The Betrayed Luna's Second Chance Alpha

Sacrifice To Be Made

Flora paced the length of her room with slow steady steps, her eyes staring blankly ahead.

The bunch of bananas Logan had thrust into her hands before shooing her away with the promise of coming to see her after he took care Elaine remained untouched on the bed.

Flora hated bananas, always had, and Logan knew that but he had different priorities now. Priorities that didn't involve making sure the malnourished mother of his child was fed.

He had to worry about the other mother of his child, his second mate.

Flora didn't know what to feel. She had always dreamed of reuniting with Logan but not once in her fantasies could she have created such a f*cked up situation.

Adrian, from his place on the bed, let out small whimpers that quickly dissolved into soft cries, demanding attention or food.

For the first twelve seconds of his sobbing Flora stared blankly at him, frozen in place and unable to bring herself to carry and feed the child of a man so cruel and selfish.

The very man who had put her through hell for a crime she had not committed and compensated her with a crime of his own.

But then the guilt and shame came crashing down like a fist to her sternum, and she rushed over to attend to her squealing baby.

"I'm sorry, baby. Mummy's so sorry," Flora babbled, with a quivering bottom lip as she struggled to hold back guilty tears.

"It's not your fault," she said, more to herself than her innocent baby who was so pure and good he had already forgiven his cruel mother.

Chastised, Flora settled down on the bed and began breastfeeding him, then punished herself by forcing down as many bananas as she could bring herself to eat.

As the hours passed by, waiting for Logan to come to her like he had promised, Flora thought about Elaine and what her new position in Logan's life meant for her.

Elaine was his mate, heavy with his child and she had been up here probably running Golden Claw alongside Logan while Flora was imprisoned for a crime every wolf in Golden Claw was sure she had committed.

Elaine had become Luna, whether Logan officially named her as one, and that could only mean one thing for Flora.

Logan would not be the first Alpha of Golden Claw to have more than one mate and he certainly won't be the last but there was never peace in a home with so many mates.

The last succession battle had taken place in the time of Logan's great-great grandfather, Alpha Geoffrey's rule. Geoffrey had six mates, each more power hungry than the last and after his passing they had pitted their children against each other and raged such a ferocious civil war it had nearly destroyed Golden Claw.

It had only ended after Logan's great-grandfather had come out the Victor after killing every single one of his half-siblings, all thanks to the cunning of his infamous mother in Golden Claw and beyond, Aristandra.

Elaine was no Aristandra, but she was as vicious as you could get and Flora had the morbid thought that dying in that cell was not as terrible a fate as she had once thought it to be.

A knock startled her out of her musing and Flora froze, her hold on Aidan growing defensively tight.

Her fear coupled with the weakness of a bound wolf made Flora more defensive and paranoid than usual, like everything was out to get her.

"Come in," she called out, cautiously and waited with bated breath to see her visitor.

"Luna?" Called out a familiar voice, softly, as a bonnet-wearing head peeked in through the small gap in the door.

"Matilda?!" Flora exclaimed, an excited smile stretching her lips as she leapt to her feet.

"Luna Flora!" the older woman responded with a beaming smile of her own as she hurried into the room, meeting Flora halfway.

Joyful laughter rang out in the room as the two women embraced, startling the youngest of the three.

"Oh, how precious is he?" Matilda cooed softly as she pulled away from Flora to observe the squirming boy nuzzling his pinched face against Flora’s chest.

"He's wonderful, isn't he?" Flora said with a fond smile.

"Just as wonderful as you for bringing him into the world all by yourself," said Matilda, with watery sadness in her eyes.

Flora's heart broke at the shattered look in the healer's eyes and she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Matilda..."

"I should have done something. I knew you were innocent and so did everyone who truly knows you and I should have—"

"There was nothing you could have done. Langdon has the final say, and he was too convinced that I had cheated and Aidan was not his."

"You shouldn't have had to go through it alone." Matilda lamented with a shake of her head. "It's just not righ..."

"But it happened and there's no turning back the clock," Flora said with a tired sigh, her face growing pale and drawn with a tiredness no amount of sleep could cure. "I made it."

"Barely," Matilda corrected with a tap of her index finger to the side of her nose. "I can smell the pain and blood. Which is why I'm here to fix you up and get you as close to what you used to be."

Flora laughed softly. "What would I do without you?"

The older she-wolf looked down at Aidan and ran her finger down his small face. "So much more than I ever thought you were capable of."

"Alright, then, have you had anything to eat?"

