Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ana's hands trembled as she held the envelope that could change her whole life in a matter of seconds. This envelope contained her hopes, her dreams and her future happiness.

Her heart frantically pounded against her ribcage as her focus zeroed in on the envelope. She knew she had to gently open it, but the crazy amount of excitement and anticipation pressed down on her and practically begged her to tear open the letter and discover its contents this very second.

So with shaking hands, she quickly ripped it open and unfolded the paper to reveal the words printed in stark black ink. Her eyes quickly scanned the paper until she found what she was looking for.

"Not pregnant." The test declared.

No… no this was wrong! This was the opposite of what she was looking for!

Ana felt her knees weaken as an overwhelming amount of disappointment crashed over Ana like a suffocating wave of water. It stole her breath and made the world around her spin in a way that made her feel like vomiting.

She had hoped for weeks, she had even prayed desperately to the moon goddess, that this time would be different, that she would finally be able to give her husband the one thing he had desperately longed for for the past two years. A child, a son that would be his heir to the company and their pack.

Everyone knew that having a child was her first and most important duty as Luna to the pack. And she had failed to do that yet again. How could she be that useless?

"Doctor… A- Are you sure the test is correct?" Ana's voice trembled as she looked up at the doctor, with desperation colouring her face. "Can you test me again?"

Ana could only watch in despair as the doctor's expression softened with sympathy. She could see that he pitied her.

"I understand your concern, Luna. But I assure you, we always double-check our results. The test was negative, just like all the others you have taken over the last two years."

Ana felt her heart sink even more than she thought it could. What was he trying to say? That she was infertile? That she would not be able to give the Alpha the son that he desperately needed?

What would that mean for their marriage?

The doctor could see the obvious pain in her eyes and he felt even more pity for this young Luna.

"Luna, might I suggest something? I think you need to bring your husband for a check-up," the doctor suggested gently. "We should test him Just to rule out any potential issues on his end because I’ve said before, we can’t medically find anything wrong with you… but we don’t know about him yet."

Ana's breath caught in her throat at the suggestion, bring Alpha Jake here. And let him know that she had been trying and failing to give him a child? No. He didn’t know how bad it was yet, he didn’t even know she had been visiting the doctor for a check-up. Plus Jake was perfect, there couldn’t be anything wrong with him.

"No," she finally blurted out before she could stop herself, but the doctor could hear the fear in her voice. "No, Jake can't know."

If she couldn’t conceive, then it was her fault and her fault alone. Right? At least that’s what everyone told her. And if Jake knew that she had tried everything and still wasn’t pregnant, then he might start considering other ….. options.

The doctor's brow furrowed in concern, and his discomfort with her decision was obvious as he regarded her carefully.

“Luna, I understand your hesitation, but keeping secrets from your partner isn't healthy. It's important to be honest with each other, especially about something as significant as this."

Ana swallowed hard against the lump forming in her throat, as her eyes began to burn with unshed tears. She was already feeling extremely guilty for keeping such a secret from her beloved Jake. Jake had never hidden anything from her so the doctor couldn’t understand how much this secret was killing her on the inside. But she had no choice. She had to save her marriage.

“Please," she begged, her voice barely above a whisper. "You have to promise me you won't tell him. He can never know."

Reluctance was written on the doctor's face, but he felt very bad for her so he finally nodded slowly. "Alright, Ma’am. I won't say anything, besides I'm not in the position to tell him, You have my words. But I strongly encourage you to reconsider."

“Ok, thank you, Doctor.” She said before taking her leave, but she knew full well that Jake was never going to find out about her failed trials to get pregnant.

As Ana left the doctor's office, she felt a heavy weight settle in the pit of her stomach, She had spent 2 years hiding the painful reality from Jake, she had been masking her face with a fake sense of cheerfulness. But deep down, she knew the truth: she was broken, damaged beyond repair by the wicked hands of fate.

