Return of The Betrayed Luna

Chapter 2 : Naomi And Juliette

Naomi remembered the day she left her pack. It was a bright day that gradually sunk into a grey sky as it ended. Her heart was restless all day long and she knew her time in that pack was coming to an end.

That day she had another huge fight with her mate. Early in the morning, she was locked into her room by that man and then she was summoned to the pack jury, who had already decided to end her time as Luna in the pack and officially exiled her.

Naomi thought the sky on that day was exceptionally accurate to what she felt, cold and dull. The exile was not as painful as the betrayal of her loved ones.

She left the pack with the intention of starting a new life in a place where no one knew her. It was supposed to be an easy change as she had given up on her feelings long ago. The old love had been extinguished with time. A relationship can't be sustained on obligation alone.

Naomi's heart was fixed on starting anew, but Fate had different plans for her.

She was attacked by a group of rogues and killed. It started raining after they left her body cold on the hard concrete. Blood and water mixed and drippled down the street in an unstoppable stream.

Naomi's body was rigid and cold. She had died with a dream of a new life.

Life was unpredictable for sure. It ended when she wanted to live. And when she accepted death, she was given another chance.

Naomi woke up once again to see the same ceiling over her head. Her head was throbbing painfully and every little movement sent a jolt of pain all over her body. It was a strange pain. Almost like her muscles were stiff after a long run in the woods. It did not exist a few hours ago.

Closing her eyes, Naomi tried to remember how she fainted. She recalled that man in the dining room calling her Juliette and then nothing. Everything went blank from there. Nothing triggered that reaction as far as she remembered.

A series of nervous mumbling distracted Naomi from her web of thoughts. She tilted her head to see another person in the room.

It was the girl who served her earlier. She was worriedly handling a bunch of medicines and muttering random things. She was sitting on a stool without looking up, so she didn't notice that Naomi was awake. Naomi reached out to touch the girl to get her attention.

The girl gasped and looked up fearfully. When she saw Naomi was awake, she exclaimed happily.

"Miss! You are awake! How are you feeling?! I gave you your meds earlier, so the fever has gone down. Later, Dr Onil will be here to give you a thorough check up!" The girl rambled on and on. Unwanted noise only increased Naomi's headache.

"I had a fever?"

The girl nodded earnestly, "Yes, miss. You fainted during breakfast and suddenly your body started burning up. I gave you some medicine from the first aid box. How are you feeling now?"

"I am fine," Naomi whispered weakly, "You can go. I want to rest."

The girl did not argue and left after getting up the medicine and a reminder about the doctor's visit later in the day. Once the door was closed, Naomi squeezed her eyes and clenched her teeth.

A series of memories filled her brain like a fast-paced motion picture. Those memories belonged to the girl named Juliette. The one who this body belonged to.

Naomi held on to the painful process until the last bit was registered in her mind. When the flood of information was finally over, Naomi breathed a sigh of relief.

Her brain was packed with images and dialogue. Various people made appearances in the vast memory of the twenty-year-old girl called Juliette.

Juliette's parents died when she was seventeen due to fatal wounds during a rogue attack. They lived on life support for three days, but healing wasn't an option for them anymore.

Knowing that their young daughter would be left alone in this cruel world, they asked their friend for help. Their friend promised to take care of Juliette and, as a result, she was arranged to mate with the man she saw in the dining room earlier. His name was Marvin.

Juliette had a crush on Marvin ever since she was in primary school. They grew up as family friends but, unfortunately, her crush never reciprocated her feelings. He was always serious and prioritised his work before everything else.

When Juliette's responsibility was dropped on him, he did not refuse, but he wasn't happy either. Juliette knew how he felt but did not falter. She thought to herself that it was still good to be close to him and love him with everything she had, even if he didn't love her back.

Three years later, everything was still the same but Juliette was no longer there. Her place was taken by Naomi's soul.

Naomi pressed a hand on her forehead and cursed, this girl had a loveless life. How did Naomi's soul even enter this body? It was impossible for two souls to exist in one body. Which essentially meant that Juliette was already dead.

How did Juliette die? And why was Naomi in her body?

After contemplating for a while, Naomi gave up because her head started to hurt. Juliette had a hard life, but so did Naomi. They were both punished for loving the wrong guy. Anyway, Naomi was now living in this body and nothing could be done about it. And Juliette's death had nothing to do with Naomi.

This life, Naomi decided to treat it as a second chance to live the life she was denied in the past.

Although many things were clear now, it was still difficult to adapt. Naomi was used to carrying her rigid body all day, her body would feel unusually heavy all the time as she aged year after year. It wasn't easy to adjust to a twenty-year-old girl's lifestyle.

As the headache subsided, Naomi got up from bed and stood in front of the mirror. Juliette was a pretty girl. So beautiful that Naomi wanted to keep staring until she digested the fact that now that face belonged to her.

Naomi sat on the bed and kept going through the memories of young Juliette to understand her personality. If others felt a change in her, it might bring problems for Naomi. She had to become Juliette for the rest of her life.

"Miss?" Came the voice of the girl who gave her the medicine. In Juliette's memory, the girl was called Vienna.

