Alpha's Regret: Rejected Luna Becomes The Prize

~SERAPHINA~ The scent of lavender and crushed moonflowers lingered in the tiny healing room long after the old healer lowered her hands. She smiled at me, eyes shimmering with warmth. "Congratulations, Luna." For a heartbeat, I could only stare. "Congratulations?" "The Moon Goddess has answered your prayers." She set the porcelain cup she'd been using aside and reached for my hands. "You are with child." I didn't understand at first, then the words settled, and everything else in the room seemed to fade around them. My hand drifted to my stomach, slow and hesitant, like I was afraid it wouldn't be real if I touched it too fast. A baby. Kael's baby. Tears blurred my vision before I even realized I was crying. Three years acting like my marriage wasn't hanging by a thread, praying every night to the Moon Goddess for anything that might bring us closer. Maybe this was it. Maybe this child would be the beginning we never had. The healer laughed softly. "Oh, don't cry now." She dabbed my cheek with a cloth, then pressed her palm to my stomach again, closing her eyes. Several seconds passed before her brows lifted. "Oh." "What is it?" Her smile only grew. "It seems the Moon Goddess wished to surprise us both. You aren't carrying one pup, Luna." She paused just long enough for my heart to stop. "You're carrying two." "Twins?" "Healthy twins." A sob broke out of me before I could stop it, and I laughed through the tears, both hands pressed over my stomach. "He's going to be so surprised," I said, already imagining Kael's face. Would he smile? Would he finally hold me the way an Alpha should hold his Luna? The healer's smile softened, something unreadable flickering behind it. "Go home, Luna. Take care of yourself. And don't let unnecessary stress find you." "I will." I thanked her, took the small pouch of pregnancy herbs she offered, and stepped out into the afternoon breeze, one hand still resting over my stomach. Twins. I still couldn't quite believe it. The walk back to the Alpha residence felt shorter than usual. I kept catching myself smiling for no reason, already debating whether to tell Kael the second I saw him or wait until dinner. No. This was too important to wait for. "Luna!" I turned. One of the pack's guards jogged toward me, stopping a respectful distance away. "The Alpha requests your presence immediately." I smiled. "Now?" "Yes, Luna." I clutched the little pouch to my chest and made my way toward Kael's study, my heart beating faster than it should have for reasons I couldn't quite explain. The guards outside Kael's study dipped their heads as I approached. I knocked softly against the oak door. "Come in." His voice was calm. I pushed the door open, stepped in, and found Kael behind his desk in a charcoal suit instead of his usual training clothes, the afternoon light cutting sharp lines across a face that had looked older, harder, since his father died. He didn't smile. He barely looked up. "You wanted to see me?" "I did." He folded the paper in his hands and set it down. Neither of us spoke for a moment, but I still didn't fail to notice the shadows under his eyes. The last few weeks had been hard on both of us, and I tightened my grip on the pouch hidden in my coat. ~Just tell him. Tell him he's going to be a father.~ Before I could find the courage, he spoke first. "You know my father is gone." "Yes." "The only reason this marriage ever happened is gone with him." The smile fell off my face immediately. "What do you mean?" He opened a drawer and slid a stack of papers across the desk toward me. I didn't need to read far; the title alone was enough. DISSOLUTION OF MATE MARRIAGE. My fingers went cold. "...Kael?" "My father believed a fated bond was reason enough to build a marriage. I respected his wishes." He met my eyes without flinching. "I never shared them. I've honored his last request for three years. I won't spend the rest of my life honoring a decision that was never mine." My fingers trembled no matter how much I tried to stop them. "You want a divorce?" "Yes. I've already signed my half. All that's left is your signature." I looked down at the papers, the words blurring through tears I refused to let fall yet. Three years of loving him. Three years of hoping patience would eventually bloom into something. Was this really how it ended? "So that's it? You've already decided." "There was never another decision to make. I've always loved Celeste." He said it plainly, like a fact everyone already knew. Truthfully, everyone did. I'd just spent three years pretending it didn't matter "My father stood in the way of that. He isn't here anymore." I wanted to reach for his hand. To press it against my stomach and tell him we're having twins. Maybe that would change everything. My fingers drifted toward my abdomen before I caught myself. No. Not yet. "When I build a family," Kael went on, his expression softening. It wasn’t for me, but for some future only he could see, "I want it to be with the woman I love. I want my children to grow up in a home where their parents chose each other. That woman is Celeste." Something in me cracked clean through. He didn't know. Moon Goddess, he didn't know our children already existed. They were growing quietly beneath my heart, and he was rejecting them without even realizing it. I swallowed the sob rising in my throat. "So there isn't even the smallest chance you'll change your mind?" He was quiet for a long moment. When he answered, his voice was almost gentle. "I don't want to lie to you. No." I let out a small chuckle. "I see." I looked down at the unsigned papers, then back at him. "If I sign these today, I'll never be your wife again. And you'll make Celeste your Luna." "Yes." He answered without hesitation, every time. Maybe that was what hurt the most. The fact that there wasn't a trace of doubt in him anywhere. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I'd already made up my mind. "Give me one month." Kael frowned. "What?" "I need one month." My voice shook, but I pushed through it. "I won't beg you to love me forever, and I won't stop you if after a month, this is still what you want. But give me one month where we actually try, where we stop living like strangers under the same roof, where I'm allowed to be your wife. If nothing changes by the end of it, I'll sign the papers myself. I won't fight you. I'll walk away quietly." Kael studied me like he'd expected tears, or anger, or accusations — anything but this. Finally, he nodded once. "One month." Relief and heartbreak hit me at the same time. "But understand something, Seraphina." His voice didn't waver. "Don't hold on to false hope. When the month ends, so does this marriage." "I understand." I was still fighting back my tears as he returned the papers to the drawer. I turned for the door before he could see me start to cry. My hand found the handle. "Seraphina." I stopped, but I didn't turn around. "I'm sorry." Hearing those words, I smiled through tears before responding to him as well, "So am I." Once I was out of the room and the latch clicked, my legs gave out. I slid down the wall of the empty corridor, arms wrapped around myself, and let the tears come out silently. Then, I pressed both of my trembling hands over my stomach. “My babies,” I whispered, “I'm sorry. I wanted today to be the happiest day of our lives. I'm so sorry.” I sniffled, closing my eyes, “Just one month and maybe he'll choose us. If he doesn't, I promise I'll always protect both of you.”