Usurped Luna, you and the triplets are mine!!

Chapter 1

Sometimes, I wonder why the most powerful Alpha of all wants me.

Why didn't he choose my sister-strong, healthy, beautiful?

Maybe he doesn't know what awaits him either.

Maybe it's just an agreement. A name. A duty for him.

From the rumors I've heard, he's a man without a mate, an Alpha without a Luna-and something inside me tells me he doesn't want me as his Luna. The council is pressuring him to marry and have children, and what could be more convenient than someone who will die in his arms at his first touch?

"Wait... you want me to marry the Alpha?" I asked, feeling my legs tremble when I first heard the news. They said I had a mate but never revealed many details.

When I was sixteen, I overheard something about it, but I never imagined it could be the Alpha. I had hoped it would be the man from back then, but now I was completely disillusioned.

I had thought it would be something more complex-that I would have to recognize my mate, and he, me. How could they choose someone like that for me? I don't even know him.

I never judged Lana for being infatuated with this Alpha, but... what does that have to do with me? They say he's hundreds of years old!

"Don't worry, Samuel Kan is an intelligent and handsome man," said my mother, her voice uncertain as she avoided my gaze. That only made me more suspicious.

"Mother... did you offer me to him? I've never even seen this man before," I asked, my throat tight.

"We would never do that!" she protested, but something in her tone made me doubt her.

My father tried to intervene.

"But... suddenly, Samuel Kan took an interest in one of you. We thought it was Lana, but for some reason, he said it's you."

"Are you sure it's not my sister Lana? Does he even know who I am? That we're twins?" I asked, clinging to a small hope.

"It's not your sister. He doesn't know you're twins, but the details he gave can't be mistaken. If we send Lana, he'll obviously notice," said my mother coldly.

"He was very clear. Besides, he saw you clearly that day..." My father began to say something, but my mother cut him off with a sharp look.

What secrets were they hiding now? Who was Samuel Kan, really? If he was the ancient wolf people whispered about, then he was centuries old. How could they have the courage to hand me over to him?

"Just think of it as helping to end a conflict that's lasted more than a hundred years," my mother said, her voice heavy with sorrow. "Once you're allied, Alpha Kan might realize this war between wolves and sorcerers is meaningless. You could be our bridge, dear. The Kan family might finally understand why we shelter mages and witches. They can't keep accusing us when he himself houses several of the goddesses of fate. Those women bring nothing but chaos."

"But what do I have to do with any of this? Just offer Lana. She wants to marry-she's always liked the Alpha... you know that. Back when we were supposed to meet him, she didn't even hesitate before pushing me aside for the chance. Isn't that why?" I cried in panic. I couldn't be with the Alpha. There was no way.

Back then, when I was sixteen, I already carried that burden, consoling myself with the thought that it might be the man who once saved me. But now, it felt as though the weight of the world rested on my shoulders.

At least he asked for me to be delivered when I was of age-enough time to prepare... or to prepare to die. Because that's what would happen when he touched me.

I left the office desolate. I spent days thinking about the man from the lake. Maybe he was the only man I would ever be able to touch.

A mysterious man whom no one else seemed to remember. My memories of him were like a blurred painting under water-but I knew he was real. I just couldn't understand why someone who saved my life had been forgotten by my family.

Now I'm close to turning nineteen. The fateful day has finally arrived. I was to be claimed by Samuel Kan, yet I couldn't comprehend when or how he had met me. As far as I knew, I was an isolated daughter, kept secret.

I thought Alphas were meant to be with their destined mates, so why was he interested in me?

I never had the chance to leave the mansion-always confined to the gardens, never beyond the high walls.

Still, since the day my marriage was announced, my room filled with boxes of gifts that arrived constantly-sent by him, as if I were someone important to him.

I never opened them, refusing to accept gifts from a stranger.

I simply stacked the boxes as though they were empty, as though they represented the distance between us.

They already covered an entire wall of my room. To me, that man seemed exactly like that-cold, opulent, unreachable.

"Maya, get dressed. We're heading to the Kan estate. Your wedding will be wonderful," my mother said, excited.

I stood there, frozen, petrified. Maybe there was still a way to stop this wedding.

Until I could think of a way, I had to find Lana. Maybe she'd want this Luna position-she used to admire Alpha Kan so much back then.

It was decided. My sister would take my place.

Chapter 2

I looked around, searching for Lana. I thought maybe... just maybe... we could switch places. But she barely spoke to me anymore-not since the day she tried to kill me.

The hallways were silent, as if the entire house was breathing on its own.

I passed by the old portraits, the wilted flowers in the crystal vase, and wondered when that place had stopped feeling like home. The sound of laughter made me stop.

It came from the music room.

I approached quietly. The door was slightly open, and through that narrow gap I saw Lana sitting on the bench by the window, her body poised in that graceful, calculated way of hers.

Two young men were with her-childhood friends-faces I knew well enough to predict the malice that followed each laugh disguised as a joke.

