Morana’s POV
I raised my gaze towards Logan, his eyes brimming solemnly. He was deep in his thoughts. That’s the look in his eyes I could never overlook.
“What do we do?” Vincent asked. His gaze shifted between the two of us.
Logan stood up from the bed and turned towards his Beta.
“Who is she, exactly?” he muttered unknowingly.
“She’s Violet Harrison, daughter of the Hallow Hunter’s pack,” Vincent simply replied, and that single sentence said it all.
Their pack name speaks for themselves, like where I came from. They were known hunters. Unlike us warriors who were driven by principles, discipline, and rules, they were driven by goals.
Once they set eyes on their prey, they’d do anything to kill or achieve it.
I sneered. So, not only was she from a powerful pack, but she was also the Alpha’s daughter.
Way to make me feel even more unfit for Logan.
Vincent interrupted as I was about to shake my head to burn that thought.
“We’re going to fight, right?” Looking at me with those determined and hopeful eyes, he asked again, “Right?”
Fisting my hands so tight that my nails dipped in my palms, I could only look away.
“Every warrior of our pack is willing to fight with us! We can’t just let them trample everyone down with this simple threat,” Vincent added, justifying his words.
I stared at him, patriotism in his eyes.
“Vincent . . .” I mumble, my heart warming at his words.
“We’re all willing to fight for you here, Luna Morana.” His lips curved slightly. I looked away before everything could get emotional.
I never thought they were all that loyal to me.
As a heart-wrenching suggestion as it was, a fight was nowhere near an option. Casualties could break out — the entire pack would suffer, especially the youngsters.
“Vincent, it’s just—we can’t have any more people dying when this could be prevented,” I mumble, looking up at Logan as I emphasize the word ‘prevented’.
Yes, this could be stopped -- this potential war would end once Logan accepts his fated mate and threw me aside.
My mind wandered back to yesterday's kiss and Logan's closeness to having her right there, and doubts instantly brewed inside of me.
Was he really capable of rejecting her when it seemed as though a simple kiss from her would never be enough to satisfy himself?
“You’re thinking too much again.” I look down at my hand, which Logan held. The warmth it carried instantly pushed all the worrying thoughts to the back of my head.
He smiled at me. His teal eyes carried assurance in them.
“Beta Vincent—” With a stern voice, he commanded, “Go and tell them I will talk to the elders about this tomorrow morning.”
Vincent left with a nod, and the room was once again covered in silence. We stared at each other and the three years we’ve shared flashed right back into his eyes, as though I was seeing it again in retrospect.
I couldn’t lose all of that.
“Morana, whatever it is you’re thinking—it will never happen. I’ll reject her and kick her out of this pack. Out of your sight — out of everyone’s sight.” He tucked a stray hair covering my face.
I didn’t even know what to think about this situation. It’s like battling with the world itself . . . for things I greedily want. For the love, I could never have.
I squeezed his hand in mine as though it would be the last time I’d ever do it.
“That woman is your mate, Logan. Your real mate, destined to you by the Moon Goddess,” I gritted my teeth, looking away as hopeless tears slid down my eyes. I instantly wipe them away.
I was never this pathetic over another girl. I tell myself that. However, something in me was chanting that we all know she’s not just another girl. She will never be just another girl.
“Morana, it’s you I want. It will always be you,” he whispered, his teal eyes penetrating through all my thoughts as he pulled my face towards his and gently kissed my forehead…
“Ah!” I shouted, beads of cold sweat dripping on my forehead as I abruptly sat up on the bed, awoken by excruciating pain.
I thrashed around as I tried to get a hold of myself. “Ah! Fuck . . .” I tried to catch my breath, feeling my lungs malfunctioning.
I gripped the bedpost as the pain struck another wave. The pain was demanding to be felt. Like a hot boiling water was poured right into my chest and through my heart.
“Logan!” I yelled, my throat burning as I searched for the only person who could give me any sense of comfort, but he was nowhere to be found.
I clawed onto my nightgown, trying to rip it off my chest.
