CLAIMED BY MY EX-HUSBAND'S ENEMIES

CAMILE

My life changed in the best possible way when I married Zane after I got pregnant with his child. I became a Luna. I went from being a nameless omega to being the Luna of the Whitebrock pack, and Zane never hesitated to let everybody know how much he loved me. He treated me like I was the best thing that ever happened to him. He made it clear to his mother, who didn't approve of me, that I was his queen and that nothing and no one could change that. 

Then I lost my pregnancy at four months, and everything went downhill from there. My mother-in-law capitalized on that moment of weakness to plant the seed of doubt in Zane’s mind. She told him that I lost the pregnancy because I was unfit as an omega and an orphan to bear alpha heirs, and she advised him to divorce me. But Zane paid no heed to her. Instead, he supported me through the mental toil of my miscarriage. 

He always made and brought me the special Lunar Mint Tea every morning and evening. It was a tea he brewed specially for me, and it was the only thing I could stomach for months after my miscarriage. He assured me that I'd get pregnant again soon, but it didn't happen. My heartbeat remained one, and my stomach remained flat.

The murmurs and snickers started. The antagonism from my mother-in-law deepened. It was unheard of for a Luna to be childless a year after marriage. She made healers and sorcerers probe at my stomach and mouth, but they couldn't tell what was wrong, apart from the fact that I might be too weak to carry an alpha's child.

Through all of these, Zane never made me feel alone. 

He promised that he'd never abandon me, no matter how hard it gets, and two years into our marriage, Zane returned from war with a baby pup who was barely a month old. He was an abandoned pup who had lost his parents during the war, and he gifted him to me. 

“I found an abandoned wolf pup in the last battle we had with the eclipse pack. I adopted him, and he will call my wife 'mother’. Stop saying that she's barren.”

He announced it to the whole pack, in the presence of his mother. I knew that was to shut her up and to show the pack that he doesn’t care about my supposed barrenness. His devotion silently made me feel terrible because I knew he deserved to have his own son, an alpha heir.

He was an alpha. And no matter how small our pack was, he needed an heir for the other alphas to respect him.

So I did everything I could. I ate all the herbs I could find, did all the rituals the healers recommended, and maintained a single position during s*x to allow his c*m to settle fully into me.

Nothing worked, and finally, the good man snapped.

It started slowly. It began with him missing dinner,  then he suggested I move to a separate room, and s*x between us slowed down till it ceased completely. And whenever I tried to initiate s*x, he'd turn me down with the reply that ‘there's no need to waste my c*m since you're not getting pregnant.’

And when he stopped bringing me my morning and evening tea, I confirmed that he no longer loved me because that was a routine he had never missed for almost 4 years. Still, I tried to hold on to him. I tried to do everything to make him happy, but he no longer looked at me with eyes full of love. He no longer looked at me at all.

Sam, who was now 2 years old, was the only thing that made me happy. He was my son, the one who loved me, and always ran towards me whenever I walked into the room. He was the only source of joy in my life.

I feared that Zane would soon divorce me, and I'd go back to being a nobody. It scared me, but what scared me more was the fact that I had lost his love. I hated myself for being a failed woman. I hated myself for my barrenness. And no matter how much I tried to make things work between us, it simply didn't help or change anything.

I thought all hopes were lost until three weeks before the annual pack gala, when my maid announced the presence of the royal tailors. Zane had sent them to take my measurements for my ball gown. The gesture unfurled a new hope in me. Maybe Zane was still in love with me, and he just needed time and space to come to terms with the fact that he didn't have his own son.

The gala day arrived with the full moon, the howls of wolves, and the sounds of their paws tearing through the forest. I was sitting beside Zane under the canopy, observing the festivities, but I couldn't shake the feeling of intense foreboding. Zane hasn't said a single word to me since the night started, and he hasn't even looked at the gown he ordered for me. 

He blatantly ignored me when I tried to make conversation, or I commented on the wolves' performance, and eventually I gave up and just quietly observed while waiting for the night to be over. 

The festivities continued late into the night, and at some point, I got lost in my thoughts of my drowning marriage when a loud howl suddenly distracted me from my thoughts. It was my husband. He rose to his feet as the gathering in front of us quietened down. The other wolves that were still running in the forest came back to the gathering, all naked and sweaty.

Zane was about to make a toast. That was how the gala always ended, with a toast from him.

“This is not a toast,” he started, “it's rather an announcement.”

Announcement? What could he possibly have to announce?

“Four years ago, I met a woman who became pregnant with my child and whom I married…”

It was about me, I realized. He was going to talk about me. He was going to praise me in front of all these people. I had been worried for nothing. He still loves me. A feeling of intense exhilaration coursed through my veins, and I had to blink back tears. 

“Even though she was an omega, even though she wasn't worthy of being a Luna, I married her.”

What? 

“Even after she lost my baby because she was an omega that couldn't carry the line of an alpha, I remained loyal to her. I treated her with reverence and love because that's how a lady should be treated, but years later, I've come to realise what a stain she is and how unfit she is to be a Luna. It'd be a great disservice to my pack, and I'm not one to treat the pack my fathers spent decades building like that.”

The crowd cheered. My heart dropped. I sat stiffly, unable to believe what I was hearing. This couldn't be possible. This was a prank. There was no way Zane would treat me like this. He wouldn't throw me away like this. He wouldn't ridicule me like this. On the other table, his mother sat tall and proud, eyes brimming with triumph.

“Zane,” I tried to call out, but the words remained stuck in my throat.

“So I've decided to end this sham of a marriage,” he went on without paying any mind to me, “We’re getting divorced, and tonight, I'm going to present my new wife to the whole. A strong shewolf from the White Wolves Pack, a reputable lady who'd lead the pack to greatness, and also the mother of my first child and the alpha heir.”

That was when I knew this was all a lie—an elaborate prank—because he doesn't have a wife, and he most definitely doesn't have a son.

I started laughing. It started with a small one—a chuckle—then it grew into a hysterical one. It grew even more when a lady, dressed to the nines in a red ball gown, stepped onto the platform while the crowd held their breath to stare at her.

Zane pushed away and walked towards her to pull her to the middle of the canopy.

“Wolves and Shewolves, this is Emma from the White Wolves Pack. She's my new wife and the mother of my child.”

She was Emma, the wet nurse he brought in for the pup he gifted me. 

CAMILE

Everything unfolded like scenes from a nightmare. 

They stood at the center of the podium, dressed in royal attire, while the pack members gazed at them as if they were divine beings. The claps echoed throughout the open field and dulled the pounding of my heart. I felt like I was having an out-of-the-body experience, like I was somewhere else and just watching all of this happen to someone that wasn't me. 

My mind convinced me that this was a prank. It was definitely a prank, and Zane was soon going to laugh at my expression and shout, "Gotcha!”

That didn't happen.

I stood up on shaky feet and slowly moved towards him. 

“Zane…” I whispered with a lump lodging in my throat. Zane’s head snapped towards me, eyes bitter and angry, and when he opened his mouth, it was to give a command:

“Drag her out.”

That didn't deter me. I pulled myself towards Zane, the man who loved