Chapter 4: The Alpha’s Burden

Aiden’s POV

“Make sure she’s fine,” I ordered the healer, placing Olivia gently on the bed.

“Alpha… you’re going to leave me?” Her eyes welled with tears.

“I’ll be back. I just have to check on something.”

“I’ll wait for you,” she said softly, just before I closed the door.

I grabbed the phone, dialing Hunter. “Go check on Aria,” I ordered.

“Right away, Alpha.”

Minutes crawled by like hours.

Three years. Three damn years, and still nothing.

Every night with Aria ended the same way. With me lying awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering what was wrong with me. What kind of Alpha couldn’t give his pack an heir? What kind of man couldn’t even put a child in his Luna’s belly?!

The whispers had started months ago. I heard them in the halls, in the training grounds, everywhere.

“Maybe the Alpha’s broken.”

“Maybe he can’t sire pups.”

“Maybe the Moon Goddess cursed them.”

Every word was a blade, cutting deeper than claws ever could.

And Aria… she never defended me. She just gave me that sad smile, touched my arm, whispered, “It will happen someday, Aiden.”

Someday.

But that someday never came.

At first, it wasn’t like this. At first… she was my everything.

She was there after my heartbreak with Olivia, when she left me for another. She was there for me, and I learned how to love her.

I still remember the way she looked on the day of our mating ceremony. Her eyes were bright, cheeks flushed, her hands trembling as she placed them in mine.

She was shy but brave, stepping into a role bigger than anything she’d ever known.

I remember pulling her into my arms that night, whispering against her hair, “You’re mine now, Aria. Forever.”

And for a while, it was good. We laughed. We hunted together. She used to sneak bread from the kitchen just to see me pretend to scold her for it.

She’d sit on the balcony waiting for me to return from patrol, her head nodding as she tried not to fall asleep before I arrived.

I loved her. Dammit, I loved her.

But the years dragged on, and with them came the empty nights.

The bed was warm, but the space between us grew colder. Every time she told me to be patient, every time she smiled like nothing was wrong, it felt like a dagger twisting deeper.

One night, I couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Three years, Aria!” I roared, pacing the room like a caged beast. “Three years, and still nothing! Do you know what that does to me? To my name? To my pack?!”

She stood there, tears shining in her eyes. “Aiden, I want this as much as you do. I’ve tried—”

“Tried?” I cut her off, my voice sharp, bitter. “Do you know what it feels like to wake up every day believing you’re not enough of a man to give your pack a future?! To carry the shame of failing everyone?!”

Her lips trembled. “It isn’t your fault. It could be mine—”

I froze. Her words echoed in my head, cold and merciless.

It could be mine.

It wasn’t me. It was her.

“This is your fault…” I said, my gaze fixed on her.

“Aiden… what do you mean?” she whispered, breaking down.

The one I trusted with everything. The one I thought shared my pain. She knew. She knew all along. And yet, she stood there in silence while I drowned in self-hatred, letting the whispers of the pack shred my pride.

My hands shook with rage. My chest heaved as I glared at her.

“So it was you all along,” I growled, my voice low and dangerous. “You couldn’t give me an heir. You made me believe I was the broken one, when the whole time, it was you. You ruined me, Aria. You ruined us! You’re the broken one here!”

Her tears spilled, and she reached for me, whispering, “No, Aiden, please listen to me first—”

But I couldn’t look at her anymore.

I turned away, jaw clenched, and voice like ice. “You sicken me. Get out of my sight!”

“Aiden! Please! I’ll let you use my body—just give me another chance!”

Despite my anger, I still gave in. But night after night, it was useless—until eventually, I used her body only for my own release.

“Alpha!”

Hunter’s voice snapped me back to the present. I hadn’t even noticed he was already in front of me.

“Alpha… she’s missing!”

My chest seized, “What do you mean? She’s not there?!”

“The room’s empty. She’s gone!”

Gone.

The word hollowed me out.

I stormed through the house, every step fueled by a panic I couldn’t control. My voice thundered through the halls as I tore them apart.

“Aria!”

No answer.

“Aria!”

Silence.

The guest room was empty when I got there.

My gaze fell on the nightstand. Her diary lay there.

I knew I shouldn’t. But something inside me demanded to look at it. My claws shook as I flipped to the page marked by a crease.

The words scrawled there sliced through me like a blade:

“He’s never gonna know about the twins.”

“I’m carrying his pups…”

I froze.

Twins…?

She was pregnant? With my pups? And she hadn’t told me?!

The breath caught in my throat, strangled, my chest collapsing under the weight of it. My vision blurred, my pulse thundered in my ears.

All this time…she let me believe I was broken. She let me despise her. She let me despise myself.

And now, when I finally know the truth… she’s gone.

A raw sound ripped from my throat, half-roar, half-cry. My claws shredded through the desk, wood splintering beneath my hands.

“FIND ARIA!” I bellowed, my voice shaking the walls. “NOW!”