Chapter 2- Aurelia's POV

I woke up with eyes after barely getting two hours of sleep.

Kaels words from the night before kept playing on a loop in my head. *Perhaps the Moon Goddess made a mistake choosing you as my Luna.*

I spent the whole night trying to tell myself that I didn't care anymore. I told myself to stop feeling anything for him.

Except I still did.

I was still his wife. I was still his mate, bound to him by the sacred laws of the pack, still wearing the Luna mark on my wrist.

I pulled myself out of bed, washed my face with cold water, and got dressed. I put on my usual linen tunic and trousers, refusing to stay hidden in the bedroom.

I had morning duties to handle. I was not going to give this pack the satisfaction of watching me fall apart.

I was walking down the long corridor toward the storehouse when the entire estate suddenly erupted with noise.

Shouts and cheers bounced off the building. Warriors and servants were sprinting toward the main hall, talking over each other in excited bursts.

My first thought was that the southern border had been breached or rogue wolves were attacking.

Then I heard a young warrior yell out something about an heir.

My feet moved on their own, carrying me down the grand staircase and straight into the crowded hall.

Dozens of pack members were gathered in a wide circle near the hearth, laughing and shouting congratulations. In the middle of the crowd stood Selene.

Selene was the daughter of an influential elder, high-born, beautiful, and ruthless. She had hated me from the day Kael chose me over her.

Over the past few months, she had been bolder than usual. She would show up at Kael's meetings, drop subtle comments about what a real Luna looked like, and casually remind me that pure bloodlines made stronger pups.

Right now, she was standing directly beside Kael.

She was smiling, her head held high, glowing under the attention of the entire room.

The minute I saw the look on her face, I knew something was wrong.

Selene raised both of her hands to quiet the crowd, her smile widening as she looked around the room.

"I have an announcement for the pack,"she said, her clear voice carrying easily across the hall. "The pack healers have confirmed it this morning. I am pregnant."

The room went wild. People were clapping each other on the back, cheering so loud the rafters shook.

I stood frozen near the archway, my brain blank. I didn't understand why everyone was celebrating a single woman's pregnancy like it belonged to the entire territory.

Then Selene turned toward Kael.

She reached out and placed a delicate hand flat over her stomach, looking up at him with adoration.

"I am carrying the Alphas child,"she said.

Kael didn't step away. He didn't pull his arm back.

He didn't deny a single word.

That silence tore through me like claws.

I stared at him, my heart slamming wildly against my ribs. I waited for him to speak. I waited for him to tell the elders this was a lie, a trick, or some horrible misunderstanding.

He didn't say anything to defend the fact that he hadn't been unfaithful to me.

Instead, Kael lifted his hand and placed it right over Selenes hand on her stomach.

The hall erupted all over again.

Elder Ezra was already talking about the future of the Blackthorne line. People were shouting that the Moon Goddess had finally blessed the pack, while others pushed forward to clasp Kael on the shoulder.

They were already calling Selene the true mother of the next Alpha.

I was standing right there, only ten feet away from them.

Nobody looked at me. Nobody asked me how I was doing. To them, I was already erased.

Selene's eyes drifted past the crowd and landed straight on me. She stepped forward, her expression shifting into one of fake, sweet sympathy.

"Oh, Aurelia,"she said softly, loud enough for the nearby elders to hear. "It is truly unfortunate that you could not give Kael what he needed. But perhaps this is just the Goddesss way of correcting her mistake."

My fingers curled into tight fists at my sides. Every instinct in me wanted to cross that floor and slap that smirk right off her face.

I held myself back and kept my chin up, even though my chest felt hollow.

I ignored Selene, locked my eyes onto Kael, and forced the words out of my dry throat.

"Is this true?"I asked.

The noise in the immediate circle died down as people realized I was speaking.

Kael finally turned his head to look at me. His gray eyes were totally flat, showing no shame, no guilt, and no regret.

Instead of denying it, he gave me a single word.

"Yes."

That was all he said.

Something deep inside me cracked wide open, shattering into pieces that could never be put back together again.

I blankly stared at him for a second before giving a slow nod of understanding. A bitter scoff left my mouth before I could stop it, a stray tear betraying me. I caught it as fast as it came, refusing to let them see me break.

I turned around on my heel and walked out of the hall as fast as my legs could carry me.

I kept walking until I reached the secluded forest path behind the pack house, where the trees grew thick enough to block out the noise of their celebration.

It was getting harder to breathe. He truly went behind my back to fuck that slut. He knew how much I hated her. And of every other maiden in the pack, he chose her.

Just what? What exactly did I do to deserve a pain so agonizing? All I ever did was love this pack in the best way I could. And all I got back was…..

A groan tore out of my throat the second a searing heat flared across my left collarbone. It hurt like someone was pressing a hot iron directly against my skin.

I gasped, dropping to my knees on the damp moss, tearing the top buttons of my tunic open with trembling fingers.

I pulled the fabric aside to look down at my chest.

The dark, crescent-shaped birthmark I'd always had since I could remember was not dark anymore. A faint, glowing silver light was pulsing steadily around its jagged edges, shimmering under the shade of the trees.

Panic seized my throat.

I quickly yanked the thick cloth back over my collarbone, buttoning the shirt up to my neck with shaking hands.

My heart was racing so fast I could barely catch my breath.

I tried to tell myself it was just a hallucination, a weird physical reaction brought on by the shock, the heartbreak, and the emotional stress of losing everything in a single morning.

I pressed my hand against the burning cloth, kneeling alone in the dirt while the pack cheered for another woman.