Alpha Kale didn’t return that night, and the tears refused to stop falling from my eyes. I twisted and writhed on the enormous hospital bed, the pain of losing my child and the savage healing from the forced surgery warring inside me like claws beneath the skin.

There were moments I genuinely wished the Moon Goddess would take me. Death seemed easier than living with the image of my pup's lifeless body, ripped from me before he’d even had a name. But I knew better. If I died, my son’s death would go unanswered. His soul would never know justice.

No. I would stay alive for vengeance.

By dawn, my sobs had quieted, not because the pain was gone, but because something inside me had turned to ice. My heart no longer throbbed with grief. It had numbed itself to survive. I lay there, unmoving, staring blankly at the stone ceiling as the clan physician entered the room to check my vitals.

“How are you feeling, Luna Alina?” the old Pack doctor asked gently, clipboard in hand.

“I want to go home,” I said flatly.

He blinked in surprise, clearly expecting a different answer. “I- o-of course. I’ll prepare your release.”

I didn’t wait for Alpha Kale or anyone from the pack to arrive. Instead, I called a human lawyer I found through an outdated search directory. The werewolf courts were all tied to the Alpha, and I needed someone neutral.

“I’d like to file for divorce,” I told him without preamble.

“I’ll send over the documentation right away. Once signed, the process will take three days,” came the response.

The moment I ended the call, the doctor returned with the clan’s black-uniformed driver waiting by the door.

“Alpha Kale asked for you to be escorted home. He’s preparing your favorites,” the doctor informed me with a kind smile.

I wanted to bare my fangs and ask why he’d removed my womb without my consent, whether it was by threat or bribe, but I knew he was likely as trapped in Alpha Kale’s grip as I had been.

I gave a polite nod instead. “Thank you.”

The ride back to the packhouse, the sprawling Hallowfang manor tucked deep in the woods, was agonizingly quiet. The driver said nothing. I said even less. But nothing could’ve prepared me for what greeted me inside.

Talia Greymore.

She was curled gracefully on the living room chaise, draped in a luxurious crimson gown that clung to her curves and revealed her small, unmistakable baby bump. And beside her, fussing like a doting wolf-mother, was Alpha Kale’s own mother.

I felt something snap in my chest the moment I saw them.

Talia’s gaze caught mine instantly, and her voice rang out with delicate sweetness. “Thank you for the kind offer, Elder Luna Sasha, but I really can’t stay here. I don’t want to make Alpha Kale’s wife uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable?” Kale’s mother barked in disgust. “That orphaned bitch has no say in this family! I’ve never understood why my son didn’t cast her out the moment he ascended. What good is a Luna who can’t even carry a pup?”

Her words were cruel, acidic, but after what I’d overheard last night, they hit like cold water rather than fire. I didn’t speak. I simply walked past them, toward the stairs. But halfway up, something yanked my hair with violent force.

“Ah!” I cried, whirling around as sharp pain tore through my scalp.

“You ungrateful girl!” Kale’s mother, Elder Luna Sasha, snarled before slapping me so hard I tasted blood.

“What the hell do you want from me?” I hissed, rage bubbling beneath my skin, my eyes flashing with suppressed wolf light.

“No greeting? No respect? No shame?” she spat, her face twisted in disdain. “No wonder you were taken. No wonder you watched your pup die!”

My eyes burned, but I refused to shed another tear. “Ask your son. He knows exactly what happened. He was there.”

Her arm shot up again, but this time Alpha Kale’s voice cut through the tension.

“That’s enough, Mother,” he said sharply, stepping out of the kitchen wearing an apron, clearly trying to play the role of the gentle Alpha.

His eyes met mine. “How are you feeling, Alina?” he asked, as if nothing had happened, leaning in to kiss me.

I pulled away, disgusted. Once upon a time, I would have melted into his embrace. Now, the thought made my skin crawl.

His mother had hated me from the start. I wasn’t born into a powerful bloodline. I had no empire, no lineage worth parading. To her, I was a barren vessel, a disgrace to the Hallowfang name. But what no one would know, what no one would dare whisper, was that her perfect son had made me this way.

