Alpha’s Mistaken Luna

018

Celeste’s POV

The basement went quiet as I looked down at Yena lying lifeless in my arms. Her skin was deathly pale and stained with the dark blood that had leaked from her nose and mouth. This was the sacrifice Petyr was talking about because one of us had to break for the other to be whole. For a second, looking at her, a pang of sisterly love hit my chest but then I remembered the way Maximus looked at her when he thought she was me. I remembered the mark on her neck, that jagged brand on her skin that should have been mine. She had stolen my life while I was trapped in her boring existence.

If she had just listened to me and not slept with him, she wouldn't have been marked. This isn’t my fault and I’m not going to blame myself for it. Now, I was simply taking it back.

"I did exactly what you told me to do, Celeste. I got rid of her, now it’s time for the important part," Petyr said from behind me. I didn't look back at him because I couldn't take my eyes off her, watching the way her chest didn't even move anymore.

"I told you the reason why you’d have never been with Maximus if she stayed alive is because they go back centuries. She looks exactly like his Luna, Selene," he went on as he stepped closer and showed me an ancient, yellowed picture. My heart nearly stopped when I saw the woman in the frame. Selene looked exactly like Yena, a perfect mirror image from a time I didn't understand.

It wasn't just a crush or a mistake. Maximus was looking for a ghost, and as long as Yena was breathing, I would always just be the second choice. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as I realized how close I had come to losing everything to my own sister. I stood up and wiped the dust from my knees while I ignored the way my hands were shaking. I had to be the woman he wanted, and I had to do it better than she ever could.

"Hide her, Petyr. I have a life to go live," I whispered.

I turned to leave but Petyr’s hand gripped my wrist, and I flinched while looking back at him. He wasn’t looking at me with anger but was instead focused on Yena’s lifeless form. He reached down and gathered some of the blood from the pool on the floor, then pulled a vial with blue liquid from his robe. He shook it once and held it out to me.

"Drink this before you see him," Petyr commanded, his voice cold and clinical.

I looked at the vial with disgust, and the red swirl of my sister’s blood made my stomach turn. "What is it?"

"It’s a tether," he explained, thrusting it closer to my face. "As long as you drink this every three days, he will still feel part of Yena in you. Her essence will coat your soul. Don’t do it and he will immediately know you’re not her. The bond won't recognize you without it."

I looked at it for a moment but snatched it anyway, and then I drank just a little bit of the mixture. It tasted horrible, and it was a bitter reminder of the price of my new life. I muttered a thank you and he only gave a short nod before I climbed the stairs from the basement. I walked out of the shop and headed straight toward the car to see Maximus.

I arrived at his estate and took in a deep breath, feeling a little nervous that he might figure out I wasn’t Yena. When I reached the door, Greg was already standing there with a hardened expression on his face.

"Maximus isn’t available right now," he said, blocking the entrance with his massive frame.

"I need to see him, Greg. Please," I insisted, trying to keep my voice steady despite the way my heart was starting to race.

"Right now wouldn’t be the best time," Greg replied, and his tone was lower as if he were trying to warn me of something I wasn't ready to handle. I didn't back down and I kept my eyes fixed on his until he finally sighed. He told me to wait and went to the other side of the estate to check something, but when he came back, his face was even grimmer than before. He told me that Maximus wanted to see me.

Greg led me toward a hidden lift that went deep into the basement of the mansion. My heart beat faster as we went down in the lift, and when we stopped, Greg opened a reinforced door just a little. My eyes widened and my heart pounded as the sound hit me first, a guttural and agonizing scream that didn't sound human.

I looked inside and saw Maximus held in heavy silver chains, his whole body soaked in blood and covered in deep, jagged wounds. His eyes were burning a molten red and I could hear the sickening sound of his bones crashing and snapping as they tried to shift. He actually doesn’t shift, and I flinched at every sound while closing my eyes and going back into the lift speechless.

Greg joined me and my heart beat so fast that I stumbled, and he had to hold me. What the f**k did I just see? Was that really Maximus? Just when we came back to the hall, I gasped for air and Greg immediately handed me a bottle of water.

“What is happening to him?” I managed to say.

Greg didn’t seem worried, and it was like he was used to seeing him like this.

“He’s going to be alright by sunrise,” he said, but that wasn’t enough for me.

“That doesn’t answer my question, Greg. What the f**k is happening to him?” I demanded.

“He’s cursed, Jenkins. This is what he goes through every night on a full moon. But like I said, he will be fine by morning.”

He’s cursed? Does that mean he’s weak? And here I was thinking I would become the Luna to a powerful Alpha, only for him to be a cursed immortal.

I took my seat and let out a soft, dry chuckle because this was all getting to be too much for me to process. "I need some minutes," I said to Greg, and he just gave a short nod. He stayed close by, his presence a silent reminder that I wasn't in charge here yet.

After a few minutes of silence, I looked up at him again. "Are you really sure he’s going to be okay? He was in so much pain when I saw him," I asked, genuinely curious if he could even survive that kind of trauma.

He nodded firmly. "He will be fine, Jenkins. You will see if you stay," he assured me.

But I wanted to push him more. I wanted him to tell me if I needed to be scared or if I should rethink my choices before I got pulled deeper into this world. But he didn't give me anything else.

“I am not in the right place to tell you anything. The Alpha will probably tell you when he wants to. He trusts you enough to make you see him like that,” Greg said, his voice flat.

His words hit me harder than I expected. He trusts me. Except, he doesn't trust me at all. He trusts the girl who was in this body an hour ago. He trusts the ghost I left bleeding in Petyr’s basement. I felt the bitter taste of the tether in the back of my throat again, a reminder that every word out of my mouth was a gamble.

I leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling, wondering if being his Luna and mate were worth the sight of those chains.