Replacement Luna

Welcome to The Pack

The manor was even more intimidating up close. Gothic spires, stone gargoyles, and massive wooden doors that looked like they belonged on a castle. The whole place screamed old money and dark secrets.

"You really commit to the aesthetic, don't you?" I said.

"It was built in 1642. We've maintained the original architecture." Alexander led me up the front steps. "The pack values tradition."

"Of course you do," I said.

The doors opened before we reached them. A woman in her fifties stood in the entrance, dressed in a crisp black uniform. Her eyes—pale yellow, almost gold—fixed on me with laser focus.

"Welcome home, Alpha." She bowed her head. "And welcome, Luna. I'm Roselyn, head of household staff."

I held out my hand to shake. She stared at it like I'd offered her a dead fish.

"We don't shake hands, Luna. We bow to acknowledge rank." Her tone was patient but firm. "You'll learn."

"Right. Because that's not weird at all."

Alexander's hand pressed against the small of my back—a warning or reassurance, I couldn't tell. "Roselyn has been with the pack for sixty years. If you need anything, ask her."

Sixty years. She didn't look a day over fifty.

"How old are you people?"

Roselyn's lips twitched. "Wolves age slowly once we reach maturity. I'm ninety-three, Luna."

"Of course you are." I was never going to get used to this.

We stepped inside, and I nearly gasped.

The entrance hall was massive. Marble floors, vaulted ceilings, a grand staircase that split in two directions. And everywhere—in paintings, tapestries, carved into the woodwork—wolves.

But what caught my attention was the portrait above the staircase.

A woman with blonde hair and startling green eyes, wearing a dress from another century. She was beautiful in that timeless way that transcends fashion or era. And she was smiling, like she knew a secret the rest of us would never understand.

"Isabelle," I said softly.

Alexander followed my gaze. "Yes."

"She's beautiful."

"She was." His voice was carefully neutral. "The pack loved her. When she died, half of them went feral with grief. Took me years to stabilize things."

I wanted to ask more, but the sound of footsteps interrupted us.

"Alpha! Luna!" A chorus of voices rang out as pack members emerged from various doorways. They all dropped to one knee, heads bowed.

"Rise," Alexander said. "My mate has had a long day. We'll do formal introductions tomorrow."

"Actually—" A man stepped forward. Mid-thirties, dark hair, sharp features, and the white coat of a doctor. "I should examine the Luna tonight. To make sure the bonding process is proceeding correctly."

"Dr. Kael," Alexander acknowledged. "Aurora, this is our pack physician."

"Hi." I tried for friendly. "But I'm fine, really. Can we do the medical stuff tomorrow?"

"The mate bond can have... unexpected effects on humans," Kael said carefully. "It's better if I check you over now. Just to be safe."

Something about the way he said it made my skin prickle. "What kind of unexpected effects?"

"Nothing to worry about," Alexander cut in. "Kael is the best. You're in good hands."

Another figure pushed through the crowd—a woman in a tight red dress that left very little to the imagination. Dark hair, sharp cheekbones, and eyes that assessed me like a threat.

"So this is the new Luna?" She circled me slowly. "She's... small. Are you sure she can handle pack politics, Alex?"

"Vivianne." Alexander's tone held a warning. "Aurora, this is Vivianne. My personal secretary."

Personal secretary. Right. Because that's definitely all she was.

"Nice to meet you," I said, even though it wasn't.

Vivianne's smile was all teeth. "We'll see." She turned to Alexander. "The Elder Council wants to meet with you. Tonight. It's urgent."

"They can wait until morning."

"They were quite insistent."

Alexander looked at me. "Will you be alright if I step away for an hour?"

No. Absolutely not. Don't leave me with these people.

"I'll be fine," I said.

"Roselyn will show you to our quarters. Get some rest. I'll be back soon." He squeezed my hand once, then followed Vivianne down a side corridor.

Our quarters. I was going to be sharing a room with him. Sharing a bed, probably.

This was all moving way too fast.

"This way, Luna." Roselyn gestured toward the staircase.

I followed her up, acutely aware of the pack members watching my every move. Their expressions ranged from curious to skeptical to outright hostile.

Great. I was definitely going to get murdered in my sleep.

Roselyn led me down a long hallway lined with more portraits—all wolves or people who were probably wolves. We stopped at a set of double doors carved with intricate wolf designs.

"The Alpha's chambers," Roselyn said. "Your chambers now as well."

She opened the doors, and I stepped into...

A museum.

Everything was decorated in deep reds and golds, heavy furniture that looked priceless, and absolutely everywhere—pictures of Isabelle. Paintings on the walls. A photograph on the nightstand. Even a portrait above the fireplace.

"Um." I turned to Roselyn. "Is this... normal?"

Her expression softened slightly. "The Alpha never moved her belongings after she passed. Some things are too painful to let go."

"Right." So I was expected to live in a shrine to my husband's dead wife. This was fine. Totally fine.

"Will you require anything else, Luna?"

"No, I'm good. Thanks."

Roselyn bowed and left, closing the doors behind her.

I was alone.

I walked slowly around the room, taking in the details. Isabelle's hairbrush still on the vanity. Her perfume bottles. A robe draped over a chair like she'd just taken it off.

Two hundred years, and he hadn't moved anything.

I sat on the edge of the massive four-poster bed and tried not to think about how Isabelle had probably slept here. Probably died here.

A knock at the door made me jump.

"Come in?"

Vivianne entered without waiting for permission. She'd lost the predatory smile, replaced by something that almost looked like concern.

"I need to tell you something," she said. "Before it's too late."

"What?"

She glanced at the door, then moved closer. "Alexander isn't just an Alpha. He's cursed. Has been since Isabelle died. Every full moon, he loses control. Becomes something worse than a wolf. More violent. More dangerous."

My heart started pounding. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that whatever you think this marriage is, whatever romantic notions you might have—throw them away. Alexander doesn't want a wife. He wants a replacement. And when he realizes you're not her, when you can't be what he needs..." She met my eyes. "Run. As far and as fast as you can."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I liked Isabelle. She was kind. And I don't want to watch another Luna destroy herself trying to fix a man who can't be fixed." Vivianne headed for the door. "Lock your door at night. Don't trust anyone. And whatever you do, don't go into the west wing. That's where he keeps her things. Her real things. And he's killed people for less than trespassing."

She left before I could respond.

I sat there, processing.

Cursed. The west wing. Killed people.

This just kept getting better.

I got up and tried the door to the hallway. Locked from the outside. Of course it was.

"Perfect." I was trapped in a dead woman's room in a mansion full of werewolves, married to a cursed Alpha who might or might not be planning to murder me.

Mom would've known what to do. She always knew what to do.

But Mom was gone. And I was on my own.

I changed into a nightgown I found in the closet—probably Isabelle's, like everything else—and climbed into bed. The sheets smelled like sandalwood and something wild, like pine forests and cold nights.

They smelled like Alexander.

I stared up at the canopy and tried not to cry.

I'd traded one prison for another. At least with Richard and Vequene, I knew what I was dealing with. Here? I had no idea what was real and what was lies.

The mark on my hand pulsed with warmth.

I touched it gently, and for just a moment, I felt something—a presence, warm and alive, somewhere in the manor. Alexander. I could feel him, even at a distance.

The mate bond.

"This is insane," I whispered to the empty room.

But my mark glowed brighter, and despite everything, I felt a little less alone.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, knowing that tomorrow would bring answers I probably didn't want to hear.