01

Sophia.

The mansion buzzed with life in a way it hadn't in months. Staff moved around the house with so much energy, cleaning every single marble counter until they gleamed, arranging fresh flowers in every corner, and ensuring every detail was flawless and good to go. It was a chaos that felt controlled, the kind that came with preparing for an Alpha's return.

I stood in the grand foyer, watching the frenzy unfold around me. A smile tugged at my lips as I observed our head housekeeper directing the maids with so much caution.

"The main house needs more cleaning." Mrs Chen, the head uttered to younger maids, pointing into the house. I loved how she had taken it upon herself to make sure that everything was sparkling and in place.

But the question was, would he like it?

She turned to me with a smile, as she had heard what i had said. "He will like, Luna. But not because of the flowers. He will be impressed because you are here, always."

Heat crept up my neck as she pointed that out, and I busied myself examining a vase of white roses. They were Ethan's favourite. Three months, niinety three days, if I was counting, which I was because I couldn't think it off.

He had left for the Dark Moon Pack's exchange program in midspring, a prestigious opportunity for alpha to train and diplomatic relations with neighbouring packs. The Central Bureau had selected him, and of course, I had supported his decision, even as my heart had slowly shattered with each passing week.

I walked into the library, needing a moment away from the excitement and the weight of my own anticipation. The shelves were filled with history books, treaties between packs, and romance novels I pretended not to read. I ran my fingers along the spines, letting muscle memory guide me to our spot, the leather wingback chair that was by the window where Ethan and I had spent countless evenings.

The leather was cold when I sat down, so I pulled my legs up, wrapping my arms around my knees like I had always done as a teenager.

That was what we had been, once. Best friends. Inseparable since childhood, running through the forest together, laughing under moonlight, sharing secrets that no one else understood.

The day Ethan's wolf had recognized me as his mate had been both a blessing and a curse. Everything had shifted, deepened, and became more complex.

We had married at twenty-three, young and so desperately in love that the world felt smaller and more manageable. Ethan was a strong alpha, naturally commanding, brilliant in strategy, and somehow still gentle with me. He jad held me through countless nights when I had fallen apart, whispered promises that everything would be okay, that our love would be enough.

But lately, something had gnawed at me. A fear that no amount of reassurance could completely silence.

My hand drifted to my stomach. Four years, we had been trying to conceive, and with each failed month, a tiny part of my heart had fractured. The doctors had been kind but clinical all the time. There appeared to be a barrier preventing conception. They used clinical terms like uterine scarring, hormonal imbalance, and unexplained infertility. What they meant was that I was broken.

Barren.

The word tasted like poison in my mouth.

I had begged Ethan to divorce me, to find a Luna who could give him heirs, who could do what my body refused to do. He got b furious the first time I suggested it. "Don't ever," he had said, his voice low and dangerous in a way that made my wolf whimper with submission.

"Don't ever suggest that again. I didn't marry you for an heir, Sophia. I married you because you are my mate, because you are the other half of my soul. And if you think anything could change that, you are not giving our bond the respect it deserves."

The memory should have comforted me. Instead, it made my chest tight with anxiety. I loved Ethan with a desperation that sometimes scared me. But I also knew that love had limits. Every alpha needed an heir. It was the natural order of things, the expectation of our kind.

How long could he realistically wait? How long could I?

This trip, maybe it was a sign. Maybe when he comes home, something would have changed. We were both older now, more confident. I was ovulating. Hope, foolish and stubborn, still flickered inside me.

A knock on the library door pulled me from my thoughts and a younger maids walked in.

"Luna, the Alpha's car has been spotted on the north road," The maids informed me, breathless with excitement. "He will be here in less than an hour."

My stomach twisted. I uncurled from the chair, smoothing down my dress, a soft blue gown that I had chosen specifically because it brought out my eyes, and I wanted to look beautiful for Ethan.

"Thank you. Please alert Mrs. Chen. And someone should prepare refreshments for our guests."

"Guests, Luna?" The maid tilted her head with so much curiousity.

I paused. Ethan hadn't mentioned bringing anyone back with him. "Just a precaution. The Alpha may have brought colleagues from the training program."

The maid nodded and disappeared, leaving me alone again with my racing thoughts.

I made my way to my bedroom and checked my appearance in the mirror. My dark hair fell in waves down my back. My skin had a healthy glow from the time I had alway spent in the gardens. So I looked happy and hopeful. I looked like a woman waiting for her husband to come home.

The next forty-five minutes crawled by. I found myself pacing the main hallway, listening for the sound of engines, the commotion that would signal Ethan's arrival. Other packmates gathered near the entrance, respectful but excited. Ethan was well-liked, strong but fair, demanding but not cruel.

When I finally heard the sound of the car pulling through the gates, my heart leapt into my throat. I smoothed my dress one more time, took a deep breath, and moved toward the terrace.

The front doors opened, and there he was.

Ethan stepped through, and for a moment, nothing else mattered. He looked exactly as I remembered, broad shoulders, sharp jawline, and darker eyes that had always been able to see straight through me. Three months of longing turned into pure need, and I closed the distance between us without thinking.

"You are back," I breathed, reaching for him. "I missed you so much."

I moved to kiss him, but something felt so wrong. His body was tense and his hands barely touched my waist before falling away. He turned his head slightly, and my kiss landed on his cheek instead of his lips.

I pulled back, confused. "Ethan? What is wrong?"

That was when I noticed her.

She stood just behind him, somehow covered by his shadow. She looked tall, elegant, with blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. She wore an expensive maternity dress, the kind that didn't hide her very pregnant belly.

I knew who she was even before my brain could fully process it. The Dark Moon Pack's princess. Victoria.

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. "Sophia," Ethan said, and his voice sounded like it belonged to a stranger. "We need to talk."

My mouth went dry. "What. what is she doing here?"

"Victoria came with me because," He paused, and I watched something flicker across his face. Shame? Guilt? Something worse?

"Because of what?" My voice came out smaller than I intended and uncertain.

Ethan's eyes finally met mine, and what I saw in them made my blood run cold. The love I had always known was there, that steady, unwavering devotion. It was gone, replaced by something distant, something that looked far too much like pity.

"Because the baby is mine," he said quietly. "And I have asked Victoria to stay with us until after the birth."

The words didn't make sense. They were English, and I recognized them as language, but they wouldn't assemble into anything sensible. I stared at him, waiting for him to laugh, to tell me this was some kind of terrible joke.

He didn't laugh.

"I don't understand," I whispered, though on some level, I understood perfectly. I just refused to let my mind fully accept it.

"I got her pregnant while I was at Dark Moon," he said, speaking as if this was a simple fact, like discussing the weather. "I can't leave her alone, and I can't abandon my responsibility. She is going to live here, in the east wing, and we will figure out how to move forward as a pack."

The east wing, our home. Where we had made love in every room, where we had danced in the kitchen at midnight, where he had held me through my darkest nights.

My knees buckled, I felt Ethan reach for me, but I stepped back, away from his touch. The marble floor seemed to rush up toward me as the edges of my vision blurred.

"Sophia." Ethan called out, his voice sounded far away, muffled, as if I was underwater.

The last thing I saw before the world went black was Victoria's small but satisfied smile.