THE ALPHA LUNA

Chapter 4: Trap?

Celene’s POV

The tension in the room could’ve snapped a spine. I was still reeling from Kyle’s brutal claim when I turned to Serena, expecting, hoping for her to finally show some backbone and talk sense into her husband before I snap and kill someone.

“Serena,” I said, voice raw and barely contained, “tell him this can’t happen. Tell him...”

But Serena just slid her hand over mine and squeezed, her smile too soft, understanding, and too damn fake. “Kyle is right, Celene. You can’t get rid of the child. You’re carrying the future of this pack. It’s a blessing. You have to keep it.”

For a second, I forgot how to breathe. Betrayal hits differently when it comes from your own blood cause what the hell was she talking about?

My wolf, though, was having the time of her life. "Hell yes," she cackled in my mind. "Look at them scrambling, like pups sniffing at spilled meat. Let’s take it all back, Celene. The title, the power, the entire damn pack. That throne fits your ass better anyway. Kyle’s mine, the heir’s mine, the pack’s mine.. let’s eat their f*****g world."

I almost snorted... if my life wasn’t in flames, I’d laugh at her. "Shut up, you greedy bitch."

But I couldn’t let them win. I couldn’t stay here, not when the ghosts of my past were sharpening their knives for me. The pack will never see me as anything but a traitor, a homewrecker, a b***h who crawled back to ruin her sister’s happy ending. Five years ago, my scandal nearly destroyed this family, and if I stay, it’ll only get worse. The whispers, the stares, the hate, I’d only be the villain of every story, the shameful secret they try to hide and I really can't allow that.

I turned to Serena, my tone deadly calm but clear. “You don’t understand. I can’t stay. My presence alone will ruin you. You think the pack will forgive this? You think they’ll welcome me as the one who came back, pregnant with their Alpha’s child? I’ll be the wolf who destroyed the Luna. The pack won’t see a blessing, Serena. They’ll see a curse, a scandal, proof I was never worthy. You deserve better than to have me dragging your name through the mud.”

But Serena just smiled that weird, unshakable smile, eyes glittering with something I couldn’t read. “You’re my sister. You’re staying, and you’re having this pup. It’s already decided.”

My wolf growled low, claws dragging against my ribs. "Oh, it’s decided, all right. Just not the way she thinks. You want a fight, Serena? You’re about to get the f*****g storm. Why not let her just forfeit the throne, she’s not the rightful heir.

Kyle’s eyes never left me. They were ice-cold, and unwavering, like he was already planning where to chain me up if I tried to run. I could feel his possessiveness, that dark, brutal certainty bleeding from his aura. Not a single muscle in his body twitched. He was the executioner, just waiting for me to bolt so he could pounce.

And right then, it hit me, so sharp I almost laughed. I was completely outnumbered, outgunned, but hell if I’d go down easy. They could lock every door in this cursed house and it wouldn’t matter. My wolf would rip through stone and bone if she had to.

I mean no harm. All I want is to make this right and move on. But they can’t force me to stay here, not when I’d never be welcomed. Not when everyone would see me as the villain, the homewrecker, the sister who destroyed everything. No one would bother to know my side of the story, not even if I burned for it.

Taking a deep breath, I tried again.

I swallowed the fire clawing up my throat and forced myself to breathe, to sound reasonable, calm, sane, even as my wolf paced restlessly inside me.

“Serena, please,” I said quietly. “Listen to me. I can’t stay here. I can’t keep this child here. You’re asking for something I can’t give. I can’t stay here and pretend like this isn’t a disaster waiting to happen. The pack will destroy me. They’ll never believe this wasn’t planned by me. They’ll say I seduced your husband, that I came back to steal your place, your mate, your throne.”

Serena shook her head immediately, her grip tightening around my hand. “No. You’re wrong. You can’t leave.”

Kyle didn’t even hesitate. “She’s not leaving,” he said coldly. “And she’s not aborting my child.”

That was it.

The last fragile thread holding my temper snapped.

I pushed myself to my feet, exhaustion and fury crashing together as my Alpha aura stirred instinctively. “Then I’ll see who the hell thinks they can stop me,” I snapped. “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t plan this. And I won’t be trapped here like some...”

