1. Two Pink Lines

Castor Roman wrapped his arms around me from behind as I stood at the kitchen counter, slicing strawberries for his breakfast. He kissed the side of my neck where my Luna mark was. It made both of us shiver. 

"Morning, beautiful," he murmured. "What's on the menu today?"

"Your favorite," I said as I leaned back against him. "Pancakes with extra fruit and whipped cream."

"You spoil me." He reached around to steal a strawberry slice before popping it into his mouth with a grin. "What would I do without you?"

 This was what I lived for. These little moments when it felt like I was the center of his world. No matter how hard things got with the pack or how much his mother's icy stares and constant criticism hurt, Cast made it all worth it.

"I love taking care of you," I said as I faced him. I traced my fingers along the dark stubble on his jawline. "You know that, right?"

"Of course I do." He pulled me closer and touched his forehead against mine. "I'm the luckiest man in the world. I'll be in the gym. Let me know when breakfast is ready?" 

"Oh course," I whispered against his lips. 

He smiled before turning and walking away. 

I closed my eyes, basking in his affection. This was real. This was love. Castor was my rock, my everything.

But the feeling never lasted. 

"Delilah, you forgot the omega meeting notes again," Mrs. Roman's voice shattered the blissful daydream about Cast. 

She stood in the doorway, arms crossed, her unnaturally bright platinum blonde hair framing a body that appeared frail, but I knew better. 

Mrs. Roman wasn't frail or old. Her natural hair had once been as dark as Castor's before she'd started bleaching it to this brittle shade that made her look twice her age.

She wasn't even forty years old yet.

Alpha Phoenix, Castor's father and her husband, had died when Castor was seventeen. She'd been only eighteen when she had Cast. Now, two years after Castor took over as Alpha, she seemed determined to play the role of a grieving widow, older than her years. 

I never understood why.

Maybe it was for sympathy, or perhaps it was her way of holding on to the past.

I often wondered what she saw when she looked in the mirror. Did she see the woman she once was, or the one she was pretending to be now? 

Her eyes, lined with expertly applied makeup to make them look sunken in, still held the sharpness of someone who was anything but fragile. 

As she stared, it triggered the familiar creeping doubt that always surfaced when she was near.

She didn't need to speak for me to feel her disapproval. It was in how she looked at me like I was a constant disappointment.

And maybe I was. 

No matter how hard I tried to be the Luna she expected me to be, I always fell short. Castor defended and reassured me, but it never erased the feeling that I wasn't enough. 

Not for her, not for the pack, and sometimes, not even for him. Her presence was a reminder of everything I wasn't, everything I could never be. 

She wore her grief like a cloak, and even though it was a facade, it was more real to her than the future I was trying to build. She didn't want to move on, and deep down, I feared she didn't wish Cast to either. 

That was the real reason she kept her hair that harsh, unnatural color. Because it allowed her to remain in the past, where she was the Luna, not me. 

She made her disappointment clear in every interaction. "You can't keep making these mistakes. My legacy is at stake here, you know."

I swallowed, and the familiar sting of failure quickly returned. "I'm sorry. I'll..."

"Fix it. Yes, yes, I know, I've heard that before," she snapped. "Always so many excuses. The pack needs a Luna who can handle her responsibilities, not someone who's constantly apologizing and half-assing it."

I nodded, biting my lip to avoid saying something I'd regret. This was the woman who raised Cast. I had to remind myself of this over and over. 

I couldn't let her see how much she hurt me. I had to be strong and the Luna she wanted me to be. 

She demanded I be.

Because she was right. 

No matter how hard I tried, it was never enough.

"You're doing great," Cast told me that night, holding me close as I fought back tears. "Mom doesn't understand how much you do for the pack. But I see it, Lila. I see how hard you work."

He always tried to soothe the doubt that I dealt with constantly. But he couldn't erase the whispers from the pack, the way they looked at me like I was a failure. I was Castor's wife, the Luna, yet I felt like a fraud every single day. Mrs. Roman reminded the pack of my failures every chance she got, and I could feel it in their interactions with me. I was a placeholder. A stand-in.  

I had to be better. For Castor. For the pack. For myself.

