Too Late Ex, I'm the Luna Now | Read Free Preview
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Chapter 1
Aria’s POV
I stood in front of the elder who was supposed to review my bond with my mate for our fifth anniversary, and I still cannot wrap my head around what she just told me.
“I think there has been a mistake somewhere, elder. How about you check again?” I asked her.
She stared at me blankly and I knew what that meant. You do not question elders. It was a rule that has stayed longer than I have been alive. But, I would defy that rule a million times right now.
“Miss Bloodwyn, your bond to your mate is nonexistent. In other words, you’re not bonded.” Her voice whipped across the silence in the hall, cracking harshly against me.
“My mate and I have been together for almost five years now. We had a connection when we first met that made us know that we belonged to each other. How is there no bond now? That’s not possible. I can feel him from across town.” I said more to myself than to her.
“I’ll say this once and after that, I won’t entertain more questions from your end. There are chances that bonds do not take when it first forms. And there are also instances where there might be fake bonds, it deceives you in the beginning and disappear over time. The last one is when there was no bond at all and you both just thrived on physical attraction. Choose your poison and figure out the one that belongs to you.” She waved her hand, dismissing me and I knew that was the end of it.
I shook my head as if the thought that was inside would disappear and it would all turn out to be a lie. She called me by my maiden name. Not by my mate’s. So it has been in the system all along?
I was not a stranger to these things since I was involved in pack politics and I knew my way around most things. But nothing could beat this revelation. Does Caleb know about this?
That was not possible. Caleb would not play me like that. I was about to connect to him through the mate kind we had when my phone rang in the pocket of my coat. It was my best friend.
“Lilian.” My voice was stark and a little scratchy so I cleared my throat.
“You won’t believe who I just saw right now Aria.” She whispered furiously like she was hiding from something. Or someone.
“Not right now Lil. I have a lot of things on my mind and I don’t think…..”
“You need to hear this. Your mate.” That piqued my attention and I stopped myself from getting into the car.
“What happened to Caleb?”
“He…. I don’t even know how to tell you what I’m seeing. I’ll make a video and send it to you.” I frowned as I heard scuffles from her end.
“What’s going on?” I asked again.
A few seconds later, there was a notification from her. I clicked on the play button and it was a blank screen for a while before I saw Caleb on it. He was standing very close to a woman who had her hands wrapped around his waist. Then the video was zoomed in and I saw the woman’s face.
My hands shook and the phone almost fell out of my hands. It was Talia. My orphanage sister, with whom we grew up. What was she doing with my mate? Before I knew what was happening, she rose on her tiptoes and kissed his lips which he happily returned with his hands on her waist.
Oh goddess.
I think I’m going to be sick.
“Aria? Aria? Are you good?” Lillian’s voice cut through my thoughts and I remembered that she was still on the call.
“I’ll talk to you later.” I rushed out and cut the line.
What the elder said started to make a whole lot of sense. I scrolled back to watch the video again and I saw a small girl clinging to the pants Caleb was wearing and he broke away from her carrying the girl and smiling widely at her kissing her on the face.
The girl looked exactly like him.
He has a child. With someone else. Someone I grew up with nonetheless. Out of everyone. It had to be her. The hurt that blossomed in my chest was second to none. How could he betray me like this?
Deep down, I knew our bonding was not a love match. I knew I was with the family because of what I can give to them. His father made it clear times without number that I was only a pawn in their game of climbing societal ladder. But Caleb had made me forget about that with his care and attention. I thought we had something.
What is this supposed to be then? My heart tightened from the sense of betrayal that overwhelmed me.
In the real sense, I’m supposed to feel pain in our bond so I would know that he’s feeling my pain too but there was nothing. If I wanted to be honest, thinking about it now, through the years there have been inconsistencies in our bond. I did not exactly feel much and neither did he. Most of our interactions were based on sense. I thought that was just our own dynamic, but the truth was that I was nothing to him.
He’s used me all of this time. For his family business, to gain rank in the council. Only for him to go to Talia. Her parents got to know about her when she was thirteen and had to leave the orphanage and they happened to be one of the most influential families in the pack.
My phone rang again and it jerked me out of my thoughts. It was Lilian. I contemplated picking it, but I finally did.
“I’ll talk to you later Lil, I….” She cut me.
“You need to get your ass over to the pack hospital right now. This is very important.” She said hurriedly. And from the tone of her voice, she was dead serious.
“What’s going on?” I got into my car and dropped the documents in my hands.
“Your test results are out and it’s not good.”
My heart started to pound in my chest. I disconnected the call and floored it down to the hospital.
What could go wrong again?
