Rejected Luna Of The Cursed Alpha

Fake

Three days.

Kael had left only three days ago, but to me, it seemed like an eternity. The mansion wasn't home anymore. I was waiting to wake up each morning and everything would be back to how it should have been, but all I remembered was that Serena now shared the mansion with me.

But she had never really crossed the line.

And that was the worst part.

She played her cards well.

Too well.

As long as someone was in the vicinity, she behaved like an angel. She inquired about my recovery. She gave compliments to Leo. She thanked me for "sharing my home with her."

Anyone looking from outside could see the perfect guest in her.

But I knew the other side of her.

Yesterday, she had come to the nursery when I was feeding Leo. With a bright smile, she made me believe for a moment that she actually cared about him. But then she looked at me. "I've always wondered what Kael's son would look like. " With a gentle touch of her fingers, she caressed Leo's little cheek. "And I'm glad I know it now. Thank you for this, for sharing this with me."

It could be the paranoid me that was reading more into whatever she says. I would have kicked her out, but she was acting genuine, but deep in my guts, I knew she was fake.

I smiled.

Helen was standing right behind her.

And if I did anything, everyone would know the truth about the perfect wife and see me as a jealous one. The previous day, she had come to me and picked up the necklace that Kael had once given to me. "That's a beautiful piece." She smiled as if remembering something amusing. "Kael showed it to me a few years ago."

With my heart missing a beat, I listened to her.

"He told me it belonged to his mother." She put the necklace down gently. "And I have always wondered when he'll finally use it."

She walked away without giving me a chance to find out what she meant.

Her words echoed inside me. Everything she was saying was making another seed of doubt grow in my head. All of her smiles created another wound. Each compliment contained an insult.

And it was maddening.

Even more than that...

It annoyed me that I wasn't sure whether she was lying.

I looked outside the bedroom window. The day had arrived. Kael had promised to be home today. Whether I wanted him to come so that we could get answers to my questions...

Or whether I preferred him to be away for a few days longer because I wasn't ready for the answers...

Just then, the sound of several cars arriving at the driveway reached me.

Kael had returned.

I barely entered the foyer when the front doors had already been thrown wide open. Kael walked through first. He looked tired. His well-kept hair was messy, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

In that moment, all my thoughts flew away.

The kiss.

Serena.

The gossip.

The space between us.

All I could see was my husband.

A smile played on my lips. "Kael."

He turned to look at me. The exhaustion on his face softened when our eyes met.

"Aria." He walked towards me with several steps. "You were standing?" He furrowed his brow. "You should be resting."

"I'm fine."

His hand went to my waist of its own accord. "Where is Leo?"

"He's sleeping." I responded

"I've missed him," he said.

And my jealous heart recognized that he hadn’t said he missed me.

I felt it when Serena arrived, not because I heard her voice, but because my husband’s hands that were formerly wrapped around my waist went away.

I stiffened

She came down the stairs in a gown of white, as elegant as the light from the moon, smiling. "You're back at last."

Kael turned toward her slowly. "Yes."

She took the last few steps until she stood before him. "I started to wonder if your important business was more important than making your way home. " A small chuckle escaped her lips. "I told Aria you wouldn't let us down."

Home. Us.

The word weighed on me like a stone.

Kael gave a slight smile. "I'm sorry to have worried you."

Worried...

Her.

Not me.

I looked away.

Maybe I was seeing too much.

Maybe childhood friends just talked like that.

Serena raised her hand without asking.

Without hesitation.

She brushed a speck of dust from Kael's shoulder. "There," she said softly. "You've always hated looking untidy."

Always.

Serena speaks like they share an inside joke, one that I do not have any say on. She knew things about him I didn't, little habits, little preferences, and little memories built over years that I had never been a part of.

I suddenly felt like an outsider in my own home.

"Is Leo asleep?" asked Kael.

"He was just sleeping a little while ago."

"I'll go check up on him." Kael began heading for the stairs.

Serena automatically joined him by his side. They walked ahead, chatting softly.

Laughter ringing out once.

I stayed where I was standing, watching them.

Helen joined me slowly.

"My lady...?"

I forced a smile on my face. "I'm fine." But I even did not convince myself.

My fingers instinctively touched the pendant of the moon that hung around my neck, the one that Kael put around my neck just three days ago and it suddenly felt heavier than ever before.

I couldn’t help but follow. They made their way upstairs without making any noise, and their steps brought me to our room, they were at his crib.

The door wasn’t closed all the way. My hand was already on the doorknob when I heard their whispering voices.

"What are you doing here? I said I will come back later. It’s not the right time for this."

"I know but I’ve been waiting for so long," Serena responded in an even voice. "I only wanted to see him."

There was silence. She sounded calm but then her tone changed.

"I have dreamt about this moment for years."

My eyebrows went down.

Who did she want to see?

Leo?

I got closer to the door.

"He looks so peaceful," Serena whispered.

"He does."

"I wish he would stay this way."

Kael didn’t say anything.

"He will grow up surrounded by love," she stated calmly. "He deserves that."

"You don't have to worry about him."

"I know," she responded, laughing lightly. "But... I would at least want him to be able to turn to me when he wants to be comforted. Children need to know who loves them."

A strange sensation was forming inside of my stomach. It did not sound suspicious. But somehow there was something about what she said that made me feel uneasy.

Kael kept quiet for a bit before saying, "The child nurse would arrive tomorrow.”

"Good, once we've finished settling all our issues, I can assure you I will treasure him as if he were my very own. I will care for him, nurture him, and ensure that he feels nothing is lacking from his life."

The door handle clenched hard under my fingers.

My heartbeat accelerated.

What was it that she needed to say?

How could my baby boy ever need another woman?

But I waited for Kael to step in.

To make her understand who Leo's mother was.

To put her in her place.

Instead, she heard his voice.

Soft and steady.

"I know you will."