“Please, whatever this is, make it stop.” I silently begged.
“Agh! Please, Logan!” Tears brimmed down my face as another wave of pain rushed. This time, it was as though I was getting burned.
What was this?
I tried to remember what I ate at George’s wedding. I smelled shrimp soup, wine, and flowers, yet nothing came to mind that could cause this.
All until my mind drifted back to my last moments before falling asleep. I was in the hands of Logan.
“Morana, a mate’s touch is comfort. But a mate’s touch to another is suffering. Do not ever forget that.”
My eyes widened at the realization of what my aunt once said to me.
Of course! Who was I kidding? I believed everything he said last night, and here he was, with the exact girl he told me not to worry about.
I closed my eyes, waiting for a pain so much worse than earlier. A deadly pain once he marks and mates with his fated mate.
I lay down on the bed, grunts coming out of my lips. The moment I’d feel that specific burn, the burn where it may tell me if he had finally fallen to the lust their mate bond was pulling, I knew it would be the end of the both of us.
And so I patiently wait. Waited for the painful truth of my mate’s betrayal.
Chapter 4Morana’s POVI waited and waited, but nothing followed.Not just that it did not arrive, but the burn I was feeling earlier all ceased. I sat up on the bed before breathing in and out.The only pain left was the cramped-up muscles I was having due to all the weird movements I was in to cope with the burning sensation.I sighed and downed some water before slipping into my nightrobe. I rushed down the stairs, and a few pack members who were already awake turned to me.“Good morning, Lu—” I wasn’t calm enough to greet any of the Omegas today, so I walked past them and out the double doors.The warm air hitting my face instantly soothed my nerves. I sipped the peace into my entire body before that silent moment broke down when Vincent came running towards me.“Wait, Luna Morana! I know what you felt, and it’s not like that. Please, hear me out! I need your help!”I halted and turned to him. He knew? He fucking knew?“Why don’t you give it a try, Vincent? Tell me how they did not
Chapter 5Morana’s POV“Logan! Let her go!” Vincent’s voice was starting to get blurry.I tightly held onto Logan’s hand, starting to lose my breath, and black dots appeared in my vision.“Whoever dares to lay a hand on my mate deserves nothing but death!” he growled loudly.I close my eyes as another tear fell. This time, it wasn’t because I was being strangled to death but to the words that pierced my heart more than anything that could hurt right now.Mate… For the man before me, I’m no longer his mate. I’m just one who deserved to be killed.I once found solace in the belief that love comes in different forms, and perhaps my purpose lies elsewhere, away from the constraint of a love that wasn’t mine to begin with.But seeing this now, I guess there was no actual hope of me being really happy.I shut my eyes tight, a lone tear fell from the corner of my eyes, and my last breath left my lungs.“Moon Goddess, you sly trickster. You must be having fun watching me suffer in this love tr
Chapter 6Morana’s POV“No!” I aggressively declined. “I’ve been through that before and proven myself already!”Finally, Tristan and I both agreed on this part. He protectively grabbed Violet’s hand. “No! That is an unfair way to do it! My daughter didn’t go through any training!”“But–” One of the elders was about to argue, but Violet beat them into it.Suddenly, she pulled her wrist from her father’s grasp and pleasingly looked at Logan. “I’ll do it! Please, Logan, I can do it. As long as you give me the opportunity, I’ll do it. All I want is a chance.”I huffed, completely exasperated, especially when Logan and Violet stared at each other as if the world only revolved around them.A few seconds later, he sighed in defeat, saying in an Alpha tone, “Alright, the Luna Game will begin tomorrow. Make the preparations.”Fuck this mate bond!“Morana!” Logan roared after the deafening sound of a slap echoed in the woods' empty vicinity.As soon as we left the meeting, we went to the woods
Chapter 7Morana’s POVSuddenly, the game of strength had turned to emotional play. She knew she couldn’t win against me, so she played dirty.Removing her mask, she tilted her head, mockingly looking at me. “You leave me no choice.”“You, scheming bitch! This is against the rule!” I retorted.Violet laughed. “Well, who will know?”She spread her arms and motioned to the closed room we were in. “There’s no surveillance here, and they’d only know who lost the moment that floor detected one of us falling from the ring. And let me tell you… that won’t be me.”“Stop playing around! You’re being delusional. You might be his mate, but I’ll always be the woman he really loves!”“Oh, you got it wrong, Luna.” She shook her head with sympathy. “Because of how he held and caressed me last night… By how he kissed and made me feel all hot and sexy… I’d say between us… You’re the third party.”No… That couldn’t be. Logan told me nothing happened to them. But then again, there’s no lying that I felt
