The Jilted Luna

Maybe...

Victoria's POV

Maybe… maybe he only gave in to his desire because he could not act that way with Raquel right now, not while she was carrying his child, I thought.

And just like that, it felt as if a bucket of ice had been poured over me. The cold sank deep into my bones, tearing me out of the fragile belief I had been holding onto and forcing me to face something I had been avoiding for too long.

I felt empty, drained.

I had told myself I had already moved on, that I had let go, but now I could see that it was not true. Letting go was not as simple as I wanted it to be. Hearing Beta Marcus say that my mate had ordered him to take all the core projects away from me felt like a sharp blow to my chest.

Was that not enough proof?

Was that not him showing me I was being pushed aside and replaced? That I had never truly been accepted as the Luna of this pack, and that my place was already being given to Raquel?

What else did I need to see?

Those three days and three nights with Carlisle… was it all something I created in my head? Something I clung to because I wanted it to mean more than it did? Maybe he had only been following desire in those moments. Yes, he had spoken words that reached deep into me, but everyone knew that words spoken in such moments did not always carry truth.

I sank back into my chair as everything came crashing down at once.

From the side of my vision, I noticed Sylas’s face darken.

Like someone had provoked a beast, he moved in an instant, grabbing Marcus and slamming him against the wall. His hand locked around Marcus’s throat as a rough growl left him. “How dare you disrespect our Luna?”

“Luna?” Marcus gave a cold laugh. “Maybe you accept her as your Luna, but I don’t.”

Even with Sylas’s grip tightening, Marcus did not look afraid. His eyes sharpened with something dangerous as his teeth lengthened slightly. This was not simple defiance. It was a challenge.

To him, Sylas had crossed a line by laying hands on him. As second in command, he believed he had every right to respond.

His eyes dropped to Sylas’s hand on his throat, and a crooked smile formed on his lips, as though he was daring him to continue.

The tension in the room rose fast.

I pushed myself up so quickly that my chair fell behind me with a loud crash. My hand struck the table as I raised my voice. “Enough! Take the core projects and leave!”

The command left my mouth stronger than I expected. For a brief moment, both of them froze, caught off guard by the weight in my voice.

Then it was gone, as if it had never been there.

Marcus blinked once, almost as if he was unsure of what he had just felt. With a scoff, he pushed Sylas’s hand away like it meant nothing.

Sylas hesitated for a second, and Marcus used that moment to steady himself. He turned his gaze to me, cold and full of disdain, then looked away.

Before leaving, he threw one last remark over his shoulder. “Just advice, Luna. Know your place. The Alpha does not even look your way anymore. He is busy with his future Luna and his child. You should understand that and stop making yourself a problem.”

With a satisfied smile, he walked out as if he had already won.

A low growl came from Sylas, his anger barely contained, but I raised my hand to stop him.

If I had not acted, Marcus might have already struck. I had seen it in his eyes, the way his body had prepared for an attack. He had been ready to injure Sylas.

And Marcus would not have hesitated. He was angry that Sylas had stood up for me, that someone still chose my side. He wanted to punish him for it.

But I could not allow that. Sylas was my Gamma. The only person in this pack who still stood beside me without question. He was my closest support here. I could not let him get hurt because of my position.

So in that moment, I let it go. My work. My efforts. Everything I had built.

What hurt most was not the loss itself. It was knowing that my own mate had allowed his Beta to walk into my office and take away everything I had worked for. My effort. My sacrifice. My time.

A hollow breath left my lips as I leaned back and stared at the ceiling. For a brief moment, I almost laughed at myself for ever believing there was something to hold onto.

“Luna… you should not have agreed to hand over the core project,” Sylas said softly, standing beside me.

“Even if I refused, they would still take it,” I replied quietly. My voice felt tight. “Whatever I chose, the result would be the same. The only difference is that I would make things worse for both of us. And for what? I cannot let you get hurt.”

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to hold everything in place. My chest hurt. My jaw tightened. The pressure behind my eyes told me I was close to breaking.

And just as Marcus had said, my mate did not look for me in the days that followed.

Carlisle stayed with Raquel.

They were seen together across the pack grounds, as if nothing else existed around them. She walked beside him freely, and people turned to look wherever they went.

She even played with the pups in the open space, laughter leaving her easily as she moved among them. Her face looked bright, her smile warm and effortless.

Carlisle stayed near her most of the time. His expression around her was calm, softer than anything I had seen directed at myself. Sometimes he even joined in, as if he belonged there with her.

A picture of something whole.

I did not need to see everything myself. The pack made sure I heard it all. The whispers spread everywhere, carried through every corner like smoke that refused to clear. With it came stares that lingered too long and expressions that carried quiet judgment.

Little by little, something inside me faded.

Day by day, the light in my eyes dimmed, until everything I had rebuilt after those fleeting moments with Carlisle fell apart again.

It felt like I had been brought back to where I started.

No.

Even worse than before.

Those nights we shared lost their meaning. Maybe they had never had any. Maybe to him, they were nothing more than a mistake, something he now regretted.

And Marcus made sure I never forgot that possibility.

He began coming to my office more often. Not for work, but to deliver words I never asked to hear. He spoke about Carlisle and Raquel as if it were entertainment, describing their time together, their laughter, their closeness, their happiness.

Every visit felt planned to hurt.

And with nothing else to focus on, I was left alone with my thoughts.

They turned on me in silence, circling around everything he said, pulling me deeper into doubt.

Bit by bit, it wore me down, until all I could feel was the ache of a love I was no longer sure belonged to me.