A MATE FOR A CURSED LYCAN.

Chapter 1: THE SHATTERED DREAMS Lyra POV Holding the sheet of paper in my hands, I could not believe what I was seeing after all these years. After five long years of being Luna, I have never once been this happy. I quickly hugged the paper, a wide smile on my face. I have never been this excited before. I can't believe it. I am actually pregnant. I am finally pregnant. The rumors about me, the things they say about me—everything would end now. Nobody would dare. Nobody would have the audacity to call me names ever again. I looked at it again to be sure as my maid rushed towards me. She hugged me tightly, and of course, I embraced her even tighter before she screamed with excitement. "I am so happy for you, my Luna. I can't believe it! All your hard work paid off, all your struggles, all your endurance. They all paid off!" I have never been this happy before, she said as the nurse smiled at me, bowed, and then walked out. I sat on my bed, still amused. It felt like I was dreaming, and I could not bring myself back to reality. This better be the reality, or else I might just kill myself if anything goes wrong. Just then, my maid sat beside me and held onto my hand. "You have to stop thinking now. Everything went perfectly. You are now pregnant with the Alpha's child. He will be very happy and very glad to hear this news. Don't struggle, don't think. Don't put yourself under any stress. Instead, think about your child and think about yourself. Please do not worry anymore." She said to me as I smiled. "Of course, of course, I don't plan on worrying anymore. I am just unable to believe this. What if I get so happy and I find out that this is just my imagination and it is just an illusion? It never happened," I said to her as she smiled, standing up again as she hugged me. I hugged her tightly. Yes, she might just be a mate to me, but Esther was one of the best I ever had. Without her, I think I would not have been able to cope at all. In the palace, she was the only person who would take care of me, console me, and give me hope. And here again, she was still trying to make me smile. Just then, she moved away from me, and her smile got even wider. "I have a better idea. I have a much, much better idea. Why don't you tell the Alpha about it in a surprising way so everybody would know about it? It would be a very good thing. Announce the news at the Goddess Festival tomorrow. I know how eager you want to tell him, but it will be much more amusing and much more of a good news if you tell him at the festival." She said to me as I realized that was a good idea. I knew that the Alpha wanted me to have a child so badly. If I am able to tell everyone in public and still tell him, he would not only be happy but proud. Because the rumors about me being infertile would end. I know he only wants my happiness. I smiled at her again, feeling very excited. Even though I had tried to hold in my emotions, now I knew I did not have to hold it in. "I would tell him," I said to her as she jumped excitedly. "Yes, I will go and get your dresses ready. I will prepare the perfect dress for you. Tomorrow is going to be your big day. I can't wait for you to shame all those people who continuously rumored about you." She said to me, hugged me one more time before racing out. As I slowly and gently laid on the bed, placing my hand on my belly. Even though it was still so flat and it was still so little, I could still feel my connection with my unborn child as I smiled, slowly drifting into a deep sleep. Opening my eyes, the next morning was already filled with different dresses and jewelry. I knew this was the work of Esther. As I slowly stood up, she smiled at me as she placed a dress in front of me. "This would look perfect for you. This would not only show you as the queen but also make you look very, very, very attractive." She said to me as I nodded. Within the next 30 minutes, I was prepared for the festival, and of course, the whole palace ground was already filled up with both the pack members and special territory. Everybody was there—funny enough, including my sister. Hayley was also there. As the ceremony started, I was escorted out by the guards as I walked slowly. But just as I was about to take my seat, the Alpha stood up as he tried to get everyone's attention. And of course, everyone's attention was fixed on him. Meanwhile, I felt excited. This was the time; after he said whatever he wanted to say, I would also announce my pregnancy to everybody. Just then, Hayley stepped up towards the throne seats, and I was surprised. What was she doing here? Who gave her such boldness? Even the guards did not make any move to stop her as she walked confidently towards the Alpha. I looked at him in surprise. What does he have to announce? Is he giving her a good position in the palace? I thought to myself as my gaze went to Esther, and she just smiled at me. Of course, she had no idea what was going on. As the Alpha smiled, everyone muttered his name. Of course, they were whispering, wondering what he wanted to do before he finally cleared his