I Vanished After Alpha Husband Abandoned Me in the Delivery Room

** Aria’s POV ** My heart doesn’t break, it detonates as I stare at the laptop screen. The glowing vision sears itself into my eyes like acid. My mate, Alpha Thorne, and her, Sierra, our son’s babysitter. They’re together in clip after clip, in our bedroom, in the shower, in the library. Writhing together in every room of our villa. It never crossed my mind that the man I’d loved, and given ten years of my life to would betray me this way, and with our son’s tutor of all people! I make myself watch them in the study, discarded condoms scattered across the floor. One even hangs over the framed photo from our mating ceremony. I haven’t been able to conceive since Lucas was born. I’d almost died having him, and though I longed for another pup, it never happened. We hadn’t used protection for years. Yet there he is on the screen, tearing through condom after condom with her. Wild and insatiable, rutting like she’s his mate. A notification flashes across the top of the screen. The i***t must have synced his messages across all his devices. Sierra: Lucas says he’ll call Aria ‘Mum’ and me ‘Mummy.’ What will you call me, my love? Thorne: Mate. The word slices into me like a blade. My knees buckle. I collapse into the armchair beside me, hand gripping my chest where the bond throbs painfully. I scroll through the hundreds of messages, my stomach turning. He started this when Lucas was born. Five whole years of betrayal! All while he kissed me and whispered words of love and devotion every night. While he praised me in front of the pack, making me look like the adored, powerful Luna… and I believed him. My thoughts turn to my son. My precious little boy, who is about to be caught up in this mess. He doesn’t deserve this, especially today. The school is holding a family day, and he’s been looking forward to it all week. I’ll be damned if I miss it and let her take this from me too. He’s my son. Not hers! I grab my keys and rush toward the stairs, but I freeze when voices drift through the open door of my private rooms. “Oh, Goddess, what’s this trash doing in Luna’s closet? Surely this torn-up lingerie doesn’t count as clothing?” “Shhh! That’s hers,” another maid hushes. “Whatever. Toss it into her room. Our Luna deserves better, and the alpha’s little w***e will get what’s coming to her one day.” I don’t move. I don’t blink. My heart pounds loudly enough to drown out their laughter. Even the staff knew. I was the only fool still clinging to a fantasy. “Luna!” the head maid gasps when she sees me. The torn, see-through nightgown hangs from her hand. I walk away without a word. I don’t need any more humiliation, especially not from the staff I trusted. By the time I reach the pack school, the betrayal is swirling like a storm inside me. I freeze at the sight of Sierra crouched beside my son, laughing. He’s tucked under her arm like she’s his mother. Mine. He’s mine. Lucas looks up at me, his little brows furrowed. “Where’s my gingerbread, Mum?” “I… forgot, Lucas. I’m sorry.” He groans as if I failed some life-or-death mission. “Sierra said you would. She wouldn’t forget.” “I’ll go get it for you, Lucas,” Sierra says sweetly. “Three-hour lines don’t scare me.” My hands tighten into fists. This wolf? I gave her bonuses and thanked her for looking after my son. Now she’s grooming him into forgetting me. Lucas pouts. “But it’s that fancy bakery! You said people wait all day! I don’t want you to miss family day. Let Mum go.” “I’d wait forever for you, baby,” she coos, brushing hair from his eyes before flashing me a smile. “Besides, I don’t want to bother your mum with doing these things for you.” Before I can answer, Lucas grins. “Mum lives to serve me. She gets grumpy when I don’t let her help.” My blood turns to ice. My own son is trying to manipulate me now too. The teacher’s voice breaks through the tension. “Three-legged race time! One parent per cub!” In a desperate attempt to reconnect with my son, I step forward. “Lucas, let’s race together.” “Not you!” he snaps, already tying his leg to Sierra’s. “She’s way more fun than you.” “Lucas, I’m your mother,” I whisper, reaching for him. He yanks his hand back. “Ugh, you’re so annoying! Why can’t you just disappear already?” His words feel like being torn apart mid-shift. It’s painful, humiliating, and unstoppable. I’d sacrificed so much for my son. Blood, sweat and tears birthing and raising him. I’d been there for his first steps, soothed every scraped knee, and now he’s turned into a stranger. Sierra doesn’t even try to hide her smirk. “Aria, don’t take offence. I mean, what pup wouldn’t want a mummy who can keep up? I’m younger, stronger… and honestly?” She flips her hair. “Prettier.” “Me and Mummy Sierra are going to win!” Lucas cheers, giving Sierra a high five. I stand there, frozen in the wreckage of everything I ever thought I was. My fists clench with suppressed fury. That’s when Thorne appears. His power rolls through the space like thunder. “Who gave you the right to speak to my mate, and your Luna, like that?” he snarls at Sierra. “Don’t forget your place, Sierra. One more word to my mate and you are out of my house! Now apologise.” She immediately bows her head, eyes shining with tears. In an Oscar- worthy act. “I-I’m sorry, Luna. It won’t happen again.” He pulls me close, wrapping a protective arm around me like a performance for the crowd. “I’ll deal with her. Don’t let it get to you.” The words are smooth, practised maybe, but I see right through them now. I won’t be fooled any longer. All I want to do is take my son and leave this whole nightmare behind. My son turns to us then, his eyes full of rage. “Why are you mad at Sierra, Dad? She’s fun and kind. Mummy is boring and old!” Thorne doesn’t react. Just clenches his jaw. How can my own flesh and blood turn on me like this? What has this vile snake been telling him? I can barely breathe as I look down at my son. “Lucas… do you really want her to be your mother?” His little eyes, so much like mine, lock onto me. “Yes.” One word. That’s all it takes to end me. They race off, Sierra squealing with laughter as they sprint across the grass to the starting line, while I stand watching with my world crumbling around me. “Don’t worry, baby,” Thorne says, low in my ear. “He’s just a child. We’ll straighten him out. I’ll talk with my mother later and have Sierra dismissed.” My heart throbs with pain as he tries to feed me another lie. Sierra has won, she has turned my mate and my son against me. There’s nothing left here for me. I shove him hard, his hand slipping from my waist. “Don’t touch me.” Then I run, my eyes blurred with tears. I push through the crowd, past the gates and into the trees. I don’t stop until the border wall rises before me. Behind it, I see my freedom. I drop to my knees beside a moss-covered stone. My tears finally fall as I connect to the mind-link I’ve blocked out for years. After all this wasted time as Luna, I finally see the truth: Alpha Thorne’s grand declarations of love were nothing but a beautifully executed lie. How can someone lie with such conviction? He claimed to love me—fiercely, eternally—but what he gave me wasn’t worthy of being called love. I’ve made my decision. I’m leaving. For good. “Kade. It’s Aria. I need an extraction. Get me back to Ravenstone.” “Aria… if you disappear now, your mate will lose his mind.” “He already has. He just hides it well.” “I knew he wasn’t worthy of you.” Kade’s tone shifts, laced with guilt and relief. “Give us a month. That’s what we need to prepare. After that, Luna Aria Wolfe will vanish, and the Ravenstone Heir will return.” “Thank you.” I tilt my head up to the sun, letting it warm my face. One month… just thirty days. That’s all I need. Then Luna Aria Wolfe will be nothing but a ghost, and they’ll never see it coming, because they have no idea who I truly am. They don’t know what I gave up to be here, and now I’m about to claim back my position, my birthright.