Chapter 1 Luna No More

(Hilda)

“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’ll die together.” 

“No!” He yells. “Please Hilda, you have to run!”

As the words leave his lips an arrow strikes my side. I collapse to the ground, laying beside him, as he cries out my name. I want to comfort him, to reassure him I’m alright, but I need to conserve my strength.

With great determination I struggle back to my feet. I’m going to keep fighting to protect him until I exhale my last breath.

“Hilda. If we make it out of this alive, I’m making you my Luna. No more wasting time. I love you.”

***

The world is dark all around me, but his words are a warm, soft blanket surrounding my heart. I wonder where the heavy smell of herbs is coming from.

And why my body hurts so much when my heart is so full of joy. My eyes feel gummy and heavy and it takes several tries for me to force them open. The first thing I see is Soren.

I can’t help but beam at the sight of him. Knowing he’s here and safe makes my heart leap. We grew up together, training side by side, sharing our dreams and ambitions. I’m his mate, his Beta, his equal and he’s always been my rock. 

We’ve loved each other for as long as I can remember.

“Hi baby,” I whisper weakly, waiting for him to take my hand and kiss me. Instead he looks at me strangely. A mixture of sadness and embarrassment clouding his expression. His eyes, usually so full of warmth and love, are cold and distant.

His hair seems to have grown to his shoulders overnight. Something’s very wrong and I don’t like feeling like I’m about to have my world upended. Or the fact that my mate seems like a stranger.

“Soren what’s going on?” I ask fearfully. “You’ve been in a coma for a year now,” he tells me gravely.

I stare at him, my mind struggling to process his words. A year? That never happens to werewolves. We heal fast, or we die. I have a feeling there’s more to his hangdog expression than me having lost a year of our life together.

“What else?” I ask, reading him as easily as I always have. “When you were injured and fell into a coma, our mate bond was severed,” he says quietly.

My heart feels like it’s being torn apart, but deep down, I know he’s telling the truth. That magical thread between us is gone.

“What does that mean?” I ask quietly. “We still love each other, surely the bond will come back now that I’m conscious?”

Soren looks over his shoulder and I see a beautiful young woman hesitating by the door. She meets Soren’s gaze and comes in, taking his hand as if they’ve done it a thousand times. 

“Soren? What’s going on? Who is she?” He glances 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.

“How?” I ask plaintively. “After the battle, we suffered heavy losses. I went to her pack to secure a ceasefire. We met there and the bond formed.”

Cerelia steps forward, her eyes filled 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.”

Luna. She’s becoming his Luna, not me. I want to hate her. Or him for doing this to me. But I can’t. They had no more control over this situation than I did.

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 look down at my hands, my mind numb. A year has passed, and everything’s changed. While I’d been asleep, dreaming of a future with Soren, he’d settled into a new life.

Cerelia reaches out, her hand resting on my arm, pulling me out of my contemplation. “Hilda, please. I don’t want there to be animosity between us. Can we 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’s just as much a part of this strange new reality as I am. I take another deep breath, nodding slowly.

Soren’s voice drones on, but my mind is too numb to form a coherent response as I stare at them. He’s offering me a life of obscurity within the pack. 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’m trapped in a nightmare. Soren, my mate, my Alpha, my everything, stands beside another woman, offering her the life he once promised me. 

And there’s 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 just need somewhere to go. And time to lick my wounds.