THE LUNA QUEEN IS ME

2: The Good Daughter

NYX

Zora didn't just leave one random evening. She left at the peak of the preparation of her wedding with Kael Volkov, the alpha king of the stormbringer pack.

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.

Until the day we woke up, and she was gone with a handwritten note left on her dressing table. 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 never found out the truth,” she sobbed, and I could picture my father holding her on their bed, “if we never knew that woman switched our children at birth, she wouldn't have had to move into this house and our poor baby wouldn't have 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's been 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.

That was why this news wasn't just about a pregnancy; it was about hope, too. With this baby, I'd finally give Kael the heir he's always wanted, and that'd make him see me and love me.

With this baby, I would give my parents a grandchild who would make them warm up to me.

The news elated me in ways I couldn't describe, and as I drove to the house, I thought about the best way to announce it. I'd prepare each of their favorite meals, and when they were halfway done, I would tell them that we were getting a new addition to the family.

That seemed perfect.

I got to the house, and I walked with light steps into the main building, my lips stretched into a smile I couldn't control. My steps faltered just before entering the sitting room. I could hear muffled words, and I could smell a familiar scent that I couldn't decipher.

It made my stomach tighten, but I managed to put one foot in front of the other and walk into the living room, where everyone was gathered. My eyes fell on my husband.

In his arms was a crying lady, and even though her back was to me. I knew who she was.

Zora.

Zora was back.