The Rejected Luna's Revenge

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Anastasia POV

"Mother, you never told me you were gonna leave this soon," I said amidst the tears in my eyes as I gazed at my mother's lifeless body lying on the bare floor of the mortuary.

My heart was heavy with unspoken grief as I just couldn't stop pondering what had led to her sudden death. I could vividly recall how full of life and promising she was just a few days ago...three days ago, if I'm not mistaken. But here she was, lifeless like a piece of dry wood.

There was no sign of someone who'd been suffering from any illness. Of course, the mother I knew never hid anything from me. She told me literally every single thing that happened to her.

The two big questions now were:

What happened?

What secret did she keep from me?

"I wish we had enough money. I would have suggested an autopsy be carried out on her. She doesn't look like someone who died naturally." Lyra, my wolf, told me, her voice filled with emotions.

"You know better. I'm not in a position to do that," I said slowly when I heard my stepfather scream my name as though the mortuary itself had split open.

My heart skipped a beat.

"I'm coming," I responded, my voice shaking, already terrified of what had made him scream my name like that. Goddess. What have I done this time?

I couldn't hesitate. Of course, I knew what hesitation meant. Serious punishment. Life under the same roof with him hadn't been easy. He'd always treated me like a slave, and my mother? There was nothing she could do about it. He had the final say. He made all the provisions, and my mom and I were like beggars he was just doing a favor for.

Life with him when my mother was still alive hadn't been easy, and I couldn't stop thinking about how much worse it was going to be now that she was dead.

With that, I ran out of the room when a short, slim, dark-skinned woman stopped me.

"Anastasia, I'd like to have a word with you," she said.

I furrowed my brows in surprise that she knew my name.

"Who are you?" The words left my mouth out of deep curiosity. Her face wasn't familiar. I couldn't even recall meeting her anywhere. How the bloody hell did she know my name?

"Just a moment, please," she said, her eyes pleading for my attention.

But my stepfather?

I couldn't keep him waiting. He wasn't going to tolerate me if he came and saw me talking with a total stranger.

"I'm sorry, I can't speak with you now," I said, taking a deep breath.

One part of me wanted to hear her out, but another part kept reminding me of my fate if that devil of a stepfather found me here.

I turned to leave when her words slammed into me and stole my breath.

"You can't afford to skip this. It's about your mother's death, and you f*****g have to listen to me."

I froze in my place.

My mother's death?

What was that supposed to mean?

"And what do you know about my mother's death?" I asked in a rush, but before she could answer, a heavy force slammed into me, sending me crashing hard onto the ground.

A sharp pain shot through my elbow. I'd been injured. I turned to scream at whoever it was and was shocked to see my stepfather staring back at me. His green eyes already revealed how provoked he was.

"So it's f*****g going to take you forever to come meet me?!" he roared.

"I was actually coming to meet you..." I trailed off, trembling.

"Why the f**k did you do that?" the woman demanded.

"This is my family business, and you've got to stay away from it," he warned her, his voice dangerously cold. He leaned closer to her. "It seems like you have no idea who I am. And there's no need to explain. If you like your life, stay the f**k away from my family," he warned her.

A brief silence settled in.

He turned to the man behind him.

"Go bring her mother's lifeless body. We're burying her right away," my stepfather ordered.

I was stunned.

He wants to bury the same woman he came minutes ago to deposit here in this mortuary?

Why?

"No... wait..." I stammered.

"It's none of your business, Anastasia. She's my mate, and I decide whatever I want to do with her body." He chuckled dryly. "I wonder why I'm even explaining." He signaled the man, who headed straight to the room I had just come out of.

"Anastasia, something's wrong!" My wolf screamed inside my head.

I badly wanted to oppose that. But then, I'm powerless. He had always had the final say. Kicking against his decision was a death sentence itself. Moreover, he isn't just my stepfather; he's one of the Gammas in our pack. He has the right to do whatever he wants to me, and there would be nobody to confront him.

"You have one hour to go get yourself prepared for the burial," he told me coldly.

I swallowed the lump already forming in my throat.

This can't be happening!

_ _ _ _

In what seemed like a twinkling of an eye, my mother was laid to rest. I couldn't stop observing my stepfather. He wasn't acting like someone who was burying a wife he truly loved. It didn't look like a burial to him. It looked like a relief, something I really couldn't explain.

Immediately, it was all over, he disappeared. I searched around but couldn't find him, only to be met by a guard who instructed me to come to the car with him because my stepfather had instructed him to bring me home.

I didn't argue. I couldn't. I f*****g had no damn right to protest. Like a sheep, I followed him to the car, and soon, we arrived at the mansion.

I headed straight to my room. As soon as I went in, I switched on the light and stop still at the sight of my stepfather sitting on my bed.

"I know you're surprised to see me," he said, his voice dangerously low. "But I can explain." He added, standing up, his belt half loose.

Terrified by his tone and the fact that his belt was half loose, I took two steps backward.

"And why are you here, Father?" I demanded, my mind already screaming what this was.

"Nothing to worry about, my dear. As long as the both of us can understand each other tonight, all's well," he said, a smirk on his face.

Understand each other?

What did he mean?

Before I could ask, he closed the distance between us, lifted me off my feet, and carried me toward the bed.

"Let go of me!" I screamed as he hauled me onto the bed.

My heart was racing. He couldn't r**e me. He's my stepfather, and he wasn't supposed to do something like that to me.

But then, I tried crawling away, but he dragged me by my leg and crossed his legs between mine. Before I knew it, his hand sliced across my face in a slap. I could taste blood on my tongue when a heavy punch landed also on my face.

Tears blurred my vision as terror consumed me.

"You're my stepfather..." I begged. "Please don't do this to me." My cheeks burned with my tears as I realised what he intended to do.

"I stop being your stepfather the moment your mother took her last breath. Stop acting like a kid, you daughter of a b***h!" He said, slamming a hand into my stomach.

My heart shattered.

I fought with everything I had, but I was too weak to break free. His grip tightened around my wrists as he forced me down.

"No....please!"

My scream filled the room but there was no one coming to save me.

My mother had died only hours ago, and now, I was about to lose everything she'd left behind.

The door remained closed.

And no one came.