Mira’s POV

The night I became Luna, I should have felt proud. Honored. Blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. But all I felt was the weight of chains hidden beneath silk and lace.

The mating ceremony had been beautiful to everyone else—the vows, the bond, the celebration. To me, it had been nothing but an endless parade of hollow smiles and stares filled with suspicion. Even as Gabriel placed the crest of Nightfang Pack on me, his hand never lingered, his eyes never softened.

From that night forward, I became Luna in name only.

And the pack followed his lead.

I tried. Moon, how I tried. I rose before dawn, helping in the kitchens when omegas struggled with the morning meals. I organized healers when the border patrols returned wounded. I sat with pups when their parents were out on night runs. I did everything a Luna should do.

But when your Alpha does not see you, no one else will.

“Leave it, Luna. We don’t need your help,” one of the omegas told me, tugging a basket of herbs from my arms one morning. She was younger than me, her tone clipped, her eyes daring me to protest.

“I was only trying to—”

“Luna Karina would have known what to do.”

Her words cut sharper than claws. I wanted to scream that I was not Karina, that I never asked to take her place, but what good would it do? To them, I would always be the shadow, the imposter.

At gatherings, I sat beside Gabriel at the long oak table, but no one looked at me. Their eyes clung to him, and when they did glance my way, it was with thinly veiled disdain.

Once, when I dared to greet a warrior, he smirked and muttered under his breath, “Our Alpha deserves better.”

And Gabriel heard it.

He didn’t correct the warrior. He didn’t defend me. He only sipped his wine, his jaw tightening as if the man had spoken nothing but truth.

That night, as I prepared for bed in the vast chamber we shared, Gabriel entered late, smelling of smoke and iron from the training grounds.

I gathered my courage, my voice trembling. “Gabriel… they don’t respect me. They don’t even—”

“Because you don’t command respect.” His tone was flat, his golden eyes sharp as a blade. He removed his jacket, tossing it carelessly across a chair. “You were not chosen by me. The pack knows this.”

The words pierced deeper than his claws ever could.

I looked at him, my throat tight. “Do you hate me so much?”

His jaw clenched. For a moment, I thought he might soften, but then he turned his back to me. “Get some rest. We have duties tomorrow.”

Days bled into weeks. Weeks into months. Three years passed, and still I was unseen.

Yet in the silence of his coldness, something dangerous bloomed in me.

Love.

Not the soft, glowing love of storybooks. No. Mine was a quiet, stubborn thing. A love that grew in stolen glances when I caught him training, muscles rippling under moonlight. A love that ignited when he stepped between me and a rogue during an ambush, his growl shaking the trees as he shielded me. A love that lingered in the rare moments his gaze lingered on me too long before he looked away.

Even knowing his heart still belonged to Karina, I could not stop mine from betraying me.

One evening, after a tense council meeting, I lingered in the hall as Gabriel dismissed the elders.

They bowed to him, ignoring me completely as they filed out. I remained, clutching the hem of my dress, willing myself to speak.

When the door shut, I whispered, “Why do you let them treat me like I’m nothing?”

Gabriel turned slowly, his expression unreadable. “Because you let them.”

“I try,” I said, my voice breaking. “I try every day to be the Luna they deserve, the Luna you deserve, but nothing is enough. I only ever feel invisible!”

His eyes flickered, a storm behind gold. For a heartbeat, silence stretched between us, heavy with words unsaid.

Then he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You shouldn’t care what they think.”

“I care what you think.”

The confession slipped out before I could stop it. His gaze snapped to mine, sharp and piercing, as though my words had struck something raw inside him.

But instead of answering, he turned away. “Don’t,” he said quietly. “Don’t care for me. It will only hurt you.”

And then he left me in the echo of his footsteps, my heart crumbling piece by piece.

I endured the whispers, the disrespect, the loneliness. I endured the way Gabriel looked past me at gatherings, as though I were a ghost at his side.

One evening, I found Elara, the young omega who cleaned the east wing, scrubbing the marble floor.

She stood quickly and bowed. “Luna.”

I sighed. “Elara, I’ve told you—when it’s just us, don’t bow.”

She smiled faintly. “If the others saw, they’d say I was disrespectful.”

“They already say worse,” I murmured.

Her smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

I hesitated, then whispered, “Do you ever love someone you shouldn’t?”

Her eyes softened. “You mean Alpha Gabriel?”

I lowered my gaze. “He doesn’t see me, Elara. To him, I’m just a replacement. But still… my heart betrays me.”

