Goodbye, Alpha!

Two years. Two long, suffocating years of living as a ghost in my own life.

I stood at the head of the conference table in the Luna office, my hands trembling slightly as I reviewed the monthly pack reports. The numbers blurred together—territory patrols, supply inventories, dispute resolutions—all the mundane details that kept our pack functioning. Details that, as Luna, I was supposed to oversee.

"The northern border needs additional security," I said as pack members filed into the room for our weekly meeting. "There have been three rogue sightings this month, and—"

"That's already been handled," Damien's voice cut through mine like a blade. He entered the room without so much as glancing in my direction, his presence immediately commanding everyone's attention. "I've assigned Beta Marcus to increase patrols."

The pack members turned to him expectantly, as if I hadn't just been speaking. Heat flooded my cheeks, but I forced myself to continue.

"I also wanted to discuss the upcoming Moon Festival preparations. The budget allocation needs—"

"Serena's handling the festival," Damien interrupted again, finally looking at me with those cold gray eyes. "She has experience with event planning."

A murmur of approval rippled through the room. I felt my carefully maintained composure crack. "The Moon Festival is traditionally organized by the Luna. It's been that way for generations."

Damien's expression hardened. "Traditions change. Serena understands what our pack needs better than..." He let the sentence hang, but the implication was clear. Better than you.

I gripped the edge of the table, my knuckles white. "I am the Luna of this pack. These responsibilities—"

"You are Luna in name only," he said, his voice carrying that Alpha authority that made lesser wolves bow their heads. "Don't confuse a contract with actual leadership."

The words hit me like a physical blow. Around the table, pack members shifted uncomfortably, but none dared to contradict their Alpha. I saw pity in some eyes, satisfaction in others. This was my life now—public humiliation disguised as pack business.

I somehow managed to finish the meeting, though every suggestion I made was either dismissed or reassigned to someone else. By the time the last pack member filed out, I felt hollowed out, scraped raw.

That's when she walked in.

Serena glided into the room like she owned it, her golden hair catching the afternoon light streaming through the windows. She wore a flowing blue dress that made her look ethereal, untouchable. Everything I wasn't.

"Oh, Aria," she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "I hope you don't mind, but Damien asked me to review the festival budget with you."

She moved around the table with predatory grace and settled into my chair—the Luna's chair—without invitation. The casual way she claimed my seat made my stomach clench.

"Actually, I do mind," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "This is my office, and that's my chair."

Serena's blue eyes widened in mock surprise. "Your office? But Damien said I should start familiarizing myself with Luna duties. You know, for when we make things official."

The words were like poison, seeping into every crack in my already fractured confidence. "You're not Luna. I am."

"For now," she said with a smile that never reached her eyes. "But we both know this little arrangement won't last forever. Damien's just waiting for the right time to... make changes."

She leaned back in my chair, making herself comfortable. "I've been thinking about redecorating. This room is so... plain. Don't you think it needs a woman's touch? A real woman's touch?"

I wanted to scream, to tear her from my chair and throw her out of my office. Instead, I stood there, paralyzed by the contract that bound me, by the knowledge that challenging her meant challenging Damien, and challenging Damien meant losing Leo's medical care.

"The festival planning stays with me," I managed to say.

Serena laughed, a tinkling sound that made my skin crawl. "Oh, sweetheart. You really don't understand, do you? Damien doesn't want you planning anything. He wants someone who actually knows how to bring people together, not someone who clears rooms just by walking into them."

She stood and moved to the window, gazing out at the pack grounds like a queen surveying her domain. "The pack members have been talking, you know. They think it's time for a real Luna. Someone who can actually lead, not just... exist."

Each word was carefully chosen, designed to wound. And they did. They cut deep into the parts of me that still hoped, still believed I might find a place here.

"Why are you doing this?" I whispered.

Serena turned back to me, and for a moment, her mask slipped. I saw something cold and calculating in her eyes, something that made my wolf—silent for so long—stir uneasily.

"Because you're in my way," she said simply. "Damien loves me. He's always loved me. You're just a legal inconvenience, a speed bump on our road to happiness."

She moved closer, her voice dropping to a whisper that only I could hear. "I'm going to make your life so miserable that you'll beg to leave. Every day, every moment, until you can't stand it anymore. And when you finally break, when you finally run away like the weak little Omega you are, Damien will be free to marry the woman he actually wants."

The venom in her voice made me step back. This wasn't just jealousy or competition. This was something darker, more deliberate.

"And if you think about fighting back," she continued, her smile returning, "remember that Damien believes everything I tell him. One word from me about how you're making my life difficult, and he'll find a way to dissolve this contract faster than you can blink."

She moved toward the door, then paused. "Oh, and Aria? I'll be taking over the festival planning. Damien's orders."

With that, she was gone, leaving me alone in my office that no longer felt like mine, sitting in the chair she'd claimed like a throne.

I sank into the remaining chair—a smaller one meant for visitors—and put my head in my hands. Two years of this. Two years of watching her slowly take over my life, my role, my marriage, while I stood by helplessly.

The worst part wasn't even her cruelty. It was the growing realization that she was winning. The pack members were starting to look to her for guidance, to treat her like the real Luna while I faded into the background.

And Damien... Damien let it happen. Encouraged it, even.

I thought of Leo, lying in his hospital bed, trusting me to keep him safe. The contract felt like chains around my wrists, binding me to this life of humiliation and slow destruction.

But what choice did I have?

The answer whispered through my mind like a ghost: None. I had no choice at all.