Luna. Chapter 19

(Kael's POV)

I picked up the phone with shaking hands. "Dr. Williams, why didn't you tell me this before? When I called asking about her records, why didn't you say she was pregnant?"

Silence.

"Dr. Williams?"

Still nothing. Just the sound of her breathing on the other end of the line.

"Answer me."

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone, my hands trembling. Four months pregnant. Lyra had been four months pregnant when I accused her of lying. When I rejected her. When I exiled her.

My child. My son or daughter, growing inside the woman I'd thrown away.

"Felix!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "Get in here now!"

Felix appeared in my doorway within seconds, probably alerted by the panic in my voice. "Alpha? What's wrong?"

"I need you to investigate something. The medical center's computer system. I want to know if anyone accessed or deleted Lyra's records."

"Sir?"

"Just do it. And bring Adrian. We need to get to the bottom of this."

Twenty minutes later, Felix sat at my computer, his fingers flying over the keyboard. Adrian stood behind him, watching the screen with growing concern.

"There," Felix said, pointing at a series of entries. "Someone deleted multiple files from Dr. Williams' patient database three days before the rejection ceremony."

"Who?"

"The access came from her administrative account, but..." Felix frowned, typing more commands. "The timing is suspicious. These deletions happened at 2 AM, when Dr. Williams should have been off duty."

"So someone else used her account?"

"Or forced her to do it." Adrian moved closer to the screen. "Felix, can you recover the deleted files?"

"Maybe. Give me a few minutes."

I paced behind them, my mind racing. If someone had deleted Lyra's records deliberately, that meant this whole situation had been orchestrated. Planned.

"Got something," Felix announced. "The deleted files are still in the backup system. Let me see... here."

The screen filled with medical records. Lyra's name at the top, followed by appointment dates, test results, ultrasound images.

"Jesus," Adrian breathed.

There it was. Proof. Undeniable, documented proof that Lyra had been telling the truth about everything. Pregnancy confirmed at 16 weeks. Healthy fetal development. Normal progression.

I leaned against the table, avoiding falling."When were these appointments?"

"According to this, she had three visits over the past month. The last one was two days before you rejected her." Felix scrolled through the records. "All of them show normal pregnancy progression."

"And someone deleted all of this."

"Not just deleted. Look at this." Felix pointed to another section of the screen. "Someone also accessed Dr. Williams' personal files. Financial records, employment history, medical license information."

"They were looking for leverage," Adrian realized. "Something to use against her if she didn't cooperate."

My phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID - Dr. Williams.

"Alpha," her voice was shaky when I answered. "I need to see you. Immediately. There's something you need to know."

"I'm listening."

"Not over the phone. Meet me at the medical center. And Alpha? Come alone."

The medical center was empty except for the night staff when I arrived. Dr. Williams was waiting in her office, looking pale and frightened.

"Dr. Williams."

"She threatened me," she blurted out before I could finish. "Seraphina. She came to me the night before you called about Lyra's records."

My blood ran cold. "What kind of threat?"

"She had photos. Of me drinking wine at a pack celebration while I was technically on call. Email records showing I'd prescribed medication for my own family members without proper documentation. None of it was serious, but together..." Dr. Williams' hands shook as she spoke. "She said she'd report me to the medical board if I didn't delete Lyra's records and deny ever treating her."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because I was scared! I've worked for twenty years to build my practice. I couldn't lose everything over... over what I thought was just pack politics."

"Pack politics?" I stared at her in disbelief. "A pregnant woman was being accused of lying about her pregnancy, and you thought that was just politics?"

"I thought... I thought you would figure it out eventually. I thought your wolf senses would tell you the truth even if the medical records were gone." She looked up at me with desperate eyes. "I never expected you to actually reject her."

I turned away, unable to look at her. "Where's Petra? The receptionist?"

"Gone. She stopped coming to work after the rejection ceremony. No notice or explanation. Her apartment is empty."

Another piece of the puzzle. Other one who'd probably been bought or threatened into silence.

"Dr. Williams, I need you to prepare a full report. Everything Seraphina said to you, anything detail you can remember."

"Of course. But Alpha... is there any way to undo this? Can you bring Lyra back?"

I thought about the exile ceremony. The formal banishment.

"I don't know," I said quietly. "But I'm trying my best."

As I drove home, my mind was spinning with the implications. Seraphina planned everything.

But why? What did she have to gain from destroying my marriage to Lyra?

The answer hit me as I pulled into my driveway. Seraphina didn't just want me back. She wanted to be Luna again. And Lyra had been standing in her way.

I found Seraphina in the living room, reading a book by the fireplace. She looked up when I entered, smiling that serene smile that used to comfort me.

Now it made my skin crawl.

"How was your day, darling?" she asked sweetly.

"Enlightening," I said, watching her face carefully. "I found out that Lyra's case had been tapered with a stranger."

For just a moment, she couldn't help panicking but she soon recovered her original demeanor.

"Oh? How mysterious."

"Not mysterious. Deliberate." I moved closer, using my Alpha presence to pressure her. "Care to explain how Lyra's medical records got deleted from Dr. Williams' system?"

"I wouldn't know anything about that."

"Wouldn't you? Because Dr. Williams seems to think you threatened her into deleting those records."

Seraphina set down her book, her movements careful and controlled. "Dr. Williams is mistaken."

"Is she? Or are you exactly what I'm starting to think you are?"

"And what's that?"

"A liar. A bitch. A woman who destroyed an innocent pregnancy to get what she wanted."

Seraphina stood up, all pretense of fragility gone. "Innocent? That little girl was trying to trap you with a baby you never wanted."

"How would you know what I wanted?"

"Because I know you, Kael. Better than she ever did." Seraphina moved toward me, her voice turning sweet and gimmicky. "You were meant to be with me. We both know that."

"What I know is that I just exiled my pregnant wife based on your lies."

"Your wife who never loved you the way I do. Your wife who was only with you because of a pack arrangement." Seraphina reached for my face. "I chose you, Kael. I've always chosen you."

I grabbed her wrist, stopping her touch. "Where were you for three years, Seraphina? And don't tell me you were captive, because I'm done believing your stories."

"Does it matter where I was? I'm here now."

"It matters because everything you've told me has been a lie." I released her wrist, stepping back. "Pack your things. You have until morning to leave Iron Claw territory."

Her mask finally slipped completely. "You can't be serious."

"Dead serious. You manipulated me, threatened my pack members, and cost me my family. Get out."

"Kael, please—"

"Get out before I do something we'll both regret."

Seraphina stared at me for a long moment, her beautiful face twisted with fury and desperation. Then she straightened, composing herself with visible effort.

"You'll regret this," she said quietly. "When you realize what you've lost, you'll come crawling back to me."

"The only thing I regret is believing you in the first place."

After she left, I sat alone in the living room where I'd spent so many evenings with Lyra. Where she'd tried to tell me about the pregnancy. Where I'd chosen to believe lies over the truth from the woman who'd never lied to me.

I pulled out my phone and stared at it for a long time before finally typing a message to Magnus: "I know the truth now. Please tell Lyra I'm sorry."

The response came quickly: "Too late, Lyra is my Luna now.."

He was right.

I pushed her away from my pack.