“Alina,” Kale said tightly, “apologize to my mother. And to Talia. Why didn’t you greet them when you came in?”

I scoffed. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why are they even here?”

“She talks to you like that?” his mother shrieked in disbelief.

“I should go,” Talia whispered in her gentle, manipulative voice. “I don’t want to cause trouble.”

Suddenly, a small voice piped up from the kitchen. “Daddy, why is that lady yelling?”

I turned toward the voice and froze.

A small boy, barely two years old, stood at the doorway, clinging to a stuffed wolf toy. His face was unmistakable. A perfect, miniature version of Alpha Kale.

“Who is that child?” I asked, my voice hollow.

Jack didn’t flinch. He looked me dead in the eye and said, “He’s my brother’s son. Talia’s a widow. She and the boy will be staying here while she’s pregnant.”

My breath hitched. “Then why is he calling you Daddy?”

Kale shrugged. “He likes it. It makes him happy. I’m not going to tell him to stop.”

I was still reeling when he returned to the kitchen and emerged with a steaming bowl of seafood.

“I made your favorite,” he said with a warm smile.

I stared at it. After two years with me, he still didn’t know I was deathly allergic to seafood.

The moment the scent hit me, my stomach rebelled. I turned and vomited onto the floor, my body shaking.

Cara gasped dramatically. “Luna Alina! You should’ve just asked me to leave. Why would you throw up over me and my child?”

“You’re across the room,” I said coldly, wiping my mouth. “Your pity act doesn’t reach that far.”

But Alpha Kale snapped.

He grabbed my arm with bruising force and forced me to my knees in front of them both.

“Apologize. Now. Or I swear to the Goddess, I’ll make you eat your vomit.”

I stared at Alpha Kale with hollow, broken eyes, the ache of betrayal clawing at my soul more viciously than any physical wound. For a brief moment, something flickered in his gaze, remorse, perhaps, as he released his grip on me with a sharp breath.

“I’m sorry, Alina, it’s just-” his words, meant to be a balm, were swiftly interrupted by Talia’s faint whimper.

“Daddy… Mommy is sick,” came Marcus, Talia’s son’s small voice, piercing the tension like a fang to the throat.

In the blink of an eye, Kale turned his back on me and rushed to her side, scooping Talia into his arms as though I were nothing more than dust in the air. He pressed his hand to her forehead, whispering low and tender words meant only for her ears.

“I think it’s the stench of vomit, Kale,” Talia moaned weakly, her voice laced with artificial fragility. “I feel so lightheaded… I can’t even eat.”

“Clean that up,” Alpha Kale snarled over his shoulder, his Alpha command laced with dominance as he walked away, the boy toddling after them like a pup following his sire.

My mother-in-law stared at me with disdain, let out a loud hiss, and turned on her heel, the click of her heels echoing like venomous punctuation.

Suppressing the urge to shift from rage, I crouched down and began to clean the mess, my vomit, the broken bowl, the spilled seafood, all evidence of my humiliation. The weight of being Luna meant nothing here. Not when the Alpha had chosen another she-wolf to protect.

When I finished, I ascended the stone staircase to the room that had once been our sanctuary, the same one I had shared with Kale for two years, never knowing I had mated with a monster wearing a man’s face.

Kale, Alpha of the Hallowfang Pack. He had come into my life on a night filled with storm and sorrow, the same night Talia abandoned him at the altar. I’d found him at the bridge, ready to leap, his wolf barely restrained beneath his trembling skin. I had saved him. I had offered him warmth and body and heart, believing I was his salvation.

He was my boss then. For two years, I worked by his side, mistaking his kindness for something more. When I felt like I had no one, Kale was there; he paid for everything, held me as I wept, promising I’d never be alone.

Then came the storm. The night we gave in. What I once thought was fate. We made love, and by morning, he wept, calling it a mistake, blaming himself for my grief. He begged to fix it. So we married in secret, bound by wolf law, hidden from the world.

His pack never approved. His mother had loathed me from the beginning, spitting curses about my orphaned lineage and lack of title. She called me a breeder, nothing more. And now, even that purpose has been taken from me.

