brown eyes, shadowed yet piercing, stood out against the raven-black hair that framed his face. A chiseled body that seemed sculpted from marble. If perfection had a name, it would be Andrew Madison.

When I was ten, my father remarried. Agatha Merlot became my stepmother, bringing her son Jay, who was twelve at the time. Agatha was all smiles and gentle touches, but her eyes were as sharp as knives. I could never tell if her affection was real or just another act in the intricate play that was our life.

Jay was different. He was sunlight in my darkness, my only friend. As we grew older, friendship morphed into something more - love. The kind that burned quietly but fiercely, like a candle left too close to a curtain. I would have done anything for him. I did do anything for him.

At eighteen, I manipulated my father into helping Jay become the alpha of a pack. It wasn’t easy. My father refused at first - Jay didn’t have alpha blood, after all. But desperation makes a person cunning. I told him I needed Jay on my side, that without him, I had no one. I threatened to end my life if he refused. The words tasted like poison on my tongue, but I didn’t care. "Why don’t you love me?" That was the question I asked him most. Sometimes in a whisper, sometimes in a scream. Then followed by “If you love me, you would help Jay. That’s how much I loved Jay.

Then Father helped Jay become an Alpha in the neighboring land of our pack. He leads a pack of twenty - consisting of me, our maid, and some of his friends. However, he cannot rule us without my father's support and guidance."

My father said that as the daughter of an alpha, I needed to be trained, to become a superior warrior. But Agatha wouldn’t allow it. She claimed it was for my protection, that a woman’s place was not on the battlefield. Her words sank into the pack's ears, spreading like a virus. They began to see me as weak, and in time, I started to believe it too.

Agatha had spent years manipulating me, subtly weaving her words into my mind until they became my own thoughts. She made me believe that I was weak, that I lacked the strength to endure physical training. With carefully chosen words and a gentle but firm tone, she convinced me that such activities were unbecoming of a lady, that my place was elsewhere, far removed from the rigorous demands of combat and self-defense.

Whenever I showed interest in training, she would shake her head with a disapproving sigh, reminding me that grace and refinement were far more important than brute strength. She painted a picture of a proper lady - delicate, poised, and dependent on others for protection. Over time, her words took root, and I began to doubt myself, to see my own body as fragile and incapable.

I had wanted to believe her, to trust that she had my best interests at heart. But now, looking back, I saw the truth, Agatha had never wanted me to be strong. She had wanted me to be powerless. Her words clung to me, shaping my insecurities and making me dependent on Jay. Without him, I felt powerless. The pack members saw me as an unfit leader, a sentiment that cut deeper than I cared to admit.

Now that Jay is an Alpha, his pack needs a Luna and I thought he would choose me. I was stupid to think that. To him, I was his best friend, the girl he’d grown up with. Yet my heart betrayed me, stuttering at his presence, yearning for something more. But Jay’s gaze was void of any romantic interest. He made it clear that he saw me as nothing more than a friend. His rejection shattered my heart, but I refused to give up.

Desperation pushed me to an unforgivable act. I went to my father and begged him to give Jay an ultimatum - either Jay accepted me as his mate, or my father would withdraw his support to Jay small pack. Cornered, Jay had no choice but to agree to an engagement.

My stepmother’s words echoed in my mind, sharp and unforgiving. She sneered that the only valuable thing about me was my father’s name, that I was vain, hot-tempered, and rude. According to her, I behaved like a spoiled child, unworthy of being Luna to her son. No one else dared to confront me directly - my father’s influence was too powerful, but I heard the whispers, the cruel things they said behind my back.

I told myself that becoming Luna would change their views, that power would force them to respect me.

But deep down, I knew the truth, I wasn’t doing this for the pack. I was doing it because I couldn’t stand to lose Jay, even if it meant chaining him to me with guilt and obligation.