Chapter 1

Lillian’s POV.

The beeping sounds from a machine came first. Then the sterile scent of alcohol and antiseptic. My fingers twitched against stiff sheets, my eyelids fluttering open. I was awake, but everything felt…still.

The hospital. I was in the hospital. 

A curtain shifted, revealing a smiling nurse clutching a clipboard. I tried to speak—ask where I was, what happened—but my throat felt dry.

“You’re stable now,” she said gently. “You’ve been unconscious for two days.”

Two days. My chest tightened. Two days since I’ve been out. My head slowly throbbed as memories began flooding my brain. I was in Moonstone Pack, on my way out when I blacked out. 

“The Doctor will be here soon, please have some rest,” she added gently and excused herself. 

Dull ache sank in my bones in a failed attempt to sit up. The curtain shifted once again and a Doctor appeared, a warm smile on her face. 

“You’re awake, Luna Lillian. Do you feel any better now?” The doctor asked as she inspected my eyes and the beeping machine. I nodded, affirming his question. 

“That’s good. You should be ready for discharge after a little rest,” she said with a gentle smile and turned to leave.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and turned to face me. “Oh, and congratulations, Luna. I pray that this bestows prosperity upon the Pack.”

I felt confused, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. What’s she talking about?

A gasp escaped her lips as she moved closer to me. “You’re three weeks pregnant, Luna Lillian.” My face lit up at her words. 

I felt my heart stop as tears began to well in my eyes. “Congratulations, Luna.”

Pregnant. I’m really pregnant! 

A breathy laughter escaped me as I pressed a trembling hand to my abdomen. I wasn’t imagining things. I was really… pregnant. A burst of warmth surged through my chest like sunlight after a long winter. For a moment, I let myself feel it—the joy, the relief, the hope after waiting for four years.

Finally. After four years of whispered glances, pitiful stares, and the cruel nickname “The Barren Luna”, I had something they couldn’t take away from me. Proof that I wasn’t what they called me. 

Tears streamed down my cheeks, yet warmth bloomed in my chest in happiness as I realized the ordeal I had endured so far. 

Being an omega and an orphan, I’d spent my entire life being looked down on by people. Helpless and lonely, I worked tirelessly to feed and clothe myself until I met my mate—Alpha Aaron Moonstone—who happened to be the Alpha heir of Moonstone Pack. Everything changed when he claimed me as his mate. And even after that—after becoming Alpha and inheriting his family’s fortune—it all changed again. I couldn’t provide him a heir, a successor, despite our attempts, and we just grew…distant. 

But all of that was about to change. I could imagine Aaron’s face lighting up and hugging me tightly after receiving the good news of my pregnancy. I could imagine him showering me with love and kisses and my heart fluttered at the thought of that. 

My fingers trembled as I reached for the phone on the side table. The line connected to my driver first.

“Come get me,” I said, my happiness evident in my tone. “I’m in Ferales Hospital.”

I hesitated before dialing again. His number. My mate. One ring. Two. Three. Voicemail. I tried again.

Still nothing. Strange. Perhaps he’s in a meeting. Perhaps he’s in a very important meeting that would require him to be away from him. I decided I needed to share the news myself and not over the phone. 

I got discharged and left the hospital to see Ares, my driver alighting to get the door for me. 

“Shall I take you to the Pack House, Luna?” 

Ares inquired and I shook my head with a smile tugging at my lips, “No, Ares. The Alpha’s office. AMS Corporation.”

The ride to his office was a blur—tall buildings and skyscrapers all blending with the cloudy skies. I could notice things sharper, my senses heightened. Then I realized it was one of the symptoms of pregnancy, yet I felt drowsy. I recall the feeling few days ago and Eliena, my wolf, had been jumpy about it but I invited physicians over, believing I’d caught the strange plague now spreading around Moonstone. I had no idea it was… a symptom of good news!

“We’re here, Luna,” Ares announced and I stepped out of the car, fresh air filling my lungs and I felt alive. 

Taking the elevator, I punched the button that led to the 18th floor and soon found myself walking towards Aaron’s office. I could feel anticipation build up in me, excitement buzzing beneath my skin as I grinned from ear to ear. 

The front desk was empty. Weird. Shantel, my mate’s secretary, knew better than to leave her post when on duty. And his car was parked right at its spot in the parking lot, which meant he was in. 

I went all the way into his office, and I was greeted by silence. No one was in the office either. I didn’t let myself be disappointed so easily, perhaps he was making use of the Inner Room, one reserved for extremely important guests. 

I moved closer to the Inner Room, and soft pants and moans resounded behind the closed heavy door. 

My breath caught in my throat. What in the goddess’s name was going on in there?! I fumbled with the knob for so long before finally opening the door to see the greatest horror of my life. 

“You’re Master’s good little bitch, aren’t you, Shan?” 

Aaron moaned sexily in a way he’s never done to me in the past four years while drilling a woman who responded with an ecstatic moan. Shan. Shan…tel!

My heart shattered into pieces as I felt tears stream down my cheeks. Aaron had always cheated in the past. And I never faulted him. At the end of the day, he came back home. To me. I learnt to live with that, and I would’ve done that, if he wasn’t having sex with his own secretary in a rather important room. 

“Oh, Shan, your pussy feels so good. You love Master’s cock buried deep inside your wet little cunt?”

Muffled cries escaped my lips as my husband pounded his secretary with so much fervor I never thought he had. 

Just when would they notice me?!

I watched Aaron moan recklessly in a room that smelled of citrus and sex as he groaned with an animalistic tone that told me he’d reached climax. 

“Aaron.” I was a shattered, broken mess and my voice was worse, hoarse and whispery. 

But he heard me.

His head turned lazily over his shoulder, eyes narrowing as they landed on me. Surprise flickered in those blue eyes for a moment, replaced by cold amusement, curling his lips into a smirk.

“You.” That was all he needed to set my being on fire. The contempt in his tone felt like a blunt knife driven into my heart with no mercy. 

My body stiffened. 

“I was starting to think you’d finally figured it out,” he said, stretching slightly, completely at ease in his half-dressed state, as he pulled his pants up. “That maybe you’d understood where you stand.”

Shantel remained behind him, trying to disappear into thin air as her hair covered her face, but my eyes never left him. My mate. My husband. My Alpha.

He moved closer, his voice low but thick with mockery. “Did you really think I’d spend the rest of my life chained to a barren Luna? You, of all people, should’ve known your worth.”

The words didn’t just sting—they carved themselves into my chest, sharp and deep.

“You were a pawn, Lillian. A means to an end.”

I stood there, stunned and rooted into the ground like a tree as I said nothing, tears continued to flow down my face without control. My husband never stopped, his eyes holding nothing but emptiness and a certain malicious rage. 

The hospital. The soft congratulations from the doctor. It all replayed behind my eyes like a memory already being buried. The joy. The hope. It all meant nothing. 

But he didn’t know. I didn’t even get to tell him. He didn’t know what I carried. The heir he thought would never come. The bloodline he thought ended with me.

I cowered behind the little glimmer of hope that flickered in my mind. Perhaps if I told him, he’d tell me it was all a prank. 

“Aaron, I’m your Luna. You claimed me—marked me as yours four years ago and you loved me. You still do! How could you do this to me?” I cried as I crashed into the ground, my wobbly knees giving in. 

“You couldn’t give me a child, Lillian. You have no right to complain.” 

Aaron walked out on me with his little fuckmate trailing behind him, leaving me in my own puddle of tears. 

Just then, I feel a twinge in my abdomen, setting my skin on fire while I yelped in pain.