Chapter 27

[Third-Person’s POV]

As it would seem, Evelyn wasn’t the only Luna who was facing ongoing doubts and troubles within her new pack. Her Stepsister, Samantha, was currently facing her own list of personal issues that she would have never foreseen.

This was not supposed to happen. This wasn’t the life I signed on for!

Samantha expected to have the best of everything because it was truly what she believed she deserved. She desired a large pack and a wealthy Alpha that would do nothing but shower her with attention while giving her the financial freedom to do as she pleased.

I should be spending my days shopping and planning extravagant parties—not trying to run some worthless, weak-minded pack.

She genuinely believed having Evelyn matched up with someone as lowly and hideous as Alexander that would grant her the chance to go after those dreams. When it came down to being matched with Alexander, Samanath was quick to rush to her mother’s side and complain that an Alpha like him would ruin her life and make her feel miserable. She never took into account that she would end up feeling the same exact when with Liam at her side...

Unbeknownst to either Evelyn or Alexander, Samantha had already gone ahead and married Liam. No matter, it wasn’t as though she wanted the pair of them at the ceremony in general.

From the moment the two had spoken their vows, the new Luna was already having regrets. The ceremony was nowhere near how she envisioned it.

It wasn’t grand and it was far from glamorous. Sure her dress was pretty but it was nowhere near as gorgeous as Evelyn’s had been. Unlike her Stepsister, Liam couldn’t exactly afford to have a professional dress designer come in and make Samantha’s gown a one-of-a-kind.

She had no choice but to settle.

And to make matters worse, she wasn’t even allowed to have a decent-size crowd at her wedding. It had been risky enough to have the ceremony out of the house, considering Alexander’s punishment had warranted for her to remain at home.

Part of her slightly feared the possible consequences if the brutish Alpha were to ever find out about her leaving the house. Both she and her mother had to diligently plan the event without raising any sort of suspicion with Liam.

If he had caught wind of what happened at Evelyn’s wedding, there would have been a chance that he would have said no to the immediate ceremony.

Under many different circumstances, had she not been under general house arrest, she would have invited Evelyn and her husband to the wedding. But only as a means to rub it all in her face that she technically ended up with the guy whom she originally thought loved her.

Much to Samantha and her mother’s dismay, the wedding had been nothing more than a small group of family and staff. The venue was nothing to brag about as there was hardly any decor or flowers.

Indeed, she felt cheated on various levels.

It pained her to think that between the two of them, Evelyn had managed to have the better wedding ceremony and even that wasn’t saying much.

But surely she felt somewhat pleased with herself, knowing that she married Liam instead of being stuck with a disfigured Alpha like Alexander, right? Nope.

Liam was solely focused on his pack, hardly sparing Samantha a real moment of his time.

“I don’t have time for this, Samantha, I have pack duties that need my attention.”

“Can’t you make yourself useful?”

“The pack needs an actual Luna to help work out the issues that come up—that’s your literal job!”

Each remark felt like a smack to the face. She was, after all, an Apha daughter who came from a life of luxury. And she had learned real fast that Liam’s family and pack came from a more frugal lifestyle.

There were hardly any staff and the house was significantly smaller than the one she grew up in.

When Samantha had tried to buy a few dresses for the upcoming event season, her new relatives were quick to shut down the transactions and knot-pick at her for going overboard with her spending.

Needless to say, marriage life did not agree with her.

To make things all the more complicated, Liam’s mother had been ill for quite some time which made the pack’s need for a full-time Luna all the more imperative.

“I don’t understand why you can’t just step into my mother’s place and take over as Luna,” Liam remarked coldly. “You know she hasn’t been well for years. As the new Luna, you should be able to take on the responsibilities.”

But that was just it—Samantha didn’t know the first thing about how to run a pack. She knew very little about a Luna’s responsibilities and expectations. It all just sounded like a bunch of hard work that she didn’t want any part of.

She’s used today’s Luna gathering as a chance to escape the misery of her new home life. So, there she was, wearing an already second-worn dress and practically hiding herself in some corner of the venue to not attract any attention to herself.

Gold help her if someone pointed out the fact that she was currently wearing a dress she’d already worn to a previous event. People like Fiona would never let her hear the end of it.

On various levels, Samantha felt alone. All that she really had was the company of her mother who, even then, was busy with her pregnancy.

Isabella approached her with a glass of sparkling tea in her hand. “Samantha, tell me. How are you enjoying being a new Luna?”

Samantha let out a snort and rolled her eyes. “An absolute mess and waste of my time,” she said bitterly.

Her mother sighed. “Samantha, we talked about this. You must immerse yourself in pack affairs if you want to remain in power and well respected.”

She sneered in response. “That’s just it,” she huffed. “I don’t want to learn about pack affairs, nor do I ever care to.”

“Well, how are things going between you and Liam, at least?”

“Not so good,” she muttered. “We got married and all of a sudden it was as if all hell broke loose. There are constant problems popping up left and right. Liam and I are constantly getting into arguments lately; we can hardly stand to be in the same space as one another.”

When Liam finally reached the conclusion that Samantha wasn’t going to step up and take on the responsibilities she’d been given, he pretty much gave up on her.

Her mother gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sure things will work themselves out in time. Just think, things could be a lot worse. You could be like Evelyn who no doubt is miserable and suffering under that monstrosity of an Alpha,” her mother laughed.

“That’s true.”

Samantha smirked at the thought of Evelyn sharing her misery of being locked in a loveless marriage as well. It made her perk up and eager to catch a glimpse of her Stepsister.

No doubt she’ll be rolling in here in some sad excuse for a dress, acting like a complete wild child.

Oh, yes. She was eager to regain some of her superiority she held over Evelyn’s head. Since they were little, whenever Samantha was in a bad mood, she would belittle Evelyn to feel superior and restore her inner balance.

However, nothing could have prepared for the sight of watching Evelyn stroll into the venue looking like an actual model.

“What the hell?!” she hissed in anger.