Luna Revenge: Dear Alpha I'm Back

Chapter 1: Ema The candle flame on the birthday cake danced in the quiet room. It flickered like the small hope I had held onto all evening. Today was a big day. It was Max’s birthday, but it was also our three-year anniversary. For three years, I had loved him with everything I had. I supported him and waited for him while he dealt with the heavy pressure of being the Alpha. I sat by myself on the wide leather couch in our living room. The silence in the house felt heavy. It felt even heavier than the midnight hour. The cake sat on the coffee table, untouched. The icing started to sweat under the warm glow of the light. I wondered where he was. I felt a knot in my stomach that wouldn't go away. I looked at the clock again. It was almost one in the morning, and he still was not back. I told myself he was probably busy dealing with pack matters. Being an Alpha was a difficult job. I had told myself this a hundred times to keep from crying. But I still felt a deep ache. Didn't I deserve at least one night of his time? Didn't we deserve to celebrate the three years we had built together? My fingers shook as I dialed his number again. It went straight to voicemail. I tried again, and then again. Every time I heard his recorded voice, my heart felt like it was sinking deeper into my chest. I set the phone down on the cushion. Outside the tall windows, the full moon hung in the sky. It bathed the entire room in a cold, silver light. On nights like this, the power of the pack usually felt stronger. The bonds between mates were supposed to be at their peak. Tonight, the moonlight only made my loneliness feel sharper. Suddenly, my phone buzzed. My heart jumped, thinking it was Max, but it wasn't. It was a text from my sister, Ana. My stomach twisted into a tight knot. The Shawn family had adopted me years ago, but they never truly accepted me as one of their own. I was always the outsider. I was the charity case they tolerated because they had to, but they never gave me real love. I knew that messages from Ana were never good news. Her words were always like weapons wrapped in pretty smiles. I opened the message and felt a sick sense of dread. The first photo felt like a physical slap across my face. It was Ana. She was kissing Max’s cheek, her lips pressed close to his skin. Her eyes sparkled with a mean kind of mischief. Max was grinning in the photo. My Max. He looked happy. I swiped to the next image. It showed him lifting her into his arms. They were both laughing together under the moonlight. They looked like they belonged together. Then I saw another one. Her head was resting on his chest, and his hand was resting firmly on her waist. I looked at the timestamps on the photos. They were all from tonight. The truth hit me hard. While I sat here alone with a cold cake and a dying candle, he had been with her. He chose her on our anniversary. He chose her on his birthday. He chose her on the night of the full moon. I stared at the screen until the images blurred. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I asked myself what I had done wrong. I had given this man everything. I gave him my loyalty, my heart, and my body. I had waited for him through every late night and every pack crisis. I had stayed home during every business trip, making sure everything was perfect for his return. I had even begged him for a child. I wanted a real bond and a future as his Luna. But he always said no. He told me the timing wasn't right. He told me the pack needed him to stay focused. I closed the phone. The screen went dark, and I felt a darkness growing in my chest too. Hurt was not a strong enough word for what I felt. This was a deep betrayal. It felt like something was clawing at my insides. I curled up on the couch and tucked my knees to my chest. The candle on the cake finally sputtered and went out. The room smelled like melted wax and broken promises. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I heard was the front door creaking open. Heavy footsteps echoed through the hallway. Max walked in, and I could tell he was drunk. He reeked of whiskey, but there was a darker scent on him too. It was the scent of the pack mixed with Ana's perfume. He looked like a mess. His eyes were glassy and his shirt was half-unbuttoned. I opened my mouth to speak, but he didn't even look at me. He collapsed onto the couch across from me and passed out immediately. Soon, he was snoring loudly. He didn't care that the night had shattered me. He didn't even see me waiting there. He didn't care that I had been sitting in the dark for hours with my heart in pieces. I took a shaky breath and tried to stop the tears. I told myself to stay strong. Not yet. I stood up and walked over to him. I gently removed his shoes. Even now, I felt the urge to take care of him. I struggled to drag his heavy body up the stairs to our master bedroom. My arms ached by the time I finally got him onto the king-sized bed. He didn't move at all. As I was moving him, his phone slipped out of his pocket. I picked it up, planning to plug it in for him. I told myself it was just a habit. But as I touched it, the screen lit up with a new notification. The message was from Ana. My thumb hovered over the screen. I knew I shouldn't look, but I couldn't stop myself. I opened the chat. The words burned my eyes. "Thank you for today, Max. I had the best time. Come visit more often, your son misses you so much. And so does the little one in my stomach. I can't wait to feel your hands on me again." My heart slammed against my ribs. I felt like my chest might actually crack open. A son? And she was pregnant again? I scrolled up through their history. There were months and months of texts. There were intimate messages, promises, and so many lies. He had been seeing her behind my back for a very long time. Then I saw a message from Max that made my blood run cold. "I'll never make Ema my Luna," he had written. "She's just an obedient little dog. I tell her what to do, and she does it without thinking twice. She keeps the house nice and quiet while I handle real business." An obedient dog. The phone almost fell from my numb fingers. I sank onto the edge of the bed and stared at him. This was the man I loved. This was the man I helped build a life with. He had promised me the moon and the stars. I thought about the child I had been caring for. I had cared for Ana’s son, thinking he was just a pack orphan or a distant relative who needed help. I had changed his diapers. I had sung him lullabies to sleep. I had wiped away his tears. All that time, Max had watched me do it with a secret smile on his face. It was his son. It was their son. I felt like a fool. I had been a blind, devoted fool in a house that never truly wanted me. The next morning, the sunlight came through the curtains. It felt like a judgment on my life. I sat at the long dining table in the dining room. The maid had set out a full breakfast, but I didn't touch any of it. My eyes felt raw and sore from the night before, but I wasn't crying anymore. The tears had turned into something cold and hard. Maybe it was resolve. Maybe it was just a total emptiness. I heard Max coming down the stairs. His hair was messy, and he had shadows under his eyes from the whiskey, but he still looked like a powerful Alpha. He saw me sitting there and gave me that charming, crooked smile. That smile used to make me melt, but now it just made me feel sick. He walked over to me and leaned in. He tried to kiss my cheek. I turned my face away quickly. He pulled back and frowned. "Ema? Are you still angry about last night?" Angry? The word was too small. It was too weak for the storm that was happening inside me. He remembered what happened, yet he had the nerve to act like everything was normal. "Where were you yesterday?" I asked. My voice was very quiet. It was steady. It was much steadier than I felt. He shrugged his shoulders and started pouring a cup of coffee. "Pack business. You know how it is, baby." I wanted to laugh, but the sound would have been hollow. This was the man I had given three years of my life to. This was the man who called me a dog in his private messages while he slept with my sister. Before I could say anything else, his phone rang. He answered it quickly. His face changed from relaxed to tense in a second. "What?" he barked into the phone. He stood up fast. "There is trouble in the pack. I have to go. Now." He didn't even look at me properly. It was always pack business. Or maybe it was Ana calling him to come back to her. He started walking toward the door. "I'll be back later. Don't wait up if the meeting runs long." I didn't say a word. I just watched him walk out. The door slammed shut behind him. It felt like one last betrayal. The house became silent again. I pulled out my own phone. My hands were shaking, but I knew what I had to do. I dialed the only person I still trusted in this world. "Hello? Mia? You free? I'm coming."