throat. "I am so happy that everybody is able to attend this festival, one of the best festivals that ever happen in our territory. And you know how dear I hold on to celebrating every festival. But I am yet to announce the best news ever. The best and the most anticipated news in the whole of the pack for the past five years." He said as I looked a bit confused. What exactly did he want to say? I was now in a tight spot, not knowing what was going to happen. How would I even react? How would I congratulate her because I didn't even know what was about to happen? I thought to myself as he put Hayley close to him and held her by her waist as most people in the crowd gasped. Even I stood up, unable to control myself. I was just about to step forward when he spoke. "Hayley here is now my concubine. She is now a special person of this pack and should be respected. And not just that," he said and walked towards her as he placed his hand around her belly. "She is now carrying the child of the Alpha. Finally, after so many years." He said as everyone started clapping and jubilating. I was shocked and surprised; all this happened behind me. I was unable to control myself, even though I could hear Esther calling my name, telling me not to make any move. But I walked slowly towards them as Hayley stepped back. "You, my own sister, came to my own house to betray me. You took him away from me!" I yelled, about to cry as the Alpha pushed me back. "Step back. She is pregnant, and I don't want your hands on her. If you harm her in any way, you will regret it," he warned as I looked at him, surprised by how far I muttered, feeling enraged. I was just about to attack Hayley when I felt something restrain me. The guards—they actually locked me. They handcuffed me, their own Luna. I was betrayed not just by my sister but by the one man I thought I loved and who would love only me. Chapter 2: Betrayal and Accusations Claudia POV "I'm really sorry, Esther, for putting you in this position and for making you go through all this with me. I shouldn't have allowed you to be beside me when they were taking me. They wouldn't have taken you also. You would have been free by now. I'm really sorry for putting you in this kind of situation." I pleaded with her as tears continued flowing from my eyes uncontrollably. I couldn't even stop the tears from dropping. "It's fine, Luna. I'll always be with you, whatever is going on. You have been so good to me ever since I've been with you. It's now made now. I can't just leave you where you are in trouble. I'll always be with you, and I'll continue to serve you," she said to me as I looked at her, feeling very grateful. "Thank you so much, Esther, for sticking with me. I don't know what I would have done without your support. If you were not here with me, I would have broken down more than this," I said to her as tears continued flowing from my eyes. And then she also started crying. I tried to wipe her tears. "Stop crying, Esther. Please don't cry. If you keep on crying, I can't. I won't be able to stop the tears from flowing from my eyes also." As we comforted each other, I hugged her tightly. Right now, she was the only one I had. Everybody had already turned their backs on me while we were engulfed in the hug. A guard immediately came and opened the gates as he dragged me. "Where are you taking her? Where are you taking the Luna to?" Esther shouted at the guard as I looked at him in shock. "What? What do you want? Where are you taking me? Let go of my hand right now. Where are you taking me to?" I demanded from the guard. "Just shut up already!" the guy shouted back at me as I looked at him, stunned. This was a guy who always used to respect me and liked me so much. Now, how could he speak to me in this manner? "You are just a wicked Luna. How could you even think of poisoning your own sister?" he said to me as I fell into silence. He kept dragging me away, and I wondered where he was taking me as I couldn't even utter a word out of shock. I saw him drag me into the throne room, and upon entering, I saw the Alpha sitting on his throne with Eli beside him, right there in my place. I felt really pained and angry, but I couldn't say anything as I just stared at them in shock. Immediately, Eli started speaking. "Why, sister? Why did you do this to me, Lyra? You poisoned me just because you wanted my baby to die. Why? Hope you're satisfied now. Hope you're happy now. Now that my baby is gone. I hope your plans have finally succeeded," she said while she was crying. I looked at her in shock. "What do you mean, Eli? I did not poison you. When did I ever poison you? Just stop it already. Stop lying!" "After you poisoned me and made my baby die, now you want to lie? I told you on the day of the festival that I was pregnant. And I knew that you were jealous about me being pregnant for the Alpha. That's why you tried to poison and kill my baby," she accused me, and I was stunned. "When did you ever tell me that you were pregnant? You never told me you were pregnant! I didn't know anything about your baby. Why would I poison you? Even if I