HIS BABY GROWS INSIDE ME, BUT HIS HEART BELONGS TO HER

The night it happened, the moon was too full and too bright.

I had never joined the main pack runs. Omegas like me weren’t invited, not even as shadows at the edge of the forest. But that night, something called to me. Maybe it was the way the wind felt too warm on my skin, or the way the howl of the Alpha made my wolf stir, desperate to run for once, to feel free.

So I ran.

I ran through the forest, barefoot, wearing nothing but my loose cotton dress. My heart beat wild in my chest. My wolf clawed just beneath my skin, hungry for something I didn’t understand. I wasn’t supposed to be there. Omegas didn’t join the pack’s moon runs. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

The forest glowed silver under the moonlight. Trees swayed like they were whispering secrets. The wind carried scents I couldn’t name pine, earth, fur, power. And then I smelled **him**.

Alpha Kael.

His scent was unmistakable dark spice and the clean scent of a coming storm. It pulled me like a magnet. My wolf knew him. Wanted him. Needed him.

I stopped at the edge of a clearing, heart hammering, watching the pack dance in their shifted forms. Wolves of all sizes leaped and circled, glowing in moonlight. In the center stood **him** tall, powerful, terrifyingly beautiful in his human form, shirtless and breathless from the run.

Kael.

Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack.

My Alpha.

His eyes swept over the crowd, and for one terrible, beautiful second they landed on me.

He froze.

I couldn’t move. My lungs forgot how to breathe. His golden-brown eyes darkened, flaring with something wild.

And then, just like that, the world spun.

One moment I was standing still.

Next, he was in front of me.

"Why are you here?" he growled, his voice low, deep, too close.

I opened my mouth. No sound came out.

His hand gripped my arm. Not hard, but firm. Like he was afraid I’d disappear.

"You’re not supposed to be part of the run."

"I didn’t mean to, I stammered, but the words tangled.

Something in the air changed. His eyes dropped to my neck, my chest, back up to my lips.

His wolf was at the surface.

And so was mine.

We didn’t shift. Not fully. But our wolves surged through us like fire.

"Go home, Aria," he said.

But his voice cracked.

He didn’t let go.

Neither did I.

It happened too fast. Heat rushed through me. My heart beat so loud it drowned the wind. His mouth was on mine before I could think. I kissed him back like it was the only thing I’d ever wanted.

Maybe it was.

We stumbled deeper into the woods. Clothing disappeared. Skin met skin. My wolf howled inside me, answering him.

And when it was over, I knew.

Everything had changed.

Morning came slowly.

My body ached. The forest around me was silent. The heat between us had vanished like mist.

Kael stood a few feet away, shirtless, running a hand through his messy dark hair. His expression was blank.

I sat up, clutching my dress to my chest.

He looked at me. Not with regret. Not with love. Just confusion.

"What happened last night? " he began.

"You don’t have to say it," I whispered, throat tight.

"It was the bond," he said quickly. "The moon. The pull. It wasn’t supposed to happen."

He didn’t say *he wished it hadn’t*.

But he didn’t have to.

His silence said everything.

I nodded, swallowing hard.

"Selene is coming back," he added quietly.

That name cut through me like a blade.

Selene. His first love. The girl who left him to chase status in another pack. The one he still dreamed about. Everyone in the pack knew Kael had never stopped loving her.

"She’s coming back next month," he said.

I nodded again.

"Aria…"

"Don’t worry," I said, standing slowly. My legs shook. My voice didn’t. "It meant nothing. I know my place."

His jaw clenched. He looked like he wanted to say more. But he didn’t.

So I walked away.

Two weeks later, I threw up behind the healer’s hut.

My hands shook as I wiped my mouth. My skin felt too warm, my chest too tight. I told myself it was the flu. Bad meat. Nerves.

But my wolf whispered the truth before I even took the test.

I was pregnant.

With the Alpha’s child.

I stared at the tiny mark on the healer’s scroll the symbol for *confirmed*. My stomach turned.

I was carrying the heir to the Crescent Moon Pack.

And no one could know.

Not yet.

Not while Selene was on her way.

Not while Kael was still in love with her.

I left the healer’s hut in a daze. The sun was too bright. The air is too heavy. I made it halfway across the clearing before Kael stepped into my path.

His eyes were darker than usual.

He looked me up and down. Not like a lover. Like a leader.

"We need to talk," he said.

I nodded, heart racing.

We slipped behind the old training hall. Quiet. Hidden.

"I know," he said.

My breath stopped.

"You know?"

"The healer told me."

I pressed a hand to my stomach.

"And?"

He hesitated. "I’ll provide everything you need. Protection. A place to stay. But"

"But your heart belongs to her."

His silence confirmed it.

I took a step back. My voice was calm, but something in me was breaking.

"I don’t need your pity, Kael."

"It’s not a pity. It’s my responsibility."

I laughed. It came out cold. "I’m not a task to complete."

His jaw tightened. "Aria"

"You made your choice the moment you said her name."

He didn’t deny it.

I looked into his eyes, those golden-brown eyes that once made my heart race, and now made it ache.

"I’ll carry this baby," I said. "But not here. Not like this."

"What do you mean?"

"I’m leaving."

"You can’t. You’re carrying the future of this pack"

"I’m carrying *my* child. And I won’t raise them in the shadow of your old love."

I packed that night.

No one stopped me.

No one helped me.

Omegas were easy to ignore.

Even when they carried Alpha heirs.

As I crossed the pack’s border before dawn, the wind whispered through the trees like it was warning me. Or maybe wishing me luck.

I didn’t look back.

Not even once.