THE LUNA QUEEN IS ME

2: Zora is Back

NYX

Zora's disappearance didn’t just happen one random evening. She left at the peak of preparations for her wedding to Kael Volkov, the alpha king of the Moonfall pack.

Kael, who was now my husband.

The wedding preparations began roughly five months after I moved in, and it was already the talk of the city, with multiple invitations sent out and the largest event center booked.

We were all going to move in with her at her marital home because Kael had built a towering mansion, and, being an orphan, he wanted to keep Zora’s family close to her. She didn't object. In fact, she seemed delighted by the news.

Everything was going all well. She was delighted by the fact that she was getting married to her childhood love. We were closer than ever, and even though little things were still going wrong in the house, she was always quick to come to my rescue and to prove that she was the perfect daughter and sister.

Little things like what, you might ask.

When I moved in with my biological parents officially, everything seemed to be going well. My parents were… okay. They didn’t treat me badly, at least.

Zora, however, was the sweetest soul.

She took me everywhere. She booked events and outings, spa dates, and movie dates for us together. She introduced me to her close friends as the original daughter, whom she stole her life in comical tones that made everyone at the table laugh.

She introduced me to her chosen mate, the alpha prince of one of the two most reputable packs in the country, Kael Volkov. He was a man whose eyes always followed Zora wherever she went, and meeting him reminded me that my real family was wealthy and had connections with people of the highest status.

We stayed up all night binge-watching kdramas and listening to songs. She was the sister I never had, but despite how hard she tried to make me feel welcome, I just felt like something was missing.

I tried to wave it off as me just overthinking things. It made me feel bitter that while Zora was trying so hard to make me feel welcome and settled, I was doubting her genuineness.

Until things started going missing in the house.

Mom’s rings. Dad's wristwatches. Zora’s jewelry.

“That's weird,” mother said one night when her priceless emerald necklace went missing all of a sudden. “Things have never gone missing in the house before.”

“I wonder who'd steal that necklace,” father chipped in. “I have that for you as an anniversary gift. It has sentimental value.”

They didn't accuse me directly, but their eyes lingered on me, and I knew what they were thinking: things had never gone missing in the house before, not until Nyx moved in.

They didn't have to verbalize their thoughts until a maid cleaning my room found a box of the stolen jewelry under my bed.

“You should have asked us, Nyx,” my mother roared while my father held her, “if you needed jewelry or anything, you could have asked us. Why steal?”

I fell to my knees in tears, unable to believe the box that had been dragged out from under my bed.

“I didn't steal anything. I've never stolen anything in my life.”

“Come on, Nyx,” Father's voice was calm, but I could feel the anger beneath, “You don't have to lie. Just own up to it, and you'll be forgiven.”

“I can't own up to something I didn't do.”

“Just shut up. You…”

“Mom,” Zora rushed in from where she had gone to get her hair done. She knelt down beside me and quickly pulled my quivering body into a hug, “Stop it. Even if Nyx stole them, you shouldn't talk to her like that.”

“I didn't steal anything.”

“It's fine, Nyx,” she patted my hair slowly, her eyes bright with worries, but there was still a taunting undertone in her voice and smile at the corners of her lips, “there's no stealing here, we're all family. You just took them. Whatever is mine belongs to you. Whatever is Mom’s and Dad's belongs to you, too. You're the real daughter afterall.”

What was that even supposed to mean?

“I didn't take anything, Zora. I wouldn't take anything without permission.” I kept trying to defend myself

“It's fine,” she didn't stop patting my hair as she turned to our parents, “Nyx grew up in poverty. Her mother was wretched, and she's probably seeing all these things for the first time in her life. Let's give her grace. Even if she took them without our permission, we should understand her. Afterall…”

My dismissed feelings suddenly evaporated in a searing anger that made me shrug her hand off me in a shove.

“I said I didn't steal it!” I thundered in frustration. “I didn't take it without permission. Why won't anyone believe me!”

“Oh f**k,” Zora yelled, holding her hand that I just shrugged off, and with her face contorted in pain. Our parents rushed to her while I shrank back.

“I think she sprained my shoulder from how she pushed it,” she winced and yelped loudly when our mother tried to touch her shoulder.

“What on earth is wrong with you, Nyx?” Mother snapped at me, looking down at me in disdain and disgust. “Your sister was only trying to defend you.”