Chapter 2
Aria’s POV
“Your supposed supplements are contraceptives in disguise Aria. There is nothing wrong with you. You’re healthy enough to carry a pup.” Lilian said. There was pity in her gaze as she stared at me.
My hands tightened on the table, anger rushing through me as I stared at the report that was in front of me.
“We don’t have a bond with Lilian.” That was the only thing I could bring myself to tell my friend.
“You and Caleb? What? How is that even possible?” She asked wide-eyed, shock written all over her face.
Then I explained about my meeting with the mates council board and what had been said. Everything that I had planned for the anniversary was going down the drain.
“From what I saw and sent to you, he must have known that your bond did not take or the bond has been nonexistent. Why would he do something like that to you?” She asked, furious.
“I still can't wrap my head around it. A lot has happened to me today and the fact that I’m just realizing inconsistencies now is pissing me off.” I laughed eerily.
I nudged the bond and there was nothing. “Maybe because he thinks I’m an orphan that has nowhere to go, or no one to run to, he felt like he could use me for his sick agenda and I would sit and take it.”
“You have still not told him that your family already found you?”
“No.”
I was apparently the youngest daughter of the Crimson Moon pack and I somehow ran into my brother some weeks ago and he knew it was me from the birthmark that I had on the inside of my wrist.
The reason I pretended that they did not exist was that they wanted me to break my mate bond and have another mate and I rejected their offer.
As I stepped out of the hospital, I dialed the number that I had memorized by heart and he picked up on the first ring.
“Sister.”
“I’ll accept your offer. But you have to give me time to wrap things up over here. Say a couple of weeks. And I’ll do your bidding.”
“Mother and father would be glad to hear that. Your new mate is in the Ashmoon pack at the moment, fortunately for you. He knows that, in his terms, all they need to do is meet up and talk. I’ll send you the address of his hotel. He knows you will come.” He said in a clipped tone.
“Alright.”
The line went dead.
Two can always play this game.
******
When I got to the hotel, I stated my business to the receptionist but I was told that he had just left. I bit the inside of my mouth in anger. I’m not exactly in the mood for this right now. Just then, someone walked up to me.
“Miss Bloodwyn?” Hearing that name made me shudder. I turned to the owner of the voice.
“Yes?”
“I’m Theo, Alpha Kael’s Beta. So sorry he’s not here to meet you. Something urgent came up at the pack that made him leave.” He said apologetically.
“So, why am I here? I was told he knew I would be coming.” Ignoring the fact that I would be joined off to an alpha. Caleb was a beta.
“He dropped the documents that you have to go through. That was the main reason you had to meet in the first place.” He said and stretched forth his hand with a brown envelope in it, and there was a stamp without a seal on it. I collected it.
“That will be all Miss Bloodwyn.” He walked away.
Way to go. I shook my head and walked out of the hotel. I might as well head home.
Nothing could prepare me for what I met when I got home. Talia was here with her daughter. They were sitting on the couch in my living room laughing at something funny that Caleb had said. They did not notice my presence and I contemplated letting it all go to shit or keeping my cool and pretending not to know anything.
Just then, the eyes of the girl met mine and she hid behind Caleb.
“Sunshine. You’re back. I didn’t know you were coming back today. I thought you said tomorrow.” Caleb said when he saw me. He sounded like the doting mate he was. He had a wide smile on his face. What kind of sick person would act like this? Pretense was not showing at all.
“Yeah. Something came up and we were able to wrap up the meetings earlier.” I said to him, pushing my luggage to the side. “And who do we have here?” I pushed out referring to Talia and her child. Their child.
“Aria! I’m hurt. How could you forget me already?” She stood up and drew me into a hug. I wanted to smash her head to pieces. My wolf wanted to howl so loud and hunt her down, but I kept her down. Now is not the time.
“Well, well, Talia. I thought I would not see you again since your rich parents whisked you off.” I said to her with a fake smile plastered on my face. She had one too.
Pretense was written on her face and in her features.
“You can’t blame me. We struggled growing up and when I finally got to have my family, I held them tight to myself. I know you can’t relate to that.” She said, dragging her hand down the side of my arms as if to pacify me.
“Well, what I could not make up for in my family, I have in my sweet mate right here.” I said with equal energy as I grabbed a hold of Caleb who was standing close to me even though he repulsed me at the moment.
I could see her face change and morph into something else. She was almost losing it. But she kept it together.
“Good for you.” She said tightly. “This is my baby. Isn’t she pretty? She clocked four yesterday.” She wanted me to know all those details intentionally.
“Is that right? Hello there.” I said to the girl who went to hide behind her mother. Mm…there was obviously something fishy there.
