BREAKING POINT

Three years ago, Elena nearly died, and Damien wasn't there.

The memory hit her as she lay alone in their bed, Damien's side still empty at 3 AM. She pressed a hand to her stomach, remembering the pain, the fear, the desperate loneliness of that night.

The contractions had started suddenly, two weeks before her due date. Elena had been alone in the house, Damien away on "important pack business." She'd tried to call him, but his phone went straight to voicemail.

"Please," she'd gasped to the pack doctor as another contraction ripped through her. "Please call my mate. I need him."

Dr. Reynolds had looked uncomfortable. "The Alpha is... unreachable at the moment, Luna. But you're doing great."

She wasn't doing great. Her wolf was too weak to help with the birth, leaving Elena to face the agony with only her human strength. Hours passed. The pain grew worse. Something was wrong - she could see it in the medical team's faces.

"We're losing too much blood," someone said.

"The pup is in distress."

"Luna, we need to do an emergency C-section."

Elena had begged for Damien through it all. Begged for her mate as they cut her open. Begged for him as her vision went dark from blood loss. Begged for him as she heard her baby's first cry and couldn't even hold him.

She'd woken up two days later, weak and disoriented. Theo was in the nursery, healthy and perfect. And Damien?

He'd visited for five minutes, looked at his son, and left.

No concern for Elena. No relief that she'd survived. No gratitude for the child she'd nearly died bringing into the world.

Just cold indifference.

Elena wiped tears from her cheeks. That should have been her wake-up call. The moment she realized her mate didn't love her, would never love her.

But she'd made excuses. Told herself he was overwhelmed by becoming a father. That he showed love differently. That the mate bond meant something, even if he couldn't express it.

***

At the pack events, Elena sat in her designated spot beside Damien's Alpha chair. She'd wear her her best dress…a shapeless navy thing that at least didn't have stains. Her glasses were clean, her hair in its usual messy.

However, compared to her Sophia Martinez commanded attention like she was born to it. Her blonde hair cascaded in perfect waves, her red dress hugging her hourglass curves that Elena would ever have. She moved through the room like a queen, pack members parting for her.

And her scent...

Floral. Expensive. Exactly what had been on Damien's shirts.

Elena's wolf snarled weakly, recognizing a threat. But Elena could only sit frozen as Sophia approached the Alpha platform.

"Alpha Damien," Sophia purred, her hand touching his arm. "Thank you for last night. The discussion about pack security was... illuminating."

Damien's expression softened in a way it never did for Elena. "Of course. Your insights were valuable."

They stood too close. Sophia's hand lingered too long. And everyone was watching, seeing their Luna be disrespected so blatantly.

Elena wanted to scream. To shift. To fight.

Instead, she sat silent and still, playing the role of the invisible Luna she'd been forced to become.

Elena tried to pay attention, tried to fulfil her duty as Luna. But her eyes kept drifting to Sophia, who had taken a seat directly in Damien's line of sight.

Every time Damien looked up, he saw Sophia. Every time Sophia shifted, Damien noticed.

They weren't even trying to hide it.

Elena stood by the drink table, pretending to enjoy the music while her eyes followed Damien across the room. He was laughing again…because of her.

Sophia stood close to him, her long blonde hair catching the light like she belonged in it. Her hand brushed his arm as she giggled.

Elena swallowed hard. “She’s everywhere,” she muttered.

“Who?” asked one of the pack mothers beside her.

Elena forced a smile. “No one.”

Across the room, Sophia leaned in to whisper something in Damien’s ear. He smiled, the kind of smile Elena hadn’t seen in months.

“Damien looks happy tonight,” another woman said. “Sophia brings out the best in him.”

“Yeah,” someone else added. “She would’ve made a perfect Luna. The Moon Goddess must’ve made a mistake.”

Their laughter stung. Elena’s fingers tightened around her glass until it almost cracked.

Sophia’s eyes found hers through the crowd. That smile…soft for everyone else…twisted into a smirk meant only for Elena.

Elena looked away quickly, heart pounding. “Why does it feel like I’m the outsider in my own pack?” she whispered to herself.

