Mated to The Rival Alpha: Luna's Revenge

The ring was in my pocket, burning a hole through the fabric like it knew what was coming.

I pulled into the driveway just as the sun dipped behind the treetops. The soft orange light slanted across the pack estate, casting long shadows that stretched like claws across the ground.

I parked around the side, out of sight. No one was supposed to know I was back yet.

Tonight was planned to be a surprise. A moment of courage. A beginning.

I, planned it.

Everything. I told Charles I needed to be in the northern territory for meetings, but I’d wrapped up early, rushed home ahead of schedule, and brought everything with me—flowers, lights, the wine he loved. And the ring. The one I’d spent three months’ salary on. White gold, one sapphire. Like his eyes, once.

He wouldn’t be expecting this. But he needed to see it. To see me.

Ten years, and he still hadn’t claimed me as his Luna.

Fine, if he was to shy to do it, I would ask him.

I took a breath, steadied my shaking hands, and walked through the gate. The house was quiet, just like I’d hoped. I told the guard at the entrance I’d forgotten some documents. He didn’t question it.

Everything was perfect.

Until I stepped inside.

The scent hit me first—Charles’s cologne, yes, but laced with something new. Floral. Sweet. Clinging to the air like perfume sprayed just minutes ago.

I froze. Something was off.

Just… Wrong.

“Charles?” I called softly.

No answer.

I crept upstairs, heart pounding in my chest. Our bedroom door was cracked open. Light spilled out. And with it—laughter. A woman’s laugh. Silky. Intimate.

I moved toward the sound, step by step.

When I pushed the door open, the world stopped.

Charles was in our bed. Naked. His body tangled with Vivienne Morgan—the Eastern Alpha’s daughter. His ex.

They didn’t even pretend to hide.

Vivienne was laughing, her head thrown back on our pillows. Charles’s hand traced her thigh like he’d done to me a lifetime ago.

He looked up when he noticed me. Blinked. Frowned.

“Sophia?”

I didn’t scream. I didn’t cry.

I just stood there.

“I came home early,” I said, voice flat. “I wanted to surprise you.”

Vivienne sat up slowly, pulling the sheet around her with all the grace of a queen who didn’t care what peasant she’d just humiliated.

“Well, that is a surprise,” she purred.

I turned my eyes to Charles.

“Tell me this isn’t what it looks like.”

He sighed like I’d just inconvenienced him. “We were going to talk after the territory summit. I didn’t mean for you to find out like this.”

“Find out what, Charles?” My voice cracked on his name. “That you’ve been screwing someone else in our bed?”

Vivienne smirked. “It’s not really your bed if you were never Luna, is it?”

I flinched like she’d slapped me.

Charles sat up, the sheet falling from his chest. He didn’t look guilty. Just... tired. “You’ve been useful, Sophia. You helped the pack grow. You’ve been good at the logistics, the negotiations... all the things you’re good at.”

My heart pounded so loud I could barely hear him.

“But we were never really meant for more than that. You’re brilliant, sure. But you lack...” He searched for the word. “A Luna’s presence.”

I stared at him, breath shallow.

“You mean I lack sex appeal,” I said flatly.

Vivienne laughed. “Ah-ha! Finally, she gets it.”

Charles didn’t deny it. “Vivienne understands what I need in a partner. She fits the image. She knows how to lead beside me and behind closed doors.”

“I’ve led beside you for ten years.”

“But that’s all it was, Sophia. You were never the future. You were the stepping stone.”

I opened my mouth—but nothing came out. Only silence.

Vivienne stood, her bare skin shameless as she crossed the room and leaned against Charles. “He deserves a proper Luna,” she said. “Not an assistant who couldn’t even keep his attention.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the box.

They both looked at it.

“I was going to propose tonight.”

For the first time, Charles’s expression faltered. But it was too late.

Vivienne tilted her head. “That’s actually adorable. Sad. But adorable.”

I opened the box. The sapphire gleamed, perfect and stupid.

“Three months’ salary,” I said. “Three months of overtime. Of negotiating trade deals and protecting this pack while you played Alpha and slept with your ex.”

I snapped the box shut.

Charles stepped toward me, like he thought I might break. “Sophia—”

“Don’t.”

My voice was steel now.

I turned toward the door, and before I left, I looked back—one last time.

“I gave you everything I had,” I said. “And you turned me into a ghost in my own life.”

I don’t remember walking outside. I just know that when I reached the center of the compound, I stopped beneath the stone statue of the wolf I’d designed for our crest. My hand was still in my pocket, curled around the ring.

Everything I believed in had shattered.

And yet, I was still standing.

I looked up at the stars, unblinking.

If Charles Beaumont thought I was just a stepping stone—just a useful, quiet Omega to discard—then he had forgotten who carved the path beneath his feet in the first place.

Let him have his Luna.

Let them both laugh.

Because I was done being quiet.