REBIRTH OF THE TRUE LUNA

CHAPTER 5: THE TURNING POINT

Even the Moon Goddess should know how much she hated her.

Leah maintained a neutral expression, her eyes scanning the room, assessing the mood of her pack. Nina's submissive posture did little to mask her true intentions.

Every meeting with her was a performance.

“Good morning, everyone,” Leah greeted, her voice steady. “Nina dear, you can sit down. No offense taken.” She moved to her usual seat, noting how some wolves avoided eye contact, while others watched her intently.

Leah used to be constantly reserved towards her, making it her priority to suppress her feelings and hide away how hurt she was by the whole situation. Nina, in turn, masterfully used Leah's responses to her advantage, painting herself as the sweet girl and Luna as the icy queen.

Well, Leah wasn’t going to let her get away with this anymore. This pattern had to change. Luckily, she had the best teacher—-Nina. Nina had placed her through so many awkward, humiliating situations in the past and now Leah was ready for anything.

Moreover, she knew that what she did before did not work.

So, she was going to try something new.

“I am so sorry, Luna,” Nina sniffled, prepared to fall to her knees again, but Leah rushed to her aid and gave her the biggest of hugs.

The two women froze together while the room filled with awkward silence. Someone dropped a cutlery, and from the corner of her eye, Leah noticed it was her friend Gwen.

“Nina dear,” Leah spoke, finally distancing herself and sighing with a sad smile on her face, “I can call you that, right? I want you to know that this is a safe place for you. No one will ever hurt you. We are nothing like the pack you came from. You will always be treated well here since you are a member now. Those hard days for you are over.”

She grazed her eyes quickly over the room to see stunned expressions on the faces of her pack mates. Back in her past life, she tried to ignore Nina as much as she could while staying polite when they had to talk.

Suddenly, Nina threw herself in Leah's arms again. “Thank you!” she whined, making Leah having the feel to strangle her.

How dramatic!

In the meantime, Nina blabbed on as she returned back to her seat, “I thought that the nightmare in which I lived this whole time before would never end! But you are so kind!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Nina!” Leah gasped, almost forcing a small tear to roll down her cheek. “You’ve suffered enough, and I really worry about you. Everything will be fine, so take your time.”

“Our pack is a good one. Everybody gets what they deserve equally so as part of us now, you will definitely get yours.”

Nina stared at her wide-eyed as if guilty. That was definitely a promise.

At the head of the table, her husband Zev was watching them with his lips clenched. It was hard for Leah to hold back a laugh since she knew by the way he looked that he had been busy all night looking for the intruder.

“Thank you again,” Nina smiled innocently, batting her eyelashes. “Now I see that what people say about you is actually true.”

“Oh really, that should be a discussion for later then!” Leah giggled and gestured to her plate to begin their breakfast.

“I will be happy to!” Nina replied back putting a strand of her black hair behind her ear.

“By the way,” Leah stated as she took a sip of her black coffee—it seemed more bitter than usual, “Zev, we need to discuss about the future of our pack.”

Zev leaned back in his chair, a smug smile playing on his lips. “What’s there to discuss, Leah? We are united, as always.”

Leah’s jaw tightened. “We were united, but it’s clear that things have changed. Our priorities are different now.”

“And what exactly are your priorities, Luna?” Beta Luke interjected.

“My priorities,” Leah said, her eyes locking with Nina’s, “are to ensure the safety and well-being of my people. Something I intend to continue doing, with or without support.”

Murmurs ran through the room. Leah’s words hung in the air and Zev’s smile faded, replaced by a steely glare.

“We’ll discuss this further in private,” Zev said finally, his voice low and dangerous. “This isn’t the place for this.”

The room fell silent again, the tension palpable. Gwen shifted uncomfortably, glancing between Leah and Zev.

With that, Leah started to eat her toast as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, stealthily catching glances of her pack mates on her.

There they were. The looks they used to give Nina. Now they were rewarding Leah with those. Only this time, there was more respect than pity.

Back in the past, Leah did all the same things. However, her mistake was to not announce it in front of everyone. In the end, Nina played them and made them believe Leah had mistreated her at every chance she could.

She caught Zev's gaze on her and sent a small smile his way, startling him. At least she was getting the exact reactions she wanted.

For the first day back, this was pretty good.

Right after breakfast, Gwen pulled her into the her room and made sure to properly lock the door. The room was soundproof and so they could talk in private without fear of being overheard.

