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

Half an hour later, we reached a rusty ladder heading upward. Matteo pushed open the grate, showing a dim backstreet behind a factory.

“Up,” he ordered.

I climbed slowly, every muscle shaking. When I reached the top, I fell onto the wet ground, gasping for air.

Matteo climbed out after me, closing the grate. He checked the empty street.

“We’ll stay here for now,” he said, looking at the broken windows of the building. “It’s abandoned.”

Inside, the air was cold and stale. I sank against a wall, pulling my knees to my chest.

Matteo lit a cigarette, the smoke swirling in the dim light.

“You should rest,” he said. “We move again before sunrise.”

I looked at him. “You act like this is normal. Like running for your life is just another Tuesday.”

He gave a low laugh. “For me, it is.”

I shivered. “How do you live like that?”

“By not caring who wins, only who survives.”

The anger in his tone struck something in me. “And who do you think will survive me and Aurora’s war?”

He looked at me, his gray eyes dark and mysterious. “The one who stops waiting to be saved.”

The words stung because they were true.

Silence stretched between us. Rain drummed softly on the roof.

My body hurts everywhere. My chest, my head, my heart. I touched my belly again and the dull ache from earlier had worsened. I told myself it was stressful. Nothing more.

“Matteo,” I said quietly. “Why did you say someone believed in me?”

He released smoke. “A man called Cassian. He’s… linked to the Rossi gang, but not loyal to them. He said if anything happened tonight, I would find you.”

“Why would he care?”

Matteo paused. “Because he thinks you were framed.”

Framed.

The word lit a spark inside me. “So Aurora’s claim was fake?”

He gave a slight nod. “Possibly. There are papers sealed in DeLuca hands that show your legitimacy. But if what Cassian said is true, Aurora and the council destroyed the evidence.”

My blood turned cold. “Then Lorenzo knew.”

“Maybe,” Matteo said. “Maybe not. But he didn’t stop.”

Tears burned behind my eyes. “He swore to protect me. He looked me in the eyes and lied.”

Matteo’s expression relaxed. “Love makes fools of even the strongest wolves.”

I met his eyes. “Do you speak from experience?”

He looked away, quiet.

For a moment, the only sound was rain and the faint hum of the city beyond.

I noticed I was trembling not just from cold, but from sadness. Everything I’d known had been built on lies. And yet, somewhere deep inside, the faint bond I once shared with Lorenzo still hummed weakly, like a dying ember unwilling to fade.

Why couldn’t I let him go?

I closed my eyes, trying to quiet the ache. My body suddenly lurched. A wave of sickness hit me so hard I barely managed to turn away before I vomited.

Matteo knelt beside me instantly. “You’re pale. How long since you last ate?”

I shook my head, gasping. “It’s not that. I don't know what’s happening.”

He touched my forehead, frowning. “You’re burning up.”

Another wave of pain twisted through my belly. I doubled over, holding my stomach.

Something’s wrong.

My heartbeat roared in my ears. The air grew thin.

Matteo’s voice sounded far away. “Aria! Look at me. What’s wrong?”

I could barely speak. “I… I don’t know…”

Then, through the haze of pain and terror, a terrifying realization struck.

The missed moon cycles. The sudden sickness. The ache that had started that night Lorenzo last touched me.

I stared at my shaking hands. “No,” I whispered. “No, it can’t be.”

Matteo gripped my shoulders. “What can’t?”

Tears welled up. “I’m pregnant.”

The words broke the air between us.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke. The world seemed to stop.

Matteo’s eyes widened, his cigarette falling forgotten to the floor. “You’re sure?”

I nodded weakly, tears spilling down my face. “It’s his.”

Lorenzo’s.

The one who rejected me, called me a fake, and left me to die.

The man whose child now lived inside me.

My voice broke. “What do I do?”

Matteo’s jaw tightened. “You survive.”

I shook my head. “He’ll kill me if he finds out.”

“Then we don’t let him find out.”

He stood, walking. “This changes everything. The DeLuca family can’t risk another child outside their control. If they discover you’re carrying his child”

“They’ll come for me,” I finished.

“No,” he said, meeting my eyes. “They’ll come for it.”

A cold fear spread through me.

Matteo pulled out a phone and spoke quickly in Italian. I caught fragments of“safehouse,” “Cassian,” “urgent.”

When he finished the call, his face was grave. “We move tonight. There’s a plane waiting north of the city. You’ll go into hiding.”

I wiped my tears. “And what about you?”

“I’ll buy you time.”

“No!” I grabbed his sleeve. “They’ll kill you too.”

He looked down at my hand, then back into my eyes. “I’ve been dead for a long time, Aria.”

The way he said it made something twist painfully inside me.

I wanted to fight, but the tiredness was too heavy. My eyelids drooped. My heartbeat slowed.

Matteo knelt beside me, his voice fading. “Stay with me. Don’t pass out. Not yet.”

“I can’t…”

“Aria”

Darkness closed in, swallowing his words.

The last thing I heard before everything went black was his whisper against my ear “Your exile begins now, Luna.”

When Aria’s eyes fluttered open hours later, Matteo was gone.

In his place lay a blood-stained note and a single line scrawled across it:

“They know you’re carrying the heir.”