My Alpha Faked His Death to Abandon Me

Five years. For five years, I had prayed to the Moon Goddess for this exact moment.

I stood in the center of our Alpha suite, adjusting the collar of my crimson silk dress. The dining table was set to perfection: sterling silver cutlery gleaming under the soft glow of candlelight, two plates of medium-rare steak cooling slightly, and a bottle of expensive red wine breathing on the counter. It was our fifth mating anniversary.

But the real centerpiece wasn't the food. It was a small, black velvet gift box resting exactly where my mate, Alpha Bowen Smith, would sit. Inside that box wasn't a luxury watch or a pair of engraved cufflinks. It was a plastic stick with two solid pink lines.

I was pregnant. After years of whispered insults from the pack elders, after years of feeling like a defective Luna, I was finally carrying Bowen's pup. My inner wolf, Reya, wagged her tail in my mind, practically humming with joy.

He is going to be so happy, Reya purred.

I glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. It was past eight. Bowen was late.

A sudden, muffled thud echoed from down the hall, coming from Bowen's private study. I frowned. Had he sneaked in through the packhouse's back entrance to surprise me?

Smiling to myself, I picked up the velvet box and padded softly down the carpeted hallway. "Bowen?" I called out softly.

The heavy oak door to his office was cracked open, spilling a sliver of golden light into the dark corridor. I reached out to push it wide, but my hand froze mid-air.

A soft, breathy giggle drifted through the gap. It wasn't Bowen's voice.

My heart performed a slow, painful roll in my chest. I pressed my eye to the crack in the door.

The breath vanished from my lungs. Bowen, my mate, my Alpha, was standing by his mahogany desk. But he wasn't alone. Tessa Stone, a young she-wolf from our pack, had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Bowen's hands were gripping her waist, his lips locked hungrily with hers.

A violent shudder ripped through my soul. The mate bond, usually a warm tether in my chest, suddenly felt like a rusted wire slicing into my heart.

But the nightmare didn't end there. Just a few feet away from them, resting on the leather sofa, was a woven bassinet. A tiny, fragile whimper came from inside it. A newborn pup.

"Are you sure we have everything?" Tessa murmured, pulling back from his lips.

"Every last dime," Bowen replied, his voice low and casual, completely devoid of the warmth he used to give me. "The pack's offshore accounts are drained and transferred to the new Caymans account. The duffel bags are packed."

"And the rogue attack?" Tessa asked, tracing his jawline with a manicured finger.

"Arranged for midnight," Bowen said smoothly. "There will be enough blood in the woods to convince the elders I was torn apart. By the time they realize