The Reborn Heiress

Diana's POV

The cold floor of the dungeon had long since seeped into my bones, but it was nothing compared to the agonising pain ripping through every nerve in my body.

Another bout of contractions hit me hard. I gripped the damp straw beneath me, my fingers slipping into my own blood as I pushed harder.

Dina, my wolf was gone. She was forced behind the agonizing silver seal the Bloodmoon pack had bound around my soul before tossing me into this dark abyss. Without my wolf’s strength, I was just a human girl bleeding out in the dark, trying to bring into the world a life that had already been condemned.

"Please…" I sobbed into the empty prison cell. My voice bounced off the stone walls, making an empty echo.

“Please, help me…" l cried, but nobody answered… How pathetic, I knew nobody would come.

For months, the heavy iron gates of the Bloodmoon Pack’s dungeon were firmly shut against me. Immediately after I was indicted, my mother, Luna Evelyn of the Silver Crest Pack severed ties with me. My mate, Alpha Zack, and Melissa, my sister, didn't visit me in prison, they were the ones who framed me and threw me into prison.

As the wave of pain subsided, my mind drifted back to the beginning of this nightmare. I had been incredibly foolish.

I remembered the day of the mating ceremony, it was like yesterday. 

It was supposed to be my step sister’s mating ceremony. Melissa Lancaster… she was the princess and Alpha heiress of Alpha Leen Lancaster, the Alpha of the Silver Crest Pack. I was merely the daughter of Alpha Leen's mistress whom he married after the death of his mate.

Although Alpha Leen and Melissa were exceptionally kind to me and my mother, everyone in the Silver Crest pack looked down on me as the daughter of a mistress. I was just an afterthought tolerated in the corners of the pack house. I lived my life like I was invisible.

A few days before Melissa's mating ceremony…when preparation had heightened, Melissa shattered the alliance and backed out. She blatantly announced she had lost interest in her mate, Alpha Zack of the Bloodmoon pack, and flatly refused to marry him.

Everyone was dumbfounded and struck with fear. With her refusal, the threat of war loomed over the pack.

Melissa walked up to me, in front of the pack members. “I’m doing this for you, Diana,” she spoke so loud with her eyes brimming with tears as she tenderly held my hands. 

“You’re merely the daughter of a mistress, and everyone knows…” she paused, making it sink in. “It's an unremovable stain on you. You’re hopeless out there. You’ll never get anyone as good or as powerful as Alpha Zack. But unlike you, I am a princess, Alphas bow at my feet, I have many chances…” she said smugly.

“Alpha Zack isn't even my fated mate. Take my place, be his mate, save yourself and save the pack.”

Everyone roared with admiration. My eyes shone wide with shock. Am I the only one not buying this?

“Wow! Princess Melissa is so incredible!”

“What a heart of gold she possesses.”

“The best the Jinx can do is to accept the offer..”

“She will become the Luna of Bloodmoon pack on a platter of gold…” the murmur continued and I felt a heavy weight on my heart.

My eyes dropped to my toes and I withdrew my hands instantly. I found it hard to believe she stepped down because of me. 

My mother, Luna Evelyn looked perturbed, but she didn't utter a word.

The following morning I walked down the aisle beside Alpha Zack out of duty. I was terrified but determined to protect the pack from war.

The mating ceremony commenced and the moment Zack’s hand met mine at the altar, the Moon Goddess played the cruelest joke. Sparks exploded across my skin. The divine, and undeniable pull centered entirely on Zack. He was my fated mate.

In that same hour, Alpha Leen, my stepfather, shocked the entire council of the Silver crest Pack. He bypassed Melissa, his daughter, and passed down every piece of land, wealth, and inheritance that mattered directly to me. 

Melissa's eyes turned bloody red, my mother looked more confused, but there was no going back. The deed was done.

For a fleeting moment, I thought the Moon Goddess had finally looked down on the mistress’ daughter and blessed her. I thought I had a mate who would cherish me, a father who truly cared, and a future where I finally belonged.

But since a female Alpha could not rule alone, my inheritance legally became Alpha Zack’s. 

The moment the ink dried on the pack treaties, Zack leaned closer and whispered into my ears, "Don't think I will accept you because you turned out to be my mate, I will never love you.”

My eyes shone in horror. He didn't want me, he rejected me. He was obsessed with Melissa. The mate bond, the sacred connection that should have bound his soul to mine, meant absolutely nothing to him. 

After the mating ceremony, he kept me at arm's length while his eyes remained hungrily fixed on my sister. And Melissa? She thrived on it. 

She constantly encouraged Zack's obsession, whispering in his ear, playing the tragic, longing lover who had sacrificed her happiness for her step sister. She watched me drown in heartbreak while Zack melt at her feet.

Within a few years, I watched Melissa and Zack's longing turned into a blatant, illicit affair.

Everyone in the Bloodmoon Pack knew. They watched their Alpha slip into my sister’s laps, and instead of defending their Luna, they covered it up.