I didn’t know when Talia returned or when Kale’s heart began to drift, but I knew without doubt that she was back, and I was already forgotten.

He had become her creature. Her puppet. And I? I was this pack's Luna stripped of her moon.

I retrieved the resignation letter I had written weeks before my due date, a quiet dream of leaving the corporate world behind to raise my pup in peace. That dream had died with my child. Now all I needed was Kale’s signature on that letter and the divorce papers, which were soon to arrive.

I packed the documents with steady hands and moved to strip the walls of every framed photograph, every smile that now rang false. One by one, I tossed them into a box, along with all the lavish gifts he had given over the years, jewels, furs, enchanted trinkets, hollow tokens of a love that had never been real.

A knock came at the door.

Kale entered, his eyes sweeping over the near-empty room, then resting on the box at my feet.

“Why is the room bare? And why are you packing the gifts I gave you?” he asked, frowning.

“I don’t like them anymore,” I replied coolly. “I’m giving them away.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Is this because I raised my voice earlier? I apologized. I’ll buy you more. But you need to try to get along with Talia, she’s my brother’s widow.”

I gave a dry laugh, no longer surprised by the depths of his deceit. “You never told me you had a brother.”

Kale hesitated, then let out a fake chuckle. “He was the black sheep of the family. Now that he’s gone, I’m responsible for them. But Talia… she means nothing to me now. I have you.”

I stared at him long and hard. I wanted to believe those words, needed them to be true, but I knew the scent of a lie when it brushed against my wolf senses.

“Fine,” I said at last. “But I don’t want her living here.”

“She is going to live here,” Kale said sharply. “She has nowhere else to go. I’ll send her up so you two can talk.”

He leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my face, letting his lips land on my cheek. He didn’t notice, or didn’t care, and left without another word.

Moments later, the door opened again. Talia entered, looking around with open smugness.

“Perfect. Clear the space. I’ll be moving in soon,” she announced with a smirk.

I nodded. “You can have the whole house. I won’t be here much longer.”

Talia’s grin widened. “Oh, darling, so you do know. Kale told me something earlier. He said your pup died for a good cause. That Marcus is doing better now. You should be proud, your child gave mine a future.”

The words sliced through my chest like silver. I sank onto the bed, staring at her without blinking. “If my pain gives you joy, then take it. Feast on it.”

Talia’s amusement faltered. She scowled. “You’re not angry? What’s wrong with you? Your mate betrayed you, killed your child, left you barren, because I asked him to!”

I looked at her coldly. “Congratulations. He’s yours. Enjoy the leash you’ve got around his neck.”

Talia began pacing the room in frustration, her composure slipping. Then, in a flash, she grabbed my arm, her claws digging in slightly.

“You ungrateful bitch. I’ll show you what happens when you spoil my fun.”

“Let me go,” I growled, trying to yank free.

She refused to release me and instead dragged me toward the top of the staircase. Just as I twisted my wrist loose, she screamed, loud and theatrical.

“Luna Alina, no! Please!”

And then she tumbled down the stairs.

The thudding of her body echoed through the manor, followed by a chorus of hurried footsteps. Kale and his mother appeared at the bottom, finding Talia crumpled and bleeding.

Kale’s eyes burned with fury, glowing red beneath the surface.

“What the fuck have you done?” He demanded. His voice was trembling with rage as he stared up at me, no longer as a husband, but as an Alpha ready to unleash hell.

I stood frozen at the top of the stairs, staring at Talia’s lifeless body twisted unnaturally at the base. The sharp scent of blood hit my wolf senses before Marcus’s anguished cry broke through the silence.

“Mommy!” he wailed, clutching her limp hand as his small claws protruded in panic.

Alpha Kale’s amber eyes snapped to mine, blazing with fury. His voice was a low growl, filled with venom. “If anything happens to Talia or my pup, you’ll wish you’d never been born.”

With that, he scooped her into his arms, her head lolling against his chest. Marcus trailed behind them, sobbing, his small wolf whimpers echoing through the hall. Kale’s mother turned on me, her upper lip curling.