“What the hell was that?” Gwen hissed at her friend. “You are being so nice and welcoming to his mate?! You should have insisted again on him rejecting her!”

“My dearest Gwen,” Leah sighed, unable to help herself and hugged her friend once again.

“Leah! I know you're hurting deep inside!” Maya almost sobbed. “You have loved Zev all your life! He marked you, for Goddess’s sake! What was he thinking to have brought another?!”

“And what was that whole talk about priorities?” Gwen asked again, folding her arms across her chest.

“One thing at a time, G,” Leah sighed, yet again, stepping away, “As for I and Zev, that ship has sailed. No one can fight the mate bond. The battle was lost the moment he met her and accepted her as his mate.”

“You are so calm about it! I can’t believe this!” She shook her head in bewilderment, clear signs of worry on her face.

Leah contemplated an idea for a few seconds, but deep inside, she knew that if she could entrust this secret to anyone, it would be someone who had been her best friend since childhood.

“I need to tell you about something, Gwen.” Leah took her hands, turning to face her as they sat on the edge of the bed. “But, I will need you to be open-minded about what I am about to say.”

Leah began, and the more she told her, the paler her friend became. She omitted the part about Gwen's own death. There was no need for that. She knew the small fragments she was ready to now share would be enough for her.

When she was done, Gwen looked at her with red eyes, “It’s—”

“Unbelievable, I know,” Leah sighed.

“Terrible!” her friend took her hands and gave them a tight squeeze, “Leah! That’s awful! What you had to go through—”

“Wait, you mean you have no doubts about everything I just told you?” Leah questioned as she raised her brow. She expected that she would have to do a lot more explaining and persuasion.

“You wouldn’t joke about all that at a moment,” Gwen leaned back on the frame of the bed. “As far as I know, just yesterday, you were madly in love with Zev. But now—You were so calm, it was frightening. But, this explains a lot. You don’t get over love like that in one day.”

That was true. Leah did not know for sure if all the love she had for Zev was gone, but she definitely wasn’t the same girl from a year ago. She was twenty-six, yet it felt as if she had lived much longer. A lot of suffering and a broken heart could do that to people.

“It doesn’t bother you how crazy that sounds?” Leah decided to make sure they were on the same page.

“I believe in the Moon Goddess.” Gwen shook her shoulders. “She may have wanted Zev to be with someone like that, like Nina. But, I will never believe that she would want such a death for you! Anyone but you!”

“So, what’s the plan?” Gwen instinctively progressed to battle mode. She was one of the underappreciated wolves. They called her Luna’s assistant, but both of them hated the title.

Gwen possessed the rare Beta lineage that granted her the strength to challenge an Alpha if she put her mind to it. Perhaps not every Alpha, but certainly a good number of them.

"Well, I would get a divorce and then reclaim control of our pack," Leah declared, her smile reflecting the confidence she had in her newfound ally.

"Really? Is that even possible?" Gwen was impressed. "But why opt in for divorce? What if you conceive Zev's baby swiftly and then, if we eliminate him, we could seize everything—"

"Hard pass," Leah interjected, her laughter erupting. "You have quite the appetite for violence!"

"I'm just eager to cut off his dic—"

"Let's put a stop to the murder talk!" Leah said, attempting to let out another fit of giggles, as she covered her face with her hands.

"You know, I think I have the perfect idea!" Gwen's voice was filled with excitement. "Why don't we seek assistance from the lycans? This might actually work—"

"I've already tried that. Their King is such an total lunatic and a big jerk," Leah responded with an eye roll.

"You did what?!" Gwen's expression was one of sheer astonishment.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have dared but I remembered I knew a lycan who once owed me on a favor so I pleaded with him to set up a meeting with their king. But you wouldn't believe his arrogance!" Leah elaborated.

"Is he worse than Zev?" Gwen asked, a playful tone in her voice.

"Even worse than Zev," Leah affirmed.

"So, what's our next move?" Gwen was not known for backing down, and it was for this very reason they had maintained a solid friendship.

"It's quite straightforward. I just need to get the support of as many Alphas as possible," Leah said with a heavy sigh. "That way, when the divorce is finalized, they'll back me up when I bring up the issue at the Alpha Council."

"How many do you think will stand with you?" Gwen inquired directly.

"I'm not certain yet, but I think I've got a starting point in mind." Leah's fingers drummed on the cool surface of the bedside drawer.

"Come on, out with it!" Gwen urged, her interest piqued.

"The biggest event of the year," Leah said with a sly grin, "The annual Alpha ball."