Chapter 1 Luna No More

(Hilda)

“Get down!” 

Every arrow that flies by makes me fear for my mate’s safety.  I stand above him, staring at the enemy who is approaching quickly. I will protect him until I die, I know that. Because I know he would do the same. 

“If I don’t make it, I hope you can find your second chance mate and be happy with her…” I say, clutching my weapon. 

“Hilda, you can’t fight them alone, you have to go! You have to run!” my mate Alpha Soren shouts with the last of his strength. He tries to lift himself off the ground, reaching for me, and I take his hand. 

“I’m not going anywhere.” I kneel beside him, looking into his eyes. “I love you, Soren. We’re going to survive this together. Or we will die together.” 

“No!” He yells. “You have to run!”

As the words leave his lips an arrow strikes me. I collapse to the ground, laying beside him, as he cry out my name. I want to comfort him, to tell him I am alright, but the pain is too much. But still, I struggle to get back up. 

I am going to keep fighting to protect him. 

“Stop, Hilda, save your strength,” my mate Alpha Soren says while holding me close, he kisses my temple, his voice trembling, “as soon as we return, I’ll make you my Luna. You are the only one I ever want…”

His promise is my only beacon of hope while I fall into a pool of darkness.

***

When I struggle to open my eyes again, Soren enters my blurry sight to my absolute delight.

The smell of an assortment of herbal remedies and a sharp, persistent pain that felt like needles pricking every muscle assault my senses, telling me that I ended up in the pack hospital again.

I am not surprised. That battle was gruesome even for a well-trained Beta like me. It was one of the biggest our pack has ever seen.

Soren and I had fought side by side. His promise was the only beacon of hope sustaining me in the fight.

Now that I survived the blood and the screams of the dying, I can finally be his Luna and start our life together.

I can’t help but beam at the sight of him despite the pain. Just the sight of him makes my heart leap. Soren and I grew up together, training side by side, sharing our dreams and ambitions. I am his mate, his Beta, his equal. He has always been my rock, my strength. 

We love each other.

“Hi baby.” I reach out and grab his hands and kiss them. But he doesn’t smile like he always did and is looking at me with a weird expression. Half sadness and half embarrassment. His eyes, usually so full of warmth and love, are cold and distant.

He pulls his hand out of mine and stands up. His hair seems to grow to his shoulders overnight.

“I think someone needs a haircut!” I try to joke and lighten his mood.

“Hilda,” Soren says, his voice devoid of emotion. “We need to talk.”

My smile falters, confusion replacing the joy I had felt moments ago. “Soren what’s going on?”

“You have been in a coma for a year now.”

I stare at him, my mind struggling to process his words. A year? I had been unconscious for a year now? The room seems to spin, and I clutch the sheets, trying to ground myself.

After the initial shock, I regain my composure and say calmly, “Well, that’s already over. I am awake now. I want to be your Luna immediately!”

“That’s the other thing. When you were injured and fell into a coma, our mate bond was severed and…”

“What!?”

My heart feels like it was being torn apart, and my head pounds with a fresh wave of pain. But deep down, I know he was telling the truth. I can’t feel the mate bond between us anymore.

“Well…that doesn’t matter… We still love each other; we can make it work, right?” I look at him with pleading eyes.

Soren keeps his weird expression and looks behind him.

The room is dimly lit, the curtains drawn to shield me from the harsh daylight. As my eyes adjusts I see a beautiful young woman standing by the door. 

She meets Soren’s gaze and comes in the door and holds his hand with love in her eyes, it was so natural it seems they have done it a thousand times. 

And this time he doesn’t pull his hand out.

“Soren? What’s going on? Who is she?”

He glances lovingly back at the woman beside him before returning his gaze to me. “This is Cerelia. She’s my second chance mate.”

His words hit me like a physical blow. I feel the air leave my lungs, and my vision darkens at the edges.

“What do you mean, second chance mate? What about us? You promised…”

“Hilda,” he interrupts, his tone icy. “During this year after the war, I… found Cerelia.”  

“But… how?”

He sighs, looking almost impatient. “After the battle, we suffered heavy losses. I went to her pack to secure a ceasefire. We met there and… the bond formed.”

My Soren has a second chance mate. My head just refuses to process this information.

Cerelia steps forward, her eyes full with a mixture of sympathy and determination. “Hilda, I know this is difficult. We delayed the Luna coronation because I wanted to do this right. I didn’t want you to hate me.”

Her words are a jumble in my mind. Sure, I don’t want to hate her, but I don’t even know her! All I know is that my mate, my Soren, is standing before me with another woman, declaring her as his new mate.

I look at Soren, hoping to see some flicker of the man I love, but his eyes remain cold.

“We’re going to make her Luna tomorrow,” he says, his voice firm. “I wanted to explain everything to you first, so you would understand my decision.”

Understand? How can I understand this betrayal? I look at Cerelia, who is watching me carefully. She seems sincere, but that doesn’t lessen the pain. 

I want to hate her. Hate him for doing this to me. But I can’t. It isn’t his fault, it isn’t anyones. He has simply moved on. 

I hate this situation where I have no one to hate, only this cruel universe.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “So, that’s it? You found a new mate, and I’m just… forgotten?”

Soren’s expression softens slightly but his eyes remain distant. “I’m sorry, Hilda. I really am. But this is how things are now. I hope you can find it in your heart to accept this and move on.”

I can’t believe this is happening. The pain in my body is nothing compared to the ache in my heart. How can he say such a thing? Move on from our love?

I thought love was supposed to survive anything. I thought it could even survive death. But maybe that’s what he thought. That I was gone. I can’t blame him for that. 

I look down at my hands, my mind numb. A year has passed, and everything has changed. I had been dreaming of a future with Soren, but now that dream is shattered. I didn’t know what to feel, what to think. All I know is that I am alone.

I wonder if any of my friends survived. I wonder if I have any life left here, with his pack. 

Cerelia reaches out, her hand resting on my arm, pulling out of my contemplation. “Hilda, please. I don’t want there to be animosity between us. We can find a way to coexist.”

I look up at her, seeing the genuine concern in her eyes. She isn’t the enemy, even if it feels that way. She is just as much a part of this strange new reality as I am. I take another deep breath, nodding slowly.

Soren seems to relax slightly at my gesture, and Cerelia smiles. 

“Thank you, Hilda. I appreciate it,” but his tone is devoid of the warmth it once held for me. “You can still be a warrior, live a quiet life if you don’t cause any trouble regarding the Luna situation.” 

Soren’s voice drones on, but my mind is too numb to form a coherent response as I stare at them. 

My mind is too numb to form a coherent response. He is offering me a life of obscurity, a way to fade into the background while he moves forward with Cerelia. The thought makes my heart ache, but I can’t muster the strength to argue. 

The cold reality of his betrayal is finally sinking in, and I feel like I am trapped in a nightmare.

Soren, my mate, my Alpha, my everything, stands beside another woman, promising her the life he once promised me. 

And there is nothing I can do.

I have to find a way to heal, to move forward. Soren has made his choice, and now I have to make mine. I have to accept this new reality, no matter how much it hurts.

I can move forward. I just need somewhere to go. And time. Time to heal, and hopefully forget the pain I am feeling.