Chapter 3: Future Luna

‘No. No no no no no.” The word no echoed inside Raven’s head repeatedly when it turns out that her best friend’s boyfriend is her mate. 

There must be a mistake. There is no way that she would be mated to an Alpha. 

The whole crowd who were watching them heard Lorcan utter the word mate. Since Celia and Raven were standing next to each other, the crowd thought that Lorcan called Celia his mate. 

The crowd did not hold any surprise in their faces. They knew it from the start that Lorcan’s mate will be no other than Celia. 

The whole pack is already prepared to accept her as their Luna. Little did they know that it was Lorcan called Raven his mate and not Celia.

Celia stared back and forth to her boyfriend and her best friend.

She clearly heard Lorcan utter the word mate, but Celia couldn’t feel anything at all. Her wolf is even strangely quiet inside of her. 

Aren’t wolves supposed to feel excited and restless when they meet their mates? Why doesn’t she feel anything change inside of her?

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Celia calls out Lorcan’s attention, disconnecting his eyes from Raven.

Lorcan blinked after Celia had pulled him back from the mate bond’s control. 

When their eyes had disconnected, Raven is also pulled out from her trance and regained back her control over her wolf. 

“Our mate is the Alpha. This is so great!” Raven’s wolf, Ember spoke happily inside of her while wagging her tail. 

“Shut up Ember. How is this great? The Alpha is Celia’s 5 year boyfriend, Ember!” Raven shouted back at her wolf in disbelief. 

Tears sprang up in Celia’s eyes when she doesn’t feel any connection with Lorcan. She continues staring in his eyes, hoping that the mate bond is just late and it would snap to its place soon.

However, no matter how long Celia waited, no mate bond snapped into place. 

“Cel,” Lorcan utters his nickname for Celia with a broken voice. 

The whole crowd turned confused when they saw tears in Celia’s eyes.

What’s wrong? What is happening? They thought Celia was Lorcan’s mate. 

Lorcan tries to reach out to Celia to comfort her, but Celia steps back refusing to be comforted. 

Celia’s world turned upside down when she did not feel any connection with Lorcan. 

Raven doesn’t know how to react when she saw her best friend crying and hurt when she found out that her boyfriend whom she loves with all her heart did not turn out to be her mate.

She wanted to run to Celia’s side, to help her and comfort her just like how would Celia do if she was the one in her situation. 

However, how could she comfort her when she is the reason why she is hurting right now.

Raven clutches her heart when she felt her chest tightened. Because of the mate bond, Raven could feel Lorcan’s emotions right now.

She could feel how hurt he is to find out that his girlfriend whom he loves did not turn out to be his mate. 

Raven clenched her shirt in pain as her wolf tried to fight control, wanting to comfort her mate who is hurting right now. 

Celia stared at Raven and Lorcan back and forth. She watched how Raven is silent, only clutching her chest in pain.

She also remembered how Lorcan walked his way over to them and uttered the word mate when she is not even her mate. 

“Is it her?” Celia asks Lorcan as she pieces things together. She just wanted to hear his confirmation. “Is she your mate?”

Some of the people in the crowd gasped when they heard Celia’s question and started whispering among themselves. 

They couldn’t believe it. Celia is not Lorcan’s mate.

The crowd watching immediately felt bad for Celia as they watched her cry in pain when she found out that she and her five year boyfriend did not turn out mates. 

Everyone knows how the two loved each other, especially Raven. 

Since they were kids, Celia and Lorcan always had a crush on each other. When they turned high school, they finally decided to go out on a date. 

The two doted on each other very much. Although they weren’t mates, they loved each other deeper than the love that the mate bond can give. 

They could only imagine the pain that the two is feeling right now. They love each other, but they couldn’t be together. 

Raven, who is Celia’s best friend and Lorcan’s mate, she knows and could feel the pain that the two is going through right now. 

Raven is a witness to how Celia loved Lorcan and Raven could feel Lorcan’s emotions right now through the mate bond. 

She knows it better than anyone how much they love each other and how much they are hurting for each other. 

Raven bit her lip and dug her fingers into her palm, feeling bad for what had happened. She feels so bad that she wished she never existed. 

Although she never wished to become Lorcan’s mate and the mate bond was beyond her control, she couldn’t help but still responsible for the pain that the two were going through. 

“Lorcan, is my best friend, Raven your mate?” Celia repeated her question when Lorcan refuses to answer. 

Lorcan shook his head, silently pleading Celia to take back his question. He doesn’t want to hurt her, but she also has to tell her the truth. “Yes, Raven is my mate.”

The crowd fell quiet and their jaw dropped when they finally understood what had happened. 

Alpha Lorcan’s mate is her girlfriend’s best friend. Fate must be so cruel to make that happen.

“I’m sorry Celia, I’m so sorry.” Raven tried to go to Celia’s side, but Celia backed away from her. 

Celia stared at Raven as if she had committed the worst sin to her ever. 

The crowd could only watch as the scene unfolds before them. They looked back and forth at Raven and Celia, comparing the two from each other. 

The more that they compared them, the more they questioned how could this girl be Lorcan’s mate and the Moonvalley Pack’s Luna.

The crowd’s whispers turned louder and louder. When Raven glanced at them, she was welcomed by their judging stares and received all the hate in their eyes. 

They all looked at Raven like she had just killed someone in front of them.

Raven’s heart drops at the hate she received. Not knowing what to do, she backs away in fear wishing to disappear from their sight. 

“So my son has finally found his mate!” A loud booming voice interrupts the commotion. 

Everyone’s attention turned to where the voice came from. When they saw that it was Alpha Axel who spoke, the whole crowd immediately bowed their heads to him in respect. 

Alpha Axel had a huge smile on his face as he walks across the crowd with his mate in his arm. 

Luna Savina looks lovely as ever as she held on Alpha Axel’s arm. Even though Luna Savina is old and her only son has grown old, she still looked young and pretty, her skin had a youthful glow in her. 

The crowd finally recovers when Alpha Axel and Luna Savina paid them with their presence. They went directly towards Raven with amicable smiles on their faces. 

“So you are my son’s mate,” Alpha Axel spoke first. 

Raven bowed her head to the Alpha then faced him with fear. Raven thought she is in trouble to attract the Alpha’s attention. 

“Dear, what is your name?” Luna Savina asks. 

“I’m Raven Stein, Luna Savina.” Raven replied in a meek voice, her hands trembling in nervousness. 

She had never attracted attention as huge as this in her entire life. As an introvert, she naturally felt uncomfortable to be under the spotlight. 

Besides, she had never even met the Luna and Alpha personally before even though they are her best friend’s boyfriend’s parents. 

“Raven Stein, it is a perfect name for a Luna.”

Raven raised her head at them with her eyes wide. 

Although she is Lorcan’s mate and technically the future Luna of the Moonvalley Pack, there’s no way that Lorcan’s parents would accept her for that position and for their son. 

Raven is nothing special and her wolf is just average. It is Celia who deserves to be the Luna the most. 

Raven froze when Luna held her by her shoulders, and then she turned rigid when she suddenly wrapped her in a tight hug. 

Raven saw how the whole crowd was surprised to see Luna Savina hugging a lowly werewolf like her. 

“Listen everybody,” Alpha Axel spoke as he faces the public. “Today my son has finally met his mate.”

Alpha Axel stared at Celia’s tear-stricken face, but ignores her. 

“From now on, I announce Raven Stein, my son’s mate as the Moonvalley Pack’s future Luna!”