The Enemy Alpha Wanted His Heartless Luna Chapter 01

The Mistwood Pack has an ancient law.

Every Blood Moon, she-wolves who have been adults for fewer than ten years are eligible to compete for the position of Luna.

The entire pack votes to decide the winner, but each candidate must also receive the sincere support of three people who matter most to her.

Otherwise, the Moon Goddess will curse her and strip away her wolf.

From that moment on, she will lose all her emotions, unable to feel love or hate ever again. Even if her fated mate stands right in front of her, she will no longer feel a thing.

I’ve always been terrified of this ancient law.

Even as the fated mate of the current Alpha, I’ve never dared to risk participating in the Luna selection.

My mate, Alpha Brandon, thinks I’m making a big deal out of nothing. He even enters my name without my permission.

“It’s just the Luna selection. What’s there to be nervous about? No matter who wins, you’ll still be my Luna.”

I frown and remind him firmly, “I only have three personal recommendation tokens. You, Holden, and my brother, Trevor. All three of you have to cast your Moonstones for me.”

With their support, I think my victory is guaranteed.

But on the night the Blood Moon rises, I stand before my altar and wait in complete silence.

My altar is empty.

Not a single Moonstone.

Not one person has chosen me.

Instead, a familiar voice rings out from the neighboring altar.

“Alpha Brandon, I can’t believe all three of you chose me! I’m in first place now! I’m going to be the Luna this year!”

“But what about Grace? This is her tenth Blood Moon since coming of age. If no one who truly cares about her chooses her, the Moon Goddess will take her wolf! She won’t even be able to feel her own wolf anymore!”

The next moment, I hear the three of them blaming one another, each insisting that they’d assumed the other two would choose me.

Then Brandon speaks in a cold, indifferent voice.

“So what if she loses her emotions and wolf?”

“She’s always been so dramatic, oversensitive, and needy. Maybe she’ll finally learn to keep her head down and stop making a fuss over everything. Honestly, she’d make a much better Luna that way.”

The Blood Moon spills its crimson light over me, enveloping me completely.

My wolf lets out a mournful cry, as if she can sense that she’s about to lose the last trace of warmth inside her.

The anger in my chest slowly fades. The hurt and resentment I’ve been holding onto begin to disappear, too.

I don’t cry. I don’t question anyone.

I simply lift my head and wait for the Blood Moon to reach its highest point in the sky.

When the crimson light finally swallows me whole, I lose every last one of my emotions.

…

“Alpha Brandon, you should go check on Grace.”

“She’s just standing there all alone, not moving at all. There’s something really unsettling about her eyes.”

Leah leans over the edge of her towering altar and calls out to him sweetly.

I look up.

Her altar is piled high with Moonstones.

The truth is, she never needed Brandon, Holden, and Trevor to choose her in the first place.

I only needed one person to sincerely choose me, yet I didn’t receive a single Moonstone.

Standing at the foot of Leah’s altar, Brandon looks up at her with a smile tugging at his lips.

“Why bother worrying about her? You should be celebrating. How does it feel to be Luna for the first time?”

Leah’s cheeks turn pink. She raises the back of her hand to hide her smile.

“I honestly thought I’d lose again this year. I never expected so many people to support me.”

“The Luna’s Procession is tomorrow night, and I’m still missing an escort. Alpha Brandon, since you’ve already helped me this much, would you mind accompanying me and helping me complete the ceremony?”

Brandon hesitates.

According to pack tradition, after a Luna is crowned, an escort must accompany her on the ceremonial procession. It’s a symbol of the pack’s protection and recognition of its new Luna.

Holden steps up beside him and drapes an arm over his shoulder.

“The Luna’s Procession only happens once every four years. Leah finally wins, so don’t you think you should do something special for her?”

Trevor squeezes his way forward, too.

“Leah, that’s a ridiculous number of Moonstones you’ve got there. But what about my sister…”

Brandon glances at him, seemingly remembering my existence for the first time, then finally walks over to me.

“Why the long face?”

When I don’t respond, he lets out a soft chuckle.

“I entered you this year because you keep avoiding the Luna selection. You get scared every single time, so I thought I’d help you get over your fear.”

“It’s just a selection. Look at you. You’d think the world was ending.”

“Leah is only a few votes short of becoming Luna this year. As her friend, there’s nothing wrong with giving her a little support…”

“Brandon!”

I cut him off and look straight into his eyes.

“If you want to support your friend, can you at least stop using my personal recommendation token to do it?”

His brow furrows, and he immediately cuts me off.

“It’s already happened. What’s the point of dragging this out?”

“None of us discussed it beforehand, and all three of us ended up giving our Moonstones to Leah.”

“But you know this is her last chance to compete. What’s so terrible about letting her have this one?”

I stare at him, my eyes slowly filling with tears.

“But I’ve told you from the beginning that she’s not a member of the Mistwood Pack. This ancient law doesn’t even apply to her.”

“What, so only pureblood Mistwood wolves are worth anything?”

Brandon scoffs, not a trace of amusement in his eyes.

“You’re seriously taking those outdated, ridiculous traditions this seriously?”

“Even if the curse is real, losing your emotions might not be such a bad thing for someone as oversensitive and dramatic as you.”

As he calmly stands there criticizing me, I suddenly realize there’s no point in arguing anymore.

Holden quickly steps in to smooth things over.

“Come on, you two. Stop fighting. Leah has wanted to be Luna since she was a little girl. If she loses this year, she’ll never get another chance.”

Then he turns to me, his voice tinged with helplessness.

“Grace, don’t blame her. If you’re going to blame anyone, blame us.”

Blame them?

The only person I blame is myself, for being so blind.

I turn to leave, but Leah climbs down from her altar and grabs my hand.

“Grace, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. Here, why don’t you take this Moonstone back?”

She holds the Moonstone in her hand out to me.

A crescent moon is engraved on its surface.

It’s the token I specially prepared for Brandon before the Luna selection.

It was mine to begin with, yet now Leah is offering it back as if she’s doing me a favor.

Brandon raises a hand and steps directly between us.

“No need.”

He shoots me a glance, his tone leaving no room for argument.

“She doesn’t need it.”

Leah bites her lip and quietly withdraws her hand. Then she looks up at him.

“Brandon, can you come with me to the Elders’ Council now? We need to register you as my ceremonial escort.”

Brandon looks down at her and nods.

Then he turns to me and gently ruffles my hair.

“Come on, don’t be mad.”

“We’re holding our bonding ceremony anyway. There’s no point in making a scene and embarrassing everyone over something this trivial. You might not care how this makes you look, but I do.”

“Go home first. I’ll come see you later.”

With that, he turns and walks toward the exit beside Leah.

Trevor waves a hand in front of my face.

“Hey, sis?”

“I actually wanted to choose you, too. But Leah told me that after she lost four years ago, her family had one piece of bad luck after another for six whole months. I was worried that if I didn’t help her this time, the same thing would happen again…”

He pauses, watching me cautiously.

“G, please don’t be mad. I’ll choose you next time, I promise!”

I don’t look at him.

Trevor and I share the same mother but have different fathers.

I grow up in the Mistwood Pack, while he spends his childhood in another pack. He’s never had much respect for Mistwood’s traditions.

I let out a quiet sigh and walk away.

Maybe it’s for the best.

I have a sure win in the palm of my hand, yet somehow, I’ve managed to lose everything.

My mate, my friend, and my own brother.

They’re the people I care about most in this world.

Even if I could erase everything that happens tonight and start over, I’d probably still give all three of my personal recommendation tokens to them.

But they’re never going to choose me.

If my sincerity can never be returned, then I might as well stop feeling altogether.