THE ALPHA'S REPLACEMENT MATE UNWANTED LUNA HAS A SON

The paper trembles in my hands.

Three weeks.

I stare at the words on the pregnancy report, but they don't make sense. The letters blur together, swimming in and out of focus like I'm underwater.

"Miss Vance?" The doctor's voice cuts through the fog. "Did you hear what I said?"

"Y-Yes." The word scrapes out of my throat.

Her smile is kind, professional. She thinks this is good news. She thinks I'm going to run home and tell my husband, that we'll celebrate with champagne and start painting a nursery.

She has no idea.

My fingers tighten on the paper until it crinkles. Three weeks pregnant. Three weeks since that night when Damien came to me, when his rut made him forget,just for a few hours,that he hates me.

"Congratulations," the doctor says, but I barely hear her. My wolf stirs deep inside, and for the first time in months, I feel something from her. Not the usual numbness. Something else.

Protection.

I stand outside the hospital, the late afternoon sun too bright against my face. People flow past me on the sidewalk,humans, most of them, going about their ordinary lives. None of them can see the war happening inside my chest.

I'm pregnant.

With Damien Blackwood's child.

The man who looks at me like I'm dirt under his shoes. The man who only touches me when his biology demands it, who leaves before dawn like I'm something shameful. The man whose real love,my own twin sister,has been lying in a coma for two years because of me.

My hand moves to my stomach before I can stop it. Flat. Normal. But there's a life growing in there. A tiny spark of existence that's half me, half the man who wishes I didn't exist.

'Protect,' my wolf growls, suddenly fierce. 'Protect our pup.'

"I will," I whisper to the empty air. My eyes sting. "I will, baby. I promise."

Maybe,and I know this is stupid, I know it's pathetic,but maybe this will change things. Maybe when Damien finds out about the baby, he'll... what? Love me? That ship sailed two years ago when Seraphina ended up in that hospital bed. But maybe he'll at least stop hating me. Maybe he'll see that we could be a family.

Maybe this baby can be the bridge between us.

I close my eyes and let myself have this one moment of stupid, desperate hope.

"You're being weird."

I glance up from my phone. Chloe's watching me in the rearview mirror, her amber eyes,more wolf than human,narrowed with suspicion. We're sitting in her car outside the campus building where I just finished my night class, Ethan at the wheel, Chloe twisted around in the passenger seat to stare me down.

"I'm fine," I say automatically.

"Bullshit." Chloe doesn't blink. "You've been 'fine' for two years, Aurora. I'm sick of 'fine.'"

Ethan shifts in his seat, uncomfortable. He's human,doesn't have the enhanced senses that let Chloe pick up on every micro-expression, every shift in my scent. But he knows his girlfriend well enough to stay quiet when she's on a mission.

"Chloe,"

"No." She cuts me off. "Something happened. You smell different. You've been jumpy all week, and you barely said two words during class. So you're going to tell me what's wrong, or I'm not letting you out of this car."

My throat tightens. I've kept this secret for a week,seven days of walking around with this knowledge burning a hole through my chest, too scared to say it out loud. Because once I say it, it becomes real. Once I tell someone, I can't take it back.

But this is Chloe. My best friend since high school, the only person besides Ethan who doesn't look at me like I'm a murderer.

"I..." The words stick. I force them out. "I found my mate. Two years ago."

Silence crashes through the car.

Chloe's eyes go wide. Ethan's hands tighten on the steering wheel. Neither of them speaks.

"He's an Alpha," I continue, my voice barely above a whisper. "And he... he hates me."

"What?" Chloe's voice cracks. "Aurora, what are you talking about? How can your mate hate you? That's not,the bond doesn't work like that,"

"It does when you're the reason his true love is in a coma."

The words taste like ash. I watch Chloe's face shift from confusion to shock to something that looks horribly like pity, and I hate it. I hate all of it.

"Aurora..." Ethan starts, but I cut him off.

"I'm pregnant."

The silence this time is absolute. Even the street noise outside seems to fade away.

Chloe's mouth opens. Closes. Opens again. "You're... pregnant? With his,"

"Yes." My hands are shaking. I clasp them together in my lap. "Three weeks."

"Does he know?"

I shake my head.

"Does anyone know?"

Another head shake.

Chloe unbuckles her seatbelt and climbs into the backseat with me in one fluid motion. Her arms wrap around me, tight and fierce, and that's when I realize I'm crying. When did I start crying?

"Okay," she says into my hair. "Okay. We're going to figure this out."

"There's nothing to figure out." My voice cracks. "He made his choice two years ago. I'm just... I'm the replacement. The spare. And now I'm carrying his child, and he doesn't even know, and,"

"Aurora." Chloe pulls back, gripping my shoulders. Her eyes are blazing. "Listen to me. I don't care who this Alpha is or what happened two years ago. You are not a replacement. You are not a spare. You're my best friend, and you're strong as hell, and if he can't see that, he's a fucking idiot."

Ethan reaches back and wordlessly hands me a tissue. I take it, pressing it against my eyes, trying to get myself under control.

"We're here for you," Chloe says fiercely. "You and the baby. Whatever you need. Do you understand me? You're not alone in this."

Something breaks open in my chest. Relief, maybe. Or just exhaustion from carrying this weight by myself.

"I don't know what to do," I whisper.

"You don't have to know right now." Chloe's voice softens. "But you need to tell him eventually. He has a right to know about his child."

I nod, even though the thought of telling Damien makes my stomach twist with nausea. Or maybe that's just morning sickness starting early.

Ethan starts the car, and we drive through the quiet streets. Nobody speaks. Chloe keeps her arm around my shoulders, and I lean into her warmth, letting myself,just for tonight,accept the comfort.

My phone buzzes. I pull it out, and my heart sinks when I see the name.

Damien.

The message is short: Come home. Now.

No explanation. No please. Just a command, the way he always talks to me.

"I have to go," I say quietly.

Chloe's arm tightens. "Aurora,"

"It's fine." I try to smile, but it feels wrong on my face. "Really. Thank you. For... everything."

She studies my face for a long moment, then nods reluctantly. "Call me if you need anything. I mean it. Any time, day or night."

"I will."

I won't. We both know I won't. But the offer matters anyway.

Ethan drops me off at the small apartment complex where I live,where Damien keeps me, more accurately. It's a nice enough place. Two bedrooms, modern kitchen, everything I could need.

Everything except the one thing that matters.

I watch their taillights disappear down the street, and the loneliness crashes back over me like a wave. My hand moves to my stomach again.

"It's just you and me, baby," I whisper. "But I'll keep you safe. I promise. Your mama's going to protect you, no matter what."

Inside my chest, my wolf howls her agreement.

And for the first time in two years, I feel something that might almost be hope.