My wolf keened inside me, Our pup, our bond, everything we gave him…
I pressed a trembling hand to my stomach, where our new pup was growing. I should’ve felt joy. Instead, I felt betrayal burning in my veins.
Then my phone buzzed.
A small sound, almost insignificant, but it sliced through the quiet.
I blinked through my tears and looked down at the screen. The notification was from Moonbook, the social network our pack used.
The name on it made my heart stutter.
Hannah Linston had posted something. For reasons I couldn’t explain, my thumb hovered for a moment before I opened it.
And then my whole world turned black.
A photo filled the screen, two hands intertwined, their faces not shown. One hand belonged to a woman, delicate, pale, familiar. The other was large, tan, veined… masculine.
And on that wrist — that unmistakable bracelet of pure silver with an engraved moon symbol.
The bracelet I’d given Jeremiah for our second anniversary.
The caption beneath it read, “A miracle after all the pain. We can’t wait to meet our little one.”
My breath caught. My vision blurred. Pregnant.
She was pregnant. With my husband’s child.
And he wasn’t even hiding it, not really. The world could see. The pack could see. And I, his Luna, was reduced to a fool.
I felt something inside me snap, a soundless crack that tore through my chest and into my soul.
The phone slipped from my hand, clattering onto the balcony floor. I stared blankly at the horizon as the sun began to set, turning the sky into a cruel mix of red and gold.
My wolf’s growl rumbled through me. He betrayed the bond, Zera. He took everything from us, our pup, our dignity. What more must we lose before we fight back?
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. My breathing steadied. Slowly, a different kind of fire began to rise in me, not of sorrow, but of resolve.
I turned toward my office, my mind already racing. My fingers shook as I picked up my phone again, not to look at the post, but to make a call I never thought I’d make.
My father. Alpha Peter Hatunberg, the most feared and respected Alpha across the northern territories.
He had warned me once. “You don’t marry for love, daughter. You marry for legacy. Love fades. Duty endures.”
And I had defied him. For Jeremiah. For what I thought was love. I ran away from home just to marry him, and now, it seemed like my father was right.