Chapter 8 - Locked ChapterMorana’s POVIt’s as vivid as crystal. I was completely defeated. But not in Luna’s Game, but in the space in my husband’s heart.My dad approached me, hugging me with his entire body as I broke down into incurable little pieces.A few moments passed between us before Dad pulled me off the cold tiles and sat me on the bed.“Morana, it’s going to be alright. I want what’s best for you like I always had when you were still my little princess.” My father gently sat down on the chair beside my bed and took both my hands in his wrinkly ones, drawing circles on them.Right, I still have my father. The only man who won’t break my heart.I smiled at his longing face. He had all those little wrinkles etched on his once handsome face. He was, after all, the greatest Gamma respected in his generation. Not only in our pack but everywhere.To all, he may have seemed like the cruelest man to have ever lived, but he was my first-ever Prince Charming.The old man who saved m
Chapter 9“What the fuck are you saying?” Logan was burning with anger as he stood right in front of me. I crossed my arms. “I don’t think I said anything wrong.” I nonchalantly reply. It was true. She was going to be the Luna soon.“You know fully well that you’re the only Luna of this pack.” He seethed, his jaw clenching as he glowered down at me.“Logan, we can’t do anything now that the Elders have announced her victory at the Luna Game. After all, that was held to determine who’s worthy of this position.” I massaged the bridge of my nose, feeling exhausted at this debate.“N-no, I’ll find a way to change this decision. They can’t take this away from you.” He paced around, running his hand through his locks in frustration.“After all, why did you even shift in the first place? This would have been less of a trouble if you simply—”“I’m more than willing to give up on this position.” I cut him off, leaning behind the door.“What?” He stopped walking around and turned to face me, his
Chapter 10“Are you done with the documents needed if I leave, Dad?” I mumbled as my father sat in front of me in my office.I continued signing papers about some renovations and constructions to be made in the Shadowridge Pack while he remained motionless ever since he arrived earlier. He simply stared at me with a glimpse of worry written in his expression.“Dad, please, what is it that’s making you look at me like this?” I finally found the guts to ask.He sighed before racking his eyes over the pile of work I had to do. “Do you really have to do this? Isn’t that Violet supposed to practice working on pack work now that she’s about to be appointed as Luna?”My eyes widened, and I looked down at the papers in front of me. Right, I’m no longer obligated to do all this, and yet I’m so familiar with it that it didn’t even feel like a responsibility anymore. Just all this — was a part of who I am. I never expected to let go of that routine I have.Thinking about it, I never expected I’d
Chapter 11I could hear my heart pounding beneath my chest. A knot was forming in my stomach as though tightening everything up.“G-George, I—” I slowly stood up from my chair, my hand trembling, anxious.“It’s fine, Morana,” he replied calmly before pulling Violet up as her blood continued to drip down her sleeves and onto the floor.No, no . . . Call me with that nickname again. That’s what you always call me, George.I look back at Violet, still clutching her arm. Where did she find herself to have a wound like that in the woods? There wasn’t that much hazard in that place. I know because I should have been the only person to know that spot.They both stood up, heading over to the door. “Let’s get you treated, Violet.” Was the last thing one of my best friends said before the door slammed closed. The silence lingered in the air, almost choking Me with its insufferable presence.For the first time, George looked at me with disappointment in his eyes, as though he could not believe I
