Who Is the True Luna?

My Alpha and mate will finally be proposing to me.

Clutching the small velvet box with both of my hands, the gold-and-ruby ring stared back at me. It seemed to also whisper my name engraved on its side.

“Bella...Bella,” the ring seemed to purr.

I can’t contain my excitement. I just finished taking a shower when I spotted the velvet box inside a cabinet where my Alpha Rowan seemed to have forgotten to close.

I am Isabela Duncan, daughter of the Alpha of the Moon Dream Pack. I met Alpha Rowan Reeds during a Winter Ball held by my pack. And when our eyes first met, when our mating bond snapped, I have moved since then in the pack he’s ruling: The Moonstone Pack.

“Bella...My Bella,” that was what he called me the night of our meeting. And since then, I can’t wait to be his forever during our mating ceremony!

My phone rang, and my daydreaming was cut short. It was Rowan, and he’s calling me. It’s ten in the evening.

“Rowan! I can’t believe you’re about to propose to me—”

My excitement faded when it was not Rowan’s iconic sweet voice that echoed on the other line.

“Bella...come for me, please. I might have drunk a little bit more than I expected.” Rowan’s slurred and drunk voice almost made me halt and yell at him and throw the phone in the wall. I did none of those.

“Where are you, Alpha?” It was a heavy yet easy question.

For the past weeks, he’d been drinking more often. And that’s the root of the argument we mostly had that ended in a fight.

Though all of our fights ended up in us apologizing to each other and making love.

“I’m at the birthday party of one of my Betas. He’s—I can’t expect to not be here, Bella. Johnson is like a brother...to...me...and...you...know...that.”

He sounds like he just stood up and while holding a glass of beer on the other hand as he gulped down that liquor while his heavy sighing and groaning can still be heard by my ears.

“Rowan...where are you?” was all I asked. I massaged my forehead, eager for my temper to remain at bay.

“Johnson...will...text...you...the...address—” And then I hear a thud. He knocked himself on the ground.

“For the Moon Goddess’ sake, Rowan!”

I didn’t let myself cry as I grabbed my trench coat and car keys. Why is that when our mating ceremony is approaching nearer, he’d been indulging himself in the liquor more?

Doesn’t he want to be mated to be? Is he just forced to love me and be mated to me?

The thoughts echoed in my head like how Rowan’s voice was still playing in my mind.

‘We can’t get angry,’ my wolf told me. ‘Perhaps he’s just drinking, that’s all...’

But I know deep down, it’s not. So I just silenced my thoughts and kept driving.

The thoughts lingered as I pulled my car to a stop in front of the forest clearing where Beta Johnson’s party was being held.

But I instantly froze when I spotted him. His friends were gathered around the bright bonfire, the moon above shining down on their shirtless bodies.

My Alpha Rowan was sitting atop a tree trunk. A female—the only female I recognize among the males—was sitting atop his lap. Leaning into the crook of his neck while their hands are holding tightly.

With my she-wolf hearing, his affectionate words sent my knees crashing in the ground. “Bella, I knew you’d come. You’re always one call away and you never stopped caring for me even in my worst...”

He said those words in a straight voice and an un-drunken expression.

And he called her Bella.

But who is she?

Am I not Bella? Am I not the only Bella of his life?

My heart raced faster than my thoughts. I moved closer to them, my footsteps silent and stealthy.

And as I stopped before them, moonlight struck their frozen figures. The silver light from the Moon Goddess above illuminating what seemed to be an identical gold-and-ruby ring around her finger.

“Rowan?” I let my voice tremble as I stalked toward them. “What is this? Who is she?”

I asked calmly, eradicating my voice from all suspicions and accusations.

But my Alpha Rowan barely looked at me. In fact, he seemed to not hear me at all. His eyes seemed to be lost in the female’s eyes, his attention wholly pinned on her.

Then, before I knew it, his gaze slowly dragged from me to the other female.

“Bella...” His voice seemed to be drunk again, “Why...why is that there’s another—There’s two of you?” Rowan asked, confusion contorted his drunk face.

The other Bella smiled with her eyes lit up with amusement. She was taller than me, her flowing brown-gold hair rivalled my simple black hair. But her lips...it curled with a smirk of a female hellbent to spread malice. In her bloody red dress, she looked like a devil enjoying what was happening.

“Rowan, you're drunk,” she whispered as she turned to me. “Looks like you brought the wrong other Bella to the party.”

My chest tightened to the point of my emotions exploding, my mind going blank as I stared at her.

Who is she? Why was she acting like he belonged to her—to each other?!

“Oh, don't worry, Bella,” she purred with a snake’s smile. “I'm pretty sure I was born Bella, unlike you who’s born Mirabella. I'm the real Bella. Aren't I, Rowan?”

Rowan stood, blinking at me and then at her. He smiled, “Yes. You... you're my one and only Bella.”

My eyes widened, my heart dropping on the forest ground. “Rowan...Rowan, what are you saying?!” I swallowed, this time I let all the anger in my soul shine in my eyes and see in my face.

The other males gathered around the fire stood to watch the three of us.

My knees buckled, and in a heartbeat, I was on the ground. I looked like I’m pleading at him to make whatever is happening right.

Is this a prank of his? A drunken session gone wrong?

