Barren Luna's Revenge

chapter 4

Chapter Four

Ana

I sat on the edge of the large, cold bed, staring at nothing. The silence of the room was broken only by the sound of the bathroom door opening. I didn’t look up. I knew the sound of his footsteps on the carpet. Desmond walked out, wrapped in a white towel, steam still clinging to his skin. He didn't say anything at first, but I could feel him watching me.

He moved behind me, his presence heavy and warm. I felt his hands slide around my waist, his fingers digging slightly into my skin. He pulled me closer until my back was against his damp chest. He leaned down, moving his face to the curve of my shoulder.

"What is the issue, Ana?" he asked. His voice was low, and he sounded almost like the man I used to love. "You’ve been so quiet lately."

I kept silent. My heart didn't flutter like it used to. Instead, it felt like a stone in my chest. Was he acting all caring now because he felt guilty? Or was he just faking it to get what he wanted? I looked at my reflection in the mirror across the room and saw a woman I barely recognized—tired, pale, and deeply lonely.

I pulled away from him and stood up, putting distance between us. "I am going to take a bath," I said, my voice flat. "You can sleep without waiting for me. I’ll be a while."

As I turned to walk toward the bathroom, he reached out and held my hand, stopping me. His grip was firm, not letting me go. He looked me in the eyes, his expression serious.

"My father’s birthday is coming up soon, Ana," he said. "He’s been asking for an heir for a long time. The pressure from the elders is growing. There is luck in trying tonight. Maybe the goddess will finally bless us."

I looked down at his hand on mine and felt a surge of bitterness. I pushed his hand away with more force than I intended. Did he think that sleeping with me or having my body meant love? It felt like a transaction to him now. He wanted an heir to please his father and the pack, not because he wanted a child with me. The irony was a sharp knife in my gut. I was already pregnant with his heir, but his first love was also claiming to carry his child. He was trying to fulfill a duty while his heart was somewhere else.

"There is no point, Desmond," I told him. I tried to keep my voice from shaking. "Everyone in this pack knows I cannot bear a child. They say it every day. Wouldn't it be better if you just stopped acting this way? No matter how many times we make love, I will not have a child."

I turned to walk away, ready to lock myself in the bathroom and cry. But as I took a step, a sharp, white-hot pain hit my stomach. It was so sudden that my knees buckled. I stood still, my hands flying to my belly, and I growled in pain. It wasn't a wolf's growl—it was a human sound of pure agony.

Desmond’s face changed instantly. He rushed over, his hands reaching out to catch me. "Ana? Are you okay? What’s wrong?"

But before he could even touch me, his phone on the nightstand began to ring. The sound was loud and jarring in the quiet room. I watched as he froze. He looked at me, then at the phone. He picked it up and saw the caller ID. I didn't need to see the screen to know who it was.

He answered it immediately, quickly forgetting that I was standing there, doubled over in pain. His voice turned soft and frantic. "Ema? What happened? Slow down." He listened for a second, his face pale. "Hold on, I am coming. Stay right there."

I watched, my hand still clutching my stomach, as he dropped the phone and began to move. He didn't ask me another question. He didn't check if my pain had passed. He got dressed in a blur of motion, pulling on a shirt and his shoes with shaking hands.

He looked at me for a split second as he reached the door. "Ema is in deep pain," he said, as if that explained everything. "She sounds terrified. I have to go to her. I’ll send Max, my beta, to check on you. Max will take me... I mean, he will take you to the hospital if you need it."

He didn't wait for my answer. He turned and ran out of the room. I heard his heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway, then the sound of his car engine roaring to life outside.

I sat on the floor slowly. The pain in my stomach was fading into a dull ache, but the pain in my soul was just beginning. Was I really that unimportant to him? Just one call from her and he was running as if she was going to die. He left me here, his wife, alone on the floor.

For two days, Desmond did not return to the house. He didn't come home that night, or the next. He did not even call to ask if I was okay or if the pain had returned. I spent those forty-eight hours in a daze, barely eating, barely sleeping. I looked at the gold ring on my finger. What was the point of having this on me? It felt like a heavy chain. I knew now that I was just a second standby—a placeholder until his real choice was ready.