"I can't believe it," one of them said, laughing loudly. "Your useless sister is going to marry the Alpha."

"It's almost poetic," the other added. "A dead soul gaining a throne she doesn't even know how to use."

Lana didn't respond.

She simply crossed her arms and stared into the distance, with a faint smile-the kind that hides too much contempt to fit into such a delicate expression.

She looked bored, or maybe just satisfied to let others say what she herself was thinking.

"So, Lana?" one of them pressed. "Don't you feel bad? Your half-dead sister marrying the Alpha? I thought you'd want to be in her place, being queen."

She lifted her gaze, and for an instant, I swear the air in the room seemed to change temperature.

Her voice came out calm, almost sweet, but sharp as glass.

"Maya won't live a single day of that marriage, so it's nothing for me to envy."

The two of them laughed, as if she had told the best joke of the night.

"Cruel as always," one of them said. "Don't you pity her?"

Lana just shrugged, a slow, almost elegant gesture.

"Pity is a waste."

I stood there, leaning against the wall, feeling my chest tighten-not from pain, but from a strange clarity.

She was right.

Maybe I really wouldn't live a single day of that marriage. It would be nothing but torment and death.

And if the Alpha was everything people said he was, perhaps that was for the best.

I didn't want to change my fate by putting it on her shoulders. She might end up suffering because of me if I did that.

I didn't want to be a name whispered behind closed doors or a shadow of something that was never meant to be mine.

But there was nothing I could do-except accept it and finally face that Alpha.

I took a step back, just enough for the wooden floor to creak. No one noticed.

I slipped away in silence, my heartbeat calm, as if I had already given up on feeling anything at all.

When I reached my room, I had already forgotten why I'd left it.

I closed the door, pressed my forehead against the wood, and took a deep breath.

Then I simply let it go.

Some things, I learned too early, are easier to forget than to understand.

I began getting ready to leave for the Kan mansion with my parents.

I wore a simple dress of light fabric and white slippers. I pinned a golden flower in my hair just to look more presentable.

They said the wedding dress had been made by an important man, probably using measurements my parents had sent him.

No matter how luxurious it was, fear consumed me.

Our whole family set out for the grand Kan mansion. A council of leaders awaited eagerly for the union.

Upon arrival, the property's vastness revealed itself in a silence that felt almost sepulchral.

Only servants and guards moved about, small figures against the mansion's endless corridors.

It was a labyrinth of opulence, draped in gold and shadows.

But I didn't care about all that luxury. With every second that passed, my mind returned to the only man I could touch without pain.

The dress arrived that morning, inside a huge box-white as snow, wrapped in silver ribbons and sealed with the golden crest of the Kans, the empire of the most feared Alpha among all packs.

They say he's cruel, that his voice can silence an entire hall, that even the ground bends beneath his steps. They say many things.

But me... I only know that the moment he touches me, I will die.

It could be today, or tomorrow.

I opened the box almost absentmindedly. The dress shimmered as if it had swallowed the night sky, its tulle embroidered with tiny stones that caught the light like stars.

When I lifted the lid, a sweet fragrance filled the air-blending with the scent of fear that had lived inside me for years.

The fear of touch.

The fear of pain.

Because no one has been able to touch me since I was born.

Not even the wind seems able to reach me without burning from the inside out.

My body rejects contact; my skin reacts to touch with pain, as if the world itself reminds me that I don't belong to it.

Except for him.

Since birth, I've been cursed-with a magical dagger embedded in my chest, piercing my heart-and no magic has ever been able to remove it.

Not even my mother understands why I was born this way. She hid me, to protect me-or perhaps because, from the moment I was born, I didn't open my eyes until I was nearly fourteen.

The dagger reacts to any touch, and because of it, even my parents could never hold me.

But thanks to Lana's attempt to get rid of me, I was given both a torment and a blessing that marked me forever.

Chapter 3

It was days before they announced my marriage to the Alpha-almost three years ago-when I was pushed into that lake. It was winter, and the water felt like needles.

I remember her hand-my twin sister's-shoving me backward, with an expression I could never decipher. Anger? Jealousy? Fear? I never knew. But still... I hold no resentment. That moment gave me hope.

The water swallowed me whole. The world went silent and heavy, and I thought I would die there, in the depths.

But before the darkness could take me, I saw him. He dove in without hesitation. His eyes found mine in the void-eyes that seemed to glow even underwater. And when he touched me, there was no pain. No screaming. No burning. Only warmth. And peace.

I felt the bond the instant he touched me, as if something inside me had awakened. Then everything went black. When I woke, the lake was empty. Only the sorcerers who served my family were there.

That was also the day I felt my wolf for the first-and only-time. After that, I remained powerless, voiceless. The useless daughter, hidden away, dreaming of a man whose face I could no longer recall-only the green lights that shimmered along his body, familiar and warm.