The next morning, I threw myself into preparing breakfast, determined to make everything perfect. I made omelets, bacon, and hashbrowns, but nothing sweet or bread-like.

Everything just the way Mrs. Roman liked it. If I could do this right, maybe today would be different. 

Maybe today I would finally be good enough.

But as I set the plates on the table, Mrs. Roman didn't waste a second. "Why are you not pregnant yet, Delilah? It's not that hard to open your damn legs and lay there. Even you can't mess that up, right?"

That question, the same one she asks every day, hit me harder than usual. I'd been trying so hard all morning to make our daily breakfast perfect for her. 

She didn't even notice or care. I started shaking, causing the plate to slip from my grasp and shatter on the floor.

"I'm trying," I whispered. But the truth was, I didn't know if I was trying hard enough. If I could be enough. It had been two solid years of trying. 

Trying and failing. 

Later, that nagging doubt returned as I cleaned up the broken pieces. No matter how much Cast defended me, no matter how much I tried, I wasn't sure I'd ever be the Luna the pack needed.

Or the wife Castor deserved.

I knew what she really meant.

 I was a tool, failing at the one thing that mattered. It hurt more than I wanted to admit. I would smile and brush it off. I would pretend it didn't bother me, but inside, I felt hollow.

I knew she was right.

Without a child, I was just a placeholder. Someone to be tolerated, not cherished.

She was at it again a few days later, drilling into me about how I wasn't cut out to be Luna.

I stood at the stove, flipping pancakes and ignoring the familiar sting. The smell of sizzling batter turned my stomach, and I had to step away. I went to the other side of the kitchen and gripped the counter to steady myself. I wanted to punch her. More than I ever had before. 

"Can't even cook without burning something?" Mrs. Roman spat. "Cooking is the only thing you're halfway decent at, and even that's gone to hell now? Your days will be numbered soon at that rate."

Later that day, I took another test, just like I did every month. It had become a ritual, one filled with dread and disappointment. I knew not to get my hopes up. It would be the same as always. 

One pink line and I would return to pretending I didn't care.

But this time was different.

Two pink lines.

Two. Pink. Lines.

My heart stopped. I blinked and stared at the test, willing it to change, to turn back into the single line I was so used to seeing for a second. I wasn't Mom material. I wasn't even really Luna material.

Cast's Mom made that clear every day. 

But it didn't. 

Two pink lines. 

I was pregnant. I was really pregnant.

I started crying as I sank to the floor, clutching the test like it was my lifeline. 

This was real. This was happening. 

After all the years of waiting, hoping, and silently crying myself to sleep, it was finally real.

 I was going to have Cast's baby. 

He was going to be so happy. 

So unbelievably happy.

I could give him the family we both wanted so much.

I couldn't wait to tell him. I couldn't wait any longer. I had to see Cast. I had to tell him the news face-to-face. I imagined the look on his face, the way his beautiful brown eyes would light up when he realized what this meant.

He loved me, and this would make him love me even more.

It had to.

I texted Selena, telling her I had exciting news and asking if she could come over later. Usually, she replies within minutes. But this time, there was nothing.

I checked my phone again, feeling a strange sense of unease settling low in my stomach. Selena had always been there, the one friend who stuck around after Mrs. Roman made sure I was isolated from everyone else. We'd been close ever since. Maybe not the kind of deep friendship I'd once had with others, but still, she was the only one who hadn't turned her back on me.

She'd always been there, especially when I had no one else. Everyone in the pack seemed to love her, which often softened the blow for me. 

I sent Castor a quick message, asking what he wanted for lunch. If Selena was busy, surely Castor would answer. But his silence mirrored hers, and that ripple of unease turned into a cold, sinking feeling in my stomach.

Why weren't they responding?

A part of me wanted to share the news, to tell Selena everything, but something held me back. Maybe it was the strange silence, or maybe it was the nagging doubt I couldn't shake. I decided not to text her again. 

I could hardly contain my excitement as I drove toward Castor's office. He was going to be a father. I imagined his face when I told him...the surprise, the joy. 

It would be the moment we had both waited for, the one that would finally make everything right. I could almost hear him whispering in my ear how proud he was of me and how much he loved me.

