CHAPTER 1: SURPRISE

OPRAH’S POV

“Where is that slut?!”

The deep, cold voice made me freeze mid-step. The smile that had just been on my face vanished instantly, leaving only a rush of fear crawling up my spine.

“Inside, Alpha,” someone answered from outside the door.

My heart skipped. Alpha?

Derrick?

He was already here!

Why was he shouting like that?

I quickly hid the pregnancy test under the pillow and stood up, confusion and panic clawing at my chest. I wasn’t used to hearing that cold tone from him.

Before I could even touch the doorknob, the door burst open.

Alpha Derrick stormed in, his hazel eyes blazing with fury that chilled my blood.

“Derrick, you are...”

I didn’t finish. His hand shot to my neck, slamming me hard against the wall. My breath hitched, my feet barely touching the ground as his fingers tightened.

“W-what’s going on?” I gasped, clawing at his wrist.

“You have the guts to cheat on me with my guard?” he growled, voice thick with venom. His grip tightened until black dots danced in my vision.

Cheat?

My wolf whimpered inside me, terrified and trembling.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I managed to choke out, tears burning the corners of my eyes.

“Shut up, prostitute!” he spat. The word hit harder than his hand. “Like mother, like daughter.”

The words sliced through me like silver chains, cutting deeper than any blow.

People in Moon Shining Pack, had always whispered behind my back, 'a daughter of an omega prostitute'. My mother had worked in a strip club, doing whatever she had to so she could feed me and my sister.

But never once had Derrick called me that.

Anyone could, but not him. Hearing it from his mouth shattered something inside me.

“I wonder what I saw in you,” he hissed. “Was it the pretty face? The body you love to flaunt? Because clearly, that’s all you had to offer.”

He shoved me away. I hit the floor hard, coughing, clutching my neck as my eyes blurred.

He was rushing toward me again when a voice came from the door.

“Alpha, please stop!” Beta Lucas' voice trembled slightly. “You’ll hurt her!”

Derrick ignored him. He grabbed a small envelope from the table, one I hadn’t even noticed before and hurled it at me.

Photographs scattered across the floor like dying butterflies.

My breath caught.

There I was, or rather, it looked like me, lying in bed beside one of Derrick’s guards. Liam. Our upper bodies were bare, his arm curled around me. In some, it even looked like we were kissing. The sheets tangled around us in a hotel room I didn’t recognize.

I stared, my hands shaking as I picked up one. The room tilted around me.

Liam. The guard who always smiled politely, who respected me when others didn’t. The only one who treated me as Luna.

But this… this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.

My heart cracked in my chest, the pain almost physical.

“How could you stoop so low?” Derrick’s voice thundered. “Is this how a Luna should behave?!”

He looked both furious and disgusted, his chest heaving, jaw clenched so tight I could hear his teeth grind.

“And don’t think I don’t know you’re pregnant with him.”

I froze, staring up at him, tears spilling freely now.

He knew.

The surprise I had prepared for him, the life growing inside me had turned bitter in an instant.

“I–It’s your pup…” I whispered.

“You’re still lying?” He cut me off, slapping me so hard my ears rang. The sting burned across my cheek.

“Don’t you dare deny it,” he snarled. “Whatever’s in your belly isn’t mine. You can’t manipulate me anymore, Oprah. I already know the truth.” He stopped then moved closer to where I was, making me cower away.

"If its mine, I would smell it and you still have the guts to lie?" I swallowed hard.

How? That was true.

Alpha Derrick was aa very strong and powerful Alpha, he would have scent my growing pup even before giving him the pregnancy test results.

“No…” I shook my head desperately, crawling toward him. I didn’t even know I was desperate to let him the pup was his or if I was scared that he couldn't smell his pup.

“Those are lies! Someone set me up! Derrick, please...” I blurted out, my heart thudding hard in my ribcage that a cold sweat started to roll down my forehead.

He slapped me again. Then again. My body jerked each time, my towel slipping as tears mixed with the blood on my lip.

“Enough!” he roared. “You disgust me.”

I staggered to my feet, trembling, still clutching the towel around me. My heart was racing, the air too thick to breathe.

“I didn’t do it!” I screamed, my voice cracking. “I swear to the Moon Goddess, Derrick, it’s not what it looks like! You know me, I could never do that to you!”

For a brief moment, he was silent. I thought maybe I’d reached him. Maybe he’d see the truth in my eyes.

But then his voice came low and broken: “How else can't I smell my own flesh and blood if at all you didn't cheat on me?" The world around me stopped.

He was right. How?

"I thought I knew you.” The words came out with a lot of pain as he said them, making my beating heart break into pieces.

This wasn’t happening. It shouldn't be happening.

"D-Derrick..."

But he just turned away, and the pain in his tone was worse than any slap.

“I regret making you my mate, Oprah. I should have listened to my family and my pack members when they told me not to trust a prostitute’s daughter.”

The words hit me like arrows, one after another. Betrayal twisted his face, and my world shattered. But I didn’t know how to defend myself. The evidence were scattered all over the room. What else could I say?

For years, I had tried to erase that label, to prove I was more than my mother’s mistakes. I had worked hard, changed myself, built a life that was clean and proud. But all he saw now… was her shadow in me.

“Take her to the dungeon,” he ordered coldly.

My head snapped up, eyes wide in disbelief.

“Derrick…” My voice broke. “Please, no…”

He didn’t even glance at me. “Lock her in silver chains. And make sure she loses that… thing she carries.”

The words sliced into me. I couldn’t breathe. My knees gave way.

“No! Please, Derrick!” I cried, crawling toward him again. “It’s your child! Please, don’t do this!”

Two guards stepped forward and seized my arms. I kicked and struggled, but their grip was iron.

“Beta Lucas, please!” I begged, looking at the one man who could speak for me. “Make him understand!”

Lucas’s head lowered. He didn’t look at me.

“The photos say it all, Luna,” he murmured.

The little strength left in me crumbled. The hope I had clung to vanished completely.

From trying to surprise my husband… to being dragged through the halls half-naked like a criminal.

How could fate be so cruel?

My tears fell freely now. I didn’t even have the will to fight.

Then, standing in the corridor ahead of us, was her.

Lilith. Derrick’s ex-fiancée, the woman who had walked out on him long ago ar the altar, when he needed her the most, haz returned two months ago to poison our lives.

She smiled, her red lips curving like a blade. “I told you I would ake him back,” she whispered, glancing around to make sure no one was watching. “He never belonged to you. He never did.”

My throat tightened as she leaned closer.

“You didn’t believe me, did you? Look at you now.”

“It’s not over, Lilith,” I rasped.

“Oh, spare your little strength for the silver chains,” she sneered softly. “You’ll need it. Because I won’t let you carry his pup if it’s not me.”

Her words sank into me like knives. My heart splintered again.

So it was her.

She had done all of this. The photos. The lies. The setup.

But before I could speak, the guards yanked me forward, dragging me down the corridor. My feet scraped against the cold marble. My towel slipped, and my dignity bled away with every step.

As they pulled me into the darkness of the dungeon, the last thing I heard was Lilith’s cruel laughter echoing behind me,

the sound of a woman who thought she had already won.