The Ruthless Alpha's Substitute Luna

The Luna Of the Blackhowl Wolf Pack

Marianna,

I held the pendant. As soon as I put it around my neck, it shone. Its warmth felt familiar, just like the touch of Grandma. A strange calm spread through my chest, cold and steady at the same time, as though her spirit still lingered inside the silver.

Julianna looked at me, eyes widening. " It never reacted to my touch!" She muttered, her voice holding that familiar lace of jealousy.

The jealousy wasn't sharp enough to hurt me anymore. If anything, it sounded childish compared to everything that had happened between us.

" Because I am its rightful owner. It recognizes my blood." I smiled and rose to my feet.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror, where kindness came with a price, where life for life was the rule. The woman staring back at me no longer resembled the daughter my parents once tried to control.

Dad built me as his second nature. Cruelty comes when it needs to.

The Blackhowl Wolf Pack would pay for everything they had done to my sister. Slowly. Properly. I wanted them to understand helplessness before they begged for mercy.

She pressed her lips together and watched me before saying, " Be careful . They pull tricks every morning. They don't allow me to have breakfast in their dining room. I need to use the bathroom after getting permission from the Head Butler."

The moment she said it, disgust twisted inside me. Not because I was surprised, but because Julianna endured it quietly all this time.

" I see. Interesting."

Just as I buttoned my black waistcoat instead of the gowns Julianna usually wore, a knock came at my door. The dark fabric sat against my body like armor rather than clothing.

" My Lady. Two cars from the Blackhowl Wolf Pack have arrived. They want you to come downstairs as fast as possible." Stacy's voice came from outside the room.

I looked at Julianna. " Do you want to take revenge?" I asked, my eyes darkening. " You might have been raised like a Disney princess, but I was raised as the cruel Step-sister."

Julianna's eyes widened because it was a joke between us when we were kids. Step-sisters knew no bounds, and they were capable of killing. At that age, she laughed whenever I said it. Now she looked at me as though she finally realized I had never been joking.

" I am the Luna now. The villain that you are scared of. So, wish if you have a list."

Her face turned pale. When we were around nine, when she was still playing with dolls and I had mastered swordsmanship, I told her that if one day I became the villain, I would start with the revenge list we made as kids.

Now it was true.

A strange silence settled between us. Heavy. Uncomfortable. Like the final moment before a storm finally broke apart the sky.

She swallowed hard, then seemed to think of something profound. " Can you cut her tongue right in front of the Alpha?"

" Whose?"

" The Head Butler. He thinks highly of her. Like a mother."

The Head Butler?

So the old woman had been tormenting Julianna while hiding behind the Alpha's protection. Pathetic.

" Fine. I will send you her tongue soon." I smirked, walking toward the door, before pausing. " Also, stop thinking that the world will always revolve around you. Today I stood up for you. But tomorrow?" I looked over my shoulder, staring at the girl who had barely suffered before this marriage. " You might die alone if you don't learn how to take care of yourself."

Her lips parted slightly, hurt flickering across her eyes. But she couldn't deny it. Julianna had always believed someone would come save her before things became unbearable. Life didn't work that way anymore.

She didn't say anything, only lowered her gaze. I opened the door and walked downstairs.

As soon as I stepped into the living room, the cold bickering hit my eardrums. The atmosphere was suffocating enough to choke someone weaker.

" If you didn't raise your daughter to be this spoilt and bratty, she wouldn't have run away from her husband's pack. Are you trying to embarrass our Pack? If you have no idea how to teach your unfilial daughter, then I will take care of it myself."

A woman in her mid-fifties was already standing close to my father's face, her expression twisting with rage and superiority. The way she spoke inside this house, as though she owned it, made my irritation deepen immediately.

I looked upstairs where Julianna was standing in my doorway, face pale.

So this might be the woman.

" Are you talking about me?" I asked, folding my arms.

Her eyes snapped toward me, gold flashing as her wolf raged behind them.

" You dare to speak!" She rushed toward me. " How dare you run away from the house? Who gave you permission to -"

Before she could even get close to my face, a sharp slap landed across her cheek. The sound silenced every noise in the room.

Her face snapped to the side, and for a brief second, she couldn't move or process what had just happened. Even the servants froze in place, too stunned to breathe properly.

When she finally came to her senses, she looked at me, eyes wide, lips bleeding. " Did... Did you just -"

Slap!

" You -"

Another slap...

This time, the force sent her stumbling backward. Rage burned inside her eyes, but beneath it, fear had already started crawling in.

By this point, my father, who had been too cowardly to utter another word, finally snapped. " What are you doing?" He snarled.

I raised my hand, but not toward her. Toward him. " Stay where you are. Offending the Luna of the Blackhowl Wolf Pack wouldn't be good for you either."

His expression crumbled immediately. Obviously, he didn't expect me to use my position so quickly. Fear flashed across his face for a split second before he masked it again.

" You... You dared to hit me. Did you forget who I am?"

" You want another slap?" I asked, tilting my head. " Perhaps you are too thick-skinned to understand what position you are holding right now."

Her face turned pale, then purple with embarrassment and humiliation. The arrogance from before was cracking apart piece by piece.

" It's time for the departure. Utter another word, and I will skin you alive and feed you to my pets!"

She trembled, and instead of following me, she turned toward my parents and yelled, " Who is it? This is not your daughter!"

Before my father could say another word, I grabbed a pile of tissues from the tissue box and shoved them right into her mouth.

A muffled sound escaped her throat as panic flickered across her face.

" You are standing in the Alpha household. Disrespecting me might cause you to be severely punished." I leaned closer, my eyes digging into hers. " Or perhaps you would like to be hung over an open stove and slowly baked?"

I smirked, a slow, throaty chuckle escaping my throat. " I have learnt lots of ways to get rid of this tongue that moves too much."

This time, she flinched under my gaze. All the arrogance vanished from her face, replaced by confusion and fear. She finally understood that I wasn't bluffing.

" Let's go, Ma'am. Don't let my Wolf get too hungry. It likes to suck the blood out of people like you."

I straightened my back and looked at my parents. " Thanks for letting me remove the leash from my neck, ' Father'. "

The word father made him visibly flinch. Because he knew what I meant by that. He spent years trying to keep me restrained, not out of love, but because he feared what I would become once I stopped listening to him.

But too late.

He should have tightened the leash instead of giving in for money.

" Don't do it?" Dad's voice came through the mind-link, shaky.

For the first time in years, I could hear genuine fear inside his voice. Not fear for me. Fear of me.

A cruel smirk played on my face. " C'mon, Dad. Never say no to a psychopath. You can't bear the consequences."