"Luna. You promised that I can marry."
"Yes, you can get married. Just not to my baby she's not ready."
Alexandria stood perfectly still in the shadowed hallway; heartbeat sharp in her ears. They hadn't noticed her presence. Not yet. But the words felt like arrows, each one brushing past her skin.
And then it hit her, he was serious. The conversation from days before wasn't a bluff. This man had actually intended to marry her, a barely legal teenager he had isolated, manipulated, and abused.
She was seconds from stepping in when her mother spoke again.
"Since I don't want my baby to end up alone, I will consider you as a prospect if she does not find her mate."
Her stomach turned. Her fingers clenched at her sides. What?
"How long will that blessing be?" he asked, his tone bold, entitled.
"It's none of your concern. My baby has to grow into her own person. I know what you did. You broke pack law. And worse you hurt my child."
Alexandria's breath slowed. Steady. Listen. There it was. A glimmer of protection from her mother. For the first time, the Luna had chosen her. But it didn't last.
"Honey, we're wolves. Moreover, we're alphas. Parker's—"
"In case you forgot, I am the Luna," her mother cut in, voice sharp. "And my daughter is next on my throne."
That truth rang out like a war drum. Alexandria held onto it. A Luna doesn't need a king especially not one cloaked in cruelty. But then, as if the air itself deflated, her mother faltered.
"We are married. I'm an alpha. The pack needs an alpha to run Umbriel. Parker is also an alpha. I love Alexandria like a daughter, but... I don't think she'll be able to handle an entire pack."
There it was the rot under the surface. Her mother still believed she owed these men her throne. Still clung to the belief that without a man, she couldn't rule. And that... that was more heartbreaking than the betrayal.
"I want her to choose her match. If she hasn't by the age of twenty-three, then I'll consider an arranged marriage."
Just like that, her fate was being written into someone else's script.
Alexandria stepped out from the hallway but didn't say a word. No explosion. No accusations. Her silence was louder than a scream. She walked straight past them both, headed to her room, and began to pack. Downstairs, they sat at the dinner table as if nothing had happened. As if a promise hadn't just been made about her future. As if her life wasn't being bartered like a chess piece.
She sat quietly, spooning food onto her plate without ever tasting it. This was her mother's choice to tether herself to a man who dimmed her light. But Alexandria wouldn't do the same. She was tired. Tired of swallowing screams. Tired of watching love be used as a leash. Tired of pretending she belonged to a world that saw her as a tool, not a person. She wasn't going to fight tonight. Not because she had no fight left but because she had already chosen her freedom.
.
"Alexandria, how are your applications to Callisto Art's?"
And she thinks she still wants to study here? Hilarious she thinks she wants to spend the rest of her life in a terrible hell she's been put through.
"Mhmm... Can I please have all my original documentation, I need those for my application."
Her stepfather's eyes flicked toward her in suspicion, unwarranted but expected. This time, instead of shrinking, Alexandria met him with a sharp glare that sliced through the air like a blade. He leaned back, masking his dissatisfaction poorly. His bloodshot eyes practically burned into her, but she no longer flinched.
Before they'd come into her life, her world wasn't perfect, but it was bearable. Now, it was a slow-burning hell, and if she didn't find a way out soon, she knew she'd never escape. Never find the courage again to break free.
"Alexandria, are you certain about studying?"
Of course, the parasite couldn't resist inserting himself into her life one last time. She didn't even glance in his direction he wasn't worth the energy. Her gaze locked on her mother, who pinched her cheeks lovingly with a tired sigh.
"Okay, love. All your documents are in your dad's safe."
Her heart leapt with hope. She jumped up, but her mother caught her wrist and tugged her toward the kitchen. Of course—nothing came without a cost. Even now, she was expected to playhouse, expected to cater and bend to men who deserved nothing.
"Come on, let's make dinner. Then you can do whatever."
Parker was already gone. Good. He thought he was one step ahead, but she'd already outpaced him. While he scurried off to look for the safe, Alexandria asked her mother to let her wipe the table. She walked over and lifted his phone with a calm hand.
In the bathroom, she clutched the device suddenly struck by the fact that she hadn't planned this far ahead. She didn't know him, not really, beyond the perverted cruelty. But then it hit her. 14/03. Her birthday.
The screen lit up. She immediately disabled the tracker in his settings, then found the linked app and disconnected it from her phone. Every photo, every sick video, every stolen piece of her deleted. But she wasn't done. She used the "forgot password" function to reset access to his cloud, then wiped it clean. Recently deleted? Gone too. She rebooted the phone, returned it to the table, and strolled back into the kitchen with a smile as soft and sweet as poison.
"Mom, I forgot to mention I took Dad's safe to school the other day. I think I left it in the maths class... no, wait... the headmistress's office. She confiscated it after she punished me. I'll retrieve it tomorrow after my exam."
She spoke loud enough for the parasite to hear. Like clockwork, five minutes passes and the bastard excused himself. Alexandria clicked her tongue. Manipulating him was like steering a child eager and predictable.
She headed upstairs. Her stepfather was probably busy with his precious council meetings, and her mother. Still trying to play housewife in a castle built on rotting bones.
She entered the void room. The shrine of her violation. Her hands trembled as she began tearing every photo of herself off the wall, piling them in a corner. Tears slipped down her cheek silent, not weak. Each picture was a memory she never consented to. A life she never asked to live.
She found the camera first and ripped the memory drive from it. Then, the shelf. The one he always reached for the one holding his belt. The belt he used to tie her down. There, she found them. Four hard drives. Two USBs. Seven SIM cards. A case of CDs. She didn't hesitate. Every file corrupted. Every drive reformatted and shattered. Every disc snapped in two. His laptop? Already dismantled. The camera? A tragic accident involving water.
She smiled through the rage. Downstairs, she tossed everything into the fireplace memories, photos, her stolen underwear, a comb, even her perfume. She uncapped it, poured it over the flames, and watched the fire roar to life.
She's not done. She dusted wolf's bane across her room, coating it like protection. It didn't affect her, but it would stop him. She knew he wouldn't resist stepping back into her space one more time, sniffing around for control. Let him try.
Everything was in place. New phone. New account. She'd withdrawn the money through seven different ATMs and passed it on to a friend-of-a-friend someone from the fae world who did the fae healers a favour. Yes, she planned this patiently for weeks. Now she will run and after her paper tomorrow, she will will never step foot in Umbriel ever again.
And then she bumped into him. The stepfather. She handed him back the black card. Her voice was calm. Cold.
"Keep your word."
The notification hit her phone seconds after the bribe money he'd used to silence her torment now drained. He grabbed her arm. She yanked it free, stepping back with disgust.
"I just wanted to say... take care of yourself. It's a cruel world out there."
She met his eyes, deadpan.
"It can't be crueler than this place."
And with that, she turned and walked away. No fear. No guilt. Just fire. Because she refused to live and die in silence. Fuck this pack. Fuck this family. She was done playing victim. She will be free and fireproof.
— — — — — — — — — —
Thank you so much for reading the sixth chapter of Moon Temptation: The Original❤️🔥.
We are Awakening Healings potential and are about to raise a storm. Welcome to Alex's thrilling adventure, a book written from the viewers perspective. Have a happy reading...
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