My Luna Mother Ruined Me For Her Favorite—So I Chose The Rogue King Chapter 01
My mother is the Luna of the Blackwood Pack, and the Supreme Commander of the Alpha Council. She hates nothing more than being called biased.
Which is why she has always treated Celeste better than me.
She came back with a pair of moonstone bracelets. I reached out. She walked past me and fastened them onto Celeste’s wrists instead.
“The color suits her better. On you, it would only look cheap.”
The rare healing herbs from the Eastern territories—I never even saw them before every last bundle went straight to Celeste’s room.
“You can’t absorb something this gentle. It would be wasted on you.”
Then came the Full Moon Royal Gathering. The Queen Luna wanted me to be the Crown Prince’s Luna.
The highest honor an unmated she-wolf could receive. I thought, just this once, my mother would be proud of me.
Instead, she tore me apart in front of every Alpha in the hall.
“Evelyn is reckless, coarse, and aggressive. What the Crown Prince needs is a Luna with grace, patience, and capability. Evelyn has none of them.”
Mockery. Shock. Pity. Every stare drove into my chest like silver needles.
And that was when I heard the words she never spoke aloud.
【 So the man she said she loved last night was the Crown Prince. If Evelyn takes that position, Celeste will never rise above her. She’ll live her whole life in Evelyn’s shadow. 】
【 Humiliating Evelyn is for her own good—to keep her out of pack politics, and to spare Celeste the pain. 】
In that instant, something inside me died.
This powerful she-wolf had protected the territory. Her warriors. Celeste.
Everyone but me.
Fine. So be it.
In one week, I would leave with the man who had actually chosen me.
Starting tonight, the bond between me and my mother was over.
Forever.
…
“That’s enough, Helena.”
Seraphina Frost had once been the Queen Luna of the Royal Pack—before she was stripped of the title, before her son Rowan was cast out of the pack and became the Rogue King of the Northern Wastes.
She looked at my mother with her brow drawn tight, her voice edged with restrained disapproval.
“Evelyn isn’t half as bad as you make her sound. She—”
“Seraphina.” My mother cut her off. “I know my own daughter better than anyone in this hall.”
“But Celeste is different. Entirely.”
She pulled Celeste to her side, and her voice softened all at once—tender, proud.
“She’s the daughter of my dead packsister. Raised alongside Evelyn, and yet she has everything Evelyn lacks.”
“Grace. Discipline. Restraint. She knows how to make a pack believe in her. She is everything a future Queen Luna should be.”
“And I intend to formally adopt her.”
My head snapped up. I stared at my mother’s back.
And I heard it again—the voice beneath her words.
【 The Queen Luna never wanted Evelyn herself. She wanted Blackwood’s backing. Once Celeste is my daughter, she’ll accept it. 】
【 Celeste belongs at the Crown Prince’s side. Not Evelyn. 】
So that was it.
She hadn’t stripped me of my dignity in front of every Council pack to protect me. She did it for Celeste.
The moment Celeste became her daughter, Celeste could replace me. Take the future Queen Luna’s crown. Take everything that should have been mine.
The murmurs came from every direction.
“If even her own mother says it, how bad must Evelyn really be?”
“Celeste must be extraordinary. A wolf without breeding is just a beast, no matter how strong.”
The Queen Luna held my mother’s gaze for a long moment. Then, slowly, she nodded.
“Since Celeste is to be formally adopted, the Royal Pack will accept her as the Crown Prince’s Luna.”
Celeste stepped forward and bowed her head.
“Thank you, Queen Luna. I will not disappoint the Royal Pack.”
In that moment, she looked exactly like the woman my mother had described.
Graceful. Composed. Worthy.
Then the Queen Luna’s eyes shifted to me.
“Evelyn is still Helena’s blood daughter, after all. She may enter the Royal Pack alongside Celeste—as the Crown Prince’s second mate.”
Second mate.
Celeste would be the future Queen Luna. I would stand behind her, wearing the same man’s mark, one rank beneath her. Forever.
Every gaze in the hall swung toward me.
Pity. And undisguised amusement.
Seraphina shot to her feet, her voice cutting.
“Queen Luna—a second-mate bond is not an honor. Evelyn has every right to refuse.”
Every head turned my way.
I rose. My voice came out steadier than I’d expected.
“I refuse.”
The Queen Luna gave a single nod.
“The offer stands. Think it over.”
The gathering carried on.
I stood at the back of the hall, watching my mother move Celeste from Alpha to Alpha, from pack to pack, introducing her like a prize. Something deep inside me went still.
Mother. I don’t crave your attention anymore.
From now on, I will choose another pack. Another life.
And I will never look back.