Too Late, the Luna Has Already Moved On

Chapter 3 – Making Moves

Angela's POV

Just thinking about the little pup in my womb breaks my heart.

I'd known Rosalie for over a decade. She’d been there for me from the beginning. The first person I turned to when I wanted to confide something. The first person I told about my infatuation with Jake. She was there when we sealed our matebond before the altar. Smiling that smile of hers. As if she understood everything.

Now she was sitting across from me in the Healers' Quarters, listening to me speak about my broken matebond, about wanting to end my pregnancy. .

"I don't love him anymore," I said.

I gave her a small smile.

Rosalie didn’t argue with me.

"I haven't told Jake about the pregnancy," Ie said. "Things will be awkward if I continue to stay at the Luna quarters, despite the rejection."

I didn't need to explain. If Jake found out, he'd have leverage. He'd use it — not out of love, but because that was what Alphas did when something slipped out of their control.

Rosalie ordered the panel and turned back to me.

"You'll need to wait a few days before the procedure," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"RH-negative blood type. Rare even among wolves. I've already contacted the blood bank — it'll take about a week to secure a match." She paused. "There's something else."

I waited.

"You're showing early signs of miscarriage." Rosalie kept my voice clinical. Even. "Take care of yourself this week. No stress. No overexertion."

I looked down at my hands.

Rosalie took one of them. "I'm off at noon. Wait for me. We'll get lunch."

I nodded once. Didn't speak. The words escaping me.

I stood in the hallway and pressed my palm flat against my stomach.

Early signs of miscarriage.

Did the pup already know?

We won't let it, Silvia said. Her voice was fierce. The baby is ours. It's pack blood. It deserves to live.

Silvia—

Don't. Her voice cracked. Don't tell me you've already decided. I felt what you felt in there. You're not sure. You're just scared.

I pressed my lips together and didn't answer her.

She was right. I wasn't sure. But being unsure wasn't the same as having a choice.

My phone buzzed.

Bank alert. The new account — the one I'd opened yesterday, separate from everything tied to Jake. The notification read: Payment for song composition and lyrics has been transferred.

Before taking on the role as Jake’s Luna, I’d worked as a behind-the-scenes musician. When my father was still alive, he had spoiled me. Ensured I got the best out of everything. Which included a formal musical education.

What was once seen as a cultivated hobby. Later turned into a steady source of income for me.

However, in the beginning, it wasn’t as steady as I would’ve liked it.

The reason being that the former Alpha, Jake’s grandfather, had been an authoritarian.

He pressured pack members to keep matters of the pack and the outside world separate, discouraging our wolves from having lives outside the pack.

In order to make a living outside, members would have to resort to sneaking out of the pack when Alpha Nolan wasn’t looking or working remotely.

Now that Jake was the Alpha, those days were long over. I could now communicate freely with my employer without looking over my shoulder.

The steady income would prove to be invaluable, especially now that Jake and I had decided to go our separate ways.

A message followed.

That's yours. You deserve every cent. There's a competition running right now that was made for you. Details in your email. I saved you a spot.

I opened the email. Music competition. High original content requirement. The kind of stage my father had always said I was built for, back when he was alive and the world still felt like it had room for what I wanted.

I'll think about it, I typed back.

Pain moved through my lower abdomen. Dull. Insistent.

My phone buzzed again.

Another alert from my phone momentarily distracted me from the pain. It was from Cipher. The forum that only wolves had access to. The forum was one of the more progressive moves that Jake had made shortly after becoming Alpha. Members inside and outside the pack could post anything from job leads to gossip—which happened to be the case right now. As long as no one broke the rules of the forum, members could post freely here. All you had to do was sign up.

The post had already collected hundreds of reactions.

[Adrienne Jenson — bloodline curse confirmed. Six months. She's launching a real-time diary of her final days. Video attached.]

I clicked on the link.

Packhouse foyer, earlier today. Adrienne stood in front of a small crowd, pale and composed, a wanly constructed smile on her face.

"I want to document this journey," she said. "If it helps even one person facing the same illness feel less alone, that's enough for me."

Someone called out: "What about the rumors? Alpha Jake already has a mate."

Adrienne didn't flinch.

"I won't pretend I don't have feelings for Jake. He's an exceptional Alpha. But I will never be the third party in someone else's mating. That is my line."

The video ended.

She's lying, Silvia said flatly. I can't smell her through a screen but I know. She's been marking our territory for months. Little things. His jacket. The packhouse entrance. The living room flowers. Wolves notice even when Alphas don't. By the time you caught on, she'd already made half this pack feel like hers.

I stood in the corridor and looked at the blank screen.

I knew. I'd known for a long time.

Adrienne's POV

Packhouse corridor. Moments later.

I let the smile drop the second I cleared the crowd.

Sandra fell into step beside me.

"Ms. Adrienne." Low voice. "If the other healers talk — if anyone investigates the diagnosis—"

"They won't."

"But your actual condition is anemia. If the truth—"

I stopped walking. Sandra stopped too.

"Two options," I said. "One: I continue receiving treatment from the Fireflies healers and make a miraculous recovery. Love heals all, the pack weeps with joy." I tilted my head. "Two: the healers' diagnostic records come into question. Medical malpractice. Territory-wide."

Sandra's face went the color of old paper.

"So," I said. "Which is it?"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Adrienne." Barely above a whisper. "I was being overly cautious."

Loser, Beatrice muttered.

I didn't disagree.

"Healers' Quarters," I said. "I need the Moonshade Elixir and my terminal paperwork."

I opened the mind-link to Jake as I walked.

Meet me at the Healers' Quarters.

His reply came in under ten seconds. On my way.

I allowed myself one small, private smile. Everything was moving exactly as it should.

Angela's POV

Healers' Quarters restroom. The same moment.

I gripped the edge of the sink.

The tissue in my other hand was stained red.

The pain in my lower abdomen had moved from dull to sharp. My wolf aura flickered — unstable, scattered, the way it got when the body was fighting something it couldn't win.

Silvia's howl filled my skull.

Not words. Just grief.

I'm sorry, Silvia whispered. She never apologized for anything. I'm so sorry, Angela.

I pressed my lips together and looked at myself in the mirror. The woman looking back was pale. Controlled. Holding it together one breath at a time.

I knew what this was.

Early signs of miscarriage.