“I curse you, demon child! The Moon should’ve swallowed you in your mother’s womb.”

They vanished, leaving only the cold scent of betrayal behind.

I collapsed onto the steps, numb. No one asked if I had pushed her. No trial, no pack council, no justice. Just accusation, because that’s what Talia wanted.

I was still there when the guards came. They didn’t speak. Two massive wolves in human form grabbed me with claws out and zero regard for rank.

“Let me go! What are you doing?!” I cried, but their grip tightened. They shoved me into a black SUV and drove through the woods to the Hallowfang Pack’s private infirmary.

Inside, the antiseptic stung my nose as they dragged me into a sterile room. Alpha Kale was already there, his face a mask of barely contained rage.

“Kale, I swear I didn’t-”

A sudden slap knocked my head sideways. The taste of blood filled my mouth. My wolf growled beneath my skin, but I forced her down.

Not now…

“I’ve had it with your lies, Alina,” he snarled, his aura pressing down on me like a storm cloud. “You pushed Talia, and now you’ll give her your blood. She’s carrying my heir.”

His words struck like claws to my gut.

“I didn’t touch her, and she’s not getting my blood,” I hissed through clenched teeth, though my voice trembled.

Kale’s hands closed around my neck in a flash, fangs bared in a cruel snarl. “You’ll obey.”

I kicked and clawed at his wrists, gasping as my vision blurred.

“You’ll kill her!” The doctor shouted, rushing forward.

Kale released me, and I collapsed to the floor, coughing and choking as air rushed back into my lungs. My heart pounded wildly as I looked up at the man I once called mate.

“You’re not off the hook,” he growled. Then he turned to the doctor. “Drain her. Every last drop, leave just enough for her to crawl.”

The doctor hesitated. “She’s too weak, Alpha. She lost a lot of blood the other day during the-”

Kale seized the man by the collar, lifting him off the floor like he weighed nothing. “I said drain her!”

The doctor paled, then nodded quickly. Kale stormed out while his enforcers restrained me again. I thrashed, but the needles pierced my arms, and the blood began to flow.

Darkness swirled as I slipped under.

--

A bucket of icy water yanked me back to the waking world. Shivering, soaked, I blinked against the harsh light. My body screamed in pain.

Kale stood before me, rage still simmering beneath his cool tone.

“Done pretending now?” he asked, sneering.

“I’m cold,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “Please…”

He grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me to my feet. Pain tore through my scalp.

“Where’s Marcus?” he snapped. “You sent someone to take him, didn’t you?”

“What…? I don’t understand.”

“You had him kidnapped,” he snarled. “To punish me!”

I stared at him, my heart beating wildly. “You’re losing your mind.”

His claws dug into my arm as he shoved me back against the wall. “You’re a jealous, barren she-wolf who couldn’t stand the fact that Talia gave me what you couldn’t!”

“I gave you everything,” I whispered. “You took my child. You let them carve him out of me while I screamed. And now you accuse me of harming another pup?”

Kale’s face darkened. He motioned, and two guards dragged in a disheveled man. He fell to his knees and pointed at me.

“She paid me! I didn’t know the boy was yours, I swear!”

I stared in disbelief. “He’s lying! I don’t even know him!”

“You always lie!” Kale roared, grabbing my arm. “You’ll confess if it’s the last thing you do.”

He dragged me through the hallway and out onto the landing strip. A private jet waited, its engines humming.

“Kale! Wh-what are you doing?!” I shouted as he shoved me up the ramp.

The jet soared into the night sky. My wolf was pacing now, sensing danger. Kale stood in front of me as the wind roared. The cabin door unsealed with a hiss and swung open, revealing nothing but clouds and death beneath.

“Admit what you did or you’re going out that door,” he said, his voice void of mercy.

Terror struck me like lightning. “You know I’m afraid of heights, Kale, please! Have mercy!” I whispered, tears rolling down my cheeks.

“I warned you,” he said.

And then he shoved me.

The roar of the wind swallowed my scream as I plunged into the abyss.