Luna Rejects Deceitful Alpha

I smoothed my hands over the stack of pack documents, organizing them neatly on Anthony's mahogany desk. The Alpha's office smelled of his cologne—sandalwood and something sharper, like pine. I'd always found it comforting before. Now, as I reached for another file, a strange tingling sensation prickled at the edge of my consciousness.

"Michelle," Anthony's voice echoed in my mind, but not directed at me. He was using the pack mind-link, thinking I couldn't hear.

I froze, my fingers hovering over a territorial report.

"Mother, you should have seen how easily I've manipulated everyone," Anthony's mental voice continued, dripping with smug satisfaction. "The entire pack believes I'm still recovering from that rogue attack three years ago."

My heart stuttered. The rogue attack that had left him weakened—the one I'd nursed him through for months, holding him when he shook with pain, celebrating every small recovery...

"But I've been at full strength for over a year now," he boasted, and I could hear the smirk in his thoughts. "Playing the struggling Alpha is so much easier than actually leading. All those boring meetings, territory disputes..."

I gripped the edge of the desk as his words sliced through me.

"And the best part? Michelle actually believes I need her. The way she fusses over me, desperate for any sign of affection..." His mental laugh was cruel, cutting. "It's pathetic how grateful she is for scraps of attention."

My wolf howled inside me, a sound of pure anguish that I barely managed to contain in my mind. My hands trembled as I forced myself to remain still, to keep my expression neutral.

"The way she looks at me with those adoring eyes," he continued to Marcus, his Beta brother. "As if I'm some precious gift from the Moon Goddess herself. It's embarrassing."

I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. Everything—every moment, every touch, every whispered promise—had been a lie.

---

That evening, I positioned myself near Anthony's private study, my heart pounding against my ribs. I'd spent the day in a fog of betrayal, but something colder was taking root inside me.

"Come on," I whispered to myself, extending my consciousness outward. As Luna, I had access to the pack mind-link, though Anthony thought I rarely used it.

Anthony's voice came through clearly, intimate and warm in a way he rarely spoke to me anymore.

"Yasmin, baby, I know it's hard," he murmured, and my stomach twisted at the endearment. "But we're so close to getting what we want."

Yasmin Shaw—the pack healer's assistant who always looked at me with those pitying smiles.

"How much longer do I have to watch that weak Luna play house with you?" Yasmin's voice was sharp with frustration. "I'm tired of hiding."

"Just a little longer," Anthony soothed. "Once she gives me an heir—"

"Then you'll reject her and I'll finally take my rightful place," Yasmin finished, her voice smug now. "And we'll raise her little pup together."

My nails dug into my palms as their plan unfolded in explicit detail. The heir I would bear—the child that would seal my fate.

"After the rejection ceremony, no one will question why you're raising the heir," Anthony continued. "We'll say you conceived together after the chosen mate ceremony. The pack will accept you as Luna then."

"And that pathetic little wolf will be gone," Yasmin added with a mental laugh. "Off to live as an Omega somewhere far away."

Something shifted inside me—the pain crystallizing into something harder, colder. My wolf stopped howling and went deadly still.

They wanted to use me. To break me.

But they had no idea who they were dealing with.

---

Two weeks later, I stood in front of Anthony with a radiant smile, my hands protectively cradling my still-flat stomach.

"Anthony," I said softly, watching his eyes light up with triumph poorly disguised as joy. "I have wonderful news."

His arms wrapped around me, lifting me off my feet in a rare display of affection. "What is it, my Luna?"

"I'm pregnant," I whispered, pulling out the falsified medical documents I'd prepared. "With your heir."

His face transformed with satisfaction so complete it was almost grotesque. Without hesitation, he reached for the mind-link.

"Yasmin," he called out, his mental voice vibrating with excitement. "It's happening. She's pregnant."

I watched him, my heart now a block of ice in my chest.

"Anthony," I said carefully when he returned to the moment. "I'm worried about our child's future security."

His brow furrowed with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"The pack house, the territory..." I traced patterns on my stomach. "I want to make sure our heir has protection."

Understanding dawned in his eyes—he thought I was still the same naive Luna, seeking security in his power.

"You want me to transfer ownership?" he asked, already reaching for his pen.

I nodded, my smile never wavering as he signed the documents that would give me control of the pack house and the prime territory surrounding it.

"Anything for you and our heir," he murmured, pressing his lips to my forehead.

Anything except love. Except honesty.

As I took the signed papers, I felt something shift inside me—power changing hands, though he didn't yet realize it.

The trap was set. And Anthony had walked right into it.