Chapter 1Five years bound to the Hastings Alpha, and he forced me to share my mate with another she-wolf.
Edward Hastings threw a schedule at me on our claiming night.
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays - he'd come home to our den.
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays - Kelly got him.
Sundays? A shared bed.
Kelly Lockwood - his dead Beta's baby sister. His untouchable first love. The she-wolf everyone knew he should've marked instead.
But guess what?
Not once in five damn years did I get him alone.
He never showed on MY nights. Always "pack emergencies" with Kelly. Always her.
Until that night, I overheard him laughing on the phone.
"Anna? Just feed her some excuse. She'll roll over whenever I snap my fingers."
"Kelly's struggling right now. She comes first."
Something inside me finally snapped.
No tears. No begging.
Screw you, Alpha. I don't do time-shares anymore.
I grabbed my backup phone and sent a single text.
"You promised if I was unhappy, you'd come get me. Still offering?"
...
The phone died the second I hit send.
I collapsed onto the den floor, the scene from his study looping in my mind.
Edward, leaning against his desk, telling his Beta the truth like it was nothing.
"Just make up whatever. Anna never asks questions anyway."
"Paxton died young. Kelly's all alone in this world. I owe him my life - gotta make it right. She's pack."
And I wasn't.
Every lonely night I'd spent waiting. Every dinner I'd reheated until it went cold. All of it stabbed through my chest like silver blades.
Staring at this empty den, I couldn't breathe.
Five years bound to an Alpha. He'd never spent a single night here.
Every time he came back from HER den, he'd bring me guilt gifts.
Designer scents. Luxury pelts. Once, a moonstone bracelet from a pack alliance auction.
I actually thought it was his wolf's way of showing he cared.
Now I knew. Every gift was just guilt wrapped in a bow.
I started smashing them. One by one.
The door slammed open. Edward stormed in.
He froze when he saw the wreckage.
"What the hell are you doing?"
I didn't turn around. Kept my voice steady, even though my whole body was shaking.
"It's Monday. You staying tonight?"
Silence.
His eyes flickered. He grabbed my hand.
"Something came up. I swear, next time I'll stay."
I looked at his face, so close to mine. Pain ripped through my chest.
"Edward, I'm your mate! Your Luna! But for five years, Kelly's been the one living like your true mate."
Five years of swallowing everything came pouring out.
He dropped to one knee in front of me, wiping my tears like that would fix anything.
"Paxton died for me. Kelly's wolf is broken - if I'm not there, she'll hurt herself."
"I love YOU. My wolf chose you. But you don't want another death on my conscience, right?"
He sounded so sincere.
I just felt cold.
I was about to shove him away when my phone buzzed. Voice message from his mother, Elder Margaret:
"Dinner at the pack estate tonight. We need to discuss why your womb is still empty."
My heart sank.
Margaret had been on my case for years about not producing an heir.
Called me a "barren bitch" in front of the entire pack. Even went on a hunger strike to force Edward to reject me.
Three days and three nights on his knees outside her door - that's what finally stopped her.
Now he squeezed my hand, voice soft.
"Don't worry. I'll go with you."
Kelly's call came through before he finished his sentence.
"Dom? My stomach's killing me. My wolf won't settle. Can you come?"
He let go of my hand instantly.
"Anna, Kelly's not doing well. You go to dinner. I'll pick you up later."
Then he was gone.
Tears blurred everything. My face was already soaked.
Midnight came and went. No Edward.
I took Elder Margaret's insults alone, catching whispers from the pack servants in the hallway.
"Miss Lockwood's den was full of knotting evidence. Absolutely shameless."
"Bet you anything SHE whelps before the so-called Luna does."
"Five years, no pups. Alpha should've rejected her years ago."
I bit my lip till I tasted blood, letting every word stab me.
When Edward proposed, he knelt before both our packs and swore he'd cherish me forever. Everyone said I mated for love.
But on our claiming night, his pack brothers stopped me outside the ceremony chamber.
"Alpha! Kelly tried to end herself - you need to go. Now!"
That night he knelt in front of me, eyes red, apologizing over and over.
"Anna, I'm so sorry. But I owe them a blood debt. I can't abandon her."
"Just trust me. Once her wolf heals and she starts fresh, we'll have our life together."
Looking at his bloodshot eyes, I caved.
For five years, I guarded an empty bond.
Turns out every "pack emergency" night, he was wrapped up in her scent. In her den. In her.
I dried my tears and signed the rejection papers.
The second I finished, the doorbell rang.
Kelly shoved past me and walked in.
She looked around our den, all fake drama.
"Wow, this place is tiny. I mean, makes sense. Just you here. Edward never comes home anyway. His wolf knows where he belongs."
I capped my pen. "What do you want?"
She laughed, tilting her head to flash the fresh claiming bites on her neck.
