His Luna Was Never Me - Chapter 4: Chapter 4

When I turned eighteen, everything changed. My father, driven by his hunger for power and territory, stopped caring about my mother—the ordinary she-wolf who'd once been his Luna. He set his sights on the daughter of a powerful Alpha from another pack, seduced by the promise of dominance and prestige. Without a second thought, he tossed my mother aside, severing their bond, and mated with this new woman, securing his place as Alpha of the Phantom Moon Pack.
That was the kind of man he was—selfish to the core.
He didn't even look back when he left us. "You and Adeline should come with me," he'd said, his voice empty of any warmth. "There's nothing for you here."
But I couldn't abandon my mother. "I'm staying with Mom," I told him, my voice firm. "She needs me."
Adeline, though? She was different. She wanted the status, the power, the life our father's new rank offered. Without hesitation, she chose to go with him, leaving Mom and me behind like we meant nothing.
I watched her walk away that day, standing at the edge of our pack's territory. "Adeline," I called out, my voice breaking. "Don't go."
She only glanced back once, her eyes cold and distant. "This is our chance, Anastasia," she said, her tone chillingly detached. "I'm not throwing it away."
In the years that followed, Ronan made me the target of all his bitterness. He blamed me for everything—for keeping him from following Adeline, for trapping him in the Obsidian Howl Pack, for ruining the future he thought he deserved. And when fate decided I was his mate? His hatred for me only grew.
As a kid, I'd idolized Ronan, following him around like a lost puppy. He was my whole world. So when I turned eighteen and realized we were mates, I was over the moon. I thought it was destiny—proof we were meant to be together.
But Ronan didn't see it that way. The second I told him, his reaction destroyed me.
"No," he said, his voice ice-cold. "This isn't right. I was supposed to be with Adeline."
His words shattered me. "Ronan, please," I begged, tears streaming down my face. "We're fated. You can't just leave me."
But he was ready to walk away—ready to abandon me, chase after Adeline, and pledge himself to the Phantom Moon Pack.
Then my mother got sick. On her deathbed, she made Ronan swear an oath—to stay with me, to protect me as his mate. Out of duty to the woman who'd raised him, he agreed. But in his heart? I knew he resented her for binding him to me, for forcing him to stay where he didn't want to be.
After my father left, leadership of the pack fell to me. Knowing how much Ronan craved power, I handed him the title of Alpha without a fight, content to stand as Luna in the shadows. Yet despite our bond, despite everything, he never once claimed me as his Luna.
One day, I finally confronted him. "Ronan," I asked, my voice steady even as my heart raged. "Why haven't you acknowledged me as your Luna?"
His answer cut deeper than any blade.
"Your mother forced me to mate with you. Now you expect me to make you Luna too? Keep dreaming, Anastasia. That title will always belong to your sister."
His words hurt worse than any physical wound. In that moment, I knew—I meant nothing to him. His heart had always been Adeline's.
But I had one last request—one desperate wish: Kieran's trip to the ocean. I was ready to let Ronan go, to finally set him free. But even then, he wouldn't give me that small mercy.
He could never love me—I'd accepted that. But how could he be so cruel to Kieran? How could he turn his back on his own son?