Chapter 20: One Step At A Time
1656 Words
Aurora’s POV
“You’re going to leave me?”
Mary stood in front of me, hands nervously clutching the resignation letter she had placed on my bedside table just moments ago. The paper trembled — or maybe it was her fingers. But the sight of it alone felt like a punch straight to my chest.
I swallowed, forcing my voice to remain steady.
“Mary,” I said gently, “why do you want to be transferred?”
Her eyes softened with pain, but she kept her head bowed in respect. “My Luna… it isn’t because I want to. I have to.”
My heart dropped. “Tell me.”
Mary forced a smile, the kind someone wears to keep themselves from falling apart. “My son… he has fallen ill. The healer from the Omega Quarter diagnosed him with a terminal disease. His medication is expensive. Too expensive.” She took a shaky breath. “And with my mother’s passing… there is no one left to care for him while I work.”
Oh Moon Goddess.
Mary was a widow. Her son was barely six. She had already lost too much.
I reached for her hands. “Then let me help you. Please. I will give you the money you need. Just stay with me—”
But Mary flinched back, eyes widening, as if the offer physically hurt her. “No, my Luna.” Her voice trembled, but her resolve held strong. “You have already done enough for me. You gave me shelter when the world turned its back on me. You gave my son a home, warmth—hope. I cannot keep taking from you.”
“But I’m not just giving,” I insisted. “You have earned everything through your loyalty and your work.”
She shook her head firmly. “It is not right. I owe you my respect and service, and I will continue to give that… even from a different position.”
The words lodged painfully in my chest.
Transferred.
To Nova.
That was Alexander’s doing. I was certain of it.
“So this is not your decision,” I whispered. “You’re being threatened. Aren’t you?”
Her silence was my answer.
Mary pressed a hand over her heart and knelt before me, bowing her head until her forehead touched the floor. A sign of unwavering loyalty, something even the royals didn’t ask for.
“My Luna,” she said, her voice strained with emotion, “I will always be loyal to you. No matter where they place me. You are my true mistress. My heart knows its ruler.”
My throat burned. I reached down and urged her to stand.
“But Nova—”
Her name tasted bitter.
Mary hesitated, then spoke cautiously, “She approached me earlier… She said she wanted the most trusted maid of the Luna to attend to her, so she requested for me. The Alpha approved.”
That one sentence was enough to ignite rage in my veins.
Nova wants everything that is mine.
Piece by piece.
Person by person.
Even those who loved me.
I forced myself to stay composed, but the grip I had on my robe tightened until my knuckles turned white.
“I understand,” I said, though the words scraped like glass. “Go. But remember one thing… you are still my person. Always.”
Tears brimmed in Mary’s eyes.
“I will never forget that,” she whispered.
She bowed once more, slower this time, as if reluctant to leave… then turned for the door.
My voice called out just before she reached it.
“Mary.”
She paused.
“If Nova ever treats you wrongly… if she tries to replace your heart’s loyalty… come to me.” I met her gaze, steel beneath the gentleness. “I will protect my people.”
A soft smile cracked through her sorrow. “I know, my Luna.”
And then… she was gone.
The door clicked shut.
And I finally allowed the ache to settle… heavy and cold… like a storm cloud ready to burst.
Even the people closest to me were being peeled away one by one.
Alexander wasn’t just letting Nova into my life.
He was letting her erase me.
But not if I erase her first.
I stood, spine straightening with a silent vow.
They think I am weak because I choose silence.
They think submission means defeat.
But they will soon learn:
I am the Luna.
And I have yet to bare my fangs.
I was born and molded to be the perfect wolf that everyone will look up to. She will never come close to me… not even a little bit.
And even if she came to steal Tanya and Josie next, she will just be an awful copy. A fake Luna, untitled, trying hard.
I refused to let Mary pay the price for their wickedness.
