The Alpha King’s Hidden Luna

Chapter 2: The Betrayal

Lyra’s POV

The afternoon sun warmed my face as I walked through the familiar streets, my fingers brushing absentmindedly over the silver crescent moon pendant resting against my chest.

I still wasn’t sure why Aunt Maeve had chosen today to give it to me, or why she’d looked at me as though she were saying goodbye.

A smile tugged at my lips. She worried too much. She always had, ever since I was a little girl, warning me about strange places, unfamiliar forests, and wolves. Especially wolves. The word alone had always made my stomach tighten. Growing up, I’d heard enough stories to know they weren’t creatures anyone wanted to meet, whether those stories were true or not. Fear rarely needed proof.

I pushed the thoughts away. Today wasn’t about old fears. Today was about Caleb. About us.

The engagement celebration wasn’t anything extravagant. Caleb had insisted on keeping it small, saying we’d celebrate properly after the wedding. I hadn’t minded. As long as we were together, I didn’t need expensive dinners or grand surprises. I had spent years believing love wasn’t measured by gifts. It was measured by loyalty, by showing up, by choosing each other every single day.

I smiled to myself. In less than a year, I’d finally have the family I’d always dreamed of. No more lonely holidays, no more wondering where I belonged. I’d have a home, a future, someone who chose me. My steps quickened. I couldn’t wait to see him.

The city thinned out as I got closer to our building, the noise of the main streets fading into something quieter, more residential.

I passed the little bakery Caleb and I used to visit on Sunday mornings, the bench where he’d first told me he loved me, awkward and red-faced, like the words had cost him something to say.

I thought about the ring he’d promised, the small joke he’d made about not being able to afford anything fancy yet, and how I’d told him, honestly, that I didn’t care. I only wanted him. His laugh in the mornings.

The way he always saved me the last slice of bread even when he was starving. Small things. The kind of things that build a life, quietly, one ordinary day at a time.

Three years of small things. Surely that counted for something.

I thought of Aunt Maeve’s warning again, the odd weight in her voice when she’d told me not to travel north. It had nothing to do with tonight. I told myself that firmly, the way you tell yourself anything you’re not entirely sure of.

The apartment building was unusually quiet, most of the neighbors still at work, leaving the hallway almost silent except for the soft hum of the lights overhead. I adjusted the small gift bag in my hand. Inside was Caleb’s favorite watch strap, the old one falling apart weeks ago, or so he’d mentioned. It wasn’t expensive, but I knew he’d love it.

I’d debated for nearly an hour in the shop over that stupid watch strap, turning it over in my hands, imagining his face when he opened it. It was such a small thing. But love, I’d always believed, lived in the small things far more than the grand ones.

I climbed the stairs two at a time, too impatient for the elevator.

My heart felt lighter with every step, like the last few years of struggling had all been leading somewhere, and that somewhere was finally close enough to touch.

The apartment lights were on when I arrived. Good. At least he was home.

An old neighbor, Mrs. Hollis, waved to me from her porch, a watering can in hand. “Big day, isn’t it?” she called out.

“Big day,” I agreed, smiling despite the sudden flutter of nerves in my chest. It was strange, how something could feel both scary and wonderful at once.

I reached for our door, unlocked it, and stepped inside.

“Caleb?”

Silence.

The living room lights were off. Strange. I placed one paper bag of groceries down.

“Caleb?”

Then I heard it.

A female moaning, “ohhh… Caleb.” “Ahhhhh.”

“Ooohhhh! OHHHHH! Oh yes… oh, yes… yes…fuck! Ca… Caleb please!” The voice cried out.

My body froze.

No!

Another sound followed, low and breathless tangled with his voice, and something in my chest went cold in a way that has nothing to do with the storm outside.

Slowly, very slowly, I walked toward the sound. Each step felt heavier. My heartbeat became louder.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The bedroom door wasn’t fully closed. Light escaped through the opening, and beneath the low moaning of voices, I could hear the creak of the bed frame over and over, steady as a clock counting down to something I already knew and refused to believe.

I pushed the door open.

And my world ended.

I would know that butt anywhere, he was digging into another woman with a ferocity I have never experienced with him.

Bodies tangled together on the bed we had picked together, the same bed we had argued over for an hour in the store because he thought the frame I liked was too expensive.

The air smell of s*x and cheap perfume.

I stood there rooted to the spot. Staring at them for a while then the gift bag slipped to the floor.