The Luna They Used Chapter 01

The Luna They Used Chapter 01

I caught Alpha Julian Sterling marking the woman he’d loved since childhood behind my back. That same night, I dragged Noah Sterling, his twin brother into our bed and rode him until I was completely numb.

Julian kicked the door in at dawn. He grabbed me by the hair, hauled me off the mattress, and slammed his fist into Noah’s face.

“Are you out of your fucking mind? She’s my mate!”

Noah wiped the blood from his lip and grinned like a man with nothing left to lose.

“Yeah. And now she’s mine.”

Their fight ripped through the pack house. By the time it was over, the twin Alphas of Silver Moon were finished — one kept Silver Moon, and the other left to build the Black Thorn Pack from the ground up.

I severed my bond with Julian and became Noah’s Luna.

For three years, everyone across the packs knew one thing about Noah — he was completely obsessed with me. Any pack member whose eyes lingered on me a beat too long would find themselves blinded and banished before sundown.

Then I found out I was pregnant.

I was on my way to tell him, almost glowing with it, when I heard something I was never supposed to hear. It was Noah’s wolf speaking inside his head.

[It’s been three years, Noah. You still haven’t severed the mating bond? Don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for her.]

I froze. I couldn’t tell which part had knocked the air out of me — the impossible fact that I could hear his inner wolf, or what it was saying.

Through the doorway, Noah sat at his desk, doing pack paperwork, a picture of calm. But the voice inside his head dripped with contempt.

[You think I’d fall for someone else’s leftovers? The only reason I’m still playing house with Ashley is Clara. She just got pregnant. She can’t handle any stress right now.]

[So you played along when Ashley threw herself at you, just to keep her out of Clara and Julian’s way. The doting, the possessiveness — all of it was just to make sure Ashley never ran back to Julian and ruined their happily ever after.]

[But the Beta just reported that Ashley’s carrying a pup, too. She won’t be easy to get rid of now. Aren’t you worried she’ll sink her claws in and never let go?]

[She won’t have a choice.]

Noah’s voice was steel.

[I already had the Beta forge a paternity test. Once she’s showing, I’ll throw it in her face, claim the pup is a bastard, and strip her of her title.]

…

Everything after that turned to white noise.

When my mind finally caught up with my body, I was standing outside the Black Thorn pack hall. The pregnancy test in my hand — the one that should have marked the happiest moment of my life — was crushed beyond recognition.

Right on cue, Noah’s voice slid into my mind through the mind-link. Warm. Gentle. The perfect performance.

“Hey, babe. I wrapped up early tonight. What do you want for dinner? I’ll cook.”

My fists clenched so hard my claws pierced the plastic. The pain in my chest was sharp and silver-bright, like a blade wedged between my ribs.

Every instinct I had screamed at me to rip his mask off right there. I opened my mouth —

“Ashley Sinclair, stop!” My wolf Amy snapped in my mind. “Have you forgotten who he is?”

The words died in my throat.

She was right. I’d forgotten.

The gentleness was a facade. Underneath it, Noah was paranoid, possessive, and ruthless.

If I confronted him now, he wouldn’t flinch. He’d lock me away or put me in the ground.

He would never let me destroy the perfect life he’d gift-wrapped for Clara Monroe. I drove my claws deeper into my palms and used the sting to think straight.

I swallowed my rage and answered through the link like nothing had changed.

“Bacon mac and cheese. I’ll be here.”

Then I opened a mind-link I hadn’t used in a long time.

“Adrian. I was wrong. I want to come home.”

The answer came back almost before I’d finished the thought.

“Sit tight. I’ll be there before the week is out.”

Noah had no idea. Neither did Julian. They both thought I was some stray — a rogue with no pack and no name.

I’m the long-lost sister of Adrian Sinclair, the Alpha King who rules the entire Northern Territory.

In the days before I finally left, I went to see the swamp witch. I traded the Luna ring Noah had given me for two potions.

One to sever the mating bond. One to end the pregnancy.

No one was ever going to use me again.