No one answered. The music played on, and Damien didn’t even glance her way.

Walking back to the Alpha house, Elena felt like a ghost. Pack members streamed around her, talking and laughing, but she might as well have been invisible.

 The path to the pack house glowed faintly under the moonlight, lined with tall trees that swayed in the cool wind. The laughter from the event faded behind her, replaced by the soft sound of her shoes against the gravel.

Her thoughts drifted…unwanted, unstoppable.

The bedroom she shared with Damien flashed in her mind, cold and silent like the rest of the house. She could still hear his voice.

“I’m tired, Elena. Not tonight.”

Always the same words. Always the same tone.

She’d tried to reach for him before, hoping he’d hold her, hoping to feel something…anything but it was always the same. When he did touch her, it was empty, like he just wanted it over with. No kiss. No warmth. Just distance.

Afterward, he’d roll away or head straight for the shower without looking back, like he couldn’t stand her near him, like he wanted to scrub off her from his body.

Elena hugged her arms around herself as she walked. “What’s wrong with me?” she whispered into the night.

The wind brushed her cheeks, cool and soft, but it didn’t answer.

Only the silence did.

"Mommy!"

Her heart leaped. Theo was running toward her, his little face bright with excitement. Finally, something good in this horrible day. She had been oblivious to her surroundings that she didn’t even notice they had been behind her, that he had arrived home.

But he ran right past her.

Straight into Sophia's arms.

"There's my boy!" Sophia lifted him easily, spinning him around. "Did you have fun with Miss Sarah today?"

"Yeah! We painted wolves and I made one that looks like Aunt Sophia's!"

Elena stood frozen, watching her son cuddle into another woman's arms. The pain was so intense she couldn't breathe.

"Theo," she called out, her voice cracking. "Theo, baby, I'm here."

He glanced at her with mild confusion. "Hi, Elena."

Elena. Not Mommy. Not Mom. Elena. Elena tried everything to get closer to Theo. She baked his favourite cookies, planned games, even offered to read him stories before bed.

"I should take him home," Elena said, stepping forward. "It's past his bedtime."

"Oh, I already told him he could sleep over at my place tonight," Sophia said sweetly. "We're going to make pancakes in the morning, aren't we, sweetie?"

"With chocolate chips!" Theo cheered. “Aunt Sophia is more fun than you, Elena,” he said simply, his little voice sharp in its honesty. The words hit harder than a blow. Still, she forced a soft smile.

"I... I didn't agree to that." She replied.

Sophia's smile turned sharp. "Damien said it was fine. You don't want to contradict the Alpha, do you?"

The threat was clear. Elena could fight this and face Damien's wrath, or she could let Sophia take her son. Again.

"Of course not," Elena whispered.

She watched them walk away, Sophia’s sleek car waited by the gate.

Theo jumped into the car without hesitation.

Sophia’s gaze lifted, meeting Elena’s eyes with a smile that wasn’t kind…it was triumphant.

Elena’s breath caught. The car drove away, and she stayed there long after they were gone, tears slipping down her cheeks silently, her reflection in the glass looking like a stranger

Theo chattering happily about his day. He didn't look back. Didn't wave goodbye.

Didn't care that his mother's heart was shattering.

Elena made it to the house before the sobs overtook her. She collapsed just inside the door, crying so hard she couldn't breathe. Everything was falling apart. Her marriage, her relationship with her son, her position in the pack.

She was losing everything, and she didn't know how to stop it.

"Pull yourself together," she gasped between sobs. "You're stronger than this."

But was she? Was she really?

Her wolf had gone silent again, offering no comfort. Even her other half had given up on her.

Elena dragged herself upstairs, each step an effort. The house felt too big, too empty, too cold. She showered mechanically, changed into her nightgown, and crawled into bed.

Damien's side remained empty.

It always did these days.

"Tomorrow," she whispered to the darkness. "Tomorrow I'll fix this. I'll be better. I'll be enough."

But the darkness didn't answer, and deep down, Elena knew the truth.

She would never be enough for a man who'd already chosen someone else.