My Luna Mother Ruined Me For Her Favorite—So I Chose The Rogue King Chapter 05
My mother spun around.
“Marcus? You weren’t supposed to be back for another month.”
My father—Marcus Blackwood, Alpha of the Blackwood Pack—stepped forward.
The dust of a long, hard ride still clung to him. But his eyes were terrible—dark, heavy, carrying the weight of decades on the border.
“If I had come back one step later, my only daughter would already have been signed off to some patrol wolf, or left here to be torn apart by her mother, over and over again.”
My mother’s throat worked. Not a single word came out.
Celeste stepped forward at once, her voice gentle and dutiful.
“Father, please, don’t be angry. Mother only wanted the best arrangement for Evelyn. Evelyn has always been hard to manage—reckless, unwilling to be reined in. This match would give her a peaceful life—”
“Enough. I am not your father.”
He turned and looked at Celeste. Cold.
Celeste flinched back two steps, tears welling in her eyes.
My mother instantly moved in front of her.
“What are you snapping at her for? Every word she said is the truth. Evelyn is reckless. If I hadn’t kept her in line, she would have destroyed her own life a long time ago.”
My father looked at my mother.
“You call that keeping her in line? Destroying her name in front of every Council Alpha? Forcing her onto a patrol wolf? Stripping her of the gown her grandmother left her? Choosing Celeste over her, again and again?”
The color drained from my mother’s face.
“Helena.” My father’s voice had no warmth left in it. “If staying in Blackwood means being torn apart by her own mother, then Blackwood is not where she belongs.”
My mother stared at him in disbelief.
“Are you insane? He is the Rogue King. He is a wolf the Royal Pack cast out!”
“You know I secured the Crown Prince for Celeste. If you let Evelyn walk out of here with Rowan, you are throwing Blackwood into open war with the Royal Pack. Is that what you want?”
“Blackwood does not need to sacrifice its daughter to pick a side.” My father cut her off. “I stand behind every choice my daughter makes.”
His voice dropped, quiet and cold.
“And Celeste will not become the Crown Prince’s Luna.”
Celeste’s head snapped up.
My father looked at her.
“I met with the Queen Luna before I came here. I made it very clear. The Blackwood Pack has only one daughter. Evelyn. Now, and always.”
“The Royal Pack has already withdrawn its approval of Celeste as Luna.”
Every trace of color drained from Celeste’s face.
My mother panicked and grabbed my father’s arm.
“You can’t do this. If the Royal Pack pulls back, Celeste is finished. No Alpha family will take her in.”
My father lifted her hand off his sleeve.
“Helena. You stood at the center of the Full Moon Royal Gathering, in front of every Council Alpha, and you destroyed our daughter’s standing. Did you spend even one second thinking about what that meant for Evelyn?”
My mother had no answer.
Celeste clutched at my mother’s sleeve, her voice trembling.
“Mother…”
My mother’s hand went, almost by instinct, to Celeste’s back—patting her, soothing her.
“Don’t be afraid. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
At that moment, a guard hurried through the door and bowed his head.
“Alpha. Luna. Someone has come from the independent healer’s clinic. They say Miss Evelyn went to them for treatment a few days ago—and the bill still hasn’t been paid.”