Rejected Luna's Return

Chapter 8

SELENE'S POV

I sat with Allison on the bed as we watched a movie. Well, she was watching a movie; I was pretending to look at the screen while my mind was constantly wandering off to someplace else. It's been a couple of days since I woke up at the hospital at Night Crescent.

That's right. You heard correctly. It turns out the pack I woke up in was Night Crescent, and up until now, I have no idea how it happened. I mean, it's true that I was saved by Aldric—well, Alpha Aldric—but I still struggle to understand how I ended up running into him that very night. I mean, what were the chances in the first place? How come, out of everyone who could have possibly come to my rescue that night, it ended up being him? Alpha Aldric, the most powerful alpha the werewolf race has seen in—what, centuries? Ever?

That man practically rules the werewolf world already, even now, and from what I gathered from Allison, he's currently on his way to becoming the alpha king. Officially. I should be beyond honored that a man like that even thought me worthy of being saved, not to mention letting me stay in his pack. I should feel privileged, but somehow I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to feel either of those things just yet. Instead, I felt fear. I was terrified even more than I was at first.

I did pick up on the familiarity of his name back at the hospital when I first woke up. I'd thought that his name sounded a bit familiar. But never in a million years would I have considered the possibility that it could be him. The alpha.

That first day when he'd asked me to come to his office, I had been extremely careful about how much information I gave out to him about myself. He'd asked me a lot of questions—from my full name to the pack I was from, to how and why I ended up in those woods that night, to every other thing you could possibly think of. Honestly speaking, I didn't want to answer any of those questions, not only because the memories were too painful and fresh for me to relive, but also because I knew Thorin could still be looking for me. There's a high possibility of that. He did mention he wouldn't be able to officially take a new mate unless I was dead, not to mention everything else that I heard that night. Everything that both Thorin and Kira were aware that I knew and feared I might expose. It would be very foolish of me to assume that they would stop searching and coming after me just because for once in my life, luck was on my side, and I managed to escape them both that one terrible night.

For all I know, Thorin could have already informed some alphas of my disappearance as well as my supposed treachery to the pack. The way and manner in which Alpha Aldric continued to push for answers filled me with the fear that maybe he already knew what I was or at least suspected. I knew nothing about him aside from the rumors I've heard all my life, and believe me when I say none of them were anything good. I may have made the mistake of giving him my real name that first time because he caught me off guard, and I hadn't exactly been in the right frame of mind at that time. But I couldn't afford to make any more mistakes. I couldn't afford to give him anything else that he might use against me later on. If there's anything I've learned from the things that happened that night, it was that no one could be trusted. So I only answered as many of his questions as I could without giving away too much. I could tell he wasn't nearly satisfied with my answers and the information I gave him about myself. That much was clear in the way he kept staring at me even when I was done speaking. He'd been completely silent for a few minutes before simply telling me that I was free to leave. Then he'd asked me to call him Allison.

When Allison came out about a second later, she'd informed me that the alpha had asked her to share her bedroom with me for the time being. At first, I had felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea, not wanting to intrude on her privacy or inconvenience her in any way, but Allison had immediately assured me that it was totally fine.

I've been staying with her for the past few days, and I must admit she really is a nice person. Very patient and understanding too, considering I've barely really spoken to her so far—only a handful of words here and there. But she never once complained. Not even once. Instead, she acts like it was completely normal to be roommates with a total stranger who barely speaks up to a total of ten words a day.

As the days went by, I found myself slowly warming up to her—nothing much, but better than the first time. The more time I spent with her, the more I found myself relaxing around her. She also told me a lot about herself and how life had been for her before we met. I was surprised to find out that she was actually Aldric's cousin and that the alpha's parents had taken her in and raised her after her parents died in a rogue attack while she was still very young.

As for Alpha Aldric, I haven't really seen him since that first day I left his office, probably because I've been keeping to myself and haven't stepped a single foot out of this room since that very day. Allison has been nice enough to bring me food and everything else I needed. I didn't have to step out of the room for any reason, for which I was very grateful. Sometimes Allison finds me books to read, and other times she invites me to join her in watching a movie on her laptop. Which is exactly what we're doing now.

It was some movie titled *The Light in the Dark*. I wasn't quite getting the hang of the story, but still, it served as a good distraction, even though I was barely paying any attention to it.

"You know, Amber's birthday's coming up in about a few weeks' time, and I've been dreading it since the very beginning of this year," Allison said as the movie finally came to an end, and I turned to her as the name caught my attention.

"You remember Amber, right?" Allison asked, and I immediately nodded. Of course I remember her. The woman who was with the alpha's mother on my first day here. I still have no idea who she is nor why Allison would be so disturbed by her upcoming birthday. So I decided to ask after much hesitation.

"You don't like her?" I asked simply, and Allison sighed as she closed the laptop, pushing it off to the side before laying down on the bed.

She placed her hands behind her head as she spoke. "Not really, no. But then again, neither do a whole lot of people around here. Well, except for the former Luna, of course—Maryce, I mean. You know, the alpha's mother?"

Allison asked, and I nodded in understanding. Although I still fail to understand why she continues to address her family by their titles instead of their names like every other normal family. I should ask her about that too some other time.

"Well, she's friends with Amber's mother. They've been friends since childhood, from what I heard. Maryce is originally from Amber's pack before she married my uncle and became the Luna of this pack. That was years ago, and Amber's mother is now also the Luna of her pack. She married the alpha's son at that time, who's now the alpha of the pack. Maryce is hell-bent on getting Amber married to her son to unite both the family and the pack, not that she's had much success so far."

As Allison spoke, I quietly listened, just taking in as much information as I could about these people. It makes sense that Maryce would want her son to marry the daughter of her childhood friend, but I still don't get the whole part about dreading Amber's birthday.

As if seeing the confusion still in my eyes, Allison spoke again. "Maryce is going to force everyone to attend. Like literally force the entire pack to make an appearance at that party just to make Amber and her parents happy. I swear she lives only to run and control everyone's life. The only person she can't do that to is Alpha Aldric, and that's because that is impossible. Like literally impossible."

"The alpha has only attended a few times, and only because he wanted to meet with some of the alphas that would be in attendance, not because Maryce wanted him to," Allison said, and I shrugged.

No surprise there. The alpha does look like a man who has a mind of his own. He doesn't strike me as someone who can be told what to do.

I do hope the former Luna wouldn't make me attend this birthday party, though. I would rather not be made to disrespect her in any way, and that too in her own house.

"You know, Selene—" Allison started to speak again when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

I felt myself jump a little at the mere sound, causing Allison to look at me with a sad smile, and I immediately looked away in shame.

It's been like this since I got here. It seems I've become scared and jumpy over everything. I flinch and jump at the slightest sounds or movements, sometimes even from Allison's voice still. My life seems to get even more pathetic with each passing day. Being betrayed and rejected by my supposed mate and sister is clearly not enough.

"It's alright," Allison said with a kind smile as she patted my shoulder before climbing out of bed and heading towards the door.

"Maryce?"

I heard Allison call as she opened the door, causing me to turn in their direction.

My eyes widened in shock when I saw Aldric's mother shove Allison out of the way harshly, causing her to stumble back a bit as

the former Luna stormed into the room, heading straight for me.

I quickly scrambled out of bed and onto my feet as I continued to watch her in a mixture of shock and fear.

Anger was clear in her eyes as she glared harshly at me, and I couldn't help but wonder.

What did I do?...