The Luna after Alpha chose his first Love

I pulled my tiny, fragile son closer to my chest. Leo weighed barely anything, wrapped tightly in a striped hospital blanket. The sharp sting of my incision faded against the warmth of his small body. He was perfect. Every second of agony on that operating table felt entirely worth it.

Kevin stepped into the dim room.

I looked up, expecting relief to wash over his face. Expecting him to rush to my side and hold the son we had prayed for.

His gaze swept right past me. He didn’t look at the bundle in my arms.

Dr. Thorne entered a second later, holding a metal chart.

"Move Bella to the VIP recovery suite," Kevin ordered, his voice flat and commanding.

Dr. Thorne stopped writing. "Alpha, that suite is prepped for Luna Zoe. She underwent a massive hemorrhage and an emergency C-section. She needs the sterile environment."

"Bella's condition is unstable," Kevin replied.

"Your mate needs specialized monitoring," Thorne argued, pointing his pen at my monitors.

"Bella nearly lost her baby," Kevin snapped, stepping directly into the doctor’s space. "She requires the extra space and the private nursing staff. Make the transfer immediately."

"She is the Luna," Thorne pressed.

"I gave you a direct order, Doctor."

"Understood, Alpha," Thorne muttered, backing away toward the hallway.

Kevin turned toward the door, ready to leave.

"You gave her my medical team," I said, the words scraping my dry throat.

He stopped.

"You gave her my blood," I continued, clutching Leo closer. "Now you are giving her my room."

Kevin glanced over his shoulder. "You survived, Zoe. Don't be petty."

"Petty?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Bella is fragile right now," he said, adjusting his collar. "She needs the resources more than you do."

He walked out. The heavy door clicked shut. He never once asked if his son was okay.

Four hours passed. The afternoon sun cast long, cold shadows across the sterile linoleum floor.

The door swung open. Bella Monroe strolled in, cradling a pink swaddle. She wore a silk robe, her face glowing with a soft, triumphant flush. She didn't look like a woman who had nearly died in a car crash.

"Oh, Zoe," Bella cooed, stopping at the foot of my bed. "Look at him. Your little boy is so precious."

I tightened my grip on Leo. "What do you want, Bella?"

She offered a sympathetic pout. "I just wanted to check on you. Kevin told me how hard your surgery was."

"Leave."

Bella stepped closer, trailing a perfectly manicured finger along the plastic edge of my bed tray. "I felt awful taking your doctors. But Kevin simply refused to leave my side. He held my hand through the entire procedure."

I stared straight ahead, refusing to give her the satisfaction of my tears.

"I told him to go to you," Bella sighed, brushing a speck of lint off her robe. "I really did. But he wouldn't listen."

"Are you done?" I asked.

"He was just so terrified of losing me again," she whispered, a smirk playing on her lips. "Some bonds never really break, do they?"

Heavy footsteps sounded in the corridor. The door pushed wide open.

Kevin froze in the entryway, taking in the scene.

Bella gasped. Her knees buckled, and she swayed backward, clutching her baby tightly against her chest.

Kevin lunged forward. He caught her by the waist before she hit the floor.

"I've got you," he said, steadying her against his chest. He snapped his head toward me, his eyes dark with immediate anger. "What did you do?"

"She walked in here on her own," I said, keeping my tone dead level.

"She just gave birth!" Kevin shouted. "Why are you stressing her out?"

"Kevin, please," Bella whimpered, burying her face against his shirt. "She didn't mean to yell at me. I shouldn't have come."

"You shouldn't be out of bed," he said softly to her, his thumbs rubbing small circles on her arms.

The sudden shouting startled Leo. My son let out a piercing wail, his tiny fists shaking the blanket.

I rocked him, trying to soothe his cries. "Shh, it's okay. Mommy's here."

Kevin glanced at the crying infant. His expression remained entirely blank. No warmth. No concern. Just an Alpha annoyed by the noise.

"Let's get you back to your suite," Kevin said to Bella.

He guided her out of the room, leaving me alone with our screaming son.

Midnight brought a heavy, suffocating silence to the maternity ward.

A young nurse hurried into my room, dropping a thick manila folder onto my bedside table.

"Sorry, Luna, I need to adjust your IV," she said, tapping the buttons on the machine. She rushed out just as quickly, leaving the folder behind.

I reached over to hand it back, assuming she forgot it.

The name on the plastic tab caught my eye. *Monroe, Bella.*

My fingers hovered over the cover. I shouldn't look. But the memory of Kevin holding her waist burned fresh in my mind.

I flipped the folder open.

It was a complete prenatal record. Dates stretched back over eight months. Routine blood tests. Weight check-ins.

Then I saw the intake form.

*Patient: Bella Monroe.*

*Emergency Contact: Alpha Kevin Mercer.*

*Father of Child: Kevin Mercer.*

My stomach plummeted.

"Did you see the Alpha earlier?" a hushed voice drifted through the crack in my door.

"I did," another nurse whispered. "He's obsessed with that baby girl. No wonder."

"Right? Everyone knows it's his pup. Why else would he abandon the Luna like that?"

"Keep it down. If the Luna hears you, we're fired."

Their footsteps shuffled away down the hall.

My hands shook violently. I turned to the last page of the file. A small, glossy square slipped from between the papers and landed on my lap.

An ultrasound photo.

I flipped it over.

Familiar, jagged handwriting covered the white backing.

*To my little girl. Daddy can't wait to meet you.*

A tear broke free, tracking hot down my cheek. I stared at the black ink, my chest caving in.

He told me he hadn't spoken to Bella in three years. He swore she was a ghost from his past, a mistake he had long forgotten.

He lied.

He knew about this child. He tracked her pregnancy. He wrote loving notes to her baby while I rubbed my own swollen belly alone in our massive bed.

I was the last one to know. The entire hospital knew my mate fathered another woman's child.

A sudden, blood-curdling scream shattered the quiet night.

"Help!" Bella shrieked from down the hall. "Somebody help me! She's not breathing!"