Alpha, Let's End This Bond!

- Aria

My eyes snapped open to the sound of my twins screaming their tiny lungs out. The nursery camera on my phone was glowing at two in the freaking morning.

Ugh! Not again.

I let out a heavy sigh that felt like it took a piece shit of me with it.

"Luca, they're crying again," I called out with annoyance, even though I already knew he wasn't home.

Messy-haired and crooked-shirted, and my boobs aching like crazy because of breastfeeding, I swung my legs out of the big, empty bed. The sheets were cool on my side, untouched since Luca left the mansion a year ago. He hadn't come back yet. Probably won't be until tomorrow morning at our second anniversary party, just in time for the pack run and to pretend we were a happy family for a few hours.

I padded down the silent hall and dashed into the nursery. If the twins didn't make noise tonight, I felt like I was the only ghost living here.

The twins, Adrian and Aurora, were standing up in their cribs, their teary little faces scrunched and red with misery. Their howls weren't just cries but were full-blown wolf cub whines, a sound that could cut glass and my patience simultaneously.

I rushed to the crib, trying to figure out who was the louder one tonight.

"Shhh, my little monsters," I murmured, scooping up Aurora first. She had that great smell of milk and baby powder, and her tiny body felt fragile against mine. "Mom's got you."

Adrian wailed louder, a clear protest at not being picked up first. Typical boy. Seriously, even as a two-year-old, he's a little alpha in the making, demanding all the attention.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you, Your Highness," I said, lifting him with my other arm.

I was the Luna, but honestly, I felt more like the live-in babysitter, doing everything on my own.

Raising two toddlers at once was not easy, but I was getting good at it. I carried them to the kitchen, even though my back screamed in protest.

In the kitchen, I warmed up some milk while rocking both twins. They quieted down while they drank, their tiny bodies finally relaxing in my arms.

Silver, my wolf, stirred in my mind. Her presence was a constant comfort, even if I couldn't shift yet. She was empathetic, more so than any wolf I had ever heard of, and she could feel the twins' distress as keenly as I could.

"The tension is getting to them," she murmured in my head. "The pack is uneasy. Luca is too. They can feel it."

"And what about me?" I shot back, my mental voice sharper than I intended. "Do I get to be uneasy, Silver? Or am I supposed to just smile and play the perfect little Luna for a husband who never wants me?"

Silver stayed quiet for a second, but I could feel her warm, knowing presence buzzing in the back of