As I glanced at my phone, a message from an unfamiliar number appeared. Seeing the contents, I immediately guessed it was from Rebecca, my mate's mistress. Or I should say, his true mate.
Rebecca had sent a photo of herself comfortably perched on Alpha Max’s lap. In the picture, he looked down at her with a soft smile, and it was clear from the background that they were at the pack house.
"We’re getting mated soon. Alpha Max feels it’s pointless with you. It’s time to read the signs and move on."
My grip tightened around my phone. Those words cut into me deeply, as if each letter was painfully etched into my heart, making it hard to breathe.
Below the mountain, the fireworks display had ended, leaving the summit in silence and darkness. My phone had shut off from the cold, leaving me in the faint glow of moonlight on the mountain path.
Snowflakes began to fall gently, and I realized that if I stayed here, they’d find my body by morning. I had no choice but to start descending. As I stepped into the darkness, a chill ran down my spine.
Though I dreaded the darkness and whatever might be lurking in it, it seemed Alpha Max had forgotten about my fears. I spent the entire descent through the mountain path enveloped in terror and freezing temperatures. I trudged on for four hours before reaching a place where I could catch a cab.
When I finally arrived home, my face was pale, and my lips were nearly blue from the cold. The house was in complete darkness. Jazmin, the Beta housekeeper, had left, and Alpha Max was with his fiancée.
I forced a strained smile onto my numb lips; wasn’t this how it was supposed to be? I was nothing—an Omega—and he, the Alpha of the Harrison Pack, rightfully should be with his fiancée and mate, his future Luna.
---
The next morning, I was woken by a gentle shaking. Groggy, I opened my eyes to see Alpha Max’s worried face.
"Elyse, you have a fever. I need to take you to the hospital."
Too out of it to resist, I let him carry me to the car. All I could think was: Why was he back? Wasn’t he with his fiancée?
It wasn’t until my head cleared a little, seeing the bright daylight through the car window, that I realized it was already noon.
In the car, Alpha Max held me tightly, and as soon as we reached the hospital, he carried me into the emergency room.
In the examination room, I could barely sit up, so he stood by me, holding me in a rather awkward embrace to keep me steady. Throughout the process, he seemed very anxious, repeatedly asking the doctor about what needed to be done.
As I was about to receive an IV, the doctor remarked, "You’re lucky to have Alpha, such a caring mate."
The scent of his closeness clung to him, filling my nose. I chuckled softly, with a hint of bitterness.
A caring mate? Fresh from his fiancée’s side, and this counts? Throughout my hospital stay, Alpha Max didn’t let me walk on my own, carrying me here and there.
When the nurse came to insert the needle, he cradled my head in his arms, continually reassuring me, "It’s okay, don’t be scared. It’ll just hurt for a moment."
He treated me as if I were a child, yet everything I was going through was because of him. I wanted to tell him I wasn’t afraid, that this pain was nothing compared to the terror of the previous night.
But I said nothing. Saying it out loud would only give him an excuse to put on an act. In those moments, he seemed like the perfect mate, and no one would know he had a future Luna which is not me. Even I almost fell for it.
---
Lying on the hospital bed, he tucked me in and asked if I was feeling any better. I shook my head slightly and closed my eyes, refusing to engage.
Eventually, I dozed off. When I awoke, he was no longer by my side. I removed the nearly empty IV and got out of bed to go to the restroom.
Coming out of the bathroom, I saw Alpha Max with his arm around Rebecca’s waist, emerging from an obstetrician’s office.
Although I hid in the restroom, I could still hear their conversation.
"The pup is two months along now. You’re going to be a mother, so no more acting reckless," his gentle voice sounded.
Rebecca, in a playful tone, clung to his arm, "Then my Alpha, you have to keep an eye on me, and the pup needs their father around, okay?"
He indulged her, saying, "Alright, with the mating ceremony less than two weeks away, you don’t have to worry about anything. Just focus on taking care of yourself and the pup..."
As their voices faded, I stood frozen, unable to move. When I finally snapped back to reality, my heart felt like it had been shattered with knives. I clutched my chest, bending over with heavy breaths, as tears streamed down my face.
They already had a pup. Two months along.
So they had been together for two months while I remained clueless. If I hadn’t overheard, how much longer would I have been kept in the dark?
I let out a bitter laugh, wiping my face to find it was cooled by a tear slipping over the ring on my finger.
