Chapter 04

Chapter 04

CALISTA

The darkness around me slowly twisted into a nightmare.

I stood alone in the middle of the pack, surrounded by darkness or indistinct figures.

I could not see anyone clearly, but I heard voices surrounding me.

The voices repeated the insults I had endured for years.

"A wolf-less Luna."

"A Luna who cannot bear children."

I tried to escape the voices, but they followed me.

The voices became louder until I felt completely surrounded.

I reached for my stomach, instinctively trying to protect my unborn child.

Just as the mocking became unbearable, something cold hit me.

I woke up abruptly, gasping and drenched in cold water.

I realized an empty basin had been thrown over me.

I looked up to see Brielle sitting beside the bed, holding the basin.

She was wearing a dress that unmistakably symbolized the Luna's position.

The sight immediately unsettled me.

Brielle looked at my miserable state and laughed. "After being Luna for so many years, you have still managed to somehow fall this low."

Despite being exhausted and vulnerable, I refused to let her completely break me.

I scoffed. "Don't become so arrogant now, Brielle. You cannot take my position simply because you're pregnant."

Brielle only laughed, her tongue coming out to smear her lips against each other. "Have you forgotten who I am?"

"I'm the Beta's daughter. I'm also Kieran's childhood friend. His comrade who has fought beside him through life-and-death battles."

She looked me over. "Compared to you, a wolf-less Omega. The child I carry is Kieran's biological child. This child will be a powerful Alpha and the future heir of the Pack."

"How do you expect the mother of the future heir to simply disappear after giving birth?"

My confidence faltered.

Brielle continued, "The pack already sees me as the future Luna. The elders have been dissatisfied with you for years. You have failed to provide an heir." She jabbed a finger to her chest. "I can give Kieran what the Pack wants. I can give them the heir they've been waiting for. You? You're only a burden to Kieran now." A taunting smile spread across her lips.

I remembered how I had been brought into the Pack as an orphan. Kieran's love had been the only reason I was ever accepted as Luna despite being wolf-less.

For the first time, the possibility that I may truly lose everything felt real.

I dismissed the thoughts.

Brielle was deliberately trying to provoke me.

I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing me completely defeated.

I raised my head. "You're wrong. Kieran has already told me that you will leave after giving birth. I'm still Kieran's mate and Luna."

She only gave me a knowing look rather than arguing immediately.

Then it hit me, she was showing me something—

A pang rose in my chest.

I thought I was imagining it.

Then I looked closer.

A fresh Alpha mark on her neck.

My entire body went still. My eyes immediately reddened.

I stared at the fresh mark.

I knew exactly what an Alpha mark meant. Kieran had marked her.

My voice trembled as I asked, "Who gave it to you?"

Brielle laughed. "Kieran, of course."

She grinned. "He marked me to protect me and our unborn child."

"An Alpha's mark carries his protection." Then, she shrugged. " It shows how important I and my unborn child are to him, doesn't it?"

My head spun.

All I could think about was Kieran leaving me locked in the room while rushing to Brielle's side. He has left me behind to protect her—and then marked her.

Brielle's place beside Kieran was becoming permanent—that mark on her neck was the physical proof.

Brielle's next words snapped me back to reality. "You should stop clinging to Kieran! Leave voluntarily before they strip you of your position. Soon, no one will value you anymore."

With that, she stood and cast me one last pitying look befor leaving.

I watched her go, still unable to process the mark.

The door remained wide open.

I expected to see the guards Kieran placed outside my room.

There were none.

I looked down the corridor.

It was completely clear.

Brielle deliberately had them removed.

Nobody was stopping me from leaving anymore.

I touched my stomach.

My unborn child was the one thing that still belonged completely to me.

The guard had refused me food and water simply because Kieran was angry with me. If this was how quickly the pack would turn against me, then what would happen to my child?

It was evident. My position as Luna wasn't stable anymore—it hadn't protected me earlier, it won't later.

Kieran might still claim to love me, but his actions have allowed Brielle to enter our home, take over the nursery, receive his protection, and now bear his mark..

Without Kieran actively protecting me, the Pack never truly accepted me as Luna.

I couldn't allow my child to grow up in a place where we could be discarded so easily.

Perhaps leaving really was my only choice.

I walked over to the closet.

I didn't pack everything.

I pulled a few dresses from the closet then stopped. I didn't know where I was going, so there was no point taking everything.

I packed only a few changes of clothes and the necessities I could carry.

My gaze swept across the room.

This was the room where Kieran and I had once laughed together, where we had shared quiet mornings and nights I had believed would last forever.

Now I was packing a life I had never imagined leaving behind.

I remembered the woman I was when I first came here.

I looked at the things that once represented our marriage.

For a moment, I was tempted to stay.

Then I touched my stomach again and remembered why I couldn't.

I gathered my small bundle and took one last look at the room.

My emotions surged, but I forced them down.

I opened the door.

The corridor was still empty.

No guards stopped me.

I walked through the Alpha House for what may be the last time.

I tightened my grip on the small bundle in my arms and took one final breath.

Then I walked away from the only home I had ever known.