knew about your baby, why would I have poisoned you? Even if you offended me, your baby is innocent. I wouldn't have done something as despicable as that. You are still my sister, after all!" I said, looking stunned as the Alpha shouted. "Just shut up already! Shut up, Lyra! Why do you have to keep on lying? You poisoned her, and now you killed my baby. And I'll make you pay for it. I'll make you pay!" he yelled at me. Tears started flowing from my eyes again uncontrollably. I couldn't control the tears. Why would he say those harsh words to me? I never even grasped it. I did not even have any idea that she was pregnant. She never told me. Eli was clearly lying. As I looked at her, I saw her smile a bit. Then she started feeling her tears again. "Now that my baby is gone, I hope you are happy. I hope you are happy that you killed my child," she said to me as I looked at her, stunned. "Alpha, please believe me. I did not kill a baby. I did not poison her. I never did anything of such. How would I even have poisoned her baby if I didn't even know that she was pregnant? I did not do anything like that. I only found out on the day of the ceremony that she was your concubine. If I did not know anything before, why would I get jealous of her and try to kill her baby? Please, just think about it." "Just shut up already! I don't want to hear anything. Take her out of my presence. And from today onwards, you will never leave that prison. You will spend the rest of your life there, and every day for you will be torture. Every day, I will make your life a living hell for killing my unborn child," he said to me ruthlessly as I looked at him. "Please, Alpha, just try to believe me. Don't let me spend the rest of my life there. Please, I'm begging you. Believe me. I did not try to poison her. I did not try to kill her baby. Please, just believe me." But he wouldn't even glance at me. "Take her out of my presence already and make sure that she's being tortured every day," he said without any emotion as the guards came closer to me and closed in on me, trying to drag me out of there. "Just let me go already! Please, Alpha, don't do this to me!" I kept screaming, but he wouldn't look at me as he turned to Eli, and I saw her start feeling her tears again. "Now my child is gone. Don't worry, Ellie, I'm going to take care of you. And as long as she's been thrown into that place, she's no longer my Luna. I'll make you my new Luna, and I'm going to give you another child," I heard him say softly to Eli, and I saw her look at me and smile. "Thank you." I felt very frustrated and angry at that sight. As I was being dragged back to the prison, I saw Esther immediately call out my name when she spotted me, as the guards threw me into the prison. As she came beside me, she immediately hugged me. "I hope you are fine. I hope they didn't hurt you." As I kept crying, she kept asking me what was going on, and I couldn't say anything. She just hugged me as I sat down on the floor, tears flowing uncontrollably from my eyes. As I sat there, I heard footsteps. I was very sure I would know that sound of those footsteps. Even in my dreams, I knew who they belonged to. It was Eli's footsteps, and I knew that she was the one already, as I saw her appear from the corner. "What are you doing here?" I looked at her with bloodshot eyes, remembering all the lies she spoke right back there. As I felt disheartened, I thought, why would my sister do this to me? I thought to myself as she walked closer to me and crouched down to my position. "Did you remember what I told you five years ago?" I looked at her and flashed back to what she said when I was getting married to the Alpha. She had told me that she was going to take my place and take everything away from me. She promised me that she would become the Luna and I'd just be reduced to nothing. I could remember her words vividly. I only thought she was joking back then and that she didn't even mean any of those things. And even if she did mean it, I thought that there was no way that she was going to take my position from me. But now here I am. She had actually fulfilled that promise she made to me. She had actually reduced me to nothing. And now she was becoming Luna. She was very happy as I heard her laugh out loud. "Rot in jail," she said to me before she stood up and started walking out. I couldn't even say anything to her as Esther immediately came to my side and hugged me. As I kept crying uncontrollably, I felt the tears flow down from Esther's face also as I could not even stop my own tears. How could I even stop Esther from crying? I just let her hold me as I cried on her shoulders. Then I heard another footstep again, but I knew this time that it was a man's footstep. It was not Esther. As I looked up, expecting who that footstep belonged to, I saw a guard. He came closer to me. "I have something for you, Luna," he said. Chapter 3: A Second Chance Lyra POV I looked at the mysterious guard. "What? What do you mean by "you have something for me?" "Yes, Luna, I'm here to help you. I'm going to help you escape from this wretched place