The Gossip
1470 Words
Aria POV
I woke up feeling tired, sore, and empty like someone poured me out and forgot to fill me again.
My stomach growled so loud my heart almost jumped out. Hunger and stress are not friends, but here I am carrying both like trophies.
I blinked at the ceiling, the soft glow of morning light crawling through the curtains. I could feel the silent stillness beside me, the cold bed… again.
It used to hurt sharply. Now it just sits in my chest like a dull stone. Heavy. Permanent.
I wanted to go downstairs for breakfast, but the thought of bumping into Damon made my bones turn weak. Damon… and her.
His precious Selene.
His shadow.
His priority.
No.
Not this morning.
I can’t deal with that sight again. I don’t want to see her smile up at him like she is already the Luna and I’m just some furniture in his house.
I’m not ready for new wounds when the old ones haven’t even healed.
Mother once told me,
When a wolf is cheated on, the heart bleeds differently. Not like humans.
Humans can try to pretend, drink wine, scream, move on. Wolves?
We feel betrayal through soul and bone.
I sometimes wish I was human. A simple human girl with no mate bond, no destiny, no ancient wolf magic tying me to a man who never chose me.
I sighed and pressed my hand to my chest.
I am already getting used to being unloved.
Strange how pain becomes familiar.
Strange how an empty bed becomes normal.
Strange how silence becomes the loudest thing in your life.
Ever since Selene came back, Damon barely spends an hour, let alone four, in this room.
He refuses to look at me like I matter.
He refuses to remember I am his mate.
He refuses to even pretend.
I checked my phone. 9:03 AM.
They should be gone from the dining hall by now.
He would have eaten with her.
Maybe fed her fruit with that hand that once touched me.
Don’t think about it, Aria.
I dragged myself up. My feet hit the floor. My throat felt tight.
Shower. Brush. Clothes.
I chose a simple fitted top and high-waisted leggings. Nothing fancy. Nothing to draw attention.
Just enough to look like I didn’t cry myself to sleep last night.
I walked towards the dining hall like a stray pup searching for a mother who was never coming back.
The silence in the corridors was peaceful. At least peace still exists somewhere. Even if not inside my heart.
At the cafeteria, I headed straight to the serving line. Scrambled eggs and bacon sandwich. Ice water.
Ice is my thing.
I put ice in everything… even when the world around me burns.
Tray in hand, I moved to a small corner table.
I could take it upstairs… but with the way my body is shaking from hunger? I might faint halfway up the stairs like a dramatic soap opera woman. And I don’t have strength for embarrassment today.
The hall was near empty at this hour.
Breakfast here is from 7am, and only people with no duties eat by 9.
Go ahead, call me jobless. I don’t care.
At least I still breathe. Barely.
I sat. I ate fast. Food felt like medicine that was late to arrive.
Then I heard it,
Soft laughing. Whispering.
Low but sharp.
Wolves gossip quietly only when they want to sting.
I didn’t turn. I didn’t even blink.
I didn’t need to.
I opened the part of me I always hide, the alpha sense buried inside this omega disguise.
To hear distant whispers like I was sitting beside them…
You need alpha blood.
And I have it.
Even if everyone here thinks I am nothing.
I am Aria Silver.
Daughter of Alpha Xander Silver of the Grey Mist Pack.
Ancient blood. Old tradition. Strong lineage.
I ran from my title, but my blood never left me.
My father…
He didn’t sell me.
He didn’t trade me.
He just failed me when I needed him most.
He chose silence over me.
He chose his new Luna over his daughter.
Betrayal doesn’t always shout. Sometimes it whispers and watches you break quietly.
I took another bite. My hands trembled slightly.
Then the words hit me.
“Who knows, she might finally give the alpha an heir”
Heir?
Which heir?
My chest tightened.
A second voice, mocking and sweet like poisoned honey:
“Selene fits him better anyway. And look at her, only weeks here and she’s already pregnant”
Laughter followed.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
That word didn’t feel real at first. It floated, slow and heavy, then slammed into my skull.
I froze.
Bacon stuck halfway in my throat.
“Unlike one barren omega parading as luna” another voice added
More laughter. Loud. Cruel.
That one landed like claws against my heart.
Barren.
Omega.
Pretending Luna.
They don’t know who I am.
They don’t know whose blood runs in my veins.
They don’t know the truth.
But that wasn’t what hurt.
No.
What stabbed me, slow and deep, was the one word echoing louder than anything else,
Pregnant.
My hand dropped.
Food forgotten.
Breathe, Aria.
Breathe.
No. No, no, no.
This must be misunderstanding. Rumor.
Or a stupid gossip joke. Wolves gossip like breathing, effortless, toxic, stupid.
Selene… pregnant?
With Damon’s child?
My breath shook. My throat burned like someone shoved hot coal in it.
I stared at my plate, vision blurring.
The cafeteria suddenly felt colder.
Or maybe it was me freezing from inside.
Why am I surprised?
He sleeps in her bed.
He ignores me.
He looks at her like she is sunlight and I am ash.
Still…
Still, somewhere stupid inside me…
I hoped.
I secretly hoped that one day he would look at me and remember I am his mate.
But hope is foolish.
Hope is slow poison.
My fingers clenched around my fork until my knuckles went white.
Pregnant.
That word kept pounding in my head like war drums.
I wanted to walk away. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run into the woods and shift and tear trees just to release the ache in my bones.
But I sat still. Quiet. Because wolves like me have learned to bleed silently.
Another voice whispered:
“She won’t last,soon the alpha will kick her out”
Kick me out?
I swallowed hard.
I already feel thrown out.
My wolf stirred, restless, uneasy.
Let me out, she growled weakly. Let me hurt someone. Let me breathe.
Not now.
If I let her out now, I will rip someone’s throat open. And they will blame me, not the pain.
I stared at the table, chest rising and falling too fast.
This is not just gossip.
This is the beginning of something breaking.
A strange dizziness washed through me, like my body sensed danger before my mind did.
My hand pressed against my stomach instinctively, gently, like something fragile lived there.
Why did I do that?
I stood up slowly, tray shaking in my hands.
My knees felt weak. Heart pounding. Breath shallow.
Pregnant?
Selene?
I need answers.
I need truth.
I need air.
I dropped my tray back on the counter, not even caring about the food anymore.
Then I heard one last whisper follow me like a ghost:
“Soon she will know.poor omega Luna, she can’t compete”
The world blurred again.
Compete?
My lips curled into a bitter half smile.
I was never in the competition. Damon never let me in.
I walked out of the hall, legs unsteady, vision foggy, chest tight like someone tied thick ropes around it.
The corridor felt long. Empty. Echoing with each step like my heart was walking alone in it.
Selene… pregnant.
No.
I don’t believe it.
But I feel it.
Somewhere deep inside, I feel the truth moving like a storm.
My wolf whimpered in my chest.
A sad… heartbreaking sound.
I reached the corner wall, leaned on it, eyes squeezed shut.
My hands shook.
My breath refused to steady.
Everything feels wrong.
The world feels tilted.
My fate feels like it’s laughing at me.
And then—
A sudden sharp pain shot through my stomach.
Not strong. But enough to make my breath hitch and my hand press there again.
Why… does it feel like… something inside me is shifting?
My eyes widened.
No.
No, it can’t be,
I gasped softly.
No… not now.
The world spun for a second.
Then someone’s footsteps approached fast behind me.
“Luna?”
I froze.
I didn’t turn.
Because right now…
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to scream, cry…
or collapse.
And deep inside me…
A faint whisper rose, fragile… terrified…
but real.
Aria… what if you are the one who is pregnant?
- Writer