My feet moved before I could think, guided purely by instinct — by the fierce protectiveness that still throbbed in my chest. I pulled on my cloak and hurried through the quiet corridors of the mansion.
The guards bowed as I passed, but none dared speak. Good. My fury simmered just beneath my skin, and one wrong word might’ve unleashed the wolf they all seem to ignore.
Cayden’s chamber was on the west wing — spacious, filled with herbs and bottled remedies that hung from ceiling beams like strange ornaments. The scent of mint and sage curled beneath my nose the moment I stepped inside.
Cayden looked up from a stack of parchment reports, his sharp eyes immediately softening when he noticed my expression.
“Aurora?” He stood, approaching me with genuine concern. “You look as though someone just ripped the moon out of the sky.”
I tried to smile. It trembled.
“It’s Mary,” I said, closing the door behind me. “She’s being transferred to Nova. Against her will.”
Cayden’s face darkened. “Ah. The parasite strikes again.”
“I told you a while ago to just fight back… now, look? You’re being put in a tight spot.” He had to blame me for it now.
I cannot resent my bestfriend anyway… he’s got a point.
I shot him a gentle glare — though I secretly agreed. “Her son is ill, Cayden. Terminal illness, they said. She needs money but refuses to take mine because she believes she owes me too much already.”
Cayden’s jaw clenched. His emotions were always written clearly — unlike mine, which had learned to hide.
“So she’d rather be dragged into Nova’s manipulation than ask for help,” he muttered.
I stepped closer, hands tightly clasped together. “She chose what she thought was best for her child… but she’s hurting. And she doesn’t deserve to go through this alone.”
Cayden raised a brow. “You’re still thinking of her even after she agreed to serve the wrong side. You haven’t changed at all.”
“I’m the Luna,” I whispered, voice barely holding steady. “My strength is not in clawing others down… but lifting them up. And besides, I’d like everything to be a secret so Mary will not be guilty.”
His features softened. The tension in his shoulders eased as he inhaled deeply.
“You want me to heal her son,” he stated, not even asking because he already understood.
“Yes.” Relief washed through me that he saw straight into my heart. “Please, Cayden. If there is anything — anything — you can do for him…”
He ran a hand through his hair, frustration flickering in his gaze. “I cannot promise to cure a terminal illness in a single night… but I can try. I’ll take the boy under my care personally.”
Hope surged in my chest so suddenly that my eyes stung. “Thank you,” I breathed, taking his hands before I could stop myself. “Thank you, Cayden.”
He squeezed my fingers gently, reassuringly. “Always. For you? Always.”
For a moment, the room was quiet. Warm. Safe.
Something I no longer felt anywhere else in this cursed mansion.
“You shouldn’t be the one worrying about servants while your husband parades another woman like a trophy,” he said, bitterness sharpening his tone. “You shouldn’t be forced to watch your life be dismantled piece by piece.”
I swallowed hard. “I know.”
Cayden stepped closer, his voice lower now, too tender for the walls to hear.
“But Aurora… don’t lose yourself. Kindness is not weakness, but don’t let them turn your compassion into a weapon against you.”
I looked up into his eyes, those steady blue eyes that once convinced me the world was still good.
“I won’t submit to them,” I whispered.
Even if I already was.
He studied my face carefully, as if pulling apart every emotion I failed to hide, then nodded once.
“I’ll go see Mary’s son at dawn,” he said. “She will have hope again.”
And in that moment… I realized how lucky I was to still have someone on my side.
Someone who still believed in me, even when my own mate no longer did.
As I turned to leave, Cayden called after me.
“Aurora.”
I paused.
“You are still the Luna,” he said, voice filled with conviction. “Don’t let them forget that.”
The words steadied me… stronger than any armor.
I nodded and slipped back into the hallway, I wonder what she will do next. What her innocent little face would do for her. Because if Nova Wilder wants to take everything from me…
She will soon learn that I do not lose.
What she’ll throw at me… I’ll return it five times.
- Writer