On the evening of the second day, Max, the Beta, walked into the living room. He didn't knock. He just walked in, his arms crossed over his chest. The look on his face let me know he also felt disgust by my presence. To him, I was the reason the Alpha was stressed.

"The Alpha said he will be back tonight," Max said. His voice was clipped and cold. "He said you should not wait for him and go to bed early. He has things to attend to."

I looked at Max, feeling a spark of the old Ana—the one who used to manage this pack's books and care for its people. "Why are you telling me this, Max? Couldn't Desmond call me to tell me himself? He has a phone."

"He’s busy with important matters," Max snapped. "He doesn't have time for your moods."

"Okay," I said. I didn't have the energy to fight him. I didn't need to say much more.

Max started to walk away, then stopped. He looked back at me with a sneer. "You should stop acting all naughty and difficult, Ana. Being a Luna is already a blessing you didn't earn. Most people would be lucky to stand by the Alpha's side. You should be grateful instead of making things harder for him."

I sat there as his words rang in my ears. Grateful? Did he think I wanted to be close to his Alpha right now? Did he think I enjoyed being the pack’s punching bag? I watched him walk away and I took a deep breath. My mind was finally clear. The fog of hope had vanished.

I opened my bag and took out the rejection form. It was crisp and white, the ink dark and final. Tonight, I was going to end this. I was going to break the bond that held me to a man who didn't see me. I was going to get my life back, for myself and for my child.

My phone rang, vibrating against the coffee table. It was Lily. I picked up, and she sounded absolutely pissed off.

"Ana? Have you seen the social app?" she demanded. Her voice was loud with anger. "Alpha Desmond just bought a brand new luxury SUV for that b***h Ema. It’s all over the pack blog!"

My heart skipped a beat. I opened the app with trembling fingers. The news was at the very top. There was a photo of Ema standing in front of a white SUV with a giant red bow on it. Desmond was standing next to her, smiling.

I felt my heart almost stop. It was true. I scrolled down to the comments, and they were like poison.

“Congratulations to our real Luna!” one person wrote. “I can’t wait for her to officially take over,” said another. “She’s the right one to give the Alpha an heir, not that useless, barren Luna we have now.”

I didn't know when the phone left my hands. It clattered onto the floor. Tears began to drop down my cheeks, hot and fast. I felt like screaming until my lungs gave out. I felt like breaking down and hating the day I ever said yes to him. I hated the years I spent helping him, the nights I spent comforting him, and the love I gave him that he had thrown away.

The same pack who insulted me now was the same people who praised me when I helped them through the lean years. I had fed their families and organized their clinics. Now, I was a stranger. I was a nobody. I was the cursed, barren Luna.

I stood up, my movements slow and deliberate. I grabbed a metal bowl from the kitchen and a lighter. I walked out to the small stone patio behind the house. The night air was cool, but I didn't feel it.

I took out our marriage bond certificate—the paper that said we belonged to each other. I struck the lighter and watched the flame catch the corner. I dropped it into the bowl. Then, I pulled the gold ring off my finger. I didn't want it anymore. I threw the ring and all the small mementos I had kept into the growing fire.

What was the point of having them? Soon, we were no longer going to be mates. Soon, his love Ema would take over the house and the title. It was best I started clearing the path for her now. When she came to take my place, it would not be hard. I would be long gone.

The paper curled into black ash. The gold of the ring glowed in the heat. I watched the smoke rise, feeling a strange sense of peace.

Just then, I heard a low, shocked voice from behind me.

"What are you doing?"

I turned around slowly. Desmond was standing at the edge of the patio. His face was pale, and his eyes were wide with shock. He looked at the bowl, then at me. He ran toward me and reached into the bowl, pulling away the remaining pieces of paper I was about to throw into the fire.

He looked at the marriage bond certificate, half-burned and blackened. He looked at the ring sitting in the embers. Then, he looked at me, his face twisting with a mix of anger and confusion.

"What the hell have you done?" he yelled.