My Cinderella Luna: Tests and Temptations

Chapter 5: A Look in the Past

Five years later…

“Arinya!” Isbeth shouted at the top of her lungs. 

“Coming!” 

Dressed in a simple, almost peasant like dress, Ari hurriedly opened Isbeth’s room. 

“Didn’t you know how to knock, Ari? What if I am not dressed?!” The older sister hissed to Ari when her violet eyes popped out of the door. 

“Oh,” Ari, stepped back and closed the door, then knocked twice. 

Isbeth was grinning from ear to ear when she said, “come in, Ari.” 

“What is it, Isbeth?” She wondered what was Isbeth’s task for her this time. Through the years, Isbeth had servants come to her beck and call but she always insisted on asking Ari on some random requests. 

Isbeth’s insecurity had gotten the best of her a long time ago. She watched Ari bloomed into a woman and through the years, she hated the lingering states her younger sister garnered in their packs. She hated that she was calm, friendly, and loved by many. She hated her overall. 

She and Dessa bullied Ari in the past years, but they couldn’t break her kind and forgiving spirit. And that made them hate her more. Thus, her pathetic favors from Arinya. 

“Ari, can you help me fasten my corset? You have such gentle hands that even if you pulled it tight, it wouldn’t hurt me.” She asked her. 

Ari knew what Isbeth was doing but she never wanted to dwell on petty things, she simply went to her back and pulled the strings of her corset. 

“I am going to a party at a friend’s house. It was formal, Ari, can you please help select which dress to wear?” 

“Can you grab those three dresses? Mother bought them for me the other day.” Isbeth was beaming with pride. She knew that Ari did not have such fancy dresses, their mother only bought her clothes when she was asked by their father to do so and that would be on special occasions. Without such, Ari would not be getting any. 

“Sure, do you think the tightness is comfortable enough?” She casually asked as she also gently brushed Isbeth’s well-kept dark hair.

“Your hand can do magic, Ari, can you give me a massage later when I get back?” 

“No problem! After I massage Luna Selda, I will go to your room. Is that alright?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I forgot your session with momma, ok, go to her first then massage me, alright.”

“Yep!” 

Ari turned to get the dresses hanging on Isbeth’s closet. 

“They are all so beautiful, Isbeth! I think this light blue color would suit you!” Ari grasped admiring the dresses, her hands touching the delicate and expensive fabrics. 

“Well, that blue color is too wholesome for me, Ari, the occasion is rather darker, so I’d prefer the maroon one. Get it for me.” Isbeth was gleaming with fancy thoughts as she stretched her hands towards her sister. 

“Here ya go." Ari carefully gave her the dress.

Isbeth wanted to show Ari that she was sexier and prettier, and so she asked her to help her get dressed, which she obliged after she finished putting on her make-up and made her wait longer than necessary. 

“You look lovely, Isbeth.” She was indeed stunning, her maroon long dress hugged her body like a second skin, a slit which lasted up to her upper thigh was a sweet invitation to male werewolves. 

Ari followed Isbeth silently on their villa’s hallway as she insisted that she take her out. They heard an urgent car honk outside their main door. 

“Blake is picking me up, Ari.” Isbeth wanted to rub that to Ari’s face. Blake was her best friend but he happened to be hers. Even though she was destined to be the next Luna of the Eternal Moon Pack, Isbeth intended to enjoy as much as she can with Blake's hot company in the Olympians Pack. Why not, he was her mate and he was the most popular man in their pack. She deserved such a man, and when the time came for her to go to Arcus’ arms, she could simply break the bond with Blake. It would break his heart for sure, but Blake was not Isbeth’s first  and only love, it would always be Arcus. 

In their generation, mate bond was not as acknowledged as before as some werewolves failed to meet their mates so they started marrying unmated werewolves. Still having a mate was a preference for them though as it was such a fulfilling and complete union of werewolves as many told them, but the younger generation did not rely much on finding their mates, they relied on finding love. Through the years, marriage between mated werewolves still existed but it was kind of luck to find a mate in time in a werewolf’s life. If he or she found her mate before marriage then it was a lucky occurrence that they could still be together, if they didn’t find a mate, then they would move on. 

If they were already married and suddenly found their mate, some opted to leave their current partner to move with the mate, but some also found the courage to stay with their current partners. The pull of the mate bond depended on  werewolves, some were not able to resist it, while some could easily break the mate bond. It was still a mystery why such a difference was allowed by the Moon Goddess, but the werewolves have accepted it through time. 

“Hi Ari!” She snapped out of her musing when she heard Blake. How long was it? It had been almost two years when Blake turned 18 and found out that Isbeth was his mate. And ever since then, though Blake never changed his treatment towards Ari, she knew how things drastically changed between her and Blake. But what Ari could do, they were mates, there was nothing she could do about it. 

“Hello, Blake, you look, so, uhhm formal.” She grinned at him not minding how she looked in contrast to their attire. She was wearing a peasant dress, just one among her house dresses that her stepmother brought her to wear while her father was gone from their conference. Ari was very well aware that she was being treated unfairly by her stepmother when her father was gone on a trip but she chose to be silent about it. She didn’t want to hurt her father and lose the smile on his face. 

Meanwhile, Blake was wearing a tuxedo, which emphasized his broad shoulders and elegance as a man. He has always been gorgeous, but dressed up properly only improved his looks. 

“He was about to tear a lot of girls' dreams, tonight.” Isbeth caressed Blake’s cheek, which caused him to exhale loudly. The mating bond was acting between them again, Ari saw how his blue eyes turned darker. 

