Ashley’s POV
“Are you serious? Vicki?!” I covered my mouth in shock.
I was sitting in the office of the pack hospital, still unable to believe the answer I had just heard from Vicki.
“Yes, Ashley. You’re pregnant. Unless you don’t trust me as a doctor.” My best friend Vicki hugged me tightly and said it with full certainty.
I shook my head, and I could no longer hold back my tears. Goddess knew how badly I had wanted this to happen.
As an Omega chosen to be the Luna of a pack, I was like a common girl chosen to be a princess. We all knew it was not easy. Especially since I was an Omega orphan who had lost her own pack. The only reason I became that lucky girl was because my father had been close friends with the former Alpha of the Blackwood pack.
When my father died in a rogue attack, Alpha Brian came to my small pack and brought me here. He followed my father’s last wish and marked me as the Luna of the Blackwood pack.
I knew our marriage was not love. It was an act of kindness.
For the past three years, I had tried hard to become the Luna his pack needed—and the partner he never asked for but badly needed. I hosted ceremonies, managed the clinic, settled fights, protected the pups, and stood by his side at every pack meeting. At the same time, I secretly used my talent in art to help the pack make more money. Every time I wanted to tell Brian about my work, he always had to leave in a hurry because of pack business.
Because of that, our pack rose smoothly to become the second strongest pack on the East Coast. But then something terrible happened—I never got pregnant.
Even though I had proved that an Omega could also be a good Luna, the fact that I had no child seemed to erase everything.
Every time I walked through the pack hall, I could hear the members whispering.
“A weak Omega. She can’t even get pregnant.”
“I bet Alpha will announce a new Luna soon.”
Brian had never defended me in public. That was why their words scared me. I was afraid Brian really would take away my Luna title for the sake of an heir. But I was not worried about the title itself. Over the past three years, my need for him had only grown stronger. I wanted to be his lover, not just his political partner.
Thinking of this, I said goodbye to Vicki at once. I could not wait to tell Brian.
I touched my flat stomach. I believed Brian would finally fall in love with me.
But when I arrived at the pack office, I heard a woman’s voice from inside. I stood outside the door, and that familiar voice almost stopped my heart.
“Brian… I know I shouldn’t have come back.” Silvia’s voice sounded weak and full of pain. “But I… I don’t want to die with regrets.”
Silvia. The woman who had existed before I came to the Blackwood pack. Brian’s real fated mate. Three years ago, she protected Brian from a deadly rogue attack. Her heart and wolf spirit were badly hurt. Then she suddenly disappeared.
“Don’t talk about dying.” Brian’s voice was softer than I had ever heard in three years. “What did the healer say? Is there really no other way?”
“My wolf spirit is too badly damaged,” Silvia sobbed softly. “When I saved you that day, the rogue’s claws did not just hurt my heart. They tore my wolf spirit apart too. Brian, I only have half a year left.”
I heard a chair move, and I could imagine Brian standing up to comfort her. My heart felt like it was being cut open.
“I have regretted it every day for the past three years,” Silvia continued. “I should have stayed. I should have become your Luna and given you an heir. But I was too scared. I was scared you would be disappointed if you saw how weak I had become.”
“Silvia…” Brian’s voice choked. “It was my fault. If I had pushed harder back then, if I had not let my father’s last wish tie me down…”
“No, Brian. It was not your fault.” Silvia’s voice became even weaker. “I know Ashley is a good girl. I know you kept your promise to her father. But… I really want to know what it feels like to be your real wife, even if it is only for half a year.”
Something broke inside my chest. I held the report tightly. The paper that proved I was pregnant now felt like a cruel joke.
“I’ll handle this,” Brian said firmly. “Ashley will understand. She knows our marriage was only… only a promise I had to keep.”
“I don’t want to hurt her, Brian,” Silvia said. “I don’t need the Luna title. I just want… to register our marriage with the council.”
“I know,” Brian cut her off. “And the Luna position should have been yours from the start.”
A temporary replacement.
Those words stabbed into my heart like a knife. So in his eyes, my three years of hard work, everything I had done for this pack, and all my love for him meant nothing.
I heard footsteps coming toward the door. I tried to leave in a panic, but the report slipped from my shaking hand and fell to the floor with a clear sound.
The door opened at once. Brian stood there. His face changed from surprise to the cold look I knew too well.
“How much did you hear?”
I looked at him, the man I had loved for three years. Then I looked at Silvia behind him, pale and weak, but still beautiful.
I bit my lip and touched my stomach again.
“Everything.”
“Good. Then I don’t need to waste time telling you.” Brian’s voice was cold.
“Don’t you want to hear my answer?” I looked at him stubbornly. When I saw the disgust in his eyes, my heart started to shrink back. But then I thought of my child. In the pack, children born outside a proper bond were always looked down on.
“I refuse your decision,” I said firmly.
Brian’s face changed from shock to deeper coldness. Being refused in front of Silvia clearly made him angry.
“You are so disappointing, Ashley.” His voice was full of anger he had held back for a long time. “I know what you are worried about. You have no pack to protect you, so you are afraid of losing this comfortable life, right? I can give you an unlimited card right now. If you cannot even show this much kindness, then you are hopeless. You are cold, selfish, and unreasonable. You do not deserve anyone’s love.”
His words hit me like a whip, but what came next was even crueler.
“This is why your father died. Because he had a weak, useless, selfish daughter like you. You could not protect him at all, so when the rogues attacked, he had to fight alone.”
My mind went blank. How could he say that? My father was killed by rogues. Brian knew I had almost broken down after my father died. He was the one who suddenly appeared and took me to the Blackwood pack.
Back then, he held me in his arms and said, “You will be my Luna. The Luna of Blackwood, one of the strongest packs on the East Coast. No one will bully you again.”
I once looked at his side profile and his handsome jaw, and I felt like I had found a reason to keep living. I thought that was the beginning of my happiness. Now I understood. His kindness had only been a favor.
It felt like the floor had disappeared under my feet.
“I agree to the divorce,” I heard myself say. My voice was so calm it scared me. “No. I want to reject your mark.” Only by fully rejecting the mark could werewolves truly separate.
Anger flashed in Brian’s eyes.
“Enough. Are you trying to make me feel guilty by rejecting my mark? I won’t let you win. This is the final decision.”
After saying that, he helped Silvia leave.
I could not hold myself up anymore. I slid down against the cold cabinet door and collapsed onto the floor.
It was so funny. I thought tonight would be the moment Brian finally fell in love with me. Instead, it became the most shameful moment of my life.
Tears fell again. My heart felt like it had broken into thousands of pieces. My whole body shook as I placed my hand on my stomach again. There was a tiny life inside me. I remembered what Vicki had said at the hospital.
“Ashley, you do not have a wolf spirit. Strong emotions can affect the baby’s safety.”
I could not break down. I would never accept Brian’s ridiculous demand. I was fully able to raise my child by myself.
Brian thought I was a parasite living off the pack. But in truth, every dollar I spent came from my own art work. The money I had saved over the past three years was enough for my child and me to live a decent life.
Since Brian wanted Silvia, I would leave the pack with my child.
“Baby, don’t be afraid,” I said, gently touching my stomach. My voice shook, but it was firm. “Mommy will protect you, no matter what. We don’t need anyone’s pity.”
