Rise Of The Fallen Luna

••• Leicia’s POV ••• “Luna!” My trusted Omega, Annisa’s voice sounded, accompanied by desperate and frantic knocks on the bedroom door. “Luna, the Alpha is home!” For a beat, I didn’t move. I stared at the bowl in my hands—the one with carefully crushed herbs mixed into warm broth, the kind Kyle swore could ease the lingering burn of wolfsbane. My hands tightened around it instinctively, not from fear. From instinct. From experience. “Oh, oh, oh.” My mother-in-law, who had been sick and frail because she had been poisoned by wolfsbane, tried to get up from the bed. “Quick, what are you still doing here?” she scowled. “Help me up. He had been off to war for a year and is now back safely. As his wife and Luna, you should greet him at the door.” I set the bowl on the table beside her bed with care. Not a single drop spilled. “Yes, Mother,” I said smoothly, voice calm, composed, and obedient as always. I crouched down and lifted her bony body into the wheelchair. “Tidy my hair,” she ordered while trying to smooth her hair herself. Of course… She asked me to quickly greet my husband but had to make sure she looked presentable. No more welcoming him quickly then. I didn’t say anything, just still took a brush and gently styled her hair into a simple bun. Because of the wolfsbane in her system, she now looked so old, unlike other werewolves. As werewolves, we generally aged more slowly than ordinary humans, but she was now so wrinkled, and her hair had turned gray and thinned. After she was satisfied with how she looked, I rolled her toward the door so we could meet her son, aka my husband, the Alpha of the Whitemaw Tails Pack. When I opened the door, I saw Annisa, who had been serving me for a long time, stood waiting, wringing her hands like she could wring out her nerves. Her anxiety buzzed along the mindlink as she glanced toward the living room where I assumed Matthew was now. She saw me, and as I kept walking toward the living room, she quickly trailed after us, and mindlinked me, “Luna, you have to be prepared.” I threw her a questioning glance, wanting to ask what I should be prepared for, when I froze. Matthew stood in the living room, a smile stretched across his face like he’d just returned from a hunting trip, not a year-long war. And nestled comfortably under his arm—like she belonged there—was a she-wolf I didn’t recognize. “Oh, my Matthew, you are back!” My mother-in-law, with tears in her eyes, opened her arms, still sitting in her wheelchair. He bent to embrace her, their reunion soaked in exaggerated affection. When he straightened, my mother-in-law, Hilda, patted his body as if to check if he had any injuries. “Are you injured? Should we ask Kyle to check on you?” I sneered inwardly. Kyle was my Beta, but since he was great as a physician, now he was the most sought-after doctor in the werewolf community. Who did Hilda think they were to ask Kyle to check on Matthew when he hadn’t even acknowledged me since I stepped foot into the living room? “I’m fine, Mother,” Matthew reassured her smoothly, brushing his longer hair back with a dramatic flair. The war hadn’t left a single scar on his face—only lengthened his hair and added a dangerous edge to his already sharp features. He looked like someone who’d walked through fire and asked for more. I scoffed secretly. So he was now smug because he just came back from war unscathed? Only I knew what a coward he was. He was probably just handling weapons for the true warriors on the battlefield. I raised an eyebrow when the unknown she-wolf approached us and linked her arm with Matthew’s, smiling at Hilda. “Hello, I’m Lydia. Matthew and I met in the war zone. I’m a warrior from the Halfbite Pack.” Of course you are… I gave her a once-over. Pretty. Confident. Armed with that smug warrior stance like she’d just personally ended the war with her own bare hands. A perfect couple, both of them. One a coward who pretended like a warrior, the other an arrogant and shameless she-wolf. “Oh, welcome, welcome,” Hilda greeted her enthusiastically and gestured for them to sit back on the couch while I still stood silently behind her, just like a ghost, unnoticed by anyone. “Leicia, bring some refreshments for us!” My mother-in-law barked. I didn’t move and had to bite back some sarcastic remark. Besides me, Annisa gasped because she couldn’t believe Lydia had the gall to treat me like a servant, especially since she was an Omega and was there. And Lydia? She didn’t even blink. Of course, she didn’t. If you had the audacity to sit beside another woman’s husband like you belonged there, being served by his actual wife probably felt like part of the fantasy. My wolf snarled, but I pushed her back to the back of her mind. It was then that Matthew seemed to realize that I was there. “Leicia, we need to talk.” He didn’t even look guilty for bringing another she-wolf and acted all lovey-dovey in front of me. I was about to nod, but Hilda waved her hand at him. “You can talk with her later. Tell me about the war. Were there many casualties on our part?” she asked Matthew and Lydia. Just like that, I was dismissed. They launched into stories like old friends catching up over tea. Hands entwined. Faces glowing. Hilda didn’t notice the intimacy—or didn’t care. I didn’t hide my eye roll this time. What were they going to do—scold me for not fawning? Annisa moved closer to me and whispered, “Luna, should we go back to your room?” “Yeah.” My voice was hollow. But not broken. Just empty. Still, I stood straight. I didn’t flinch. I wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of watching me fall apart. We were almost to the hallway when Hilda snapped again. “Where are you going? Didn’t I ask you to bring refreshments?” Annisa glanced at me, looking unsure of what to do while I clenched my teeth. This was what I got for treating her too kindly ever since Matthew went to the war zone. Finally, Annisa said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, “I’ll bring out the refreshments.” Although I hated it when Hilda used my personal maid to do her bidding while there were other Omegas, I was still grateful for Annisa to take the task. I gave her a smile as she mindlinked me, “I don’t mind doing it, Luna. It’s better than you doing it. You can go back to your room, and I’ll join after I’ve brought out the refreshments.” Then Hilda’s voice followed like a dagger thrown at my back. “She’s always been like that. Thinks she’s above us just because her family used to be close to the Alpha King. But look what happened—everyone in her pack died. If not for marrying you, she’d be a rogue. So ungrateful.” My breath caught in my chest—not out of pain, but out of fury so cold it burned. Ungrateful? Really? I couldn’t believe Hilda had just said that! For one year, I was the one who took care of her! For one year, I always stayed by her side to ensure that whenever her pain became too unbearable, I would feed her the medicines from Kyle. For one year, this pack, the Whitemaw Tails Pack, was run by the money my parents left for me. Everything Hilda, and Emma, Matthew’s sister, needed and wanted was also always provided by me. Especially Emma, who was now nineteen years old and kept wanting to buy new clothes, makeup, shoes, and everything else. So, how dare Hilda say that I was ungrateful? If it weren’t for me, she would have died. If it weren’t for me, the Whitemaw Tails Pack would have crumbled without me stepping up to handle pack matters while Matthew was gone.But instead of lashing out, I took a deep breath to calm myself down and just kept walking toward the study instead of the bedroom. I wasn’t some tragic wife retreating to cry into her pillow. There, I settled into the leather chair and let myself breathe. Not to cry but to remember. To remember how I ended up here—married to Matthew, daughter-in-law and sister-in-law to poison, surrounded by werewolves who wore masks. To remember how many times I’d already survived. Because I wasn’t about to fall apart. And since they didn’t respect me as the Luna of the pack, I would show them what a war looks like. Not the bloody kind—no, but the kind that fought with silence, stares, and signed paperwork.