I don’t know what’s happening. My tears blurred my vision as the realization that he claimed another female in front of me who also goes by the name of Bella struck me. I slowly unfurled my hand and I took off the ring that I found earlier.

I let the ring fall.

But Alpha Rowan hurriedly picked it up before my knees and dropped to one knee in front of the other Bella.

“Bella, will you be mine?” he asked softly, full of love and affection.

Rowan was kneeling in front of this female, this other Bella, proposing.

And I can’t help but cry silently and clenched my fist even when the forest soil turned my hands filthy.

I ran away. My soil-covered hands gripped the steering wheel as I drove under pressure, ignoring the pounding of my heart and the roaring of my blood.

But no matter how I drove fast, my tears fell faster with everything that happened. It all happened in minutes, and I’m still processing what I just witnessed. How could Rowan propose to another female named Bella?

My entire world shattered at the sight of Alpha Rowan of the Moonstone Pack proposing to another female to be his Luna. I couldn't take it anymore so I ran straight for my car.

But as I was about to drive away, Rowan fell face-first into the forest ground and his head kissed the soil with a thud that shook the nearby leaves from the trees. He passed out before the other Bella could even answer.

I didn't look back, ignoring Beta Johnson’s call that I take Rowan with me. I didn't care what happened to him now. My dream and hope of a better future with my mate is nothing but a memory now.

All I wanted now as I start my car was to be away from all of them. I needed to breathe, to think, to cry, and to shriek at the Moon Goddess for allowing me to be mated to a male who already loved another female. A Rowan who proposed to another Bella.

“AHH!” I screamed inside my car, letting all those heavy emotions flow out of me. But screaming inside my car was not enough to lighten my heart. It didn’t even help a bit.

I stopped the car in the middle of the road, the path is as empty and silent as my heart now. It no longer whispered Rowan’s name and promises.

Alpha Rowan was drunk: that was the only explanation I could find. The only explanation that explained it all.

He didn't know what he was doing. He probably didn't even recognize me because of his drunkenness and that female just went along with his random mumbling to make fun of him in front of the other Betas. It was a case of mistaken identity and common things that male made up when the beer drowned their sense of self.

But the way he looked at her…the gold-and-ruby ring on her finger and the softness of his voice when he spoke to her wouldn't leave my mind.

“How long have you been cheating on me, Rowan?” I whispered while staring at the picture we took just last year.

Just hours ago, I was sure Alpha Rowan of the Moonstone Pack was the one for me. The one I will love and cherish forever.

Now…I wasn't sure anymore. Just thinking of him, it almost made me vomit on the side of the road. I started my car again when I noticed another car was approaching behind me.

As I drove away, I remember months ago when my Alpha was taking a shower, his phone vibrated. I hesitated at first to pick it up because I trusted him so much that I never checked his phone. But I was very curious, especially because the name of the sender was just ‘Her’. I picked up the phone and unlocked it.

The text message was simple but enough to let my curiosity turn to suspicion: “Don't worry about tonight, Rowan. I'll see you tomorrow.”

I stared at the message, my hands slightly trembling. The words seemed intimate, not just what Beta Johnson and Alpha Rowan texted to each other. Before I could wrap my head around about the message, another one came. “Make sure you clean yourself up before you sleep.”

Why would Rowan need to clean himself up before sleep? Why would she even need to text him to tell him to do that?!

Rowan just told me that it’s from his friend he hadn't heard from for a very long time. Now, looking at that months-old memory, I don’t think they are just friends. And I’m pretty sure something intimate happened between them that night.

And that message...that message is from that whore who claimed herself that she was born Bella.

I immediately went to bed when I arrived. Even when I couldn't sleep well, I forced myself. But when a phone rang which I’m sure was not mine, I heard it and immediately jolted awake.

I don’t know how Rowan found his way back in the packhouse last night. I don’t also know where he’d sleep and what time he arrived.

“I'm so sorry, Bella. Please don't cry,” my Alpha’s raspy voice echoed. “You know it breaks my heart hearing you cry too. I know this must all be hard for you. But I just want you to know that my heart always belongs to you. It's just... me and Mirabella’s mating ceremony had already been set. I can't back out now. I don't want to shame the pack elders. The Moonstone Pack owed a lot of debt to her father and her pack. And I really needed to take care of her, Bella. That is the least I could do to repay her for saving my life and my pack.”

“So, this is what it's all about,” I softly whispered to myself in tears. “He never loved me.”

I stood and didn’t bother to knock on the other room he was in. I would squeeze the truth out of him and I would cancel the mating ceremony if I confirmed he didn't love me.

“Bella!” He abruptly put down the phone and threw it to the bed beside him. “Babe, did I wake you up? I'm sorry, love.” He feigned innocence like a criminal lying in front of a cop.

“Who’s Bella? Why were you with her last night and just called her? How long have you been seeing each other? Did you plan to mate me and leave me after?” I fired all those questions right away.

“Bella.”

“How could you propose to another woman—and much worse to another she-wolf named Bella?!” I managed to let my anger remain at the minimum level, hoping to calm my still-raging heart down while I let out a cry in front of my mate.

When he didn’t answer, I asked two more questions. “Do you love her?” My pause after asking made him straightened. “Did you ever love me?”

His silence became heavier and longer. I think it was his answer enough.