The same fate that had allowed the attack that had claimed her mother’s life in a highly suspicious rogue attack and also scarred her for life. But fate continued to make her life worse when she lost her wolf and was demoted to the pack’s Omega. They had called her useless and forced her to work as a maid for her stepmother and stepsister. The only person who ever accepted her and wanted her was her handsome, loving husband Alpha Jake. That was why she had to do all she could do to keep him by her side. No matter what.

Half an hour later, Ana stepped through the front door of her home, with her shoulders still sagged from exhaustion and disappointment with the pregnancy test.

But before she could even take off her shoes, she was met with the unpleasant sight of her mother-in-law’s face, Mrs Lorraine, the former Luna and Jake's mother.

Mrs Lorraine was standing in the living room with a look of disgust and her arms crossed over her chest like she was ready for a fight.

"Where have you been, Ana?" Lorraine's voice was sharp, and scornful, like it pained her to even talk to Ana. "I came here hours ago and you were nowhere to be found. Even the maids didn’t know your whereabouts, so where have you been throughout today?!”

Ana's heart sank at the accusatory tone in Lorraine's voice, this woman was troublesome and loved to pick on every little thing that Ana did whether right or wrong. But Ana wasn’t in the mood for her today, she was truly very exhausted and just wanted to crawl into her husband’s arms and cry herself to sleep.

“I’m sorry ma'am Lorraine, I was attending to pack duties," she replied as politely as possible.

Lorraine's eyes narrowed in disapproval as her lips curled into a sneer. "What stupid Pack duties, you Liar? I know you were busy gallivanting around town like some common street rat, you’re honestly a shame to your title. How can a Luna be so useless."

Ana bristled at the insult, and she felt her chest tighten with barely restrained rage. "I was doing my best Mother, I wasn’t expecting you to visit today or else I would have been around to welcome you myself.”

But before she could defend herself any further, Lorraine cut her off with a wave of her hand. "First of all, don’t ever call me mother again! I can never be unfortunate enough to have a daughter like you. Secondly, I’m tired of your stupid excuses, Ana. You're supposed to be focused on one thing and one thing only: making babies for my son, and you can’t even do that.”

“Moth— sorry, Mrs Lorraine, I’m trying my best-“

“Oh shut the hell up! You are a barren wasteland that just takes and never gives back! But all this is our fault anyway, what should we have expected from allowing Jake to marry a wolfless Omega that caused the death of her mother!” Lorraine snarled viciously.

The words struck Ana like a physical blow to her chest. Lorraine had just taken all Ana’s pain, past and trauma and just shoved it in her face. But why? Why did Lorraine hate her this much?

“That’s not fair Mrs Lorraine," she protested weakly, her voice trembling with the tears she was trying to swallow. "My mother’s death and the death of my wolf were not my fault and you know it!” Even as Ana said it, she knew her words were falling on deaf ears.

Everyone had bullied her for years over this, she had been locked up and kept hidden from the public because her stepmother and step-sister were too ashamed to be related to her.

It was only when Jake married her that life finally changed for her.

Lorraine scoffed at her, and her blue eyes flashed with pure disdain. "You’re useless and that’s all that matters, you haven't produced a single child after all this time… but thankfully, it seems that a surprising solution has finally returned to us."

Ana's cheeks burned with humiliation at the reminder of her inadequacy but then she frowned slightly. Did Lorraine say they had a solution? What was it?

"I never wanted Jake to marry you," Lorraine continued, her voice dripping with venom. "But after his heartbreak of losing your step-sister, he was desperate to love anyone. He chose you despite my protest and now look where we are."

That was it! Ana had heard enough for today! She didn’t want to hear another word about her step-sister for the rest of her life!

"Where's Jake?" Ana interrupted her mother-in-law.

Lorraine's lip curled into a mischievous smile as she nodded towards the staircase. "Upstairs, where he is tending to a very special surprise. Go and find him, I’m sure you will be blown away by what he has for you."

Lorraine shot her a wide smile that sent chills racing down Ana’s spine. Why was Lorraine smiling? Was she happy that Jake got her a surprise? What was the surprise?!