Castor was the Alpha of our pack, the leader who commanded respect and fear. Under his father, the pack had built Georgia's largest werewolf-run real estate investment business. Castor had only expanded it, making his mark on the city and solidifying his power among humans and werewolves alike. His office, located in a grand ten-story building in downtown Augusta, was a testament to that success.

The building itself was a relic of old-world Georgia, with its stately columns and wrought-iron balconies, a symbol of the strength and tradition that Castor upheld. Every detail screamed of the pack's influence. He wanted it to feel intimidating, and it did. 

As I stepped inside, my heels clicking on the marble floor, I felt the familiar sense of unease I always did. The pack members who worked directly for Castor were always around, their dark brown hair and piercing chocolate brown eyes a constant reminder of how different I was. With my blonde hair and blue eyes, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I was a continual outsider in my own world. I couldn't shake the feeling that I would never truly belong, no matter how hard I tried.

I approached the elevator, trying to ignore the glances I received. Their eyes followed me, assessing, judging.

I knew what they thought. I was too soft and too human to be the Luna this pack needed. But I was determined to prove them wrong. I was carrying Castor's child now, and that meant everything would change.

The elevator doors opened and I stepped inside, pressing the button for the top floor. My heart raced as the elevator ascended, each floor bringing me closer to Castor. I clutched the small gift box with the test in my hand. It was going to be perfect.

When the doors slid open, I was greeted by Castor's receptionist. She was a young woman with dark hair and the same piercing brown eyes as the rest of the pack. She looked up, surprise flickering across her face.

"Delilah, what a surprise. Castor's in a meeting," she said, standing quickly to block my path.

"It'll just be a moment, really," I replied. 

"He's... he's really busy right now. It might be better if you..." she started to say.

I barely registered what she was saying. I was too focused on the news I was about to share. "It'll just take a minute," I said, brushing past her. I didn't realize my excitement was overpowering the odd feeling in my stomach.

But as I neared Castor's office, a low moan stopped me in my tracks. I froze, my hand hovering over the doorknob. The sounds grew louder.

Moaning, growls, gasps. Each one was more unmistakable, more horrifying than the last.

My body went numb as the realization hit. I could barely breathe as I pressed my ear to the door, praying I was wrong. But the noises left no room for doubt.

I stood there totally paralyzed, my hand shaking violently as I finally gripped the doorknob. 

I didn't want to open it. I didn't want to see what I already knew. But some force, some terrible need for the truth, pushed me forward.

I opened the door slowly, each click echoing in the hollow silence around me. 

The door creaked open, inch by excruciating inch, and my breath hitched in my throat.

At first, the scene didn't register. The dim light, the heavy scent of sweat and musk, and the soft, rhythmic sounds filled the space.

Then, the reality hit me all at once. Selena was straddling Castor, her body rippling with an intimacy that made my stomach turn. Seeing her naked skin sliding against his... the way her nails dug into his chest... the way his hands gripped her hips.

It was too much.

I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. The bile rose in my throat as I watched them, every movement searing itself into my memory. Selena's head was thrown back, completely lost in the moment. Castor groaned her name beneath her, his eyes squeezed shut, oblivious to everything but her. 

The man who had promised to love me, to protect me, was now betraying me in the most visceral way possible.

The room spun, and I gripped the doorframe to keep from collapsing. 

My heart didn't just break. It shattered, splintering into a thousand jagged pieces that tore through my chest. 

This couldn't be real. 

It had to be a nightmare, some twisted hallucination brought on by my worst fears about being a Mom.

 But no, it was real, and it was happening right in front of me.

Selena's eyes fluttered open, locking onto mine. The color drained from her face. She froze as horror slowly dawned in her wide eyes. 

But it was Castor's reaction that truly eviscerated me. His eyes snapped open, and the ecstasy twisted into panic. He jerked away like he could somehow undo what had just happened.

But there was no undoing this. 

No going back.

 The betrayal was as deep as it was final. 

The life I had built, the love I had clung to while I was told I was nothing over and over, crumbled to dust around me. 

I was left standing in the wreckage. 

Mrs. Roman had been correct. I was nothing. 

I was nothing but the tool who was now pregnant with the cheating Alpha's kid.