VALERIA

He bites my thigh viciously and drags me beneath his body, controlling me mercilessly.

I try to resist, to call for help, my hands clutching my stomach, trying to protect my pup, but his claws, like deadly weapons, pierce my skin, tearing apart my small, vulnerable body.

I have to raise my arms instinctively when his sharp claws aim for my face, and I scream in agony as a deep wound slices across my cheek from my forehead.

Leaving my belly exposed, he struck our child.

"Nooo, not the pup, please, Dorian, not my son!"

Tears poured endlessly from my eyes as I begged him, but his canines tore through my flesh, and his claws dug into the depths of my insides with chilling cruelty, seeking to rip out the life growing inside me.

I don’t know how long this agony lasted—I sobbed, pleading as long as I could speak.

The pain in my entire body was unbearable, but worse was the pain in my soul, bleeding and shattered.

I was discarded on the ground like trash, on the edge of a precipice, my consciousness nearly slipping away from the pain when I saw him shift into his human form.

"You thought you could keep me tied to you forever, you idiot!" he yelled furiously.

His eyes were cold and disgusted, a look I had never seen before.

"Did you really think I loved you, that I was dying to have a child with you? What a waste!" He kicked me with rage, but I no longer had the strength to even moan in pain.

"Three damn years I've been separated from my mate because of you!" he roared, pouring out all the hatred he'd stored up over time.

"Why…?" I barely managed to whisper, my face swollen, my tongue heavy, and my throat bleeding from a deep wound.

"Because you came to the pack, the miserable orphan, and that stupid old woman said you would give birth to the strongest Alphas, powerful enough to elevate my bloodline."

"Pure nonsense from that crazy old hag, but my mother believed her and forced me to give up my woman for you because you were infatuated with me! She gave me three damn years to get you pregnant—that was our deal. If you didn’t succeed, I’d be free."

"So, today I come, ready to rid myself of an obstacle like you, and you show up pregnant with some bastard inside you," he laughed like a psychopath.

"I won’t let you do it again, Valeria. You won't ruin my life again. This is the end for you!"

He walked toward me, and I saw death staring me in the face.

I wanted to say so many things...

«I didn't know you already loved someone else. I was just a foolish, infatuated girl, but I never forced you to love me back. How could you deceive me, fake everything all this time? Our child… how could you… how could you do this…?!»

I felt so powerless as I lay there, sobbing, bloody, and dying.

I wished I could connect with his wolf, scream out this injustice, but I couldn’t—not even that. I didn’t have an inner she-wolf.

I could only shift my body and pretend.

Some said it was trauma from my adoptive parents’ violent death, where only I survived.

Others claimed it was a curse, but I knew that wasn't true. I had never felt the presence of a wolf spirit within me.

"Goodbye, dear wife. You don't seem so special after all," he said cynically, and with his foot, he kicked me over the cliff's edge.

The last thing I knew was the sensation of falling into the cold void.

I looked up at the dark sky as shadows of crows circled above my head, like messengers of death.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I couldn't protect you."

*****

"Why aren't her wounds healing properly?"

"I can't waste the pack's blood on a stranger. Jake already did too much rescuing her from the rogue woods. She has to heal on her own."

"Honestly, I don't even know how this woman is still alive. Poor thing… her body is horribly damaged, especially her belly… and her face."

I heard voices talking nearby, hands examining me.

An unbearable pain worse than death itself burned through my body, dragging me between consciousness and darkness.

I don’t know how much time passed or where I was, but when I opened my eyes, I saw a white ceiling.

I looked around and saw a small room, lying on a personal bed.

"You're awake?" a female voice spoke suddenly beside me, and I saw an unfamiliar face.

I tried to speak, but for some reason, I couldn't—it was as if my vocal cords refused to work.

"Don't strain yourself. Stay calm. You… I don't think you can talk right now because of the wound on your neck," she explained with a troubled expression.

And then, my foggy mind remembered—everything.

The first thing I did was reach for my belly, trying to sit up despite the dizziness and searing pain.

"Don't move! Wait, calm down, calm down!" she stopped me and eased me back down, but I needed to know—desperately—I had to know if a miracle had occurred.