"Look what YOUR Alpha did to me. He kept me up all night. Wouldn't stop no matter how much I begged."
Then she covered her mouth like she just remembered something.
"Oh right. You've probably never even felt a real Alpha's knot, huh? Poor little Luna."
My fists clenched.
When I didn't react, her fake smile dropped.
"Anna, even during my heat, Edward would rather stay at MY den than come back to you. Smell the truth."
"Do yourself a favor. Reject him. Now."
I stood up slowly and opened the door.
"Done talking? Get out of my den."
Chapter 2
The second I finished, something vicious flashed in Kelly's eyes.
Then she screamed and collapsed to the floor.
"My pup! Oh Moon Goddess, it hurts!"
The door exploded open. Edward stormed in and kicked me aside without a second thought.
He rushed to Kelly, pulling her against his chest, panic all over his face.
"Kelly! Are you okay? Where does it hurt?"
She melted against him, sobbing.
"Dom... the pup... what if something happens to our pup..."
When Edward turned back to me, his eyes went pure Alpha rage.
Before I could even get my balance, his palm cracked across my face.
"Anna! How could you be this evil?!"
"Paxton took silver for me! Kelly's got nobody in this world! I swallowed your cold looks before, but THIS?"
"You KNOW she's carrying. You KNOW that pup is everything to her! The last of the Lockwood bloodline!"
My cheek burned, but I barely felt it.
Just stared at him, voice shaking.
"She's pregnant? With YOUR pup?"
The way he shielded her belly felt like silver claws straight through my heart.
Edward's voice went ice cold.
"If anything happens to Kelly or this pup, I will NEVER forgive you!"
He paused. Something flickered across his face. A sliver of hesitation.
Then his eyes dropped to the moonstone pendant around my neck.
"Take it off." An Alpha command.
"Give it to Kelly. Consider it an apology."
The pendant.
I stumbled backward, both hands flying up to protect it.
"This was my mother's! She poured her life force into this blessing charm on her deathbed!"
"Edward! You made vows in front of her dying body - have you forgotten already?!"
He paused for half a second. Then his jaw hardened.
"You're my mate. Everything you possess belongs to me."
"It's just an old family trinket. You think that's worth more than a life? Than a pup?"
Then he lunged.
His hand locked around my throat, and he ripped the pendant clean off my neck.
The force threw me to the floor. I crawled toward him, reached for it -
He shoved me away.
"Give it back!"
When my mother was dying, she'd begged me not to bind myself to Edward.
Told me the Hastings Alpha was trouble. Told me his wolf was still tethered elsewhere.
But Edward stayed by her bed for three months straight. Handled everything.
Then knelt before her broken body and swore a blood oath.
"I'll treasure Anna more than my own wolf's life."
"As long as there's breath in my lungs, she'll never suffer. Not once."
Mom finally gave in.
With trembling hands, she'd placed that moonstone in Edward's palm and watched him fasten it around my neck.
He knew better than anyone what it meant to me.
Kelly barely glanced my way as she took the pendant from him.
She turned it over once. Twice.
Then casually tossed it out the open window.
The wind caught it. It vanished into the dark treeline.
"NO!"
I threw myself at the window, half my body hanging out.
Behind me, Edward looked stunned for a moment. Then his face hardened.
"Anna, enough. It's just a pendant. Let it go."
"Acting feral like this - what if you scare Kelly? What if you stress the pup?"
He ignored my breakdown completely. Wrapped a protective arm around her instead.
"Don't worry. I'll take you back to your den. We can't risk the heir."
My mother's moonstone drifted farther and farther away.
The wind burned my eyes, but no tears came out.
"Edward. I want a rejection."
The air went dead silent.
He spun around, staring at me like I'd lost my wolf entirely.
"Over a stupid pendant? You want a REJECTION?"
I stood up slowly. Straightened my tunic. Picked up the signed rejection papers from the table.
I looked him dead in the eyes.
"Yes."
His shock twisted into pure rage in an instant.
"Anna, when did you become this damn ridiculous?"
"Don't forget - without the Hastings Pack, without ME, you'd be a rogue!"
"Five years bound to me and you couldn't even whelp a single pup. Every pack in the territory knows you're my leftovers. What Alpha would want you now?"
He snatched the rejection papers and ripped them to shreds.
"Rejection? In your dreams!"
Then he shoved me hard and carefully guided Kelly out.
I slammed into the den table's edge. Pain tore through my ribs.
Without looking back, Edward said gently to Kelly.
"When the pup's born, we'll give him the Lockwood pack name."
"I'll raise him myself. Honor Paxton's memory properly."
"And if Anna ever crosses you again, tell me. I won't go easy on her."
I stared at my own miserable reflection in the window and suddenly laughed.
Three days.
Whether he signed or not, I was gone.
