Ghost of a Luna

Duncan didn't sleep that night.

The penthouse lights stayed on until dawn, but the modern luxury felt like a cage. The chocolate torte sat on the coffee table, its scent of sugar and cocoa now masked by something that made Duncan’s inner wolf pace the perimeter of the room. It was the scent of Amora’s departure.

He prowled the living room, his heightened senses dialled to a maddening frequency. Every time he caught a lingering trace of her lavender scent, his wolf let out a low, mourning growl that vibrated in his chest. He’d replayed the clinic exchange a thousand times. The way she stood her ground. The way her scent had flared with that strange, intoxicating power.

The returned five million, the dead phone number, the full closet. Each detail sharpened the unease in his chest into something he couldn't ignore.

By six a.m., he was already dressed. No tie, sleeves rolled up to reveal the dark ink of his pack tattoos. He drank his coffee black, but it tasted like ash.

He needed to find her. His wolf was demanding it, sensing that something vital… something had slipped through his claws.

He dialed his Beta and Head of Security, Remus.

"Sir?" Remus answered, his voice alert. Even through the phone, Duncan could hear the subservient tilt in the other man's tone.

"Remus," Duncan growled, his Alpha Command bleeding into his voice. "I need you to find Amora. Now."

There was a palpable beat of silence. Remus had been Duncan's shadow for a decade, helping him manage the delicate balance between the Alonso Corporation and the Silver Crescent Pack.

"Find her, Alpha? Is she not at the penthouse?"

"She’s gone. And she didn't take the settlement. She didn't take anything." Duncan’s jaw tightened until it ached. "The house, the money, the jewelry—she left it all. Even the Luna’s Crest necklace."

"The five million? The Tribeca deed?" Remus sounded genuinely bewildered. To a wolf, rejecting a settlement from an Alpha was an act of war—or ultimate renunciation. "Perhaps she’s at a hotel, sir? I can track the black card—"

"She’s not using the cards, Remus! She’s off the grid. She’s purged her scent from the closets." Duncan stood by the window, his eyes flashing silver. "I want to know where she is. Every second she is out there without pack protection, she’s a target."

"Understood, Alpha. I’ll start with the Enforcers. If she’s crossed into a rival territory, we’ll know."

Where are you, Amora?

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Amora sat on a worn, navy blue seat of a train station, her forehead pressed against the cold window. She had used a scent-masking spray she’d bought from a rogue apothecary years ago, a precaution she never thought she’d actually need.

In her lap, her hands were folded over her stomach. Her wolf was finally quiet, lulled by the rhythmic clatter of the train. The "Alpha Heir" inside her felt like a warm coal, a tiny source of power that was already beginning to change her biology. She felt sharper, more alert.

She got off at Norwood Green. The air here was pure, smelling of normal life, this is a neutral territory where the influence of the Great Packs didn't reach.

She reached the end of a winding road. Tucked behind a wild hedge of overgrown Wolfsbane—a natural deterrent that would keep Duncan’s trackers at a distance—stood the Cortez Cottage.

Her father had been an Omega, but he was wise. He had kept this land hidden, a sanctuary for their family. Inside, everything was frozen in time. The air was stale, but as Amora stood in the kitchen, she felt the "Alpha Command" that usually weighed on her shoulders finally lift.

She was no longer a subject. She was just Amora.

She reached for her mother’s old cookie jar and wiped the dust away. "We're home," she whispered, her hand moving instinctively to her bump.

Her phone vibrated. Anne.

"Amora? Oh my God." Anne, a human who knew just enough about the supernatural world to be dangerous, sounded frantic. "Your phone's been dead. Are you okay? Did he... did he try to claim you?"

"I'm safe, Anne. I’m at the cottage. The Wolfsbane is thick here; he won't be able to scent me."

"I didn't take a cent," Amora continued. "I left the pack. All of it."

"Jesus, Amora. That’s... brave. To reject an Alpha like Duncan Alonso? You’re lucky he didn't tear the city apart."

"Where are you?" Anne pressed. "Tell me you're not sleeping on a park bench somewhere.”

Amora placed her hand in her belly, "Cortez Cottage. Up in Norwood Green."

Anne let out a soft, surprised laugh. "Your mom's old place? The one with the leaky roof and the porch that groans like it's haunted? You kept paying taxes on that?"

"Yeah." Amora's voice softened. "I couldn't let it go. It's... home."

"Are you really okay? Like, really?''

Amora glanced at the ultrasound image she’d pinned to the fridge with a butterfly magnet. "I'm pregnant, Anne. Seven weeks. And Anne... it’s an Alpha pup. I heard the heartbeat. It was like thunder."

The line went silent. Anne knew the laws. An Alpha heir belonged to the Pack, not the mother. If Duncan found out, he would take the child and exile Amora—or worse.

"He can’t know," Anne whispered. "Promise me, Amora. If he finds out you're carrying a Alonso heir, he'll never let you go."

"He won't find out," Amora said firmly. "He never loved me. To him, I’m just a failed mate he finally got rid of."

***

Alonso Tower, 52nd Floor.

Duncan hadn't moved. The moon was rising, and with it, his wolf’s agitation. Remus entered the office, looking pale.

"Alpha. We have a problem."

Duncan turned, his presence filling the room like a physical blow. "Speak."

"She’s vanished. She went toward Grand Central, but then the trail goes cold. Literally. Our best trackers say it’s like her scent was erased from the earth. No credit card pings, no phone activity. She’s using cash and, we suspect, high-grade scent blockers."

Duncan’s fist slammed into the mahogany desk, cracking the wood. "She’s an Omega’s daughter! She shouldn't know how to hide from me!"

"She’s not just an Omega’s daughter anymore, sir," Remus said quietly, checking his tablet. "I checked the medical records from Mt. Sinai. They were encrypted, but I bypassed them."

Duncan’s breath hitched. "And?"

"She wasn't there for a standard check-up. She was at a Shifter Maternity ward."

Duncan felt the world tilt. The "milky sweetness" he’d smelled in the hallway... the way his wolf had wanted to howl at her feet... it wasn't just heartbreak.

"She’s pregnant," Duncan whispered, the realization hitting him with the force of a tidal wave.

"Seven weeks, sir. According to the heartbeat recorded... it’s a dominant signature. An Alpha."

Duncan’s eyes turned a blinding, predatory silver. The room shook with the force of his growl. Amora hadn't just walked away from him. She had stolen his legacy. She was carrying his pup…his Alpha…out in the world, unprotected and hidden.

"Find her," Duncan roared, his voice echoing through the entire tower, making every shifter in the building drop to their knees. "Bring in the Rogues if you have to. I don't care if you have to burn down every forest in the state. Find my mate."

***

Back at the cottage, Amora was startled by a sudden, heavy knock on the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Her heart leaped. Had the Wolfsbane failed? Had Duncan found her? She grabbed a silver letter opener from the counter, her breath coming in shallow hitches.

"Hello? Is someone in there?"

The voice was deep, but it didn't have the metallic edge of Duncan’s Command. It smelled of Cedar, Rain, and something wilder.

Amora pulled back the curtain. Standing on the porch was a man she hadn't seen in years. He was broader than she remembered, with scars peaking out from the collar of his denim jacket. A Rogue or at least, he looked like one.

She threw the door open.

"Oscar?" she whispered.

Oscar…the boy from the neighboring pack who had been exiled years ago for defying Duncan’s father—looked at her, his eyes softening. His nostrils flared as he caught her scent, and his gaze immediately dropped to her stomach.

"Amora," he said, his voice a low rumble. "You smell like a Alonso. But you’re standing on neutral ground. What did that bastard do to you?"