Flora glanced over to the banana peels on her nightstand, prompting Matilda to make a confused sound.

"But you hate bananas."

Flora shrugged, "it was what Logan gave me abd it's hard to be a picky eater now," sje muttered, bitterly and immediately regretted it when a heartbroken look flashed over Matilda's face.

"That's fine," the older woman assured with a cheerful mask firmly in place. "Settle down and rest while I put together something for you to eat."

"Can I have a glass of strawberry milk?" Flora asked with an eager little smile, excited at the thought of actually enjoying her food rather than eating to survive.

“I'll get you a whole jug,” she promised and then hurried out the door, leaving Flora to settle down in her fluffy and bask in the feeling of being cared for by someone else.

After Flora had eaten to her satisfaction, Matilda checked both of them out, starting with Aidan under Flora's insistence.

He was surprisingly healthy for a baby grown and born under the circumstances that he was, and though he was a bit thinner than most pups his age, Matilda assured her he would catch up in a few months with a steady supply of milk.

The sun was steadily taking on an orange glow by the time they were done with Flora, and by the frown on Matilda's face, it was clear that she had to leave to attend to her duties.

Werewolves rarely got sick like their human counterparts but when they did it was often serious enough to warrant 24/7 care and attention.

"I'll be fine," Flora assured the overprotective healer, ignoring the feelings of loneliness that grew at the thought of being alone once again.

Aidan was good company and she loved him to bits, but there was only so much she could get in the way of social interaction from a newborn baby who spent most of his time eating and sleeping.

"I can't help but worry," Matilda sighed, as she dragged the large suitcase containing her various equipment and tools away from the bed and placed it in the corner. "What if something happens and I'm not here to protect you?"

"Nothing will happen," Flora brushed aside with amused laughter at her overprotectiveness that stuttered to a stop when she saw the tight frown on Matilda's face.

"He won't hurt me."

"He already did," Matilda snarled. "And from what I'm seeing he is going to do it again."

Flora's face grew pinched. "You mean Elaine and her baby?"

Matilda nodded. "But it's not just that, Luna. So much has changed since you were... locked away. Too much for me to explain right now, but the most important thing you need to know is that both you and Aidan are not safe here."

Flora tightened her hold on Aidan's sleeping form, despite knowing deep down it would not be enough to protect him from whatever Matilda claimed was out to get them.

"Elaine wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything. Not when all eyes are on me and Aidan."

"But she would, Luna, especially now when the stakes are so high."

Matilda's eyes flitted around the room, searching for eavesdroppers that were not there before she took a seat on the bed, and leaned in close to speak.

"Alpha Langdon's brothers have been contesting his right to the Alpha seat since rumours of your infidelity started flying around. No heir meant they had a stronger stand but now that Aidan has been proven legitimate and Elaine has another on the way, things have grown a lot more dangerous. Rebellion or Civil war kind of dangerous. You have a lot more than Elaine to fear coming after you and Aidan's lives."

It was one thing to theorize her intending doom but to have it confirmed filled Flora with a hopelessness that threatened to consume her.

"So, even if we live to survive Logan's brothers, I still have to worry about eighteen years from now when an heir is to be named.” Flora lamented, “What's the point?"

"Luna!" Gasped Matilda with wide, horrified eyes.

"I wouldn't," Flora quickly assured. "It's just," she glanced down at Aidan peacefully sleeping, unaware of all the monsters who wanted to end his barely begun life, "I'm so tired. This isn't the life Logan promised when we found out we were mates. We were supposed to be happy and perfect, and now...."

If not now then in eighteen years Flora would either have to watch her son's blood spill, or see him become a monster.

She wiped away the tears that spilled down her cheeks, tired of crying and feeling sorry for herself.

She looked at the older woman as she spoke. "I can't watch Aidan die, Matilda, not in this life or the next. I would rather have my very wolf carved out of me."

Matilda nodded, solemnly but remained silent.

Afterall what could she say? How could you comfort a mother whose child had one foot in the grave the moment they were born into the world.

Flora turned to the window with a heavy sigh and closed her eyes as a gust of wind blew in and ruffled her hair.

She sent a silent prayer to the Goddess, pleading for the same grace that had saved her from death in her cell to save her son's life.

Her answer came riding on the wind, in a whisper Flora was so confident was the Great Mother her bound wolf howled in her cage.

"I know what I have to do," she whispered, turning to Matilda with a serene smile.

The healer perked up in attention. "You do?"

Flora nodded. "I have to leave.”