"Come inside," she responded. The door opened and in came Vienna with a middle-aged man.

"Miss, the doctor has come to check," Vienna said softly.

"You said he'd come later," Naomi whispered. She smiled at the doctor.

"Yes, but Master called him so he came early. It's good, isn't it?" Vienna smiled ear to ear as if she couldn't contain her happiness about Marvin calling the doctor for Juliette.

Was it really such a big deal for him to do the bare minimum? Naomi thought. He wasn't good to Juliette on a daily basis and when she fainted in front of him, calling a doctor was like reviving her from the dead. Naomi wanted to Patt this girl awake and show her this wasn't the standard she was going for.

The doctor checked her blood pressure, asked some questions and concluded that the fainting must have been due to low blood pressure. He urged her to eat more, his smile said she was too skinny.

Naomi was also worried about this fragile body. Juliette rarely ate a big meal by herself and now she barely had any meat on her body. After the doctor left, she immediately told Vienna to bring her brunch to the room.

Vienna was taken aback, "You will eat here?"

Naomi nodded, "Yes, bring a little of everything. The doctor said I should eat more. It's about time I started paying attention to my own health and stopped ruining myself because of irrelevant people."

Vienna gasped and covered her mouth. Her wide eyes stared at Juliette as if she was seeing a ghost. Juliette had been miss ever since the arranged mating with Alpha Marvin was announced. Vienna was hired to take care of Juliette in every aspect. For the past three years she had never witnessed such an attitude from Juliette!

"Miss, are you feeling okay?" Vienna knelt by the bed and touched her forehead, " Do you still have a fever? Why are you saying such strange things?"

"I had a realisation, let me tell you about it," Naomi lifted her legs and crossed them on the bed for a more comfortable position, "We only get one chance to live. If I wasted my life on someone who doesn't care about me, wouldn't that be a huge disrespect towards life? In the end, it's just me and myself. Who knows who will stay with me and who won't? Love won't save me from death. But I can. So I chose myself over a conceited bastard. Get it?"

Vienna was enlightened by the speech. She nodded in a trance.

Naomi grinned with pearly white teeth. Juliette rarely smiled like this after her parents died, so it was a moment of epiphany for Vienna. Juliette really wanted to change for the better. It made her so happy!

"Alright then! Get me something to eat. Bring everything here!"

Vienna nodded and left for breakfast in a good mood. Vienna wanted her miss to be happy, regardless if it was with master Marvin or without him. As long as Juliette was healthy and smiling genuinely, Vienna would support it!

Naomi believed everything she said to Vienna. Those were her genuine thoughts after experiencing betrayal and death once. She learnt her lesson, she won't be trusted blindly.

When Vienna went downstairs to get breakfast, she saw the doctor talking to Master Marvin. Alpha Marvin was addressed as master of the house because he was used to that form of address from when his father was the Alpha. At the age of twenty-three, he was the Alpha of the pack, but at home he was still the Master.

"Thank you for coming at short notice," Marvin shook hands with the doctor and sent someone to see him out. Vienna slipped into the kitchen and served everything Juliette liked on a tray. She was planning on going back without being noticed but Marvin's eyes were sharp.

"Master," Vienna bowed her head respectfully.

"That's for Juliette?" Marvin asked, watching the full tray with his eyes.

Vienna nodded and answered, "Yes master. Miss wants to eat in her bedroom."

"She won't be able to eat that much. Put some of it back," Marvin ordered, as if he knew Juliette better than anyone in the house. Once the order was given, he turned to leave.

She is Juliette's confidant, so she won't say that Juliette has given up on living for Marvin and, for once, has started to think about herself.

"Um, miss said that she was a bit more hungry today. So I should bring bigger portions of breakfast," Vienna said. Marvin paused and looked back, "She said that?"

"Yes, miss is waiting for me. Shall I leave master?" Vienna asked. She wasn't very scared of Marvin, but the respect towards him came from a tiny amount of fear of his authority. He occupied the highest level of authority in the pack, so it was natural to feel like that in front of him. Vienna held the tray tightly in her hand, ready to bolt.

"Alright, go," Marvin watched as Juliette's private maid rushed up the stairs with the large tray. He frowned at the sudden turn of events. Juliette was behaving differently today.

First, she hated the color purple, but today she wore a purple outfit. It was coincidentally the same outfit he'd brought for her when they got engaged. She never wore it because of the color.

Then she fainted at the sight of him, and now she started eating a lot. He had no opinion on what or how much she ate. As long as she was healthy, he didn't mind. But Juliette had a naturally small appetite. No matter how hungry she was, the amount of food she ate never went up or down.

And the most disturbing thing was that she had not asked to see Marvin yet. Marvin was away due to work for the last few days.

Every time he came back from work, Juliette would arrange a good meal and eat with him. It was a pain because Marvin had a lot to do and sitting for brunch with Juliette was just a waste of time.

Today Juliette did not arrange a meal for them to eat together and even after she woke up, she did not ask to see Marvin. The series of small things were often overlooked, but when they suddenly changed like this, it forced Marvin to think what might have happened.