She squeezed my hand gently. “You deserve to be loved, Mira. Don’t forget that—even if he never sees you, I do.”

Her words warmed me, but the ache inside remained. Because no matter what anyone said, my heart still longed for the man who would never call me his.

~

Three years had passed since the day I became Luna.

Three years of silence at Gabriel’s side. Three years of enduring the way he looked through me as though I were nothing but an empty shadow. And three years of teaching myself to smile through the whispers of the pack, the sneers of those who believed I was unworthy of being their Luna.

I had endured it all.

And somehow, against all reason, against every wound carved into my heart, I had fallen in love with him.

I loved my husband. The man who never once told me I was enough.

It was on a quiet spring afternoon when my world began to unravel. I was in the garden, tending to the wild roses that grew by the stone path, when I heard the commotion at the gates. A familiar scent rode the breeze—sweet, cloying, unforgettable. My chest tightened, and before I could even move, the pack members parted as though the Moon Goddess herself had descended.

Karina.

The woman who had left him. The woman whose absence had led him to me.

She stood there with her hair cascading like spun gold, her eyes shimmering with feigned sorrow.

“Gabriel,” she whispered, her voice breaking, “I’m sorry… I was foolish. I regret everything.”

I stood frozen as Gabriel approached her, his every step filled with a desperation I had never seen directed at me.

“Karina?” His voice was raw, disbelieving. “You came back?”

“Yes,” she breathed, tears slipping down her flawless cheeks. “I never should have left you.”

And then he did it.

He pulled her into his arms.

Right there in front of the pack, in front of me—his Luna.

The sight clawed at my chest, ripping me open in places I thought had already scarred over. My throat burned, my body trembling, but I forced my lips into a practiced smile as the pack erupted in whispers. Some gasped, others smiled knowingly, as though the rightful she-wolf had returned to claim her place.

I stood alone, invisible once again.

That evening, Gabriel didn’t speak to me. He didn’t ask if I was alright. He didn’t even glance my way as he escorted Karina through the pack house like a cherished guest. My hands shook as I poured tea in the dining hall, my gaze fixed on the cup so no one would see the storm raging inside me.

When Karina laughed at something he said, my heart twisted painfully. Her hand brushed his arm, and he didn’t pull away. He leaned closer. He smiled.

I couldn’t remember the last time he had smiled like that at me.

Days passed, and Karina lingered. She moved through the halls like she belonged there, claiming every corner of his attention. And though I tried to hold my ground as Luna, the pack followed Gabriel’s lead—they saw his preference, and in their eyes, I was once again the outsider.

It was late one night when I found them.

I had been feeling unwell for days, a heaviness in my body I couldn’t ignore. Gathering my courage, I decided to ask Gabriel to take me to the healer in the morning. Surely, as my mate and Alpha, he would grant me this much.

But as I walked down the dimly lit corridor toward his study, I heard a sound that froze me mid-step—soft laughter. A woman’s voice.

My heart thundered as I followed the sound, my bare feet silent on the wooden floor. The voices grew louder, clearer, until I reached the guest chamber door. It was slightly ajar.

And what I saw shattered me.

Gabriel stood close to my twin sister - Karina, his hands cradling her face as he kissed her passionately. Not gently, not hesitantly—but with a hunger I had never known from him. Karina’s arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer, as though she had always belonged there.

A strangled gasp escaped me before I could stop it.

For a heartbeat, silence reigned. My vision blurred with unshed tears, my chest heaving as the truth carved itself into me like claws.

I had already fallen in love with him… and he had never once looked at me the way he looked at her now.

My voice trembled as I whispered, “Gabriel…”

I felt my knees weaken, my body screaming to collapse under the weight of betrayal, but I forced myself to stand tall. If nothing else, I would not give Karina the satisfaction of seeing me break.

Without another word, I turned and walked away, each step echoing like thunder in the hollow chambers of my heart.

Behind me, I heard Karina’s voice, low and taunting, “She’ll never be what I am, Gabriel.”

And the silence that followed told me everything I needed to know.

He didn’t deny it.

That night, alone in my room, I pressed my face into the pillow to smother the sobs. My chest ached with every breath, my body trembling as though the bond itself was ripping me apart.

I had endured the loneliness, the disrespect, the coldness of a mate who never wanted me. But this… this betrayal tore deeper than anything I had ever imagined.

Because despite it all, despite everything, I had loved him.

And love was the cruelest curse of all.