The Rejected Luna Claimed By The Lycan King

The Funeral That Wasn’t

The words of the guard remained in the air and lingered long after he had spoken.

“For your body.”

At first I didn't move.

I felt my brain had not been working right.

My body.

Not me.

Just my body.

Lucian sat opposite me silently, observing my response. The wounded Shadowfang guard was still on his knees on the ground, shaking slightly waiting to see what would happen next.

“Explain,” said Lucian calmly.

The guard swallowed his tears.

The pack… they said she was dead, he said quickly. “According to the council, it is officially.”

My fingers slowly tightened.

I whispered "No!".

The guard nodded quickly.

“They held a funeral, too,” he added. “Two days ago.”

I turned my head to him.

“What?” I asked sharply.

Lucian didn’t interrupt. He just watched.

The guard was now nervous.

“They said the Luna died in captivity,” he went on. That her body was killed in the rogue attack.

It made my chest hurt.

Lost.

Of course.

A convenient story.

I was silent, "They didn't even look for me.

The guard hesitated.

“They… thought you were dead,” he said slowly. Then the council agreed it was so.

My breathing started to become irregular.

“And Adrian?” I asked.

The guard glanced down.

“He went,” he said.

The impact was a lot harder than I could have hoped.

I clenched my fists in my hands.

I repeated myself slowly, “He came to my funeral.

The guard replied, "Yes.

Silence fell again.

My mind was like it was split in half.

A funeral.

For me.

Until my time was still on me.

“Switched you out in a hurry,” Lucian said, unexpectedly.

I looked him slightly in the eye.

His tone wasn’t mocking.

It was observant.

The guard added hurriedly as if to fill the silence, “Clara Wells is now fully recognized as Luna.”

My stomach twisted.

Of course she was.

My best friend.

My replacement.

My betrayal.

I didn't even have to wait, I said quietly.

My voice was far away even from me.

Lucian rose slowly to his feet.

“That is to be expected,” he said.

I scrutinized him with a gaze.

“Expected?” I repeated.

“Yes,” he replied. Grief does not pause for the power.

I stared at him.

I breathed rapidly with my chest rising and falling irregularly.

“They buried me,” I said.

Lucian nodded once.

“Officially.”

My hands shook a bit.

I was their Luna,” I whispered quietly.

“You were,” Lucian corrected.

It caused a c***k in me somewhere.

I looked away.

In my mind pictures darted.

Clara sitting in my seat.

Adrian beside her.

The council that announced my death.

A funeral I never saw.

A body that they never found.

And yet…

They moved on.

So easily.

So quickly.

A sharp sensation came up in my chest.

Anger.

Real anger.

Not pain this time.

Something hotter.

I said, “They didn't even hesitate.”

Lucian took his time to look at me.

“No,” he said. “They didn’t.”

I turned 360 degrees towards him.

Now my voice was softer, more pronounced.

“They replaced me as if I didn't even exist.”

“Yes,” he replied.

It was worse because of his simple answers.

Slowly my hands tightened.

“And Clara…” I could hear myself saying too quietly, “…?”

“The biggest help she gets is from me,” Lucian said.

I exhaled sharply.

I slowly said, “I’m a ghost.”

Lucian nodded once.

“Yes.”

Which meant…

I could move.

Lucian noticed my face.

“Now you understand,” he said, “you understand.”

I remained silent for a few seconds.

I was now thinking quicker.

I think Shadowfang thought I was dead.

I was buried by Adrian.

Clara had taken my place.

No one was looking for me as me.

Only my body.

A body which ceased to matter.

I slowly lifted my head.

I said quietly, “They won't be expecting me.”

“No,” Lucian replied.

I didn't feel pain in my chest again, but it did tighten this time.

It was from another source.

Something steadying.

Something dangerous.

I looked him in the eye now.

“So that I can move about,” I said.

“Yes,” he confirmed.

There was a long silence afterwards.

I could already sense it filling me in my head.

The shift.

The realization.

I did not fall into their world now.

Not as I used to be.

I could see them.

I could plan.

I could prepare.

I never was alive to them.

Lucian was watching me intently.

“What will you do with that?” he asked.

I didn't respond right away.

I could see Clara's smile in my mind.

Adrian’s silence.

The council’s judgment.

The funeral that I never went to.

The child I didn't get to see.

I became stiff in my place.

Slowly I glanced at Lucian.

Now my voice was as if it were calm.

Clear.

Certain.

“Then let them mourn…”, I whispered.

I paused.

My eyes cleared up a bit.

“When they don't expect me I'll come back.”