His Contract Luna Says Goodbye

ELLARIA.My Alpha forced me to sign a marriage contract: no love, no children.He didn’t know I had fallen in love with him at first sight. And now, with only three months left until our contract expired, I was pregnant.***“Luna! You’re having twins!” the doctor exclaimed.The two tiny, beating hearts on the ultrasound screen left my mind completely blank.“Should I call the Alpha now?” she asked.“No!” I blurted, the word coming out as a sharp, sudden cry.The doctor’s smile froze.My voice unsteady, I tried to explain, “We’ve been wanting this for so long. I want to surprise him myself.”Her expression softened at once. “Oh, how lovely!”I fled the hospital almost in a run. I had lied to her. My husband, Arren, the Alpha, had never wanted a baby. He had made me sign a contract to ensure it.Arren was the Alpha King of the entire Eastern Sector, a man wholly devoted to his duty. Four years ago, his father had died suddenly under mysterious circumstances, and an Alpha could only be

ELLARIA.My heart slammed against my ribs. But Arren barely glanced at it before tossing it onto the side table."Don't bring patient files home, Ellaria. You know the rules."The paper slipped off the table and scattered across the floor.The front door closed behind him and a few seconds later I heard his car tear out of the driveway.I stood there for a long moment, staring at the pregnancy report lying on the floor.Then I knelt down and picked it up, smoothing out the creases with trembling fingers.He didn’t even care enough about my daily activities to glance at the paper.All because Katerina was waiting for him.I sat on the couch and waited for him to come back. I told myself he would feel guilty and turn the car around, and that what my suspicions about what I’d heard on that call were nothing.I told myself a lot of things that night.But the hours crawled by. And Arren never came home.Then I received a photo from Katerina.She was wrapped only in a sheet, held in a pair

ARREN.Kade came in and dropped into the chair across from my desk with the energy of a man who'd aged five years in the last two hours."Katerina's taken the boy in," he said. "He's down for the night.""Good."He looked like he had more to say about the evening's events. After something like the display some of my pack members just witnessed outside, most people did.I leaned back, folding my arms across my chest, and let the quiet settle while I turned the whole mess over in my head.Ellaria finding out about Katerina and her son had not been part of the plan.In fairness, most things Ellaria did weren't part of any plan I'd made. Including what happened at the hospital. She wasn’t the type to lash out like that. If anything, she avoided conflict whenever she could. It was more likely the strain she’d been under.Suspending her had been the most efficient solution. She needed time to rest. And more importantly, she needed to be kept away from Katerina.I had thought that would be e

ELLARIA.Mirela hadn't slept a wink.She was still in yesterday's jacket, standing in the doorway of my clinic room with eyes so red and swollen it looked like she'd been crying in shifts. And she was looking at me the way people look at something they're not ready to let go of."You were on the floor last night," she said."I know." I said, trying not to remember. "You almost lost them, Ellaria.""Mirela.""I’m sorry but someone has to say it."I pulled my coat on and looked at her seriously. "I need you to keep your promise."Her jaw tightened. She had made that promise at two in the morning when I had finally stopped shaking and crying long enough to ask for it. And now in the daylight she was looking for a way to renegotiate. She didn't want me to leave. But I had to. I watched her find it and lose it and find it again, and then she pressed her lips together and nodded once.That was all I needed.But first I had to say goodbye.Going to the medical center was practical, bec

ELLARIA.The man answered before I could open my mouth."Caden Wolfe," he said, addressing Arren directly and without any particular concern about the energy coming off him. "Alpha of the Blackwolf Pack. I came to consult your Luna on improving child survival rates at my nursery. It got late, so I offered her a ride home."Arren looked at him for a long moment. Then he looked at me, and his hand came down around my wrist. He pulled me to him forcefully, and I cried out before I could stop myself. Caden took a step forward, ready to intervene. "I'm asking you," Arren said, and I knew he wasn't talking to Caden anymore.Caden's eyes moved to my wrist, then to my face. "Alpha Pierce." His voice had dropped into something with more weight behind it. "You're a pack leader. Whatever this is, you might want to think about how it looks."That was when Arren's control slipped.It didn't happen loudly. It happened in the quality of the air around him, the way it thickened with something that