Chapter 0005

Elroy didn’t seem to think I was joking, but that was okay. He would never be allowed in the venue if he did show up, but it was still nice to hear him solemnly promise he’d be there.

I was sure I’d never see him again, but I was grateful to him. I’d probably never understand why he’d let a virtual stranger all but cry on his shoulder, but he had and I was sure I’d always remember that.

My slightly lifted mood vanished the second I walked through the door. My living room was drowning in flowers, with vases on every flat surface bursting with color. There was a card sitting on the entryway table, right where I couldn’t miss it.

I opened it up with shaky hands. Damian’s angular script floated across the paper.

Liv-

I know you don’t want to see me right now, but I wanted to do something to show you that I love you. Take the next couple of days to rest and pamper yourself. I’ll be back on Saturday, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I will never abandon you again.

I love you, and I can’t wait to be your husband.

Damian

Thank goodness the bathroom was so close—I almost vomited on my living room rug.

I hunched over the toilet bowl, expelling my partially-digested breakfast violently. Just the thought of that letter, that fake-love note, made me wish I’d taken an antacid before I left. How could he say something so shameless?

This was the true face of the man I’d loved. Of course I felt sick.

There was something about the way the nausea lingered, though, that didn’t feel quite right. At first I thought I’d eaten something, but how could I have fucked up frozen waffles badly enough to get food poisoning? Besides, that would have taken longer to kick in.

The alcohol would have made me sick before now, and I had metabolized it all by the time I woke up anyway so it couldn’t be that. I fumbled for the cup on the sink to rinse my mouth out. I’d heard people could vomit from stress, was that what was happening to me?

That would make the most sense. The last 24 hours had been hell on earth, after all. My whole world had inverted and imploded, my life trajectory changed and my heart broken, so I was certainly stressed.

Something in me said that wasn’t it, though. I couldn’t say what, but some part of me told me not to settle for the easy answer.

I flushed the toilet and stumbled out of the hallway bathroom, trying to rationalize to myself. I couldn’t be pregnant, not from a one-night-stand, not with my fertility issues. Sure, I’d taken that new medication, but then I’d downed half a bar’s worth of liquor so it probably cancelled out, right?

Even as I said all of this to myself, I headed for the master bath. I kept the pregnancy tests in there. There was no way, but it couldn’t hurt to have proof, right?

Four minutes later I was staring down at two pink lines and thinking, Well, shit.

My wedding was beautiful. The sun through the stained glass was beautiful, and the white hydrangeas were beautiful, and my dress was beautiful. I tried to appreciate that much, at least.

“And do you, Alpha Olivia Harp, accept your Goddess-given Mate bond with Beta Damian Tusca?”

I took a deep breath. This moment would seal everything—I still had time to change my mind.

“I, Alpha Olivia Harp, do hereby reject my Fated Mate.”

And just like that, the serenity was shattered. The celebratory atmosphere exploded into chaos as Damian clutched at his chest, falling to his knees as our Bond severed. For my part, I barely flinched.

I had been given two options: marriage or banishment. If it had just been me then I would have accepted my fate, but neither option was good enough for my child. Being raised by Damian was barely better than being raised by Rogues.

So I’d found option number three.

I smiled as the room erupted with noise, glad to finally have Damian on his knees where he belonged. He looked up at me, eyes full of betrayal, hurt, and rage.

“Why?” he choked out. “Why would you do this? The Moon Goddess had a plan for us!”

“I’m not the one who strayed from Her plan,” I revealed loudly. “I can’t accept a man who abandoned the Goddess Herself!”

There was more roaring, Greg’s voice among the racket. The officiant was wide-eyed, looking between me and Damian in blank confusion and shock. Probably wondering what he was supposed to do now.

That’s okay, I had it covered.

I pulled the projector remote out of my bust and held it up for the whole pack to see. “Moonshadow,” I announced, “today you were supposed to see a slideshow of romantic moments between myself and my ex-Fated Mate. Instead, you get to see his betrayal!”

I saw Greg storming up the altar steps at me, but I didn’t falter. My hands were sweating, my heart thundering in my chest, but I had never felt more sure of anything. I clicked the button.

There, on two large projector screens, was a picture of Damian kissing Louisa. The roaring turned into gasps, and I let myself smirk as the recorded audio started to play.

“I think the flowers worked,” Damian’s voice crackled over the loudspeakers. “She’s back to being a happy little idiot.”

“Is she kissing you again?” Louisa asked, clearly pouting.

“Nope!” Damian laughed. “And thank the Goddess—my lips are only for you.”

“Aww, baby! That’s so sweet. You don’t think it’ll be a problem, do you?”

“I just have to keep her on the hook for another week and a half, then we’ll be Mated and she’ll never be able to leave.”

I watched Damian’s face go pale, and Louisa’s turn green. Indignation rose in the air, and even Greg stopped halfway up the stairs in shock. How’s that for scandal? I thought viciously.

Damian staggered to his feet, pleading with the pack more than with me. A majority vote could veto his position as pack Alpha, after all—and that was all he really cared about.

“I had no choice!” Damian said frantically. “Olivia’s infertile!” There were gasps all around the church.

I couldn’t deny it stung to have that information paraded around, but I’d expected it. A pack’s Alpha needed heirs, or else the line of succession was broken and the entire pack was at risk. It was, unfortunately, an argument that would sway several pack members.

“Are you sure I’m the infertile one?” I asked loudly. Another click, and the final nails in Damian’s coffin came on the screen.

First, a line of positive pregnancy tests.

Second, a copy of Damian’s paperwork from the fertility clinic.

“Azoospermia!” I read off. “A complete absence of sperm cells. Damian paid the doctor to lie to me about the results!”

I watched Damian’s eyes dart around the room, looking for anyone who was backing him up, but he was only finding disgust and disapproval. I grinned with all my teeth.

“For the last eleven months I have been undergoing painful and expensive fertility treatments, from pills to shots to infusions, and the whole time Damian knew they would never work. He watched me suffer, not only physically but emotionally, afraid I would never be a mother. Does he seem fit to be pack Alpha to you?”

The roar started up again. Good, because public opinion would be the only thing keeping Greg from actually banishing me. And I knew he was going to try.

“But you’re pregnant!” Greg shouted. “So you cheated too!”

“Actually, I called our engagement off earlier that very day,” I announced. “We were not in a relationship, and while it was reckless of me to sleep with someone right away, I was hurting, not cheating. I only continued the wedding due to your demands!”

“So who’s the father then? Do you even know?” Greg spat.

I curled my nose up. Was Greg really siding with Damian, even now? I’d thought he’d have the good sense to abandon a sinking ship, but this worked out fine for me either way. I opened my mouth to reply when—

“That would be me,” a smooth, cold voice rang out. My mouth dropped open in shock. Elroy?

“So you tainted the Alpha bloodline with some nobody?” Greg shouted. “I should banish yo—”

Greg’s voice petered into a wheeze as all the air fled the room, running from the sudden surge of Alpha aura coming from my random one-night-stand. It was powerful, heavy—and very much not the presence of any call boy.

I realized I had made a large miscalculation.

“I, Alpha Elroy of the Eclipse pack, veto your decree to banish my Luna.”