LUNA'S RETURN

CHAPTER THREE: ABANDONED

RIVERA’S POV

A week after my father’s death and I was feeling brand new, like I was fresh out of a box. I had given myself a week to mourn and rejuvenate and in that month, I had excluded myself from pack duties, with the permission of the Alpha of course.

It had been a month with a lot of loneliness since I had cut off Casper and I spent it mostly crying myself to sleep. I deliberately avoided Casper because of how I had left things between us the night after my sixteenth birthday.

When I resumed training, Casper had been made a training coach in anticipation for his soon-to-be title of Alpha, Eric and Lucian were too busy preparing to become a pack warrior and Casper’s Beta respectively, and Celeste was suddenly no where to be found just like she had been before we became friends. It was my childhood before making friends all over again.

Nowadays, I only saw Casper during trainings. I had missed him sorely during my emotional lockdown period but I couldn’t admit it then. He was an excellent trainer and when we all gathered to train under him at sunrise each day, he would make sure each person was at the same pace with him, walking down the spaces between each person to talk encouragingly to whoever found it hard.

He never came to ask me if I was following though and I assumed it was just because I had always been a star student even before he was appointed coach.

I summed up courage and approached him after trainings and we chatted for a while when he was less busy and strolled down together to our respective duty points whenever he was very busy.

The first week was nice, we hung out as good friends not bringing up the subject of our secret relationship. The weeks that followed were not as great. I went from seeing Casper everyday to barely seeing him in a week. His excuse: He was giving me the space I needed and performing his pack duties.

It left me wondering if the first week had not given him any hopes that we could end up together anymore. It was heartbreaking and I couldn’t do anything about it. I confided in Luna Raina and to my surprise, she described my concerns as too much.

“Casper is not a boy anymore, Rivera and he knows what he has ahead of him so he’s merely in preparation. Remember, great preparation only leads to great success my dear Rivera” she concluded, flipping through the pages of a history book.

Luna Raina had always been referred to as a sage because of her vast wisdom so it would be foolish to even argue with her in the first place.

“Thank you mother. Let me get back to pack duties” I responded, standing up to leave.

“Hold on,” she commanded, putting down the book she had been reading.

I froze, not knowing what to expect as she moved closer to me, lifting up my left hand carefully.

“Wow, my eyes were not deceiving me after all” she said, letting out a chuckle.

“Casper gave you the bracelet on your arm right?” I nodded in response.

“Surely you know what this means, right Rivera?” she continued.

“Yes mother” I replied, looking down.

I was ashamed she found out this way.

“Casper wants you. If he didn’t , then he wouldn’t give this to you. It means that you are his destined mate and nothing can come between the both of you” I squirmed, just imagining the thought of me being Casper’s destined Luna.

My braids hung loosely over my shoulder and I fiddled with them, listening to all Luna had said.

“And how are you holding up princess?” She switched suddenly, bringing me back to reality.

I wasn’t ready to talk about my father or my feelings about his death just yet.

“I sensed it. You can talk to me whenever you feel like Rivera” she said, as if reading my thoughts.

I thanked her and walked to the door.

“By the way, the bracelet is worn on the right hand not the left” she said, her voice going a little higher.

I turned to give her a warm smile in response and shut the door. Looking out for Casper was apparently useless as he still continued disappearing before my eyes after training sessions. A whole month and I had not seen him anywhere else besides training grounds in the pack house. Questioning his brothers was even more useless as they always responded with pack duties, obviously no one knew where he was.

I decided to go to his room and wait for him so whenever he came back from wherever he usually went, we could have our first proper conversation in weeks. Casper’s room like mine, was located at the outskirts of the Alpha’s quarters, but at the other end and unless one was really close, they wouldn’t be able to hear anything.

I had always reminded Casper how dangerous that factor was as he could be an easy target for attack in his sleep. Apparently, he loved it and “valued his privacy”.

“Ooohhh! Ughhh!” sounds escaped as I approached Casper’s room.

A girl’s voice rose higher and dropped as if on command. I felt my heart beat faster, tiptoeing like a thief in the night closer to Casper’s door. I paused at his door to make out what was actually happening.

The girl continued making these sounds as if on command and I began to imagine the worst. Then Casper’s voice appeared and my heart sank.

“Yes baby! Mmmhh! you’re so sweet. Come closer to me baby! Oh my God!!”.

“Harder daddy! Harder! Go all in! f**k me till I can’t walk anymore daddy!” the female voice responded.

And then it hit me: Casper was cheating on me. My Casper was with another girl f*****g her into oblivion. I didn’t know whether to be mad or sad that all my worst nightmares were finally coming true.

I pushed the door to his room carefully and it let out a light creak. Standing in front of the room where the duo obviously did not notice my presence.

They continued going at it, making slapping and loud breathing noises. I switched on the lights and caught them in the act: Casper naked and sweating facing CELESTE who was equally naked, face down and ass up behind him, her ruffled hair all over the sheets. It was a disgusting sight for me.

“s**t!” Celeste muttered as they disengaged themselves quietly.

Casper stood up and grabbed a robe from his closet which he used to wrap himself. Celeste, as if on cue and still naked, got down from the bed and poured the drink on the bedside table into two glasses for her and Casper, shaking her ass in an obvious attempt to get his attention.

I stood dumbstruck at the front of the door watching them go about these activities like I wasn’t even there.

“Casper…”I managed to say as the tears ran down freely from my eyes.

“Shut the door on your way out whenever you’re ready to leave” Casper interrupted coldly.

“Casper this is not right! How could you do this to me?! What was my crime…loving you? You said you loved me and you wanted us to be together. Why are you doing this Casper? I love…”.

“Enough! Enough Rivera!” Casper thundered.

“I loved you and what did you give me in return, a complete shut out! How did you expect me to satisfy my s****l needs? A man has needs Rivera and you would have known that if you weren’t too busy locking yourself up like it was the end of the world. Get out Rivera”.

“Casper how can you speak like that? I lost my father Casper, I didn’t want to dishonor his memories. Please don’t do this to me Casper. I love you Casper, I always have and you know this. Please Casper, don’t ruin what we have…” I pleaded frantically.

I was beyond heartbroken. I couldn’t bear to lose him.

I was more than ready to forgive him for this act and move on like it never happened if only he would accept me back. I loved him too much. I had known no other romance than his since my childhood. I couldn’t sit and watch him throw it away for Celeste who he had barely known, who had just recently come into our lives.

“Get out Rivera and never return to this room! You are off limits to my room from now and if you ever think of going against this rule, I’ll make sure you’re dealt with ruthlessly!” Casper snapped.

I stepped back slowly, swallowing a lump that had formed in my throat. Staring at Celeste who had betrayed me and stolen my life, I was broken.

I ran out of the room all the way down to my room where I locked the door and collapsed on the floor crying. Casper had said all these cruel words to me. I might’ve as well asked to be executed at that point because nothing made sense to me anymore.

It made sense that Casper would prefer Celeste as his next available option. I had never fully been a native of the pack no matter what I told myself. My parents had been welcomed to Chann Pack when they had nowhere to go. My mother was deathly ill and I was just four, depending mostly on my father who worked tirelessly to repay the natives of the Pack for accepting them with open arms.

My mother had died a few months after and it became the two of us and no matter how he had worked his way into impressing the Alpha who made him his Beta, we were nowhere as wealthy or influential as Celeste’s family who were prime members of the pack and I had always thought my charisma would give me a fighting chance after my father’s death.

Now, my father was dead and I was dead to Casper.