Aria's POV
The pregnancy test slipped from my fingers and clattered into the sink.
Two pink lines stared back at me like tiny accusations. My hands shook as I gripped the bathroom counter, my wolf stirring inside with confused joy while my human heart raced with panic.
Damien was coming home today. After three months away. And I was pregnant.
I should be happy. We'd talked about pups before he left for the Northern Pack meetings. But something felt wrong. For the past two weeks, our mind-link had been... fuzzy. Distant. Like static on a phone line.
"Luna Aria?" A soft knock interrupted my spiraling thoughts. "The decorations for Alpha Damien's welcome home party are ready for your approval."
I shoved the test into my pocket and splashed cold water on my face. "Coming!"
In the mirror, I looked the same. Twenty-six years old, dark hair pulled back, amber eyes that Damien said reminded him of autumn leaves. I'd been his Luna for five years. His wife. His chosen mate.
Not his fated mate—that had been Elena, who died giving birth to their stillborn pup seven years ago. I'd met Damien a year after that, when he was broken and drowning in grief. I wasn't supposed to be his forever. But he chose me anyway.
"Fate doesn't decide everything," he'd said when he proposed. "I choose you, Aria. Every single day."
I touched my stomach through my shirt. Would he choose this baby too?
The packhouse buzzed with activity when I stepped into the hallway. Omegas rushed past carrying flower arrangements. Warriors checked security around the property. Everyone preparing for their Alpha's return.
"Luna!" Jenny, one of the pack mothers, hurried over with her five-year-old son Tommy clinging to her leg. "Tommy fell and scraped his knee. I know you're busy, but—"
"Let me see." I knelt down, examining the bloody scrape. My wolf sent calming energy to the scared pup. "You're very brave, Tommy. This needs cleaning, but then you'll be good as new."
I led them to my office—formerly a storage room I'd converted into a healing space. Bandages, herbs, and medical supplies lined the shelves. Being Luna meant more than standing next to the Alpha at ceremonies. It meant caring for every pack member like family.
As I cleaned Tommy's knee, my mind drifted to five years ago. I'd been an omega working in the pack kitchen when Damien first noticed me. Not because I was special, but because I'd given him a sandwich when he forgot to eat for two days straight.
"You can't lead if you don't take care of yourself," I'd said, too worried to be scared of talking back to an Alpha.
He'd laughed. Actually laughed. The first time since Elena's death, his Beta Marcus told me later.
After that, Damien kept finding reasons to talk to me. To ask my opinion. To walk with me through the gardens. Six months later, he asked me to be his chosen mate. His Luna.
"All done!" I placed a bandage decorated with cartoon wolves on Tommy's knee. "See? Good as new."
"Thanks, Luna Aria!" Tommy hugged my leg before running off.
Jenny smiled gratefully. "You're the best Luna we've ever had. Everyone says so."
Warmth filled my chest. This was my pack. My family. Everything I'd built here mattered.
"Luna, we need you in the Great Hall," Marcus's voice crackled through the mind-link. "Final preparations."
The Great Hall looked perfect. White and gold banners hung from the ceiling—Silvermoon Pack colors. Tables overflowed with food I'd spent all morning preparing: roasted venison (Damien's favorite), fresh bread, autumn vegetable stew, and apple pie.
"It's beautiful," Lyssa said, appearing at my side. My best friend and the pack's head warrior looked fierce as always, but her smile was genuine. "Damien's going to love it."
"I hope so." I touched my pocket where the pregnancy test hid like a secret bomb. Should I tell him tonight? Wait until tomorrow? What if—
"You're worried." Lyssa studied my face. "About what?"
"The mind-link has been weird," I admitted. "Weak. Like something's blocking it."
"Distance does that sometimes. Northern Pack territory is pretty far."
"Maybe." But my wolf whined with unease.
The afternoon passed in a blur. I helped set up tables, approved the menu, and settled a dispute between two pack members about garden boundaries. Normal Luna duties. Comforting routines.
But my hands kept drifting to my stomach. To the secret growing there.
By evening, everyone gathered at the packhouse entrance. Pack members lined the driveway, excited to see their Alpha return. Warriors stood at attention. Children bounced with anticipation.
I stood at the front, wearing the simple blue dress Damien loved. My hair loose because he said he liked running his fingers through it. I'd even dabbed on the lavender perfume he'd given me for our anniversary.
Everything was perfect. Everything was ready.
"I see cars!" someone shouted.
My heart leaped. Three months felt like three years. I missed his laugh. His terrible jokes. The way he held me at night when nightmares came. The way he looked at me like I was his whole world.
The cars rolled up the driveway. Black SUVs with tinted windows. Official vehicles for traveling Alphas.
The first car stopped. The driver's door opened.
My wolf surged forward with joy. *Mate! Our mate is home!*
But then the passenger door opened.
And a woman stepped out.
She was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that made everyone stop and stare. Silver-blonde hair that caught the fading sunlight. Violet eyes that seemed to glow. She moved like water, graceful and hypnotic.
Every wolf in the pack felt it. The pull. The power.
My stomach dropped to my feet.
No. No, no, no.
Damien emerged from the driver's side. He looked tired. Older somehow. His dark hair was longer, his forest-green eyes shadowed with something I couldn't name.
But he wasn't looking at me.
He was looking at *her*.
The silver-haired woman turned, and when her eyes met Damien's, I saw it. We all saw it.
The golden thread that appeared between them. Visible only for a second, but unmistakable.
A fated mate bond.
The pregnancy test in my pocket suddenly felt like a stone. My vision blurred. My wolf howled inside, confused and terrified.
Damien finally looked at me. His face crumpled with guilt. With pain. With something that looked horribly like pity.
"Aria," he said, his voice cracking. "I need to tell you something."
But I already knew.
The perfect life I'd built, the family I'd made, the future I'd dreamed of—all of it was about to burn.
The silver-haired woman stepped forward and smiled.
"Hello," she said, her voice like music. "I'm Selene Moonshadow."
She placed her hand on Damien's arm with casual intimacy.
"Damien's fated mate."