“Alpha’s Fake Heiress: The Luna He Rejected”

Something in his low, commanding tone made me obey without question. I slid into the back seat, my heart pounding.

The door slammed, and the car sped off into the night.

I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to breathe. “Who are you? ”

He looked at me through the mirror. “A friend. Sent by someone who still believes in you.”

I frowned. “Who? ”

He didn’t answer.

The city blurred past street lights dimming, rain beginning to fall. My image in the glass looked like a stranger: pale, hollow-eyed, mascara bleeding down my face.

I touched the spot on my neck where his mark should’ve been. An empty ache spread through me.

“He didn’t even ask if I was okay,” I whispered.

The driver said nothing.

I turned my face toward the window, hiding the tears. The rain outside looked like silver fire, falling from heaven to wash me clean of everything I’d ever known.

But the ache inside wouldn’t fade.

I had lost everything. My title. My mate. My name.

And yet… a strange calm fell over me, somewhere between sadness and fury.

If Aurora wanted war, she would have it.

I straightened in my seat, wiping my tears with shaky hands. “Take me anywhere no one will find me.”

The driver nodded. “Understood.”

The car turned down a small road heading away from the city lights. I stared out the window, repeating Lorenzo’s words over and over until they became a blade in my chest.

You were never meant to wear my mark.

A sob slipped past my lips. “Then why did you make me believe I was yours? ”

The driver’s phone buzzed. He frowned. “We have company.”

“What do you mean? ”

Before he could answer, headlights flared behind us. Black SUVs closed in from both sides.

My heart lurched. “Who are they? ”

He cursed under his breath. “DeLuca guards. They were supposed to wait.”

“Wait for what? ”

“To take you back.”

“No! ” Panic flared. “I’m not going back there. I won’t face them again! ”

The driver’s jaw clenched. “Hold on.”

The car veered sharply into an alley. Tires screeched. I clutched the seat as the car sped through the rain-slick streets.

Bullets broke the rear glass. I screamed as bits flew past my face.

“Why are they shooting? ” I cried.

“Because someone doesn’t want you alive, Miss Moretti.”

The words chilled me to the bone.

We turned another corner, the SUVs still chasing. I felt the weight of my ruined cap slipping from my hair. I yanked it off and threw it out the window.

The driver shouted, “Down! ”

A bullet hit the rearview mirror. The car skidded violently, spinning before slamming to a stop beside an abandoned building.

Smoke hissed from the tires. My pulse roared in my ears.

“Out,” the driver barked.

We stumbled into the rain, running for cover as the SUVs screeched to a stop behind us. Men poured out armed, fast, and effective.

“Why are they doing this? ” I gasped, slipping on the wet pavement.

“Because you’re not supposed to survive tonight.”

He grabbed my hand and dragged me toward a side door. We burst inside the warehouse, a dark, vast place reeking of rust and gasoline.

He pressed a gun into my hand.

“I don’t know how to use this,” I said, shaking.

“Then point it at anyone who isn’t me.”

Voices echoed outside. Footsteps.

We hid behind a stack of boxes as shadows moved along the walls. My heart thundered so hard I thought they’d hear it.

Through the cracks, I saw one of the attackers step into view. My breath caught.

It was Marco.

Lorenzo’s cousin.

He spoke into his headset. “Target’s inside. Orders are to bring her in breathing. Barely.”

I felt sick. “He said he wanted to help me.”

The driver’s eyes hardened. “He lied.”

Everything was a lie.

Family. Love. Loyalty.

The floor creaked. A figure moved closer.

The driver pointed, fired two shots. Screams followed. “Go! ” he shouted.

We ran again, through passageways smelling of oil and rot. Rain poured through cracks in the roof. My gown snagged on a nail, tearing. I left it behind, my bare feet slapping against the ground.

A gunshot cracked behind us then quiet.

I turned. The driver was gone.

“Hello, Aria.”

Marco stepped from the darkness, rain dripping from his coat. The smile on his face was cruel. “You didn’t think you could outrun blood, did you? ”

“Why? ” My voice trembled. “Why are you doing this? ”

“Because you were never supposed to exist,” he said simply. “Aurora was the chosen one. You were the mistake they tried to bury.”

He raised his gun.

I closed my eyes, preparing for death

Then the explosion came.

A thundering roar tore through the building. Fire and smoke swallowed everything. I fell backward, smacking into debris, pain burning through my arm.

When the smoke cleared, Marco was gone.

I crawled toward the broken door, coughing, bleeding, shaking. The rain outside felt like knives against my skin.

I stumbled onto the empty street. The city lights were faraway now, blurred through tears and smoke.

Behind me, the building burned my past going up in flames.

I pressed a hand to my belly, the ache spreading deeper than I understood. And then, barely, I felt a strange flutter beneath my palm.

My breath hitched.

No. It couldn’t be.

Tears spilled down my face as understanding crashed over me.

I wasn’t just running for my life.

I was running for another.

Beneath the burning sky, Aria whispered to the night, “He rejected me… but he left something of himself inside me.”

And somewhere far away, Lorenzo DeLuca raised his head, his wolf stirring uneasily without knowing why.