Morana’s POVAs if a bucket of freezing water was dumped on me, I froze in the doorway, staring blankly at the body in front of me that was clenching in pain.My heart throbbed in an unexplainable way as I watched my own body curled in a ball, eyes closed, and writhing.I wasn’t the one feeling that pain… that heat. It’s him. Logan’s the one feeling all the kickback of the mate’s betrayal, just like how I wished it to me.But there’s a string in my heart that’s pulling me in the other direction. Was it conscience? Love? Sympathy? I didn’t know.And before I could make amends to myself what it was I was feeling, my feet started moving on their own accord. Crouching down, I slowly placed my hand on Logan’s shoulder, letting his callous hands touch my smooth and fair-skinned shoulder.But as soon as I touched him, I was jolted back by a current that brought tingles all over my body.My eyes widened. “What was that?”“Morana?” Logan finally opened his eyelids and looked up at me.Delight
Morana’s POVThere came a time when we’d vow never to do something in our lives, but fate would likely throw us a bone and turn us crazy until we broke that promise ourselves.Boredom filled me while I sat in the front row, waiting for Logan and Violet to reach the third stage, where I could watch them through the feed. Indeed, as much as I hate this game, participating was a whole lot more exciting than sitting here.Did he see her true color yet? What’s happening there now?Questions filled my mind as I anxiously tapped my fingers on the armrest. Meanwhile, while the game continued, the cheers of my warriors didn’t go down despite knowing that the participants inside couldn’t hear them.In fact, they got louder.What made me smile, though, was when they jumped when they heard Logan won the first round. I furrowed my brows at that announcement, though.How in the world did he win that stage?Logan was strategically smart and physically powerful, but he could not have won the stage of
Logan’s POVViolet sent me a mocking smirk before she entered the combat arena, rejoicing as she heard Finely proudly announce her as a winner for the second stage of the game.Unfazed by her cheating schemes, I swayed with the veins and jumped. But as soon as I landed on my feet at the ground, I uncontrollably fell on my knee, feeling weak.Gritting my teeth, I whispered, “Wolfsbane…”My chest rose and fell heavily, feeling the burning sensation cursing through my veins. I coughed in shock as I felt the poison hitting my heart.Clanching my chest, I looked up and saw her victoriously standing in the middle of the arena.Taking deep breaths, I momentarily closed my eyes, calling my inner wolf to fasten our adopting skills.Though Morana’s body wasn’t built as strong and adaptable as an Alpha, she was a warrior and a gamma before she became a Luna. Her body was strong enough to withhold the wolfsbane in her veins.But that didn’t change the fact that I’d feel weaker and… Shit!Realizat
Logan’s POVViolet was unharmed, but the two of us would probably not survive if we didn’t do anything.Right in front of us was a river that separated us from the next land. What’s more, there’s no way to walk around it. The only way was to cross the river… but it’s not any ordinary river.Its width was probably a kilometer, and the fluid flowing in it was not water but magma!Despite standing a few feet away from it, Violet and I were already murderously sweating from the heat it was exuding.“Is that what I think it is?” she asked, and I could only nod in silence.Scoffing, she asked, “What, do the elders want us to cross it and burn ourselves to death?”She looked at me in exasperation. “We’ll be cooked halfway in there even if we’re stupid enough to cross it by foot!”“Or by some miracle, we could fly, which is far from possible!” By now, she’s just rumbling from nervousness.Fly… That’s right! We would surely die if we touched the magma. And since we couldn’t walk around it, we
Logan’s POVUltimate silence surrounded the air between us while my handprint was marked on her arm. She squirmed for freedom, but I only let her go after sending a death glare at her.“That’s uncalled for,” she remarked before she massaged her arm and took a few steps back from me.I scoffed and nodded toward the sign. “If you’re so smart, do it yourself.” With that, I went to the seats in the middle of the room and made myself comfortable.She threw me a look as she stomped her way toward me, the bruise already healed. “This is a competition.”Raising my brow, I nonchalantly replied, “I never said it wasn’t.”After a moment’s time, she finally let it go and angrily went her way. She stopped a few feet away from the sign.Arrogantly, she lectured me by pointing out the numbers. “See that? Those are call numbers! It's used in the library, attached to each spine. There’s either a clue or answer in books corresponding to that!”She smugly smirked as she went to get the first book, 065.
