Bastard Luna: Tribute Bride For The Nothern Alphas

"There was no appendectomy performed on you, Miss Francine. According to the records, you donated a kidney to one Stephany Darius." I stumbled out of the doctor’s office, the test results trembling in my hands. My mind refused to wrap itself around the words I had just heard. A week of waiting for these results after he told me he would trace my surgery records. A month since the surgery. Zane Asher—my mate, my boyfriend, the son of the Beta had assured me that the fatigue I felt after was nothing serious. I never doubted him nor had i suspected betrayal. Zane had been my anchor. My only pillar in this wretched life. The one who held me together when everything else tried to break me apart. Or so I believed. But the words kept replaying and tormenting me: a kidney donation... Stephany Darius. “No, you must be mistaken, doc…” I whispered, forcing myself back into the office, clinging to denial like it was the last rope dangling over an abyss. “This can’t be possible. I never signed up for a kidney donation. I never gave consent.” My voice cracked as I dropped the papers back onto his desk. “There has to be a mistake. Zane is my mate. He loves me. He would never… especially not to my step-sister. The records must be wrong. Please, recheck them again.” Dr. Jareth sighed, the fatigue clear in his eyes. I had been arguing for nearly an hour, refusing to accept the truth. “It took me two weeks to trace the cause of your fatigue and weakness, Francine,” he said, his tone heavy, reluctant. “The records don’t lie. This was a classified file and I risked everything accessing it for you. Because you’re my friend.” His words shredded what little strength I had left. My knees wobbled, my body swaying like it might collapse right there. Why? Why me? Why does cruelty always find its way back to me? “Francine, are you alright?” His chair scraped back as he rushed forward, noticing how hard I was struggling to remain upright. I forced myself to nod, swallowing the sob clawing at my throat. Before he could see the tears threatening to spill, I turned and walked out. Zane… the man I thought was my safe haven. His love, his warmth, his promises has all a lie. He had made me trust and surrender to him but only to carve me open and steal a piece of me for my step-sister. I managed to leave his office, still forcing back the tears burning behind my eyes. When I reached the train station—the only transport my money could stretch to—I boarded the next one bound for the Bloodmoon Pack. Back to my hellhole. Back to my prison. The pack that had never once treated me as one of their own. Not even forty minutes passed before I was back within its walls, only to be greeted by the usual cold stares and malicious sneers. “She’s as shameless as her mother!” someone hissed behind me. “I agree. Look at her. One glance and you’ll know she’s cursed. I wonder why she’s still tolerated here.” “The Alpha should have exiled her long ago. If she stays any longer, she’ll turn into a w***e just like her mother.” Their words pierced but I forced myself to shut them out. It wasn’t the first time I had heard such poison. Their hatred was constant and as predictable as the sunrise. Daughter of a commercial s*x worker. Born from the woman who had stolen the Alpha’s attention and became his concubine. To them, my very existence was a blemish—a stain on their alpha's honour. Worse still, I carried the scent of an omega and had failed to awaken my wolf at sixteen, the golden age when power should have surged through me. So not only was I the pack’s disgrace, I was also its burden. I pushed forward, clutching the hospital papers tighter, my mind restless with thoughts I didn’t want to entertain. I had only one destination in mind. Zane Asher’s chambers. The man I thought was my anchor. The man I thought loved me. But as I approached his door, I froze. Sounds spilled from inside. Breathless moans and deep grunts. The unmistakable rhythm of a skin slapping activity ongoing. My heart stopped as both voices were familiar. Without giving myself time to think, I shoved the door open and to my surprise, the sight I saw was too much to behold. The tears I had fought so hard to hold back since the hospital came crashing down my cheeks, breaking free all at once. “Zane…” My voice cracked, barely more than a whisper. He turned, startled, betraying no hint of guilt on his face but fury that someone had barged in on him. “Why?” My words trembled, drowned in tears. “Why, Zane? I’ve overlooked your betrayals before, I’ve forgiven what I shouldn’t have. But this? Why this?” I wasn’t sure if my question was for the test results clutched in my trembling hand or for the sight of the woman in his bed. Stephany Darius. My step-sister. My gaze drifted to her sprawled on the bed underneath him. Her lips curled into a sneer, her eyes burning with disdain as though my very presence was an unforgivable offense. As though a lowlife like me had no right to intrude on her moment. But I ignored her. She wasn’t the reason I was here. My eyes turned back to Zane, the man who had dragged me into this ruin. “Why are you here, Francine?” Zane’s musky voice cut through the silence coldly. “Don’t you know how to knock before entering the room of a highborn?” The words hit harder than the sight itself. Even with me standing there, even after being caught in betrayal, he didn’t bother climbing off her. He remained pressed against her body, only twisting his head back to look at me. My chest tightened. My voice wavered. “Is this what I get?” Three years. Three long years of carrying a hopeless crush on him. And then five months ago when the Moon Goddess tied our fates, I thought—finally. I thought he would see me. Notice me. Cherish the loyalty and love I had poured into him silently all that time. And he did see me. Oh, he saw me well enough. He lured me deeper into his web, made me fall helplessly, convinced me he was everything I wanted in a mate and a man. But standing here now, watching the lies unravel, the only thing I feel is emptiness. Do I scream at him? Hate him? Rage at this betrayal? Or do I blame myself for being so foolish and pathetic to believe that his love had ever been real? I knew exactly who Zane was—a playboy, arrogant and proud, basking in the privilege of being the Beta's son. I also knew the chances of us ever being truly together were slim. But when his wolf chose me five months ago, when he turned twenty-five, I thought perhaps things would be different. I thought the mate bond would change him. But I was wrong. So very wrong. The sight of them tangled together was more than I could bear. My chest tightened and before the weight of it all could crush me, I fled the room. In my haste, I didn’t even realize I had failed to discuss the test results—the very reason I had come in the first place. But even if I had confronted him, what difference would it have made? What power did my words have against his? Against them, the pack’s favorites and untouchables? What ground could I possibly stand on, when I had signed the kidney donation papers myself? Signed them with blind trust, believing Zane when he told me I needed an appendectomy never knowing I was giving away a part of myself. Never knowing I was being used.