“She’s just the daughter of a mistress," the pack members would whisper when I walked past, their voices dripping with disdain. 

“She was only lucky to marry an Alpha because Lady Melissa allowed it. She isn't worthy to be our Luna.”

I swallowed the humiliation. I endured the mocking stares. I stayed because I loved him, and because a piece of me still believed the fated bond would eventually triumph.

Soon the Moongodess blessed me and I became pregnant. I was about 6 months gone when a rebellion started. Zack’s corrupt dealings, illegal alliances, and a string of unsolved murders within and outside the pack territory were suddenly dragged into light by the council of elders.

All investigation pointed at Zack. He lost his face, and was almost stripped of his alpha title. Then I received the greatest blow. 

To save himself, he used me as a scapegoat. Together with Melissa, they framed me. They fabricated documents, bought off witnesses, and accused me of murder, conspiring against the Alpha, and high treason. 

My mother cut ties with me immediately. 

I didn't expect much from Alpha Leen. Although I inherited his fortune, he was still my stepfather. Moreover, after my marriage, he suddenly took ill. He became erratic and mentally unstable.

I still remember the cold, dead look in Zack’s eyes when he ordered the elders to seal my wolf with silverbane. 

“You are my step sister… the sister I didn't have … and I cherished you and your mother, but… how could my father bestow my birthright… my inheritance to you? He brought this upon you!” A wicked and triumphant smile radiated on Melissa’s face as she watched me get dragged down into the dark.

Another massive contraction crashed into my body, shattering the memories, and pulling me back to the freezing reality of the cell.

"Ahgggg!" I screamed, and pushed with the last of my remaining reserves. My heart pounded against my ribs. But it was of no use. Without my wolf and without help, it would be nearly impossible to give birth to a werewolf pup all alone.

“Just let it end. Please, Moon Goddess, let it end.” I pleaded, not knowing the entirety of my plea.

Just like the Moongodess heard me, I regain an enormous amount of strength, and with one final, shuddering groan, I pushed hard. 

Then the pressure suddenly gave way. I fell back onto the damp straw, my breath came in shallow gasps. I forced my heavy eyelids open, desperately looking down through the dim light. There, lying on the stone, was my pup. A tiny, little body.

I waited, and strained my ears through the silence of the dungeon, praying for the tiny, sharp sound of a newborn's cry. But nothing came.

The pup didn't move. It didn't breathe. The cruel dampness of the prison had claimed its life before it even had a chance to live.

A devastating, hollow sob broke out of my chest, but I couldn't even find the strength to reach out and pull my baby to my chest. My limbs felt like lead. The blood loss was too great, the cold too absolute. I could feel my soul beginning to detach, drifting away from a body that had known nothing but pain, betrayal, and hatred.

Then the heavy iron door of the dungeon groaned open. I didn't care. I didn't even want to look. I knew it wouldn't be my mother, Zack or Melissa coming to grant mercy. They were probably celebrating my upcoming demise.

But the footsteps that rushed across the stone floor weren't light or hesitant. They were heavy, frantic, and desperate. 

A powerful, commanding scent of cedar flooded the putrid air of the cell. 

A pair of strong, trembling hands slid beneath my shoulders, lifting my upper body from the filth. I forced my blurry, fading eyes to focus on the face hovering above mine.

It wasn't Zack or Melissa, It was Alpha Aldric Raven, the formidable, ruthless ruler of a neighboring pack. A man I had never truly known. He had repeatedly tried to visit me during my months of confinement. But I stubbornly denied seeing him.

Aldric ’s powerful frame was shaking. His fierce, striking eyes were wide with panic as he took in the sight of my dying body and the silent pup beside me.

"Diana... I'm sorry… I am late… please, stay with me," he choked out, his voice cracking, a raw sound of pure agony that didn't belong to a ruthless Alpha. He gathered me closer against his chest, trying to pour his own radiating warmth into my freezing skin. 

"Hold on. I’m here. I can get you out of here, just look at me..."

Suddenly, a spark flared deep within the fading embers of my soul. It felt like a great pull filled with warmth and longing. It was something entirely new, and I didn't have a name for it.

As I stared up at him, my vision faded into a heavy, dark gray. I saw a single, hot tear slip from his eye. It traced down his cheek and splashed warmly onto my cold, pale face. Alphas do not weep. They are creatures of steel and pride.

A profound, roaring rage tore out of his mouth. I shuddered at the sound of it. False warmth transcended my cold body, iigniting a strange fire within me.

Is this how it feel when someone cares? 

The adrenaline in my blood dropped and I was consumed again by cold.

I hated Zack, I hated Melissa. I hated the pack that had cheered for my ruin while I gave everything to protect them. 

“If there is any justice in the moon…,”I thought, my final breath leaving my lips as darkness finally consumed me, “...Let me come again. Give me a second life, and I will tear them all to pieces.”

Those were my last words before my heart stopped, and the world went entirely black.