Unbonding the Ruthless Alpha

Aria's POV I sent ten mindlinks to my mate during the crash. He ignored every single one. Our pup was gone. I never even got the chance to tell my Alpha mate, Damon, that he had existed. Then, a familiar scent drifted past—pine and leather. I lifted my eyes in shock. "Da—" The word died in my throat. Not far off, my Alpha husband—my mate—was carefully lifting another woman out of the other car. His hand covered hers, his thumb stroking over her knuckles again and again, so careful, so patient, as if she were something fragile and precious. Two years. We'd been married two years, and I had never once seen him this tender. The woman stirred, slowly lifting her head. I saw her face, and something inside my chest hollowed out. Claudia. Damon's first love. I never imagined the car that had hit mine would be hers. And crueler still—the first person my husband rushed to save wasn't his wife, but the woman who'd hit her. Lydia, my wolf let out a desperate howl. "Damon…help me..." I screamed with everything I had left, hoping he would notice me trapped in the car. I saw Damon go rigid. But at that exact second, Claudia let out a pained whimper in his arms, her fingers weakly clutching his shirt. "It hurts so much..." His head snapped back down to her, his voice trembling with a concern. "I'm here. You're going to be fine." Then he never looked back again. "Clear the road to the hospital," he ordered. "Now." The car carrying Claudia sped off, and the tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over. I was the Luna of this pack. And yet in that moment my life wasn't worth as much as an ordinary she-wolf's. Warm, thick blood kept pulsing from between my legs. I couldn't hold on any longer. Everything went black. Later, I woke to a pack doctor's voice. "I'm sorry. The surgery on you went well, but the pup... we couldn't save it." In that moment, I was utterly devastated. Even Lydia fell into a deathly silence. For the next three hours I lay on the operating table like something being taken apart, piece by piece. The clang of metal instruments seemed to come from somewhere very far away. The doctors' hands moved in and out of me, drawing away every hope I'd carried, leaving nothing behind but a hollow, ringing emptiness. I stared at the ceiling. I didn't move. I should have been sobbing. But my eyes were bone dry. Not a single tear would come. After the surgery, I was transferred to a ward. A familiar voice drifted out from a half-open office doctor door, and it stopped me cold. "Damon, Kai already checked—the baby's completely fine, just a little shaken up. I told you it was nothing. You're the one who overreacted." The voice was soft, sweet, laced with the kind of entitled, coddled affection that came from being loved without question. I looked through the gap in the door. It was Claudia. Her face, delicate and harmless, was faintly flushed. Both her hands rested protectively over her stomach. I gasped. My fingers locked around the arms of the wheelchair until my knuckles went white. "Although the pregnancy's holding steady, Claudia. The first three months are the most critical—you need to take good care of yourself." A young man in a white coat spoke from inside, his tone light and easy, familiar. That was Kai, Damon's friend. Claudia's cheeks colored as she tipped her head back to look up at the man holding her so carefully. Damon's voice came out gentler than I had ever heard it. "I won't let anything happen to you and the child again." Claudia smiled, then added, almost as an afterthought, "By the way, Damon—I think Aria called you a bunch of times earlier. Sounded urgent. Maybe you should call her back? Don't want it messing with anything important." I was stunned for a moment before I remembered that when I was taken to the hospital, the nurse seemed to have called Damon for me. Before Damon could answer, Kai cut in first, his voice dripping with disdain. "Oh, don't bother with her. Aria's been harassing Damon for years now, calling over every little thing, playing the victim. He's sick of it. Just let him take care of you and the baby. Besides—that Luna title she's sitting on? It's going to be yours eventually anyway." Claudia shot him a mock-scolding look. "Kai, don't say things like that." Kai just waved a hand. "I'm not making it up. It's exactly what's in Damon's head. Right?" I leaned against the cold wall and watched the whole scene play out, then laughed soft and bitter. It's fine. Kai's right. That day is coming. Sooner than they think.