Logan’s POVJealousy crept into me like a curse when she tried to protect those warriors. I know it sounded shit, but I couldn’t help but feel that way.It’s still vivid in my mind how close she was with them, and it still irritates the heck out of me whenever I remember how their loyalty to her was much greater than their loyalty to me when I was the pack’s alpha.They’d cheer for her and would even look passed me like I didn’t exist during the Luna’s game.She’s the one who trained them tirelessly all day and night, and I’m aware of how close she was to them, but it still infuriated me, especially when I saw how close and at ease she was with them while she ignored me before.I closed my eyes and cursed, “This is all Vioelt’s fault.”With that in thought, I couldn’t stop myself from throwing a glare at Violet, who was beside me and only a few feet away.I scoffed. It’s funny how the undying extensive feeling I had for her before was all gone now. It’s as if it never existed, and all
Morana’s POV“Tell me,” he insisted while still sitting on my bed.I solemnly looked into his eyes as if seeing the past scenes in the orbs of his eyes.Bitterly smiling, I shook my head and replied coldly, “It’s not just a nightmare. It’s a memory.”His eyebrows furrowed; he shifted and tried to get closer to me, but I immediately raised my palm up. “Stay right there,” I said.And so, he did.“What memory is it about? Tell me. Maybe I can help,” he persisted, testing my patience.Momentarily closing my eyes, I took a deep breath before looking at him again. Pointing at the couch, I gritted my teeth and said, “Get back where you belong and get off my back!”Pain crossed his eyes before he slowly stood up. Looking right into my eyes, he said with longing, “But where you are is where I belong.”For a moment, I was moved, and my heart felt swayed.But then, I scoffed. “Stop the nonsense already, and get back to sleep. And if I were you, instead of wasting your time messing around, you mi
Morana’s POV“Yeah, how so?” I crossed my arms and scrutinizingly looked at him.“What I did before–” he started, but I cut him off.I exaggeratedly clapped my hand and looked at him with wide eyes. “You’re right, and it’s different because you knocked her off.”Gritting my teeth, I made it clear. “Don’t put us on the same page, Logan. We’re not the same.”Leaning in, I added, “Unlike you, I am fighting hard against this bullshit mate pull.”As I turned to grab the towel from the rack, I heard him say, “Oh, yeah? Then why haven’t you rejected her yet?”“Aww! What the hell, Morana?”“Stop yelping like a girl!” I annoyingly remarked while blindfolding him with a towel.He laughed. “Well, did you think for a second that it’s maybe because I’m in your body, which, by the way, is a woman’s body if you forget?”“Stop talking, you annoying!” I remarked before pushing him toward the tub. Holding both his hands, I raised them and made him hold them against the wall.“Oh, kinky! What did you do
Morana’s POVSometimes, life tests us, but it's up to us how long and how strong we’ll hold to our principles and willpower so that we do not take the other path.That’s why when my lips landed on Violet’s voluptuous and soft lips, despite the incredible tingling and desire rushing up in every inch of my bones, I still managed to push her away.My eyes were wide open, as shocked as Violet at what I had just done. But of course, while I was mortified, Violet was feeling the opposite. She’s looking ecstatic, rather.“Logan, I know you feel it, too.” She’s smiling so wide while looking at me like she just won the lottery. Goddess, I hate her, and I couldn’t wait for me to get back in my own body.“Don’t ever, ever, get near me again!” I threatened while pointing a finger at her before I turned around. This time, I walked as fast as I could away from her.Lost the feeling of roaming around, I decided to just get back at the pack house.“I can’t believe I kiss her! That’s disgusting and aw