Claiming the Rejected Luna

Chapter10:

Aria’s POV

The hallway to Damon’s grandfather’s quarters felt endless, stretching on in a way that made my pulse race. I could feel Damon’s tension; even though we hadn’t marked each other, our bond was already strong enough that I could sense how on edge he was. It was like his whole body was primed for a fight, his wolf ready to leap at any threat lurking behind these doors.

I reached out and took his hand, trying to ground myself. He looked down at me, smirking with that familiar, slightly infuriating glint in his eye. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten where we left off, little wolf,” he murmured, his voice low and dripping with that teasing charm he wore so well.

Heat flooded my cheeks, and I looked away quickly, but I couldn’t hide the smile creeping up. Damon always knew how to say just enough to keep me guessing. He chuckled softly, giving my hand a squeeze, and somehow, that simple touch steadied me, giving me just a little extra courage. Whatever his grandfather had to say, we’d get through it together.

When we reached the end of the hall, the pack nurse opened the door for us, nodding as she stepped aside. Damon returned the nod, pulling me into the room with him. I took a deep breath, the faint smell of old books and herbs filling the air, and glanced around. Papers and books were scattered everywhere, piled on the desk, the floor, and every available surface like the room belonged to a man who had spent his whole life gathering secrets.

In the middle of the room, Alpha Emeritus—Damon’s grandfather—stood with his back to us, flipping through pages as if the answers he sought might jump out if he turned them fast enough. There was a frantic edge to his movements, an urgency that made my pulse quicken.

“Grandfather?” Damon’s voice was calm, but I could feel the tension beneath it, a note of worry he couldn’t hide. “What’s going on?”

Alpha Emeritus looked up, his eyes immediately landing on me. His expression softened, and for a second, he looked almost... relieved. “I thought it was you all along,” he murmured, almost to himself.

Damon’s brows pulled together, and I could feel his frustration. “What are you talking about?” His voice was sharper now, that Damon edge coming through. He tightened his grip on my hand, protective, even as his eyes narrowed, demanding answers.

The Alpha Emeritus motioned for us to sit, letting out a sigh as he seemed to gather himself. “It’s time to explain a few things,” he said finally, his voice steady but layered with something heavy, like he’d carried the weight of this story alone for far too long. “It starts with a witch—a woman named Tabitha. Once, she was a close friend of mine.”

The way he spoke, I could almost see her, this mysterious figure from his past, a shadow cast over the years. There was regret in his voice, something soft and worn, like an old wound that never fully healed.

“My Beta,” he continued, “a good man—strong, loyal—he met her, by chance, and was instantly captivated. But he hadn’t met his fated mate, and watching everyone around him pair up while he waited was wearing him down. So he chose Tabitha as his mate. It was unconventional, but he loved her.”

Damon leaned forward, his brows pulling together. “He chose her? What about the bond? The Moon Goddess doesn’t exactly let us decide things like that.” He sounded skeptical, his tone holding a quiet challenge.

Alpha Emeritus gave a small, sad smile. “I warned him. I told him that choosing someone instead of waiting for fate... well, it rarely goes the way you’d hope. But he was determined. They mated, and a year later, they had a daughter.”

I could feel Damon tense beside me, his eyes darkening. “A daughter?”

“Yes,” Alpha Emeritus replied, a touch of warmth in his voice. “Half-witch, half-wolf. To our knowledge, she was the first of her kind. A beautiful little girl—strong, bright, even as a pup. But then, as fate would have it, everything changed.” He looked down at his hands, as if the memory still held power over him.

“The pack went to war with the Silver Moon pack,” he continued. “And in the middle of the fighting, my Beta met his true mate. He couldn’t resist the bond. None of us can.” His voice softened, almost apologetic. “He let Tabitha go.”

My heart twisted at the thought. Tabitha, this young woman who’d given up everything to be with him, left behind because fate decided otherwise. I glanced at Damon, who was watching his grandfather intently, his jaw clenched, as though he could feel the pain of that betrayal too.

“Tabitha took it hard,” the Alpha Emeritus said quietly, his voice weighted with regret. “But she accepted it. She was a good woman, strong, and she’d helped our pack in ways no one else could. But my Beta’s fated mate... she wasn’t so forgiving. When they marked each other, she demanded that Tabitha and the child leave.”

