Chapter 1: Wolfless Luna

Thea's POV

My hands won't stop shaking as I stare at the divorce papers on my lap. I still can't believe this is happening. The Ashworth Pack mansion looms before me like a prison I'm finally escaping from. Seven years of memories, none of them particularly good, and now it's all coming down to this moment.

I grip the steering wheel harder, trying to steady myself. One signature. That's all it'll take to make me the first Luna in Pack history to be divorced and kicked out. How's that for a legacy? My throat tightens at the thought of facing Sebastian again. God, even after everything, just thinking his name still hurts.

The security system beeps as it recognizes my car - a bitter reminder that I technically still belong here. For now. The gardens I never managed to make my own stretch out before me as I walk the familiar path to the door. Every step feels heavy with the weight of failure. Seven years of trying to belong, of loving a man who saw me as nothing more than a convenient placeholder.

I reach for the door handle but freeze as voices drift out from the kitchen. I might not have supernatural hearing, but these mansion walls are thinner than they look.

"Daddy, why can't you live with me and mommy anymore?" Leo's innocent question hits me like a punch to the gut.

I should walk away. Should just barge in and get this shit over with. But my feet won't move. My body betrays me, forcing me to stand here and listen to my son's heart break along with mine.

"Pack needs a real Luna, Leo." Sebastian's deep voice still affects me, damn him. "Your mom... she doesn't have a wolf. She can't understand what we need."

Same old story. Different day. I press my hand against my chest, trying to push back the familiar ache. How many times have I heard this? That I'm not enough, will never be enough, all because I was born without a wolf? The universe's cosmic joke - a wolfless daughter in an alpha bloodline.

"But didn't you say wolves can choose their mates?" My smart boy, always asking the hard questions. "Doesn't your wolf like Mommy?"

The silence that follows is deafening. I can picture Sebastian's face - that cold, dismissive look I've gotten used to. The same expression he wore when he told me he couldn't mark me as his mate. Of course he couldn't - I've always known his heart belonged to someone else, just like I've always known I could never be his true mate. How could I be, when I don't even have a wolf to answer his?

"Your mother gave me you," he finally says, his voice distant. "That's what matters."

Right. Because that's all I'm good for, isn't it? A means to produce the next alpha heir. Never mind that I gave him everything - my love, my loyalty, my whole life. But of course it wasn't enough. Not when SHE's shadow has always loomed between us.

I take a deep breath and push open the door. The kitchen falls silent. Sebastian stands by the counter, and fuck me if he doesn't still look like every woman's dream in his pretty suit. Those green eyes turn to ice as they land on me, his jaw clenching in that way that means he's pissed.

"Mommy!" Leo's face lights up, and my heart squeezes painfully. He looks so much like his father - same striking features, same captivating green eyes. My beautiful boy, the only pure thing to come from this mess of a marriage.

"Leo, go upstairs." Sebastian's Alpha command fills the room.

"But Dad-"

"Now."

I watch my son trudge away, feeling as insignificant as I did that first day I entered this house. The divorce papers crinkle in my tight grip as I try to find my voice.

"I brought the final papers," I manage, hating how weak I sound.

"You really want to do this?" His voice could freeze hell over. "To destroy our family?"

I rub my chest, trying to ease the constant ache there. "Sebastian, please... we both know this marriage was never real. You never-" I can't finish. Never loved me. Never wanted me. Never chose me.

"You could have sent these to my office," he snaps, anger rolling off him in waves. "Instead of interrupting my time with Leo."

"I thought..." I stop, realizing how pathetic I sound. What did I think? That after seven years of rejection, something would magically change?

"You never think, do you?" Each word is a precise cut. "Every time you show up here, you bring chaos with you. From day one, all you've done is disrupt Pack harmony because you can't accept what you are - what you aren't." He takes a deep breath, trying to control his anger. "Just leave the papers. I'll have someone drop Leo off later."

I set the papers down with trembling hands, feeling like I'm drowning in air. I want to defend myself, maybe apologize one last time for not being what he needed. But what's the point? Seven years of explaining myself, of begging him to see me as more than just a wolfless burden...

My phone's sudden ring cuts through my spiral of self-pity. My mother's name on the screen makes my blood run cold. In the Sterling family, no one contacts the wolfless disappointment unless something's gone terribly wrong.

My hands shake as I answer. "Hello?"

"Thea!" My mother's voice is thick with panic. "Your father... he was attacked by Rogues! He's losing too much blood... Get to the hospital. Now!"

The phone slips from my numb fingers, clattering against the floor. The sound echoes through the suddenly silent kitchen.

"Thea?" Sebastian's voice loses its edge. "What's wrong?"

I look up at him, the world tilting sideways.

"My father... Rogues attacked him. He's in the hospital."