The Luna He Betrayed, The Queen He Claimed

Chapter 1

Annelise's Pov

The brown envelope felt heavier than carrying a casket around the city, or maybe, I would be the one being carried in a casket soon. The walk back from the hospital was a blur. I didn't know how I walked or how I was able to move, I just knew that I was moving. I felt listless, my body moving on autopilot. My eyes were raw, the skin around them swollen and stained a permanent, angry red from hours of weeping in the clinic bathroom.

I was going to die.

The words didn't feel real. As a werewolf, I was supposed to be a creature of vitality and healing. But the doctor’s voice had been steady and cold as he explained that I was the one percent, the statistical anomaly. I had been diagnosed with Lupine Necrosis, a rare, aggressive cellular decay that bypassed the wolf's natural regeneration. For months, I had ignored the signs. I told myself the bone-deep fatigue was just from chasing the twins. I told myself the sharp, stabbing pains in my chest were just stress. I ignored the night sweats that soaked the sheets and the way my gums bled every time I brushed my teeth. Even the sudden, dramatic weight loss was something I’d excused as "working too hard" for the pack.

“Two months, Luna Annelise,” the doctor had said. “At this stage, the decay has reached your marrow. There is no cure.”

I gripped the envelope tighter, the paper crinkling under my white-knuckled hold. Two months. Sixty days to kiss my children goodnight. Sixty days to look into my husband’s eyes. I had spent the last hour in a public stall, sobbing until my throat was shredded, thinking of Kayden. My Kayden. The man who had been my everything for a decade. I couldn't tell him yet. I would hide this. I would spend every remaining second being the best mother and the most loving wife, so that when I was gone, they would have a lifetime of warmth to remember me by.

I pushed open the heavy oak front door of our estate, expecting the scent of my favourite flower and the sound of the twins playing. Instead, I was hit by some other smell.

I froze. My brain, already clouded by the grief of my death sentence, struggled to process the scene. The sitting room was a battlefield of discarded clothing. A silk tie, Kayden’s favorite, was draped over the banister. A lace bra, one I didn't recognize lay sprawled on the rug. Then the smell hit me. The heavy, unmistakable scent of s*x. My heart, already failing me biologically, felt like it was being squeezed by a giant’s fist. I followed the sound. It was coming from upstairs.

From our room.

It was the sound of moans and a woman's mewl along with the heavy grunting of a man. A voice I recognise. I walked like a ghost, my feet silent on the hardwood. The door to our master suite was slightly ajar, a sliver of light spilling out into the hallway. I stopped, my hand trembling so hard I could barely reach for the handle. I pushed it just an inch further.

There, on the bed where I had birthed our children, was Kayden Donovan, Alpha of the Silver-Thorn Pack. He was stripped bare, his powerful muscles rippling with every frantic thrust. And beneath him, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, was Seraphina.

My childhood friend. My "best friend." The woman I had comforted when she cried about being lonely.

Kayden’s face was transformed. It wasn't the face of the man who kissed my forehead every morning. It was a mask of pure, primal lust and a dark, terrifying adoration I had never seen directed toward me. He was f*****g her with a relentless, punishing hunger, his teeth bared in a snarl of pleasure.

Kayden had only had s*x with me only thrice throughout our marriage and those three times, it hurt to the point that I went unconscious. He never showed this much enthusiasm towards me and yet, he was f*****g my best friend like this?!

The brown envelope slipped from my fingers. It hit the floor with a soft thwack. The sound was enough. Kayden didn't stop. He didn't jump back in horror. He simply turned his head, his eyes locking onto mine while he continued to drive himself into her. Seraphina looked over his shoulder, her cheeks flushed, a smirk playing on her lips. With one final and heavy grunt, Kayden arched his back and came, marking her, his eyes never leaving my shattered face. The silence that followed was louder than the moans.

"Get out of the doorway, Annelise," Kayden said, his voice husky and completely devoid of remorse. He didn't even reach for a sheet. He stayed positioned over her, possessive and bold. "You're ruining the mood."

"Kayden?" My voice was a broken whisper. "Seraphina? You… The both of you are…What the hell are you doing?!" I screamed out the last part of that sentence, my eyes wide with shock.

Seraphina let out a light, melodic giggle, sitting up and leaning her head on Kayden's shoulder. I could see the semen slithering down her legs. "Oh, Annie. You always were a bit slow, weren't you? Did you really think a woman like you could ever satisfy a man like him?”

“What… What are you talking about?! What the hell are you saying?! He's my husband! My mate! We've been mates for five years! Five good years! I gave you ten years of my life and this is what I get? By you f*****g my best friend?!”

Seraphina and I had been friends since we were teenagers. When I found out about my rare bloodline, she was there. Seraphina was an omega. An omega no one liked. I was the only one who spoke to her, who helped her. I genuinely liked her as my friend and yet, this is what I get in return?

“Oh, stop being so dramatic, Annelise. You know I never liked you. If you hadn't forced me into this marriage by using the fact that you saved me, I would have never married you. You're nothing but an omega who doesn't even have any connections. How dare you claim to be my mate? Aren't you ashamed of yourself?”

“What?” I stumbled backwards, “An… An omega? What the hell are you talking about?” What the hell is he saying? How did I turn out to become an omega? I was a female Alpha, I had given up my background in order to help him rise to the top and he knew that. How did I become an omega?