Chapter 1
My mate lay on the bed, barely clinging to life. He was the Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack, and I was his Luna.
He had passed the Alpha title to our son, Lucas. Then he dismissed everyone else, leaving only me by his side.
"Luna, I'm sorry. Back then, I swapped your pup with Lia's," he said, letting out a long, relieved sigh.
"I know." I tucked a loose strand of hair beside my ear. "After you switched the babies, I swapped them back."
He froze, his eyes going wide right away.
"Alpha, did you think you were the only one sneaky enough to swap pups at night?"
He pointed at me, his hand trembling. But before he could reach me, it dropped heavily, and he was gone.
*****
The healer shook his head at me as he left.
Alpha was on his last legs. He waved his hand weakly, sending everyone away.
It was only the two of us left in the room.
He stared up at the ceiling, his skinny hand clutching his blanket tightly. "Luna, there is something I've hidden from you for years."
I tucked the blanket around him nicely and waited for him to go on.
"When you gave birth to Lucas, you passed out during the difficult birth. I—" He took heavy breaths, as if every next word would take all his strength. "I swapped your pup with Lia's."
He was indeed devoted to Lia.
"I know." I was stone-faced, my tone extremely calm. "After you switched the pups, I swapped them back."
He was stunned, disbelief written all over his face. "No way. You were in a coma back then."
"But I woke up pretty quickly. Sorry to disappoint you."
His eyes widened, locking onto me with a desperate intensity. "Then Lucas, he is—"
"Lucas is my own pup."
His face turned ashen after hearing that. "What about Lia's pup?" He almost gritted his teeth.
"You mean Alphons? He has been raised as Lia's all along. That's her real son, and she has done a good job with him."
"Y-You've been lying to me all these years," Alpha roared with all his strength.
"You've got it all wrong." I stood up and loomed over him. "You're the one who tried to fool me. I didn't let you pull it off."
His hand trembled when he cursed me as a heartless woman. He barely got the words out before his hand dropped, and he was gone.
"Rest easy. Your son Lucas will inherit the Silvermoon Pack." I pushed open the door. A crowd was already waiting outside. "Alpha is dead."
Wails and sobs rippled through the pack.
I pushed through the crowd, heading straight for Lucas.
Lucas had grown up into a high-ranking wolf, and he looked more like me than his father.
When Alpha was seriously ill, Lucas, the officially named heir, fought off challenges from other werewolves alongside his father. He got backing from the elders, witches, and other top folks.
The Silvermoon Pack couldn't go a single day without an Alpha.
The respected elders led the ceremony, leading the whole pack in howling at the moon to show their loyalty to the Moon Goddess.
From that moment on, Lucas was the new Alpha.
It all started when I awakened my inner wolf at sixteen. That night, under the full moon, my wolf came alive.
On that same day, I found my fated mate. The Alpha found his Luna.
We both felt the anxiety and tension as we drew closer to each other.
An ancient Moon Goddess ritual was held for us, with the elders of the Silvermoon Pack officiating as we exchanged our vows.
He said, "In the name of the Silvermoon, I take you as my mate and Luna. My territory is yours, and my pack is yours. By the Moon Goddess, I swear never to leave you, in life or death."
Then I replied, "By blood, I vow to stand by you as my Alpha. Wherever the moon shines, that's home to me. Wherever you lead, I'll follow."
Next came the most sacred part: the marking. We left deep bite marks on each other's necks, and the whole pack erupted in cheers, running wild with joy.
Everything was going so smoothly until late at night, when things were winding down. I heard him say to someone outside, "Tell Lia not to wait up tonight." That was the first time I'd heard her name.
That night, he stumbled back to our room, dead drunk.
*****
The next day, I found out who this Lia was.
She was a witch from outside the pack, and word was that she and Alpha had been close before I became his mate.
Lia could use powerful dark magic. To save Alpha when he was poisoned, she sacrificed most of her witchcraft to bring him back.
Because of that, she was no longer a pure witch.
To repay Lia, Alpha honored her above all others. Ignoring the protests of the other high-ranking wolves, he granted her the status of a high-ranking she-wolf and kept her by his side as his personal guard.