so you wouldn't have to spend the rest of your days here," he said. "And you don't have to worry about who sent me or why or what my mission is. I'm here to help you. All you just have to focus on right now is how to escape with me. And I'm going to help you. But first, you need to eat something so that you can have strength." "Thank you very much. I don't know who sent you or what made you come to help me, but all I can say right now is thank you. Thank you so much." "You don't have to thank me, Luna. Just eat already." He pushed the tray of food towards me, and I was very grateful. I called Esther to my side, and we started eating together. The guard simply walked out as Esther and I sat down eating. "I can't believe this is me. I used to be a Luna, and I used to eat good and expensive food. Now look at what I’m eating right now." As tears started falling from my eyes again, Esther looked at me and wiped my tears. "Please don't cry, Luna. Everything is going to be fine. You'll be out of here very soon. At least the guards already assured us that we would leave this place soon," she said to me as I smiled at her, feeling a bit reassured. At least someone out there was ready to help me, I thought to myself as we continued eating. In no time, we finished eating, but I was not even satisfied. The food was too little. But I had to share with Esther no matter what. She had been with me through everything, I thought to myself. After eating, we immediately fell asleep. I started hearing a lot of noise as I felt that Esther was coughing a lot. I immediately stood up and looked towards her direction where she was lying down. "Esther, what's wrong with you? Esther, get up! Get up already!" I shouted at her. She just kept coughing out blood. "Luna, I think we are poisoned," she said to me. "Oh my God! What do you mean we are poisoned? Please stay with me, Esther. Don't—don't give up! Please stay with me!" As she kept coughing out blood, I shouted, "Somebody help! Somebody! Who is there? Please help me! Help us! She's coughing out blood! Please help Esther! Please stay with me. Don't do this to me. Please. You're the only one I've got. Please don't leave me alone!" I kept shouting, "Somebody please help me!" But nobody came. "Moon Goddess, please do something already! Please! I can't lose Esther! She's the only one I've got right now. She's the only support I have. Please, Moon Goddess, help me! Please help Esther! Don't allow anything to happen to her!" I kept screaming, but then nobody helped, and the Moon Goddess did not do anything. As I slowly felt Esther close her eyes right there in my arms, she had died. As I shouted and screamed, I continued crying uncontrollably. "Esther, please don't do this to me! You can't die! Esther, wake up, please! You can't do this to me! You are the only one! Of course, if you leave me, how would I live? How would I stay? You're the only reason why I've been holding up until now. You're the only one that has been comforting me. Please, Esther, you promised me that we were going to live here together. Now you can't just leave me alone! How would I fight for myself?" I kept shouting and crying for Esther to wake up, but nothing happened. "Moon Goddess, please help me! Don't allow anything to happen to me!" As I started feeling my throat tighten, I felt the poison already having an effect on me. I started coughing again, "Goodness! Please help me! I can't just die like this! Please don't let me die like this! I've been begging you all these days to give me a child, and now I'm pregnant! Please let me give birth to this child. Don't allow me to go like this!" I kept pleading with the Moon Goddess. "I've been your faithful follower. I've served you faithfully for all these years. Please don't do this to me! Just give me this last chance. I promise I'm going to use it wisely. Please don't let me go like this. I beg you! Moon Goddess, save me! I promise to serve you more than I have been before. Please, I'm begging you! Don't allow me to die like this!" I kept bleeding as I felt my throat continue to tighten in pain, and I started coughing out a little bit of blood. "I can't die like this! No! This can't be happening to me! What will happen to my baby? What is going to happen to him? I can't just die without giving birth to this child!" I continued saying to myself. And I slowly felt everything going black as I fainted. I woke up the next day, and it was already morning. I wondered what had happened as I saw Esther standing right in front of me. "What happened, Esther? What are you doing there?" And then I saw another woman. She was a nurse. "Congratulations, Luna! You are pregnant!" she said to me as she walked away, instructing Esther, "Please take care of her. She has to be extra careful now that she's pregnant." Esther looked at me joyfully and was very happy. "What's going on, Esther? I just saw you die right here in my arms! What happened? How come you're standing right here in front of me? Why is everything that happened before happening again?" Esther looked at me, stunned. "What are you talking about, Luna? You just