Damon’s eyes darkened, a flash of anger crossing his face. “So they just let her go? Just like that?”

Alpha Emeritus sighed, nodding. “Tabitha wasn’t a wolf; she didn’t have our protections. She didn’t have a choice. And as for the child, well... none of us knew how to handle a half-witch, half-pup. Tabitha would never have let her stay anyway. They left, and that was the last I heard of her... for almost twenty years.”

He paused, his gaze distant, as if seeing something none of us could. “When I finally heard from Tabitha again, her daughter had grown and found her own fated mate. And she left Tabitha, just like my Beta had. That’s when something inside Tabitha... broke. She became obsessed, bitter. She wanted to know why the Moon Goddess gave wolves such strong bonds, while she was left with nothing. She started experimenting, trying to make her own bond, to control fate. It darkened her, twisted her into something unrecognizable.”

I could feel a shiver run down my spine, the air growing heavier with each word. This was no ordinary tale of a lost love; there was something darker, something that felt strangely close to me.

“A few years later, word spread that Tabitha had died,” Alpha Emeritus said, his voice low. “Rumor had it she’d been trying to create a bond with a powerful Alpha when things went... wrong. I believed it, and so did everyone else.” He paused, then pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “But now I’m not so sure. Because this showed up on my desk this morning.”

He held out the letter, folded into the shape of a bird, its edges singed as if it had been brushed by flames. He blew on it lightly, and the paper unfolded, revealing the letter inside. Damon and I leaned forward, watching as he placed it on the table between us, the words etched in dark, precise ink, each stroke carrying the weight of its writer’s fury.

Alpha Emeritus,

Time reveals what was once hidden. My bloodline endures, though your pack believed it long gone. My granddaughter walks among you now—a wolf, but with dormant powers she has yet to awaken. She will bear the consequences of my choices. Her fate will be complicated, bound by multiple mates, yet cursed with the right to choose among them. This is both my curse and my gift to her.

However, Demetri is hunting her, one of her potential mates, driven by the desire to bind her to him and take that choice away. Tell her that fate has caught up to her and that there is more to her story than she could have imagined.

Consider this a warning, old friend. The bloodline of Tabitha Black lives on. And Demetri is coming.

My heart thudded, each word sinking in like a stone dropping into dark water. Granddaughter. The word echoed in my mind, and suddenly, everything felt... off. Unsteady. Like my whole life had been leading to this moment, to this room, to this revelation. “Granddaughter...” I whispered, barely able to say it out loud.

Damon’s eyes flicked over the letter, and I could see his mind racing, putting the pieces together. “So... her granddaughter?” He looked at his grandfather, his voice steady, almost dangerously calm. “What exactly are you saying?”

Alpha Emeritus’s gaze softened as he looked at me, a sadness in his eyes that felt like an apology. “I’m saying, Aria, that Tabitha Black was your grandmother.”

The room went silent, a strange, heavy silence that seemed to wrap around us, holding us in place. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. I just stared at him, the weight of his words crashing over me like a wave, drowning everything I thought I knew about myself.

Alpha Emeritus reached into his desk and pulled out an old photograph. He held it up, and as I looked, my breath caught. In the photo was a young woman with dark hair, piercing eyes, and a face that looked so much like mine, it was almost eerie.

“This is Tabitha,” he said quietly. “Taken when she was about your age. The resemblance... well, it’s unmistakable.”

I felt a strange mix of shock, fear, and something else—something almost like relief. As if, somewhere in the back of my mind, I’d always known there was something more to my story, something I’d never been able to put my finger on. But this? Being tied to a witch, to someone who had defied fate itself? It was beyond anything I could’ve imagined.

Damon’s hand found mine again, his grip warm and steady, anchoring me as my world spun out of control. I looked up at him, searching his face, trying to find something, anything, that could make sense of this. But his eyes were wide, and for once, Damon looked just as shocked as I felt.

Alpha Emeritus folded the letter back into its delicate, singed shape, his gaze turning dark, almost regretful as he placed it back on the desk. “The bloodline lives on,” he said softly, his voice carrying a weight I could barely comprehend. “And Demetri is coming.”