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"Good morning, Luna!"

"Good morning, Luna!"

Guards posted along the corridors greeted the red-haired beauty, but she paid them no attention because there was nothing good about this morning.

The woman was none other than Luna Beatrice, wife to the reigning Alpha King, Elijah.

One would assume that as Luna to the supreme Alpha, she would be all smiles, yet there was not an ounce of warmth in her expression, her features perfectly stoic.

But beneath that impenetrable mask, there was no mistaking the fire of anger that burned inside of her and showed in her strides.

Her expensive gown swirled around her legs with her heels clicking against the marble floor, her red hair tumbling in beautiful waves as she walked down the corridor toward her husband’s quarters.

However, when she arrived, the guards stationed at the entrance blocked her path.

"Move," she commanded him.

"Apologies, Luna Beatrice, but the Alpha King has ordered that he is not to be disturbed." The guard’s stance was rigid and unmoving.

Beatrice stepped closer till she was standing face-to-face, her eyes dark with fury. "Move. Now." The lethal edge in her voice made the air seem to thin around them.

For a moment, the guard looked like he wouldn’t budge, but the other guard stepped in and whispered something into his ear. The first guard listened for a moment longer before finally stepping aside.

"You may meet the Alpha, my Luna," he said with a bow of respect.

If eyes could kill, the guard would have been dead on the spot because Beatrice’s glare was sharp enough to pierce steel. She stared at him long enough for the air between them to crackle with tension before she swept past him into the room.

The heavy door closed behind her, shutting out the murmurs of the guards.

Beatrice stepped in with the fierce regality only a queen could possess.

Though these were her husband’s quarters, she could count the number of times she had entered.

The lavish decor and gold-accented furniture did nothing to impress her as she was long used to the luxury that came with her title.

Her steps slowed, her heels no longer echoing as the room’s thick carpet swallowed the sound. But all the grandeur faded into insignificance at the sight before her.

Her heart turned to stone.

Elijah, her husband, lay sprawled across the massive bed, his bare chest rising and falling beneath the tangle of limbs belonging to three women.

Their golden hair, smooth skin, and exposed curves painted the perfect picture of indulgence and sin.

The scent of expensive cigars and spiced wine lingered in the air, unable to hide the night’s debauchery.

Beatrice’s jaw clenched hard, her hands curling into fists at her sides until her knuckles turned white. But she made no sound — not a gasp of shock or cry of outrage. Her heart pounded against her ribcage, and she was only able to temper the heat of her rage by sheer will.

This was not the first time. Nor would it be the last

The pissed off Luna strode to the windows and yanked the curtains apart, allowing the harsh morning light to pour into the room. The sudden intrusion of sunlight cut across the bed, illuminating the room with ruthless clarity and stirred the women from their slumber.

They blinked against the morning rays, gathering the sheets to cover themselves as they squirmed beneath her cold gaze.

Elijah was the last to wake, and his reaction was different. His eyes found Beatrice, and a slow, lazy smile curved his lips. "Good morning, my lovely wife."

Except there was nothing ’lovely’ about the rage brewing in Beatrice’s chest. If she had allowed her true fury to break free, the entire palace would have shaken with it. Yet, she stood as still as stone, staring down the man she had once believed to love. One she had thought loved her too.

To the outside world, Beatrice was envied for her marriage to the Alpha King. She was a human—a rarity among Luna queens who were always she-wolves —and her love story with Elijah had become a romanticized tale told among human females who dreamed of marrying Alphas.

Their supposed love story had begun within the walls of Lunaris Academy, where fate, or perhap Elijah, the manipulator, had entwined their paths.

Beatrice had entered the prestigious school as one of the many scholarship students, a program established by the previous Alpha King to foster unity between humans and werewolves in a time of strained relations.

Her arrival had been unremarkable at first, and she had sought to keep it that way. In a school ruled by the elite, where the strength of one’s bloodline dictated their status, Beatrice didn’t want to bring attention to herself.

Elijah, on the other hand, had been impossible to ignore as he was the academy’s untouchable heartthrob. Rich, handsome, and the heir apparent, he ruled

the academy with an iron grip wrapped in a velvet glove.

His arrogance and cruelty toward humans were well-known, nonetheless,students still followed him without question, humans and werewolves alike bowing to his authority. Thanks to that, Beatrice had made it her mission to avoid him.

Then something happened.

The death of Elijah’s elder brother had shaken the kingdom, forcing Elijah to leave the academy and assume his role as the next Alpha King sooner than expected.

When he returned months later to finish his final term, something about him had changed.

He was calmer, his cruel streak seemingly tamed, or so it had appeared.

The girls of Lunaris Academy had swarmed him more fiercely than ever, vying for his attention now that he was on the throne and needed a Luna to rule alongside him.

It was every female’s dream to be his mate, except her. Beatrice knew better than to believe in fairytales that only happened in movies and love shows. Even now, Beatrice could not understand why he had sought her out considering their first encounter had been as mundane as any other.

The day they met face to face, it had rained. Caught beneath the downpour, she had opened her umbrella to shield herself when a voice asked to join her.

She had turned to find Elijah beside her.

The shock had rendered her speechless. What business did an Alpha king have with a nobody like her? Couldn’t he afford an umbrella? Of many other females hanging around with umbrellas, why did he choose her?

Yet, she could not refuse him. They had walked side by side in silence until he reached his destination. Beatrice had offered him a brief nod and hurried away, unaware that such a simple act would alter the course of her life.

The next day, her name had climbed the elite rankings for the first time with startling speed. Gossips spread immediately, and the treatment from her peers shifted overnight. No longer was she the invisible Beatrice, she was now the center of attention, and Elijah was never far behind.

Despite her suspicions and the walls Beatrice had built up high, she could not escape Elijah’s magnetic pull. His charm was a weapon he had honed through years of practice, and she had been defenseless against it.

What began as cautious companionship soon blossomed into something more. By the time graduation arrived, Elijah had dropped to one knee before the entire academy and proposed to her.

It was surreal. An ordinary human female being married to the Alpha king. No, it was impossible. Except they did get married and it was too late for Beatrice to see this sham of a marriage for what it was.

Elijah had already started the trend of alphas marrying humans and Lunaris academy was just the place to go to get your werewolf mate, or the most exciting of them all, your dream Alpha.