Chapter 1 The Barren Luna

Moon shadow castle

Luna Hazel could be seen crying while she run to her room She just found out her sister is pregnant and not just for anyone but her husband,her mate

"I won't take this" Hazel cried loudly "What do you think you can do" She remembered Ethan's voice As Hazel's bare feet pounded against the cold marble floors, her world seemed to crumble around her.

The shattered pieces of her heart clattering in her chest like a storm. How could she go on, knowing that her own sister had betrayed her so completely, seduced her mate, conceived a child with him?

The thought alone was enough to make her collapse to her knees, shaking with sobs and fury. In the stillness of her room, she heard Ethan's voice echo in her mind. What could she do, indeed? She rose to her feet, her face streaked with tears.

"Luna" Her personal maid,lia called from the door

"Please leave lia,I don't need you at the moment" Hazel shouted

"I can't leave you all alone,and also the Alpha called for a meeting..he said you must be there" Lia said

"I don't care..just leave" Hazel said Lia's gentle voice disappeared behind the closing of the chamber door, leaving Hazel alone with the suffocating silence.

But the silence only served to amplify the thoughts that screamed in her head. Ethan's betrayal. Adella's smug smile.

The whispers of the pack members, their pitying eyes following her everywhere. The injustice of it all.

She knows the reasons for the urgent meeting is because of Layla Maybe he's going to announced to the whole pack Hazel's mind swirled with possibilities, each one more gut-wrenching than the last. Layla, her own sister, basking in the light of attention, her belly swollen with the child of Hazel's mate.

The thought made her blood boil. She could see it now, the glint of pride in Ethan's eyes, the accolades from the pack, the whispers behind her back. No. She wouldn't stand for it.

The door opened and Layla entered,she walked to hazel and smirked

"I've always wanted you to know about me dating your husband and I think it's good as you found out your self" Layla smiled

"What have I ever done to you..tell me why..why did you have to do this to me" Hazel muttered slowly Layla's voice was cold, like ice shards piercing Hazel's heart.

"What have you ever done to me? You have everything!" she hissed, her eyes afire.

"You have the throne, the title, the adoration of the pack. But what do I have? Nothing. I've been in the shadows for so long. Well, not anymore." Hazel recoiled, a mixture of shock and betrayal twisting her face.

"You don't deserve this!" she screamed, her voice raw and pained.

"You think I don't..common dear sister,I do..and guess what" Layla said

"I have your husband wrapped on my fingers" Layla smiled

"I will never forgive you for this..I will never" Hazel cried Layla's smile morphed into a cruel sneer, twisting the corners of her mouth.

"Oh, you will forgive me," she cooed, her voice dripping with venom.

"Once the Alpha announces our pregnancy, you'll have no choice but to accept it. After all, who will the pack choose? The fertile, loving mate...or the barren, betrayed Luna?" Hazel's heart seemed to stop, the room spinning around her.

"Barren?" she whispered, her voice cracking with disbelief. Layla laughed, her voice harsh and mocking.

"Don't you see? It's been three years and you still haven't given Ethan a child. Do you really think he's going to stay with you when he has me, a willing and fertile she wolf?" Hazel's knees buckled, and she fell to the ground, her hands clutched to her chest.

The blow was more than she could bear. Ethan, her beloved mate, had betrayed her. Chosen Layla over her.

She had lost everything. Darkness encroached on the edges of Hazel's vision, her heart hammering painfully. She wanted to scream, to deny what was happening, but the truth was too heavy, too real.

"You might as well resign yourself to it," Layla's voice seemed to echo from a great distance.

"You're a failure as a Luna. You couldn't even give Ethan a child." Hazel's tears mixed with the carpet beneath her, her breath coming in short gasps.

She didn't know how she'd go on. A rush of bile rose in Hazel's throat, the pain like a physical force, constricting her chest. The last threads of her composure snapped.

With a feral snarl, she launched herself at Layla, fingers like claws, reaching for her sister's throat. Layla's eyes widened in shock, but she moved quickly, ducking under Hazel's wild swing.

A low growl rumbled in Layla's chest, her face contorting into a vicious snarl.

"You've lost it, sister. Ethan was right to turn to me." Layla smiled

"What do you think you're doing" Ethan entered the room

"Alpha..please beg my sister for me,it wasn't my fault and I'm sorry for getting pregnant for you" Layla faked a cry and Hazel watch her in disbelief Hazel felt the blood drain from her face, her muzzle hanging open in shock as Layla played the victim, crocodile tears streaming down her face.

"How can you..?!" she began, her growl turning into a choked sputter. Ethan, his expression pained, turned to Hazel, his eyes searching her own.

"You're so evil and selfish..how can you make a pregnant woman cry" Ethan roared and grap her throat,choking her passionately

"Ethan, no!" Hazel gasped, terror seizing her as she watched Ethan, her mate, the man she had trusted with her heart, turn on her. His grip tightened around her throat, cutting off her breath, her world becoming a blur of pain and fear.

"How could you do that to her, Hazel?" Ethan snarled, his face contorting into an unrecognizable mask of rage.

Layla smiled secretly as she watched the scene

"Please alpha..don't hurt my sister" Layla cried

"She deserves this," Ethan spat, his eyes never leaving Hazel's desperate, pleading ones.

"She deserves to suffer for what she's done to us."

"Please.." Ethan released her and Hazel fell on the floor crying and coughing

"Let's go" Ethan carried Layla and went out with her leaving Hazel alone The door slammed shut, the sound reverberating through Hazel's broken soul.

As she curled into a ball on the floor, the pain in her throat nothing compared to the agony in her heart, tears flowed freely down her fur, a mottled blend of sadness, rage, and utter despair.

The room seemed to spin, the sounds of the celebration outside now a mocking cacophony.

"What have I done?" Hazel whispered to herself, her voice a raw, broken thing.

"What have I done...?"