My Alpha's Mistress Mistook His Sister for His Pregnant Luna novel · Chapter 1 of 24
Chapter 1: The Warning
Joanna's unborn pup warns her that the mistress will get them both killed in thirty minutes; Poppy goes live in her living room and puts signed divorce papers on the table.
The first time my son spoke to me, I was watching a baking show on the living room couch.
"Mom, I need you to listen."
The voice was small and clear, and it came from inside my own head.
I put my hand on my stomach.
I was nine weeks pregnant. I was not even showing yet.
"Mom, listen. Dad's girlfriend will be here in thirty minutes."
I sat very still.
"Last time you fought with her at the top of the stairs. Somebody pushed. We both died."
My mouth went dry.
"After that she cried to the whole pack that you attacked her out of jealousy. Dad believed every word. He made her Luna by the end of the month."
I looked at the muted television, the bright cake spinning on a turntable.
Then I picked up my phone.
Caleb's last text was from nine that morning.
Working late again. Don't wait up. Nothing to worry about, love you.
I had read it a dozen times today and felt warm every time.
Now I read it and felt sick.
I did not know if the voice was real. But if there was any chance my son was telling the truth, I was not going to wait and find out the hard way.
So I called the one person in this family who had never lied to me.
"Joanna?" Hazel picked up on the second ring.
"I'm bored out here alone," I said, as lightly as I could. "Can you come keep me company?"
Twenty minutes later, Hazel came through the front door with two shopping bags and her heels clicking on the marble.
"Joanna! Where are you? What's wrong?"
She dropped the bags by the couch and looked me over, top to bottom.
"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted someone here."
Hazel's eyes narrowed.
"Seriously."
I nodded.
Her shoulders came down, and then her face went hard.
"My brother is unbelievable. His pregnant wife sits home alone while he spends his whole life at the tower."
She dropped onto the couch next to me.
"One of these days I'm walking into his office and breaking something expensive."
Any other day I would have defended him.
I would have said Caleb was an Alpha and ran a company and had a lot on his plate.
Today I said nothing.
"Aunt Hazel is right about Dad," my son said in my head.
My throat closed. Hazel noticed at once.
"Are you sick?"
"No." I took her hand. "I just want a shower."
She gave me a strange look. "Now?"
"Now."
"Fine." She kicked off her heels and reached for her phone. "Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."
I went upstairs.
I did not go to the bedroom.
I went into Caleb's study and turned on the security monitors.
Hazel was sitting in the middle of the living room in her black silk dress, scrolling through her phone.
I told the screen I was sorry.
Hazel had no idea what I was about to put her through.
But I would not risk my son to spare her a bad afternoon.
Two minutes later, the doorbell rang.
The house manager looked at Hazel before he went to the door. Hazel gave him a small nod, and he opened it.
A young woman in a white dress stepped inside.
Long brown hair. Pale makeup. A shy, nervous smile. A thick envelope pressed against her chest.
A small gold brooch was pinned to her collar.
"It's her," my son said, and his voice had gone sharp. "Mom, the brooch has a camera in it. She's streaming."
My fingers curled around the edge of the desk.
I leaned toward the monitor.
Poppy Lane.
A dance student Caleb had paid for almost two years. I knew her name. I knew he covered her tuition. He had once told me her family could barely make rent.
I had never known she was anything more.
Until this second.
Poppy looked around the living room, and then she saw Hazel.
She stopped.
I watched her put it together, one piece at a time.
The Alpha's house. The black silk. The woman sitting alone in the center of the room, at home.
She had decided Hazel was the Luna.
She crossed the floor toward her.
"Mrs. Rowland?"
Hazel looked up from her phone, slowly.
Poppy's eyes were already turning red.
"I know I shouldn't be here. I didn't have anywhere else to go."
Hazel said nothing.
"I'm not here to wreck your family." Poppy gave a shaky little laugh. "I only want to talk."
Her gaze dropped to the envelope.
Hazel's gaze dropped to it too.
I knew my sister-in-law. I watched her face change, only slightly, as she understood exactly what kind of conversation this was.
She set her phone on the arm of the couch. She crossed one leg over the other.
"Then talk," she said.
I took out my own phone and searched Poppy's name.
Her account was live.
The number of viewers was climbing while I looked at it. Four hundred. Nine hundred. Two thousand.
The comments came fast.
That has to be the Luna.
She looks scary. Why is she staring at her like that?
I turned back to the monitor.
I could go downstairs right now and put a stop to it.
Or I could stay where I was and let Poppy say every word out loud, with the whole pack watching.
So I stayed in the study, and I pressed record.
Poppy pulled the envelope from her chest and set it on the coffee table.
"I just want what your Alpha promised me."
She slid out the top page and turned it to face the camera.
DIVORCE.
Under it, in a hand I would know anywhere, was my husband's signature.
The date beside it was three weeks old.
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend