The Luna They Buried Too Soon Chapter 01

The Luna They Buried Too Soon Chapter 01

It had been six years since my family had forced me to break my mate bond. All because of the fake

daughter.

I ran into my older brother and my ex head-on at the park.

Their eyes fell on the chibi drawings I was sketching.

Atticus had lost the sharp edge he’d once carried. He sat down in front of my easel, a seven-year-old girl in

his arms, and scanned me twenty dollars.

“Why didn’t you reach out to me after coming back to the pack’s territory?” He asked, rubbing his tired

temples.

His gaze, hidden behind his lenses, settled on me, heavy with an indescribable sense of regret.

“I never meant to drive you away back then.”

I held my paint palette, my voice flat and unemotional. “What style would you like, sir?”

I treated them like complete strangers.

But my brother was just as hot-tempered as ever. He kicked over my easel, his eyes oozing with sarcasm.

“Cut the act. Stop pretending you don’t know us. Serena already forgave you for making her miscarry.”

“Now she’s been outed as a mistress, and it’s gonna ruin her shot at the Pack Gold Award.”

“Come back with us to clear things up, and I’ll let you move back home.”

“It’s been six years since you saw your daughter. I don’t believe you don’t miss her.”

“After all, you knelt outside the Alpha’s estate for ninety-nine days just to fight for custody back then.”

He loomed over me, looking down with disdain.

But my daughter had long since forgotten to call me Mom.

When her eyes landed on the loose bandage around my wrist, her face twisted with disgust.

“Daddy, Uncle, her hand is so ugly.” She whined. “It’s nothing like Aunt Serena’s pretty hands.”

Memories of my hand being shattered by force flashed through my mind. I pressed my lips together and

rewrapped the bandage around my wrist.

“I’m not going back, and I won’t help you clear things up.”

“I gave up on my daughter a long time ago.”

And all those days I’d survived, swallowing blood and tears with every meal, had long been buried.

Atticus’s gaze stayed fixed on my scarred wrist. He took a step forward, as if he was about to reach out and

touch me.

“Enough, Arabella. Stop being stubborn.” He said softly.

“Saying you don’t want your daughter? She’s a gift from the Moon Goddess. A pup you carried to full term.”

Bitterness welled up in my chest. So what if I carried her for ten months? It still wasn’t enough to compete

with someone else’s sweet words.

My brother Cassian Quinn is the Alpha of Duskhowl Pack. He scowled, kicking over my coin box with a look

of impatience.

“Why are you wasting your breath on her? Just drag her away.”

“The only reason we’re even here is ’cause we don’t want pack gossip to ruin Serena’s chance at the award. Who’d wanna be stuck in this dump otherwise?”

“Disgusting.”

Cassian was born with the arrogance of a wealthy Alpha. He looked down on werewolves lower in rank. After I left Duskhowl Pack, I’d surrendered my rank completely. Now I was just an Omega, a poor painter.

I bent down to pick up the coin box that had fallen into a mud puddle, my voice flat as a lake. “I’m not going

back.”

That sentence lit Cassian up like a firecracker, his anger stabbing into my chest.

“Arabella Quinn, quit being ungrateful! You got some bastard here you’re too busy with, huh? Can’t bear to

leave?”

“Scraping by on this chump change? There’s no way you’re actually suffering. Bet you’re selling your body to

get by.”

At those words, the gentle look on Atticus’s face darkened instantl, as if he agreed with what Cassian had

said.

He grabbed my wrist with one hand and dragged me toward the park entrance. Sharp, stabbing pain shot up my arm, spreading in a dense web of tiny prickles.

The coin box slipped from my hand, spilling ten and fifty-dollar bills onto the ground.

“Atticus, let go of me! I’m not going with you!” I shouted, but he ignored me completely.

Cassian strode ahead, slamming his foot down on the bills scattered on the ground, grinding them into the

mud.

“Meow!”

An orange blur darted out of the bushes, its claws slashing at Atticus’s arm.

I seized the chance to break free.

But as soon as I turned around, Cassian kicked me hard in the knees.

I fell to the ground with a thud, my knees hitting the dirt.

While I was being knocked down by Cassian, the kitten went flying several meters away.

I scrambled to my feet, tears pouring down my face and splattering onto the ground.

“Nana!”

I managed to run one step before Atticus and Cassian grabbed me together, dragging me forward.

My struggles were useless.

The stray cat I’d been taking care of lay in a pool of blood.

The money I’d been saving for a grave was stuck in the mud.

Just like me, six years ago.