_Rowena’s POV_

My bedroom door burst open so hard it nearly flew off its hinges.

I was startled the moment Velvet waltzed in hastily and excitedly.

“My Luna!” Her voice pitched high as she stumbled inside, still catching her breath. “He’s back. Alpha Kaelen’s back. He’s with Grandma Maelis right now in the east wing!”

I was sitting on my bed, scrolling through nothing in particular on my iPad, when those words hit me.

My hand jerked.

The stylus I was holding slipped and caught the edge of my finger, causing a thin, sharp sting. I hissed under my breath and pressed the cut to my lips, wiping the blood off.

Kaelen was back.

I sat there for a second, just letting that settle in my chest.

It’s been three whole years since I’d last seen my husband, the Alpha of Moonreign Pack..

Velvet was practically bouncing on her heels, grinning like she’d won something. She’d always been more hopeful for us than I let myself be. I gave her a small smile back, even though my eyes were burning in a way I wasn’t ready to explain.

Kyra, my wolf, had been quiet for so long I’d almost stopped expecting anything from her. But earlier today, she had actually stirred and paced, restless in a way she hadn’t been in years. I thought it meant something good.

I rushed to my closet and got dressed carefully, more carefully than usual. I clipped on the pair of pearl earrings my mother had left me. The ones I never wore because they felt too precious and too ceremonial. Today felt like the right kind of day.

“Okay,” I said quietly. “Let’s go.”

I told myself to walk slowly. Act normal. Be composed. But my feet had their own plans, and I was practically speed-walking down the hall before I even noticed.

It had been a whirlwind marriage from the start. The Moonreign Pack was small, wealthy, and established, but not exactly the kind of name that turned heads at galas.

When my father and brother died in a car accident and my mother’s health began to fail, she’d pushed for the match.

Kaelen Varkos, Alpha of Moonreign. She’d trusted his family, believed he’d protect me. And so I’d agreed. I had believed her.

Even when the mating bond didn’t come. Even when the wedding night ended with a packed bag and a closed door.

I was shocked when Kaelen accepted to make me his Luna, and I couldn’t understand why.

But two days after the wedding, he was gone, called away to handle a serious territorial dispute three states over. He’d stepped into our suite just long enough to straighten his jacket and look at me with those unreadable dark eyes.

He’d told me to wait for him.

And I had. For three years, I had.

I slowed down as I reached the east wing. The soft murmur of voices filtered through the closed door of the sitting room. I pressed a hand to my sternum and took a breath.

*Just go in. It’s fine. He’s your husband.*

Then the voices suddenly became serious.

“She doesn’t get a say in this.” A woman’s voice drifted into my ears. “Virella is coming into this family. That’s final. Kaelen is an Alpha. He can do whatever he wants.”

I stopped completely.

“We need to talk to Rowena about this.” Elira, Kaelen’s mother, spoke softly. “We owe her that much.”

The door was three feet away. I stood and stared at it.

Virella.

I didn’t know that name. I ran through every name I knew connected to the eastern territory dispute, every name Kaelen had mentioned in the handful of brief, impersonal calls we’d had over the years.

The floor seemed to tilt under me. I stood there, hand hovering near the door, the words turning to ice in my stomach.

“My Luna.” Velvet’s voice was barely a breath behind me.

I pushed the door open.

The room rearranged itself around me as I stepped inside.

A slightly older woman appeared in the doorway, Hannah, the family’s longtime housekeeper, with a smile stretched too tight across her face.

“Young Luna, you’re here. Perfect timing, everyone was just talking about you.” She stepped aside graciously. “Please, come in.”

I walked forward.

Grandma Maelis sat in the armchair at the center, her usual throne. Elira was beside her, hands folded too neatly in her lap. Kaelen’s brothers and his sister were ranged along the couch.

And Kaelen sat at the far end of the room.

Three years had changed him. He’d always been sharp-looking, but now there was something harder in the line of his jaw, something quieter and more dangerous in the way he held himself. He looked like a man who had learned to make decisions fast and live with them.

Beside him sat a woman I had never seen before.

She was beautiful, the kind of beautiful that knew it was beautiful. Bright eyes, delicate features, a floral sundress that showed off a figure that was, unmistakably, pregnant.

“Rowena.” Grandma Maelis’ voice was gentle but pointed. “Come, sit down.”

“Grandmother. Mom.” I greeted them each in turn, then turned to face my husband. “Welcome home, Alpha.”

“No need to be so formal,” Kaelen said. His gaze tracked over me slowly, and something flickered in it, something I couldn’t read and didn’t trust myself to hope for.

“Alpha Kael.” The woman beside him tugged his sleeve and tilted her head toward me with open curiosity. “Is this her? Is this Rowena?”

Her eyes locked onto mine, and she smiled.

I felt Former Luna Elira stiffened. I could see it.

“Who is this?” I asked Kaelen directly.

He met my eyes. “Her name is Virella Blackmoor. We met during the territorial dispute. She helped us resolve it.” A pause. “And…..she’s my wife.”

The room went very quiet.

“She helped us win,” Virella clarified, with a modest little laugh. “Negotiated the eastern border terms, actually. I kept things from getting truly ugly. I imagine it’s a little different from managing things on the home front, but every contribution counts.” Her gaze slid to me, sweet and pointed at once.

Nobody laughed.

I turned back to Kaelen. My voice came out very steady. “Your wife? I don’t understand.” I deadpanned, already feeling my heart pounding faster than usual. “What then does that make me?”

“Rowena….” Grandma Maelis started. Since Kaelen’s absence, Maelis had been the one controlling the pack. She was basically Alpha of this pack, despite her health condition.

“It’s a reasonable question, Grandma.” I kept my eyes on Kaelen. “You just introduced her as your wife. I’m also your wife. I’d like to understand the logistics.”

Kaelen’s jaw tightened. “Rowena, Virella is pregnant. The situation is what it is.”

I felt the words stab me like a blade to the chest. For a moment, the world around me went silent. Pregnant?

I must’ve misheard him.

Right?

Three years of running his household, managing his grandmother’s medications, sending careful updates to a man who replied in two sentences or not at all. Three years of wearing the title of Luna without a pack that truly saw her as one.

And he had gotten another woman pregnant?

“You have no children,” Elvira offered from her corner, pulling me from my thoughts. “It’s been three years, Rowena. What exactly were you expecting?”

I turned to look at her, and she had the grace to look away, though not quickly enough to hide the small, satisfied curve of her mouth.

My eyes were burning. I had promised myself they wouldn’t. I pressed the heel of my thumb to the corner of my eye, just once, and felt the warmth there.

How was I supposed to get pregnant when my husband left on our wedding night? Surely I would have known if there was a method of getting pregnant without one’s husband around.

I turned to Kaelen, holding his gaze with mine as I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces.

I didn’t give him the satisfaction of looking away first.

But I felt the first tear break free before I could stop it.

I didn’t bother wiping it. I just stood there and let it fall because I was done pretending the room wasn’t on fire.