I was tired of waiting for the makeup artists. My parents had vanished, and Lana had snuck in disguised so no one would notice our resemblance.

I walked through the corridors to pass the time. My footsteps echoed on the polished marble, and the golden light of the setting sun cast reflections along the walls. The place felt as empty as my home.

That was when I noticed a monumental door, half-open, carved in solid wood with spiral engravings. Curiosity got the better of me.

I approached and, through the crack, glimpsed a luxurious office where three men were talking and laughing.

They were triplets-identical as drops of water-each one devastatingly handsome.

The one closest to the door, with black hair and brown eyes, held a glass of red wine with an air of careless amusement. Beside him, the other two carried the same presence-three times the same sin, cunning and smiling.

"Everything's ready," one of them said with an ironic grin. "When he comes to meet us, we'll give him this and ruin his reputation. He's kept that incorruptible stance for too long, but no one stays untouchable forever. Just one drop of this will do."

He raised a small vial filled with a lilac liquid that shimmered in the light.

"It'd be better if he just died already!" another exclaimed brutally.

"Let's not forget he has divine origins," the third murmured calmly. "Wolves of his lineage don't die easily. The chances of survival are high, so it's wiser to ruin his image. That way, we can end the fear he inspires in everyone."

I stepped back silently, my heart pounding. Conspiracies among the great families were nothing new, but I couldn't get involved. I didn't even want to know who they were talking about. Who could possibly have divine blood?

They'd get themselves in trouble soon enough.

My fate was already sealed. Soon, I would be presented to Alpha Samuel Kan-and that was all I should focus on.

I returned to my room, my heart hammering.

The walls now felt like a prison, their jeweled decorations and perfumed flowers only masking the dread pulsing inside me.

I sat at the edge of the bed and ran my fingers over the golden wedding invitation that lay beside the box. My name, next to his, looked like a sentence. The letters bound two destinies that were never meant to touch.

But my thoughts... were only on the one man who had marked my life.

"I wonder if he's alive... and if he remembers me."

Moments later, an army of people burst in-makeup artists, hairdressers, seamstresses-all working frantically to adjust the dress.

It was dazzling, fit for a grand wedding... or a nightmare.

Two hours later, I was ready. Beautiful. Flawless. And utterly desperate.

Outside, a crowd was gathering. I watched them from the window, trying to ignore the knot in my stomach.

They said Samuel Kan still hadn't arrived.

The ceremony was to begin in minutes-and he simply hadn't shown up.

Every second that passed was torture.

"He didn't keep his word! I want to leave!" I exploded when my parents entered the room. "I won't be a bride abandoned at the altar!"

My mother tried to calm me with a trembling voice, but the look exchanged between her and my father said it all.

Had he changed his mind?

Was this my chance to escape?

"I don't want to get married anymore!" I cried, but no one seemed to hear me.

My parents were blinded by greed.

I tried to run, but my father's strong hand grabbed my arm. Pain shot through me, forcing him to let go quickly-he knew I had to be conscious for the wedding.

The heavy dress tangled around me as he dragged me back and shoved me onto the bed.

"You're not going anywhere!" he roared. "Even if he comes tomorrow, you'll wait!"

"I'm not a toy!" I sobbed, tasting the salt of my tears. "Tell him I won't marry! I don't want to marry someone who's going to kill me!" I shouted, panicking. The calm acceptance I'd clung to for so long shattered in an instant.

The slap came fast-sharp-cutting through the air and through me.

"Just behave and don't ruin everything!" he barked before leaving.

In that moment, I understood. I wasn't a daughter. Not even a person.

I was a transaction.

When they left, I pretended to give in.

But the moment the door closed, I ran to the window.

The garden below was silent. The night was perfect, the rows of pine trees dividing the main entrance-where the guests arrived-from the secluded wing where I was kept.

Everyone must have been busy waiting for the groom.

I climbed onto the ledge, my heart racing. A tall, sturdy pine stood beside the window-my only chance.

I jumped, grabbing a branch. Pain burned through my arms, but I held on.

With effort, I climbed down until I was close enough to drop, landing hard on the wet grass.

My bare feet met the cold ground, and I ran as fast as I could, the dress tearing with every step, the icy air slicing my skin.

The mansion disappeared behind me as I darted between bushes and pines in the darkness. But when I reached the farthest part of the garden, something made me stop.

Among the shrubs, a man lay on the ground.

His breathing was ragged. One hand clutched his chest.

The night hid his face... At first, I thought of running. It was my chance. But he looked like he was dying.

I stepped closer, slowly-and there he was, trembling, his eyes flickering from red to green to black. It was surreal.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

"Stay back... please!" he pleaded, staring at me in panic. But I couldn't read his expression-it was like a beast was looking right through me. Yet something about him... wouldn't let me walk away.

I reached out to touch his forehead-but his hand shot up, gripping my wrist with such speed my eyes widened in shock. And then, with one pull, he yanked me against his body.