Betrayal Under The Moon

The year 1689, Moonhaven Clan, Lunaria.

Author's POV.

Zephyr stood tall, inside a wooden cabin, her eyes blazing with anger and tears as she confronted her mate, Daniel, and best friend, Aurora.

The air was gut-wrenching and heavy with tension. The silence was deafening, punctuated only by the sound of Zephyr's ragged breathing.

She had come to seek confirmation of a devastating truth she'd just uncovered. Initially, she was in disbelief but upon seeing the protectiveness of her mate towards her best friend, she started to have a rethink.

“Is it true?” Zephyr's voice trembled, her eyes fixed on Daniel. “What the members of the Moonhaven Clan are talking about…is it true?”

There was still silence. No one was saying anything. She needed answers. Answers that no one was willing to provide. She ran her hands through her long, black, silky hair as a sign of frustration.

“I need answers!” she roared out in anger, her voice vibrating with rage.

Zephyr's chest heaved with emotions and with a contorted face, she approached her mate. Her hands shook as she touched Daniel's face.

She caressed his face, stroking his cheeks with her soft hands while staring right into his eyes. She rested her head on Daniel's chest, the musky scent of his cologne, now repulsive to her. “Please, Daniel. I need answers… I am very confused.” She begged with a cracked voice, a sob escaping her lips.

“Get your hands off him!” Aurora, her best friend, shouted while shoving her harshly. Zephyr staggered and looked at her best friend in disbelief that she could do such.

“What are you confused about?” Aurora asked with a sinister smile, as she moved towards Daniel and held his hands.

“Stay out of this Aurora, I am talking to my mate,” Zephyr warned sternly, moving towards Daniel again.

“Oh please! Stop with the act! Which mate are you talking about?” Aurora said, with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Zephyr, bewildered, stopped in her tracks to give a befitting reply to Aurora. “My mate, Daniel,” She responded with a lot of confidence. Confidence erupted from the self-assurance that Daniel was in love with her and would never betray their union.

‘They have been together for two years, he wouldn't just cheat on her after all the years they've spent together.’ Zephyr thought so but was about to be disappointed.

“Zephyr,” Daniel uttered, for the first time since the confrontation began, “I can't do this no more, it’s suffocating.”

“What is suffocating, Daniel?” Zephyr asked desperately, her eyes searching for answers on Daniel's face.

Daniel’s gaze dropped, his shoulders sagging under the weight of his secrets. He took a deep breath, the words spilling out like a confession. “This... this... this union. We have been together for two years, and I still couldn’t bring myself to love you.” He confessed outrightly while Aurora stood there smirking, as she enjoyed the pain

Daniel's words brought to Zephyr. Daniel's words were like a dagger to Zephyr's heart, stabbing her painfully. She couldn't breathe from the revelation. Her whole world came crashing down.

Zephyr couldn't believe her ears. She had been so focused on loving Daniel, that she didn’t realize his absence of love for her and when she did, it was too late. And here she stood, as the reality became clearer and clearer that the love between them was always one-sided.

“After two years, Daniel! Two years!!” She howled out in anguish, eyes welled up with tears threatening to fall off. “I loved you, trusted you, believed in you. I gave this relationship my all and after two years, you are telling me that you don't love me. That it was all one-sided? Was it all a joke to you?”

“Zephyr, there is no need to prolong this. I really can't be with you because… Aurora is already four weeks gone. She's pregnant and I'm about to become a father.” Daniel let out nonchalantly like his words didn't just put a bullet straight into Zephyr's heart.

“Pregnant? How?” Zephyr asked in utter disbelief, her voice barely above a whisper and her lips quivered as she spoke.

“You would never allow me to touch or get intimate with you. Always coming up with excuses about your dignity and wanting to remain pure till marriage. What were you expecting the outcome to be?” Daniel spoke in such a shrewd manner, shamelessly.

“Our Union was arranged by the Elders because they thought we were suitable to be mates. How do you expect me to become impure before marriage and put the Elders to shame?” Zephyr explained to Daniel that life depended on it.

“Well, suit yourself then. I found someone else to satisfy my needs.” Daniel replied to her while Aurora beamed with pride.

Zephyr stared at the couple in astonishment. She thought it was just cheating and realizing that Daniel wasn't in love with her after two years but she was wrong. Now, Aurora is pregnant. She began to ask herself where it all went wrong. 'Why didn't she think of being suspicious of her friend?’

‘Did it all begin when she bumped into them on an outing and then was given a flimsy excuse that they were shopping for gifts for her?’

‘Or was it when he bailed out on her birthday, saying he wasn't feeling well but she saw him with her Aurora and concluded it was nothing?’

‘It was definitely when she caught both of them in a room with very close proximity, lips almost touching and bodies leaning against each other.’