fainted, and the nurse came to check on you and said you were pregnant!" you are finally pregnant, Luna! Aren't you supposed to be happy?" she said joyfully, looking at me with a smile. "But you just died in my arms! We both were poisoned! We were both in prison!" I said to her as she looked at me, shocked. "What do you mean, Luna? I don't remember anything. Maybe this is the Moon Goddess giving you another chance to change your fate," she suggested. As I remembered trying to beg the Moon Goddess not to let me die like this and to help me, I thought to myself that finally, the Moon Goddess answered my prayers. This is my time to change my fate. I can't allow what happened to me to happen again. This is my last chance. I have to announce to everybody that I'm pregnant before the ceremony and before the festival comes up. I have to announce that I am pregnant. I thought to myself as I looked up at Esther. "Gather all the council members that are faithful to me. Tell them that I want to see all of them right now. As I sat on the bed in my room waiting for the council members to arrive, I kept thinking about how the Alpha and Eli could do this to me. How could they betray me this way? I just thanked the Moon Goddess for giving me another chance to change my fate. Otherwise, my life would have become a living hell by now. I thought to myself as the council members walked in together with Esther. "Here they are, Luna," she said to me as she walked out immediately. I stood in front of the council members. "I'm sorry for disturbing you this late at night, but I need you all to be present at the festival tomorrow. I have something important—very, very important—to discuss with you," I said to them as they looked at each other, stunned. "What do you want to discuss with us, Luna?" one of them asked, clearly confused. "Just wait until tomorrow. It is very important, and I need all of you to be present very early," I said sternly as they nodded their heads and walked out of my bedroom. I just have to do this in order to change my destiny. I can't lose this opportunity that the Moon Goddess gave me again, or else my life would become a living hell for good, and I wouldn't know what would happen to me next. I thought to myself as I fell asleep. Meanwhile, before I remembered seeing Eli in the morning, I wondered what she had come here to do, and she hadn't even come to greet me yet. Maybe she came here secretly to carry out her plan. I immediately went to look for her and found the room she was staying in. I knocked on the door, and she opened it, shocked to see me there. "Sister," she called out. "Hey Eli, what are you doing here? Why didn't you even come to see me when you came to Pai Zui Palace?" I asked, questioning her. "I wanted to surprise you, and I thought that it was already late in the night. I could just come surprise you tomorrow morning. I came as a surprise visit," she said to me with a smile. I thought to myself, wow, she's such a great liar. She was behaving as if she was a good sister to me, not knowing that she had wicked plans brewing deep inside her heart against me. "Okay then, we'll see tomorrow," I said to her before walking out of her room immediately. Very early the following morning, I quickly dressed up. Esther wondered why I wanted to go to the ceremony so early, but I told her to just wait and watch what I was going to do. I got dressed and went to where the ceremony was being held. I even arrived before the Alpha. Not long after I arrived at the venue, the Alpha came as well, shocked to see me there so early. Meanwhile, he was acting all lovingly, as if he were a good person. I thought to myself, wow, all of them are really sneaky, acting like this while harboring wicked plans against me. I promised myself that I would get my revenge. I vowed to make all of their lives a living hell. I would get my revenge on them for doing this to me. I thought to myself as I faked a smile and continued nodding at everything he was saying. Then, not long after, the ceremony began, and all the festivities were going on. The Alpha almost stood up, intending to announce something. I stopped him midway. "Wait, Alpha, please, I have something to say," I interrupted him. He nodded for me to go ahead, and I immediately stood up, announcing to everybody present at the ceremony, "I am expecting!" The room fell silent as everyone looked stunned. Some were smiling, while others looked surprised and a bit sad. I spotted Eli in the midst of the crowd, standing there as she looked stunned at me and my pregnancy announcement. I wondered what kind of thoughts were going through her head as I looked at her and smiled wickedly. She couldn't even react or do anything as she stood there in shock. I felt a surge of satisfaction at her bewilderment, knowing that I had turned the tables. It was time for me to reclaim my place and show everyone that I would not be easily defeated. The moon goddess had a reason for giving me a second chance and this time around I would make everything right, I would pay everyone back for what they all did to me and I would pay for w