The Alchemist's Touch

"Why are you not pregnant yet, Delilah? It's not that hard to open your damn legs and lay there. Even you can't mess that up, right?" 

Mrs. Roman, my mother-in-law made her disappointment clear in every interaction. That question, the same one she asks every day, hit me harder than usual.  

I swallowed, and the familiar sting of failure quickly returned. 

"I'm trying…" It had been two solid years of trying.

"Trying and failing." she snapped. "The pack needs a Luna who can handle her responsibilities, not someone who's constantly apologizing and half-assing it." 

Her presence was a reminder of everything I wasn't, everything I could never be.

No matter how hard I tried to be the Luna she expected me to be, I always fell short. Castor defended and reassured me, but it never erased the feeling that I wasn't enough.

"You're doing great," Cast told me that night, holding me close as I fought back tears. "Mom doesn't understand how much you do for the pack. But I see it, Lila. I see how hard you work."

He always tried to soothe the doubt that I dealt with constantly. But he couldn't erase the whispers from the pack, the way they looked at me like I was a failure. I was Castor's wife, the Luna, yet I felt like a fraud every single day. 

Mrs. Roman reminded the pack of my failures every chance she got because it allowed her to remain in the past, where she was the Luna, not me. and I could feel it in their interactions with me. I was a placeholder. A stand-in.

She was at it again a few days later, drilling into me about how I wasn't cut out to be Luna.

"Your days will be numbered soon." Mrs. Roman spat.

Later that day, I took another test, just like I did every month. It had become a ritual, one filled with dread and disappointment. I knew not to get my hopes up. It would be the same as always.

One pink line and I would return to pretending I didn't care.

But this time was different.

Two pink lines.

Two. Pink. Lines.

My heart stopped. I blinked and stared at the test, willing it to change, to turn back into the single line I was so used to seeing for a second. I wasn't Mom material. I wasn't even really Luna material.

Cast's Mom made that clear every day.

But it didn't.

Two pink lines.

I was pregnant. I was really pregnant.

I started crying as I sank to the floor, clutching the test like it was my lifeline.

This was real. This was happening.

After all the years of waiting, hoping, and silently crying myself to sleep, it was finally real.

I was going to have Cast's baby.

He was going to be so happy.

So unbelievably happy.

I could give him the family we both wanted so much.

I couldn't wait to tell him. I couldn't wait any longer. I had to see Cast. I had to tell him the news face-to-face. I imagined the look on his face, the way his beautiful brown eyes would light up when he realized what this meant.

He loved me, and this would make him love me even more.

It had to.

I texted Selena, telling her I had exciting news and asking if she could come over later. Usually, she replies within minutes. But this time, there was nothing.

I checked my phone again, feeling a strange sense of unease settling low in my stomach. Selena had always been there, the one friend who stuck around after Mrs. Roman made sure I was isolated from everyone else. We'd been close ever since. Maybe not the kind of deep friendship I'd once had with others, but still, she was the only one who hadn't turned her back on me.

She'd always been there, especially when I had no one else. Everyone in the pack seemed to love her, which often softened the blow for me.

I sent Castor a quick message, asking what he wanted for lunch. If Selena was busy, surely Castor would answer. But his silence mirrored hers, and that ripple of unease turned into a cold, sinking feeling in my stomach.

Why weren't they responding?

A part of me wanted to share the news, to tell Selena everything, but something held me back. Maybe it was the strange silence, or maybe it was the nagging doubt I couldn't shake. I decided not to text her again.

I could hardly contain my excitement as I drove toward Castor's office. He was going to be a father. I imagined his face when I told him...the surprise, the joy.

It would be the moment we had both waited for, the one that would finally make everything right. I could almost hear him whispering in my ear how proud he was of me and how much he loved me.

Castor was the Alpha of our pack, the leader who commanded respect and fear. Under his father, the pack had built Georgia's largest werewolf-run real estate investment business. Castor had only expanded it, making his mark on the city and solidifying his power among humans and werewolves alike. His office, located in a grand ten-story building in downtown Augusta, was a testament to that success.

The building itself was a relic of old-world Georgia, with its stately columns and wrought-iron balconies, a symbol of the strength and tradition that Castor upheld. Every detail screamed of the pack's influence. He wanted it to feel intimidating, and it did.

As I stepped inside, my heels clicking on the marble floor, I felt the familiar sense of unease I always did. The pack members who worked directly for Castor were always around, their dark brown hair and piercing chocolate brown eyes a constant reminder of how different I was. With my blonde hair and blue eyes, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I was a continual outsider in my own world. I couldn't shake the feeling that I would never truly belong, no matter how hard I tried.

I approached the elevator, trying to ignore the glances I received. 

I knew what they thought. I was too soft and too human to be the Luna this pack needed. But I was determined to prove them wrong. I was carrying Castor's child now, and that meant everything would change.

The elevator doors opened and I stepped inside, pressing the button for the top floor. My heart raced as the elevator ascended, each floor bringing me closer to Castor. 

I clutched the small gift box with the test in my hand. It was going to be perfect.

When the doors slid open, I was greeted by Castor's receptionist. She was a young woman with dark hair and the same piercing brown eyes as the rest of the pack. She looked up, surprise flickering across her face.

"Luna... Uhh, Delilah, what a surprise. Castor's in a meeting," she said, standing quickly to block my path.

"It'll just be a moment, really," I replied.

"He's... he's really busy right now. It might be better if you..." she started to say.

I barely registered what she was saying. I was too focused on the news I was about to share. "It'll just take a minute," I said, brushing past her. I didn't realize my excitement was overpowering the odd feeling in my stomach.

As I neared Castor's office, a low moan stopped me in my tracks. I froze, my hand hovering over the doorknob. The sounds grew louder.

Moaning, growls, gasps. Each one was more unmistakable, more horrifying than the last.

My body went numb as the realization hit. I could barely breathe as I pressed my ear to the door, praying I was wrong. But the noises left no room for doubt.

I stood there totally paralyzed, my hand shaking violently as I finally gripped the doorknob.

I didn't want to open it. I didn't want to see what I already knew. But some force, some terrible need for the truth, pushed me forward.

I opened the door slowly, each click echoing in the hollow silence around me.

The door creaked open, inch by excruciating inch, and my breath hitched in my throat.

At first, the scene didn't register. The dim light, the heavy scent of sweat and musk, and the soft, rhythmic sounds filled the space.

Then, the reality hit me all at once. Selena was straddling Castor, her body rippling with an intimacy that made my stomach turn. Seeing her naked skin sliding against his... the way her fingers twisted in his hair... the way his hands gripped her hips.

An intense wave of nausea nearly knocked me off my feet. Everything in my vision became distorted.

Mrs. Roman had been correct. I was nothing.

I was nothing but the tool who was now pregnant with the cheating Alpha's kid.