There had always been signs, warnings and red flags but she was blinded with love and paid little to no attention to them. She was a fool to believe everything they told her, every excuse they came up with and every lie they fed her with.

Zephyr wiped the tears off her face and asked bitterly, “You are in love with Aurora and she is pregnant. So what is going to happen to me?”

No response. She looked at their faces and got her answer. She laughed maniacally as the tears made their way back into her eyes.

Zephyr scoffed and questioned afterward. “Are you planning on rejecting me?” She had never expected such from Daniel and surely it took her by surprise. The most cowardly behavior if she was asked.

“That's the only way out of this mess,” Daniel responded. “A mess which you created.” Zephyr countered back harshly.

“It still doesn't change anything. I don't love you and I am ready to accept Aurora as my wife, soulmate and lover.” Daniel responded, with an air of finality.

Zephyr took a deep breath to calm her nerves before speaking. “So be it then.” She was about to make a huge decision which she may or may not regret as time goes on but as they say, ‘All’s fair in love and war’. It was her turn to leave the cheating duo amazed and speechless.

“I, Zephyr Xanthea Nightingale, reject you, Daniel Kaelith Blackwood, as my mate and partner. I release you from our bond, and I reclaim my freedom and my heart. May the moon and the forest witness my decision, and may our pack respect my choice.” Zephyr's voice rang out clear and strong, her words echoing through the forest.

Daniel's face fell, his eyes widening in shock, while Aurora's eyes darted back and forth, her brow furrowed with concern. Their faces became pale as the reality of Zephyr's rejection sunk in.

The duo wasn't expecting Zephyr to reject Daniel and also to do it before they got the chance to but Aurora was happy with the way things turned out.

She doesn't care who would be the first one between both of them to denounce the other as a mate. She was just satisfied that the rejection took place and now she can have Daniel all to herself.

But with Zephyr rejecting Daniel first, it only made things easier for her as this will make him not remain hung up on Zephyr and be able to move on and forget about her.

Aurora’s grip on Daniel’s hand tightened as she stared at Zephyr, her eyes flashing with jealousy. She recalled the sting of rejection, the feeling of being second-best. “I’m so happy we’re together,” she said, her voice laced with a hint of possessiveness as if trying to convince herself.

As for Daniel, he couldn't just believe that Zephyr rejected him. He had expected her to grovel at his feet and beg him to take her back while he made a mockery of her but she seemed determined with her decision while he felt angry and hurt which was strange to him.

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in anger. “You can't do this, Zephyr,” he growled, his voice low and menacing. “We're mated and besides I am supposed to be the one who rejects you. You can't reject me!”

Zephyr remained unwavering, her eyes blazing with resolution. “Watch me!” She said, her voice solid. “I will not be held captive by a loveless bond. I deserve better and you know it too.”

With that, she glanced at Aurora one last time before she turned and walked away, slamming the door behind her, leaving Daniel to a seething, simmering rage and a feeling of worthlessness that seemed to suffocate him.

As Daniel watched Zephyr storm out of his cabin, his mind wandered back to the wounds of his past. He couldn’t help but think of his mother, labeled as a “mistress” and him as a “b*st*rd.” He remembered the whispers, the shame, and the feeling of being an outcast.

He pushed those thoughts away, focusing on his goal: gaining power and acceptance through Aurora's family. “She’ll come crawling back,” he said to Aurora, his voice laced with a hint of uncertainty.

Aurora’s eyes followed Zephyr’s departure, her expression a mix of relief and anxiety. As the door closed, she turned to Daniel, her voice barely above a whisper. “Do you think she would find out?” she asked, her eyes darting around the room as if searching for potential witnesses.

“I don't know,” answered Daniel, unsure of his response. He was also afraid but refused to show it.

“But if she starts digging deeper, she will know,” Aurora murmured, pacing back and forth while biting her fingernails off.

“Then we should get rid of her,” Daniel uttered, with no remorse.

“I would see to it,” Aurora replied and left while Daniel remained there having a rethink of the scene he just witnessed.

Zephyr's POV.

I collapsed onto the bed at my shabby-looking cabin, tears streaming down my face as I lamented about my bad luck in life.

“How could Daniel do this to me?” I whispered, my voice shaking. “After two years... I guess he never loved me at all.”

“Who am I kidding? Who wouldn't be disgusted after being paired with a wolf-less Omega?” I asked no one in particular.

“Can my life get any worse?” “I think it would be better for me to leave this pack and go somewhere else after all nothing is keeping me here, anymore.”

As I lay there, still shedding tears about my misfortunes, I heard a sudden knock on the door. I wiped my tears and stood up to answer the knock on the door.

“I bet it's Daniel, here to beg for forgiveness but he would be so disappointed,” I muttered, my heart still not convinced as I made my way to the door.

On getting to the door, I twisted the door knob and while opening it, I spoke with gritted teet