Serena collapsed, one second she was standing, the next her knees gave out and she crumpled to the floor, fingers clutching desperately at my dress like I was the only thing keeping her upright.

“Don’t leave,” she sobbed, breaking completely. “Please… please don’t leave me again.”

My anger evaporated instantly, replaced by shock and panic.

“Serena!” I dropped to my knees in front of her, grabbing her shoulders. “What are you doing? Get up...”

“I can’t have children,” she cried, the words ripping out of her chest like a confession she’d been choking on for years. “I never could. The goddess never blessed me. Not once.”

My heart lurched painfully.

“That doesn’t mean never,” I said softly, instinctively pulling her into my arms. “The goddess works in her own time. You don’t know...”

“No,” she cut in sharply, shaking her head. “It’s not fate. It’s not waiting. My womb was destroyed.”

The room went dead silent and my breath hitched.

She looked up at me then, eyes red and raw. “Seven years ago. During the attack. The poisoned arrow… the one that killed our parents.. the one I took for you, it damaged me.”

The memory slammed into me hard, I saw it instantly, the chaos, the screams, the smell of blood and smoke. I remembered turning, seeing the arrow flying straight for my heart… and Serena stepping in front of me without hesitation.

“Serena…” my voice broke.

“I survived,” she whispered bitterly. “Barely. But the poison burned everything inside me. The healers saved my life, but they couldn’t save my womb but I swore them to silence.”

My chest felt like it was collapsing inward.

That arrow, she nearly died that night.

She had always protected me. Always stood in front of me. Always told me she was fine, that the pain meant nothing, that she was strong and I believed her.

Goddess, I was so stupid.

“You...” my voice shook as tears finally spilled. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you carry this alone?”

She laughed weakly through her tears. “Because you already blamed yourself for our parents. I wouldn’t add this to your sins.”

I covered my mouth, sobbing now, shame and grief crushing me. All those years I thought I was the one who lost everything. All those years I ran, drowning in my own guilt, while my sister bled quietly beside me.

I had caused her this pain.

Indirectly or not, I was the reason that arrow existed at all.

“No one knows,” she continued softly. “Not the pack. Not the elders.” Her gaze flicked briefly toward Kyle. “Not even him.”

I looked up sharply and Kyle stood rigid, his jaw tight, his expression unreadable but the shock was there, buried deep in his eyes. He said nothing, didn’t deny it or interrupt.

“I hid it,” Serena went on. “Because I didn’t want pity. And I didn’t want you broken by guilt.”

She swallowed hard. “Kyle and I tried… quietly. Surrogates. Healers. Blessed women. Rituals under the full moon. Every single one failed.”

My stomach twisted violently.

“You’re the only one,” she said, gripping my hands desperately. “The only woman who ever conceived his child. This baby...” her voice shattered." This baby is our last hope. Just take it as being a surrogate for your sister please.”

I stared at her, my mind reeling but nothing about this felt right.

Nothing about this felt fair.

“This isn’t surrogacy,” I whispered hoarsely. “You know that. No matter how you explain it, the pack won’t see it that way.”

“They will,” she insisted desperately. “I’ll make them understand.”

I shook my head slowly, pain clawing through me. “No, you won’t. They’ll see betrayal, they’ll see scandal. They’ll see a sister who returned pregnant with her brother-in-law’s child.”

My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.

“I’ll be the villain,” I said quietly. “No one will care about the truth. No one ever does.”

Goddess.

Why does this feel like a trap?

My wolf stirred uneasily inside me, a low, dangerous growl curling through my bones, not out of fear, but recognition. Recognition of what we were born as. Of what we had once fled from. Of the power and burden I abandoned when I turned my back on blood and crown alike.

This wasn’t coincidence, this wasn’t a cruel twist meant to break me for entertainment.

Something about this wasn’t just tragedy, it was deliberate. A cage sliding shut one bar at a time, forged from guilt, blood, obligation, and love twisted until it hurt to breathe.

Every path I saw led inward, every choice ended with me standing right where I swore I’d never return.

My chest tightened as the weight of it pressed down, heavy and suffocating. Fate wasn’t tugging at me anymore, it had both hands around my throat, dragging me back to the very throne I’d tried to outrun.

Goddess… What kind of tragic, cruel, entangled fate was this?

And worse... Why did a part of me feel like this was exactly where I was meant to be?