Ari wanted to roll her eyes. 

"I’m going in now guys, enjoy your night." Ari simply said. She was about to turn around when she felt Blake’s fingers around her wrist. 

She casually turned to him, the wind blew from her back, letting him inhale her scent. Blake’s eyes grew darker, he stepped back from Isbeth’s touch and faced Arin. 

“Tomorrow, remember the date tomorrow?” 

“What date was tom----” Ari remembered. “Oh my! Yes, ok, I’ll see you, Blake!” Eyes sparkling with the secret they have kept for years, 

“Yeah.” Blake simply stared at Ari. Welcoming her pull effect on him.  He had been in love with her and he was waiting for the right time. He had a mate but he was letting Ari turn 18, when the time came, he would ask her out. He was just taking his time.  

Blake didn’t want to play with Isbeth's feelings, but she was the one who repeatedly seduced him. Being a man and being her mate, it was difficult to resist Isbeth, but Blake always knew who he wanted. And it was only Arinya. And Blake always thought he and Isbeth already had an agreement, he knew that his mate was pinning to be the Eternal Moon Pack's Luna, she repeatedly told him that. And he was okay with it, in fact he couldn’t wait enough. 

Blake was probably attracted to his mate as it was destined for him to be, but he was also glad to be in love with the girl in front of him. He would never regret choosing her someday. She was his angel, guiding him through times. Time stopped for Blake as he let Ari’s soul look into him. 

“Blake, we’re going to be late.” Isbeth irritbaly said. She was used to the closeness of the two but she couldn’t help but to feel a pang of jealousy. Even Blake couldn’t seem to get his eyes off of her little sister despite her peasant clothes. 

She pulled him to her. 

Ari slightly smiled at Blake as their secret smiles about tomorrow’s plan lingered in her mind. 

Blake probably lacked the time for her as much as before, but she knew Blake never changed. Their friendship still remained in the past two years that he was attached to the hip of Isbeth. If not, their friendship only grew deeper. And with that she was very grateful. 

Ari went to her stepmother’s room, she was about to provide her a massage. Every time that her father was away from home for Alpha’s conferences, she would be called every night at her stepmother’s. 

Ari got tired from massaging her stepmother and Dessa but she still had to wait for Isbeth for she also requested to be massaged tonight.

Ari patiently waited for her older sister, sitting by her room beside her window. 

She looked up to the moon. 

“Moon Goddess, can you tell that my mother is alright right now?” Tears pricked her eyes, but she never dared them to fall. She knew she did not deserve them. 

Ari knew why her mother killed herself. 

She remembered her soft melodic voice which kept her company at night. She remembered her soft touches and loving words as she told her stories before she slept. But suddenly everything changed. 

Her mother, Willa, was caught by her father having an affair. The deed was even done in their master’s bedroom. 

She remembered her father destroying the rest of the room in his bare hands, while her mother tried to stop his father and explained herself repeatedly. 

“I couldn’t do it to you Orion, you know I couldn’t!” Her mother pleaded for her father to listen. She grabbed Orion’s short sleeves to stop him from destroying their love nest. 

“But stil, you did it, Willa, you f*****g did it.” He circled his fingers on Willa’s wrist tightly, causing her to wince in pain. “Don’t you dare touch me ever again."

It had been days that Ari was feeling the cold treatment between her parents and it was the only time that they both erupted so suddenly. 

“Arin, come, you are not supposed to listen when elders talk, come with me.” Her caretaker told her. 

Ari walked backwards, praying to the moon goddess as she let her caretaker pull her in her arms. 

Few days had passed, Ari, saw how her father treated her mother coldly, and one day, her father brought with him Selda and her two sisters. 

Then, she learned that Selda was her father’s lover who gave him two daughters. His father met his mother, his mate, thus, he left Selda for Willa. But now that he learned of Willa’s betrayal, Orion didn’t care anymore about his mate. She had become nothing, just like her traitor of a lover, whom he killed immediately. 

Orion was in pain, Ari saw it with her own two eyes. Sometimes, her father would embrace her tightly that it was hard for her to breathe, but she let him be because she knew that her father needed as much consolation that she could give. And the same amount of love she gave to her mother.  

Ari thought that her parents would reconcile eventually, but when Orion brought his new family to their villa, the spark of hope in Willa disappeared. She no longer went out of her room, she no longer visited Ari at night to sing for her. 

It was the third day that Ari had not seen her mother when her father told her the news. Luna Willa was missing, she was last seen on the way to the cliff, her pieces of clothing were seen on its edge. It was believed that she jumped in the cliff as a wolf. Her mother was believed to be dead. 

Ari saw her father cry in front of her that day. He repeatedly told her ‘I’m sorry, little star, I’m so sorry.’

She clutched her father’s chest, crying hard on his chest. She couldn’t believe her mother. She couldn’t believe her mother would die, taking her own life. Ari was shook to her very core. She was only five, and since then, Ari thought that she needed to take care of her father for Willa. If Willa was not able to do so, then she would be the one to do it. As her father never changed his treatment towards her despite his divided attention since he already had three daughters, Arin never felt left out. 

Orion made sure that she knew how much she was treasured by him and that was enough for Ari. She was in fact, very thankful that her father never changed towards her. She was the daughter of Willa, who betrayed her father, but he still chose to love her no matter what. 

The night turned into night, it was 3:30 AM when Isbeth arrived with Blake. Arinya, who was already dosing off the window, woke up and readied to help her sister change and settle for the night.