“I swear, I didn't…”

“Just shut up,” she continued, “and stay in your room. You've done more than enough harm.”

They ushered a limping Zora out of the room, even though it was her shoulder that I allegedly hurt. I remained in my room till evening. No one bothered to check up on me, even though I could hear their laughter and the jokes they cracked as they watched a family movie together.

That was when I realized that not so much had changed. The abuse might not be physical here, but it was more or less the same. I might be their daughter by blood, but they'd never love me like they love Zora.

I remained in my room, forgotten, hungry, and miserable until someone knocked on my door later in the evening. It was Zora. She had forgiven me for angrily pushing her off, so I could come out of my room now, and I could join them for dinner.

I had to apologize to the family and to Zora, and while eating, Mother told me.

“You can see how perfect Zora is, right? We raised her to be like that, and we expect you to emulate her.”

I nodded, eager and desperate for their love and approval. If they wanted me to become a second Zora, I'd be.

And so I tried to morph myself into what Zora was.

Until the day we all woke up, and she was gone with a handwritten note left on her dressing table.

I don't belong here anymore. Nyx is the real daughter. I can't continue to ignore the fact that she grew up the way she did while I grew up in the luxury that belongs to her. I tried to ignore my feelings, but I keep feeling like my presence in the house is holding my… her birth parents back from loving her the way they should.

That's why I'm leaving.

_ Zora

She didn't take anything from her room. Her bed was still ruffled from where she slept on it, her brush still had her hair in it, and her closet was still full of her clothes, so our parents assumed she was throwing a tantrum and would be back.

But Zora didn't return.

Not on the first day. Not on the second and not even a week after. That was when our parents took it up and got both private and public investigators to look for her. They threw millions into her search, but it all amounted to nothing.

All this time, her wedding date was still counting down. It was already the talk of the town. Her groom wasn't just a random man; he was an alpha king. That was enough reason for her to return, but Zora remained missing.

Our parents aged two years in less than three weeks. Each time her fiancé came over, his shoulders grew more taut, and the shadows in his eyes increased. Their eyes lingered on me, and even though I didn't want to think too much about it, I knew they were blaming me.

I confirmed it when I overheard my mother crying softly in their room late one night.

“I wish we had never found out the truth,” she sobbed, and I could picture my father holding her on their bed, “if we had never known that woman switched our children at birth, she wouldn't have had to move into this house, and our poor baby wouldn't have had to run away because she felt like she didn't belong here.”

My eyes watered, and my hands shook as I walked back to my room. I couldn't sleep that night, and I kept weighing my options.

Should I leave? Would that make Zora return? Would that make our parents happy? Do they dislike me that much?

I turned and tossed, and only one solution remained in my mind.

I was going to leave, too.

I woke up with that resolution, but when I walked into the living area, Kael Volkov was there with my parents. The wedding was just two weeks away, and they had to find a replacement for Zora because this was a royal alliance, and Kael couldn't just pick a bride from another family.

They've concluded without my permission and decided I'd be Zora's replacement.

I instantly turned it down, but my parents made it clear that it was the only option. They indirectly told me that I shouldn't be an ungrateful daughter after all they've done for me, and that I should step in because Zora left because of me.

I had to agree, and so three years ago, I walked down the aisle with a man who wished it were another woman beside him. Royal pack laws mandated that he mark me as his mate, but my parents and Kael decided he would just give me a temporary mark in case Zora returns.

It was three years of no Zora. Three years of playing a dutiful wife and daughter to a man and parents who still wished it was Zora in the house instead of me. Three years of my husband only sleeping with me during mating nights because he needed an heir and he only does it with the light turned off.

Most times, when he's deep in me, the name that fell from his lips wasn't Nyx.

It was Zora.

I was the real daughter and the legal wife, but even after so many years, I remained the unwanted one.

And just when I thought that would change. Just when I thought that this pregnancy was the only hope I had, the only chance to give Kael the heir he's always wanted, and that'd make him see me and love me, to give my parents a grandchild who would make them warm up to me…

Zora was back.

She was right here, crying in my husband's arms, holding onto his shirt as if her life depended on it. My mother was also crying in my father's arms, definitely too relieved that her daughter was finally back.

No one noticed me, and if they did, they didn't say anything.

I remained rooted to a spot, hands on my lower belly, till Zora herself looked up and saw me.

My breath caught in my throat.