True Luna: Rejected, Replaced

Nicole's POV

By the time I reached the hospital, dusk had already settled.

On my way, I encountered a gang of robbers. Though I got hurt in the scuffle, I managed to save my part-time job's salary for the month.

Limping, I found a doctor to treat my wounds. Just as the bandaging was finished, a passing nurse peeked in. "Nicole, you're back? Your mother is in critical condition..."

I jumped up, asking urgently, "What happened? Which emergency room?"

She explained, "I'm not sure. It seems like she suddenly had difficulty breathing. She's in the ER on the fifth floor."

My mind went blank as I rushed towards the surgery room, feeling like a moment's delay might cost me something irreplaceable.

Just as I reached the ER, the door opened. The doctor emerged, his expression grave. "Your mother's condition is critical. She needs surgery immediately. If we encounter another situation like today, it will be even more dangerous."

My chest tightened, and I nodded quickly, asking, "How soon can the surgery be arranged?"

He glanced at the clipboard handed by his assistant. "We can schedule it for next Thursday. The surgery will cost around $200,000."

"Alright, please arrange it. I'll get the money as soon as possible."

I agreed and rushed to the billing office to check my mother's medical card balance. There was only a little over a hundred dollars left. After depositing my $1,000 salary into the card, I was left penniless.

I walked back to the ward, feeling dazed, replaying the doctor's words over and over in my mind.

I wanted to cry, but seeing my comatose mother on the bed, I forced the tears back.

I took out my phone and scrolled through my contacts, my finger stopping on Drake's number.

After hesitating for a long time, I stepped out of the ward and made the call.

A cold female voice answered quickly, "Nicole?"

It was my father's current Luna, Kately.

I paused, then asked coldly, "Where's my dad?"

She replied cheerfully, "Your father and I are on vacation with The Silver Lake Pack. Do you need something?"

My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles turned white. "Put him on the phone."

She chuckled, her tone certain. "You can tell me. He won't want to talk to you."

Standing in the hallway, I glanced at the open door of the ward, my eyes instantly filling with tears.

My mom was lying in the hospital, and I had to work multiple jobs to support us and pay for her medical expenses. Meanwhile, my dad was on vacation abroad with his new wife, refusing to even take my call.

I took a deep breath. "My mom needs surgery. It will cost around $200,000. Please let my dad know."

She sneered, "Money, money, money. Every time you call, it's about money. My husband divorced your mom a long time ago. How dare you still ask us for money? Have you no shame?"

I found it particularly funny and said sarcastically, " Kately, teach me how being a mistress can be as shameless as you are?"

She laughed derisively. "Your father and I are true love. If your mother hadn't cheated, I wouldn't have had the chance to step in. I still have proof of her infidelity on my phone. You can come and see it anytime, or I can send you the photos."

I was stunned. My mother would never have cheated. She had always loved my father deeply.

Just as I was about to refute, I realized how easy it would have been for Drake to fabricate evidence to force my mother to leave a marriage with nothing.

My heart sank into an icy pit, filled with hatred and resentment, feeling a profound sense of injustice for my mom.

Tears stung my eyes. I laughed bitterly, my voice trembling. "So, you're saying my dad won't help with the money, right?"

She answered without hesitation, "No, I won't, and neither will your father."

A wave of sorrow washed over me, almost grateful that my mom was still unconscious. If she were awake, how much more would her heart ache facing her husband's cruelty?

Kately added mockingly, "And by the way, as a wolfless daughter, don't think you're anything special in Drake's heart."

I leaned against the wall, lost in thought long after the call had ended.

Yes, in the werewolf world where strength rules, no one cares about a wolfless outcast, even if they share blood ties.

Sitting beside my mother's bed, looking at her pale face, my heart grew heavier.

My mother comes from a rare lineage of witches. In this family, the men inherit the werewolf bloodline from their fathers, while the women inherit the witch bloodline from their mothers. Witches typically do not have wolves due to their unique powers, but my mother was different. She had a wolf, and a powerful one at that. However, after giving birth to me, she lost her wolf.

She should have had a loving mate and a happy family, but everything shattered because she fell in love with my father.

When my mom was 19, she got pregnant with me and my twin sister Vera. She always said it was love at first sight when she met my father at a party, a moment she would never forget.

My parents, at least my mom, fell in love the moment they met. Even after years of abandonment, her love for him never wavered.

When Vera and I were four, my father had an affair. He filed for divorce, taking Vera and leaving me with my mother.

Despite everything, my mom never harbored any ill will towards him. She never forgot him or let another man into her life. She chose to live with his memory, cherishing me as a gift of her love, giving me everything she had.

After the divorce, she took me, but her clan never accepted me, a werewolf half-breed with neither witch's gift nor a wolf. So, she brought me to the slums on the outskirts of The Cold Moon Pack.

She worked tirelessly, cleaning every corner of the packhouse, even though it was a job for ten Omega werewolves. They dumped their work on her and mocked her for doing it all alone.

The once high and mighty Luna, now worked like a machine, overexerting herself to exhaustion, all to give me a decent life.

She no longer looked like she did in her youth. Her forehead was lined with worry, her deep violet eyes full of fatigue. She was too thin, underweight for her age and height. Yet, despite it all, she still looked young and beautiful, though worn out and weary.

Thinking about how she lost everything and that I was the cause, her weary eyes haunted me day and night, making me wish it had never happened.