Their Barren Luna

1: The Dangerous Game

Sumy’s POV

I jolted awake from the same terrifying dream I always had, heart pounding.

Huh, this dream again, I thought as I swung my legs off the bed.

“Ahhh!” I screamed when I caught sight of myself in the cracked mirror.

My hair—white, long, and floating around me. My skin—pale as death.

And my eyes… two different colors.

“Oops,” I muttered, remembering I’d taken off that stupid old silver moonstone necklace. I reached for it, fishing it out from behind my old drawer near the bed.

“Mtswww,” I hissed, remembering that anyone who saw me without the necklace would die.

I clasped it back around my neck, and in an instant, I was me again—

my sexy, chubby body, tattoos scattered across my skin, my beautiful brown hair, my amazing cat eyes.

I turned toward the wall to check the time and groaned. It was already 9 a.m.

“Oh, s**t,” I muttered, bolting out of the room and into the compound toward the only toilet in this poor house.

I tried the door, but it was locked—someone was inside.

“Please be fast! I’m late for work!” I called. Just as I finished, Grandma shuffled out.

She looked me up and down before scoffing. “What work? That bad thing you’re doing—is that what you call work?”

“Whatever,” I muttered, rolling my eyes as I stepped inside and shut the door.

What could she expect from someone like me? The girl who failed to find her wolf at twelve and still hadn’t gotten a mate at eighteen. Everyone knew what that meant.

I’d tried my best to get a job, but no one would hire me. People said I was cursed. Wolfless. Mateless. And that I would bring bad luck.

And without doing something, I couldn’t survive. My sister Dani hated me—she worked, ate good food, wore expensive clothes, sometimes didn’t even sleep at home. She called this place the “ant’s house.” She’d rather feed a stray cat than give me a dime.

My brother, Daniel? He didn’t even care if I existed.

So I worked at the dancing club.

I quickly bathed with the half piece of soap I had left and ran back to my room.

Then I stood in front of the loose mirror on the wall. My reflection stared back at me—brown top, saggy jeans that hung too loosely on my hips. No man would look twice at me like this.

I stripped without hesitation, tossing the clothes onto the bed. I reached for my most reliable armor—a tight, sleeveless crop vest that barely covered my breasts and a skin-hugging mini skirt that clung to every curve. I adjusted the skirt, tugged the vest until my cleavage sat just right, then stepped back to admire the full package.

Not bad.

If I didn’t dress like this, I wouldn’t attract them—and without them, I wouldn’t get the money I needed.

That’s how I got them. Hooking them at the dancing club. They’d watch me from across the floor, hungry eyes drinking me in, and I’d let them believe I was exactly what they needed. Then I’d lure them away, slip a pill in their drink, and by the time they were snoring, I’d be gone—with their wallets, watches, phones… even their shoes if they were foolish enough.

No one had ever caught me.

“Ready for work,” I told myself.

I sat cross-legged on my narrow mattress, arms folded under my chest, waiting impatiently for Ethan to arrive.

I couldn’t wait anymore, so I stood.

A knock landed just as I reached for the handle.

I didn’t need to ask. “Come in,” I said—I already knew who it was.

The door creaked open and Ethan, my only real friend, stepped in with a grin.

“Sumy London, are you done?” he teased, strolling in like he owned the place.

I rolled my eyes but smiled. That name—Sumy London—was what everyone called me. I always said I’d go to London someday, even if I had to rob a damn Alpha to get there. Everyone knew I didn’t take nonsense. Cross me, and you’d regret it.

I was fire wrapped in a body men wanted and women envied. But there was one person I never dared cross—my older sister, Dani.

She hated me because of this necklace. She wanted it, but she knew I’d been warned never to remove it. She didn’t know how much I hated the thing. But I couldn’t take it off—not if I wanted to walk among wolves like an ordinary girl.

Our parents were dead. Dani and I lived with our frail old grandmother. Daniel, my brother, is Beta of the pack, but I didn’t even consider him family. He never looked at me, never protected me. Useless.

Men were only useful to me when they had money.

“What do you think?” I asked, spinning in front of Ethan and lifting my breasts with my hands.

He whistled. “Sexy.”

I chuckled, grabbed my bag, and we stepped out into the muddy compound and found Grandma hunched on a stool, her shaky fingers knitting something she’d never finish.

“Sumy,” she said in her thin voice, “I still don’t like this work you’re doing. Just look at how you’re dressed…”

I didn’t stop walking. “Grandma, if I don’t do it, I won’t eat.”

From behind us came a voice sharp enough to slice skin. “A prostitute, off to her daily hunting.”

I turned, already knowing.

Dani stood there, holding a bowl of steaming chicken. Fancy food. She didn’t even try to hide it.

How could a sister watch her blood starve while she dined like a Luna?

“I’m cursed with siblings,” I muttered, walking past her.

Ethan stayed quiet, eyes flicking between us.

Sometimes I caught him and Dani muttering, but whenever I asked, he told me to forget about it. I didn’t care though.

As we walked, he finally spoke. “You didn’t give me anything from the money you got yesterday.”

I laughed without looking at him. “I used it to buy this sexy dress. Besides, were you the one who danced for me?”

“Okay, okay, fine. Let’s forget that,” he said quickly. “But… I got a request today. From Alpha Ronan. He’s looking for a new girl to f**k with. I was going to take the offer but… I didn’t.”

I stopped and grabbed his collar. “What do you mean you didn’t? Ethan, do you know the kind of money I made when I scammed Alpha Brodyl last month?”

His eyes widened. “Exactly! Sumy, that was crazy. You can’t do that to Alpha Ronan,” Ethan said. “Because if he catches you—God—you’d be dead. You know that, right? I’m scared for you.”

I snorted, letting go of his shirt. “Do you think I’m afraid of anybody?”

He didn’t answer.

“Call Alpha Ronan. Tell him I’m ready,” I said, tightening my bag strap. “I need money.”

“Before that… why don’t you ever want me to go to Ironclaw Pack? And why don’t you want me to know anything about your family? Is that how friends are supposed to be?”

I pressed, lifting his chin to face me as I noticed he was staring at my body.

“It’s because you hate Ironclaw Pack and—”

“I can’t remember telling you that?” I cut him off.

Ethan hesitated, staring like he wanted to say more, then pulled out his phone.

“You don’t need to know about that,” he said, dialing.

A short conversation.

“You can go,” he said as he cut the call, and this time his eyes were again on my breasts.

“You b***h,” I snapped, shoving him and walking off. “Stop looking at my body.”

“Don’t go straight to him because your head will be stripped off,” he said.

I stopped walking, turning back to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“Go to Siya, his personal maid. She will be the one to inform him,” he said.

I hissed, turning back and continuing to walk. I even thought it was something serious. I’m not afraid of anyone. Not me.

“Follow the rules given to you if you want to come out alive, Sumy. Because I know you are stubborn,” he said.

I didn’t wait to hear more. My heels splashed through puddles as I crossed the road, stopping a cab and heading to Alpha Ronan’s mansion.

My heart was skipping, but I ignored it.

I know I can do it, I said to myself.