“Why are you in my home Talia?” I cut to the chase.
Chapter 3
Aria’s POV
Caleb convinced me to allow her to stay with us for now, or maybe that was what he thought. I wanted to see how the wheel scenario would pan out, so I did not bother to say much. He used the fact that we used to be sisters as part of his point. And he also said she was here for family business.
Dinner was at his parents’ house tonight and to my surprise, he took off with Talia and their child without asking me about how I would get there.
I kept to myself and used the opportunity to check through the document that I got from the Beta from the other day. It was almost like a contract kind of thing. My duties as Luna were outlined and what I was meant to do and not to do.
My face scrunched into a frown. I did not want to subject myself to a particular set of rules but then, I knew that was not out of the question for me. I did not sign it. I just returned it to the envelope and kept it in my closet. I must see this Alpha Kael first and we must talk about the terms of this contract first before I sign it.
Time was running out and it was only a matter of minutes before my phone would start blowing up to show up at dinner.
By the time I got there, I walked in without anyone stopping me since this was like a second home to me. I really wanted to know how his parents would take seeing Talia and a child that looked exactly like him.
A crack of laughter reverberates through the double doors that were closed. Thanks to my sharp hearing, I could hear them. I stopped in my tracks instead of going in.
“What do you intend to do with Aria now that I have gotten myself a grandchild from Talia here?” I gasped audibly in disbelief, my palm going to my mouth. I could not believe what I just heard from his mother.
She knew about all of this time?
I’m the only fool in this family apparently, I laughed to myself in pain. I have dedicated all of my life to them. Every single thing. Their business, their position in the pack, I took it upon myself to use my connections within the political circle to put their name up there. But here I am, being the stupid one who is being used and about to be thrown away like a worthless piece of garbage.
“I can’t do anything to Aria. She’s still my mate. And she’s helping with a lot of things at the moment.” I heard Caleb’s voice and I snickered to myself. So much for being the faithful mate. And did he just say still?
“You will hold out until she finishes what she’s doing at the moment. I don’t want to jeopardize what she’s doing for me with the secretary of the Alpha king. The woman dotes on her a little too much.” I heard his father say. "You know why I made you marry her. She's smart and good for business. If she gets this done, I'll give you the reign to the company and other things."
I felt like a tool being used. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. So, this was it all along? I was the one being pushed to the Alpha King like a sacrifice for their family.
“She should know that there would have been no way that someone like her would live her entire life with you. She does not even have a family. I can’t speak about her in my social circles. It’s like a disgrace for me.” She said with disgust in her tone. Anger and hurt coursed through me.
“Aria is sweet. She just does not know when to end things.” Talia said and I could tell she was being fake even from a mile away. Bitch.
The doors opened suddenly to reveal me standing there. They all raised their heads to look at me. The eyes of his mother widened like she was caught dipping her hand into the cookie jar. The kid was sitting in her lap.
“Babe. When did you get here?” He stood up from his chair with a guarded smile on his face as he walked towards me.
“Just now. Sorry, I’m late.” I nodded towards his parents who only grunted at my arrival.
“How is it going?” His father asked and I knew he was talking about business. My wolf nudged but I kept her down as I sat down beside Caleb. I could tell from the body language of Talia that she did not like that one bit. Take that.
“I can’t exactly say. I’m waiting on Miss Astrid to reach out to me first.” I said blankly.
“Talia would be helping with some of the business.” He said that after a while and that made me frown.
“And why is that?”
“Your sources might not be as reliable as they should and that might eventually hurt the plans that we have going. You understand right?” He stared me down. From the way he was looking, he expected me to actually accept what he was saying.
“Aria, you have to understand what he’s saying. This is for the family. And for what you’ve been doing all of this time. So that it won’t go down the drain.” Caleb pushed.
“Are you sure about that?” My voice dropped to a decibel and I looked at all of them.
“I know you’re quite understanding, Aria. Don’t be selfish now.” Talia chipped in with a sly smile on her face. Is she letting the act slide now?
I cocked my head to the side.
“Alright then. She should be able to handle everything from here on out right?” I said with a tone of finality, telling them that I would be dropping out of the whole thing.
“You can’t do that…..”
“Aria…..”
“Don’t be selfish…..”
“Daddyyyyy!!”
There was sudden stillness in the whole of the room and no one moved. Everyone turned to the cause of the silence and the child looked around with satisfaction on her face before she bounced to where Caleb was sitting as rigid as a statue.
“Daddy, I’m hungry.” She said to Caleb.
“Is this not a very beautiful sight?” I heard myself say with an expressionless smile.
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