But that night, something jolted me awake.
Scalding liquid splashed across my face. I gasped.
I opened my eyes to find Edward's hands around my throat, his wolf gleaming wild behind his pupils.
"Anna! I warned you to behave!"
"You bribed the pack healer! Tampered with Kelly's pregnancy tonics! She's hemorrhaging at the infirmary right now - almost lost our pup!"
I could barely breathe. Kicking. Struggling.
"Tampered? I didn't - I don't know anything about her tonics - "
He threw me into the transport van, sped to the pack infirmary, and dumped me outside Kelly's ward.
Before I could stand, he kicked the back of my knee, forcing me down onto the freezing stone floor.
"Kneel. You beg for forgiveness when Kelly wakes up!"
Everything hurt. My vision kept fading at the edges.
Then the infirmary door burst open.
Kelly lunged at me with a silver blade.
"You murderer! Give me back my pup!"
I tried to dodge, but the blade still sank deep into my side.
Pain. White-hot and blinding.
I clutched my bleeding waist and looked at Edward.
Once, when I'd sliced my finger butchering game, he'd carried me to the pack healer in the middle of the night.
Now I was bleeding out, and he just calmly adjusted his cuffs.
"Anna. You owe her this. Calm yourself. Your wolf won't let you die."
I couldn't speak through the pain. Just stared at him.
Kelly's eyes were bloodshot. She pulled the knife out and came at me again.
Once. Twice.
Warm blood kept spilling across the stone. I coughed up red. Collapsed in the spreading pool.
Only then did Edward step forward to stop her.
"Kelly, enough."
"She's been punished. Don't actually kill her - bad blood magic for the pup."
She collapsed into him, sobbing.
"But she almost killed OUR pup!"
"Edward, if you protect her one more time, I'm taking this baby and joining Paxton in the afterlife right now!"
Then she turned the silver blade around.
Pressed the tip against her own swollen belly.
Chapter 3
"Kelly! Stop! Put the silver down!"
Edward's pack brothers burst into the room and ripped the blade from her hand.
The biggest one - Paxton's old patrol partner - backhanded me across the face.
"Poisoning bitch! Can't whelp your own litter so you gotta kill someone else's pup?!"
"Boys, time to teach the false Luna a lesson. We owe Paxton that much!"
"Make her slap herself! Don't stop till she bleeds!"
My ears rang from the hit. I caught Edward's eyes through blurred vision - saw him waver for half a second.
Then his face went cold again.
"Anna. Take your punishment. Kelly's the sister of a pack war hero. You crossed a line that can't be uncrossed."
"Get her the iron knuckles. Let's remind her wolf who she really is."
Edward grabbed my hand roughly and forced the too-small knuckles onto my fingers.
I clutched at his pant leg, voice shaking.
"I swear it on the Moon Goddess - it wasn't me! Please. Please just believe me!"
"Still lying?!"
He kicked my hand away.
Two enforcers grabbed my arms and slammed me against the stone wall.
One fisted my hair, forced my hand up, and made me strike my own face.
Kelly snuggled into Edward's side, her voice dripping with satisfaction.
"Harder! Don't stop till you hit a thousand!"
My face swelled. Skin split open. Blood mixed with tears.
I bit my tongue just to stay conscious.
The pain on my face was nothing compared to the death of my bond.
After the thousandth slap, they kicked me into the corner like discarded prey.
My body went cold. Half my wolf already felt gone.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the den.
Edward sat by the bed, gently cleaning the gash on my forehead with a damp cloth.
He set the cloth down, voice flat.
"Kelly's pup is fine. She's calmed down."
"Once the whelp is born, I won't need to be at her den anymore. I'll come home on schedule."
My heart dropped like a stone into my stomach.
I pushed his hand away weakly. Smiled - bitter, broken.
"Five years, Edward. Five whole fucking years."
"One howl from her and you'd drop everything. Always said it was because Paxton took silver for you in the border wars."
"But does that blood debt really cost your entire life? Even giving her your seed? Your pup?"
His eyes flickered. He looked away.
He put the medicine down, calm but final.
"Anna, I know your wolf is hurting."
"But when Paxton was bleeding out, he grabbed my hand and said, 'Take care of my pack blood. My little sister.' He's gone. Someone has to carry on the Lockwood line. Their bloodline ends if I don't step up."
"Starting tomorrow, stay in the den and rest. I already informed the pack council you're stepping down. Kelly will take over your duties."
Fighting back the burning in my eyes, I finally asked the question that had haunted me for years.
"Edward. These past five years."
"Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday - you never actually had pack business, did you?"
"You just didn't want to come home. You never loved me. Your wolf never wanted me."
"Right?"
Edward went quiet.
The silence stretched long enough to answer everything.
Then I heard the word I expected. The one that still shattered me anyway.
"Right."