I looked at her intensely and then at my stomach, wrapped in thick bandages.

"Yes… I understand what you're asking, but… I'm sorry… your belly was completely torn. Your womb was destroyed, and your pup… didn't make it. It was impossible to save him. We don't even know how you're still alive."

I felt the tears pouring uncontrollably from my eyes. I closed them in pure agony, my soul shattering.

My lips trembled, my entire body shook, and ragged sobs escaped my torn throat.

Why did this have to happen to me?

Why did everything around me have to turn into a nightmare?

My baby, my pup was innocent. Why did something so horrible have to happen to him?

"Calm down, please! You can't get like this! Aston, I need you here! Bring the sedative! Now, Aston, hurry!"

"Aaaahh! Aaaahh!" I heard distorted screams, a cry so raw it could freeze the blood and shatter hearts.

A desperate, broken woman wailed—and then I realized… it was me.

That wretched woman who had lost everything… was me.

*****

Days have passed. I know a man rescued me from the forest beneath the cliff.

I'm staying in a small pack not far from Autumn Forest.

With my hands still covered in wounds, I try to splash water on my face, but I can't even bear to touch my skin.

I lift my head, and as I do every time I face a mirror, I have to summon all my courage.

My face, once beautiful and envied by many she-wolves, now bears a horrific scar running across my forehead and another deep one on my left cheek.

Dorian not only destroyed my child's life, my womb, but he also scarred my face.

It should have healed, but I know it won't. I don't possess the rapid healing ability of werewolves.

Yes, I heal—but slower, and scars remain.

I step outside the small room and hear the healer and the she-wolf who treated me speaking quietly.

They're discussing how I've used too many resources and how they may have to ask me to leave soon since packs rarely welcome outsiders so easily.

But the she-wolf argues that I’m still in terrible condition.

I appreciate her care and empathy, but it won't be necessary to cast me out. I've already decided—I’ll leave tonight on my own.

*****

Hours later, I walk through the dark forest like a lost soul, the damp bandages soaked with reopened wounds, bleeding.

I don't care—my legs keep moving in a single direction.

Hiding in the bushes, I watch the patrol line carefully. I know exactly how to slip past without being detected—I designed this defense rotation myself for Dorian.

Like so many things I did for him and the pack.

I slip away into the shadows, as quickly as my battered body allows.

The night and darkness are my allies. It's as if they amplify my strange abilities.

I hear voices, laughter, and lights in the distance—from the backyard of what had been my home for three long years.

I walk as if in slow motion, wearing old sneakers and a worn-out dress that the she-wolf from the hospital gave me.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I've gathered you all here today because I could no longer hide my happiness. I’m finally marrying my beloved mate, the woman of my life, my sweet Sophia, your future Luna."

I feel like I'm falling into a cavern of ice as I watch them, smiling and kissing in front of those who once called me Luna.

It was my "best friend" Sophia and my traitorous Alpha Dorian, celebrating their union while my body should have been rotting beneath that cliff if their plan had worked.

Traitorous hypocrite!

That woman was even wearing one of my evening dresses, made up with my things, stealing my life without a trace of remorse.

She had deceived me all this time, just as I had been blind to everyone in this pack, and worse, to the man who lay beside me every night while thinking of another woman.

Even the midwife who told me about my pregnancy was there!

Dorian must have promised her something to keep her silent.

I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug into my palms, my teeth chattering with rage.

I waited, waited like the deranged psychopath I had become, watching their entire celebration until the lights went out and everyone left for their homes.

*****

I climbed the stairs to the second floor, walked down the dimly lit hallway, but I could hear them perfectly—making love in the master bedroom.

Her feminine moans slipped through the crack of the slightly open door.

I saw myself pushing it open gently. The moonlight streamed in through the large window, illuminating that bitch riding Dorian, her back facing the entrance.

"Alpha, tell me I'm better than her… Mmm… Come on, Dorian, tell me I'm better than that frigid Valeria."

"You're the best, baby… don't even compare yourself to that stiff. Fuck me in her bed, come on… wasn't that what you always wanted?"

Their filthy words hit my ears, and it was the final trigger I needed for everything to spiral out of control in an instant.

I lunged at them on the bed.