The Pregnant Luna Mated to Ex’s Best Friend (Aria) novel Chapter 17

hapter 17: Posting on Social Media

Chapter 17: Posting on Social Media

(Aria’s POV)

Three years of my life packed away in a single afternoon.

I stood in the bedroom I had shared with Alexander, surrounded by scattered belongings. Each item held memories – the silver hair clip he’d given me on our first anniversary, the collection of dried herbs I’d arranged in decorative jars, the books on pack history I’d studied to be a better Luna.

My fingers traced the edge of a photo frame – our mating day. Alexander’s smile looked genuine, his hand possessively around my waist. Had he ever truly wanted me? Or had I simply been convenient while Claire was bound to another?

“Garbage,” I muttered, tossing the frame into the growing pile in the corner.

It was surprising how little I actually wanted to take. The clothes, the jewelry, the decorations – they all felt like they belonged to someone else. To the Aria who believed in her mate’s love.

My suitcase lay open on the bed, containing only essential documents and a few irreplaceable possessions –

my mother’s healing journals, the unfinished baby hat she’d been knitting, and a small wooden box of rare medicinal herbs passed down through generations.

A lifetime reduced to a single suitcase.

My wolf whimpered inside me, still struggling with our decision about the pregnancy. She instinctively

wanted to protect our pup, while I… I couldn’t imagine bringing Alexander’s child into this mess.

From downstairs, I could hear Elizabeth’s voice, tense and urgent.

“Alexander, you need to come home right now. Aria is packing to leave!”

A pause as she listened to his response.

“I don’t care about the pack meeting! Your mate is leaving you!”

Another pause, longer this time.

“Fine. But don’t blame me when it’s too late.”

I smiled bitterly. Pack business always came first. It always had.

I zipped my suitcase and took one last look around the room before heading downstairs. My ankle still throbbed from the injury at the ceremony, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the hollow ache in

my chest.

Elizabeth stood in the entrance hall, her phone clutched tightly in her hand. Her face fell when she saw my

suitcase.

“You’re really doing this,” she whispered.

“I am.” I pulled out an envelope from my purse and handed it to her. “This is the mate bond severance agreement. Once Alexander signs it, we can proceed with formally severing our bond.”

Elizabeth took it with trembling hands. “I never thought it would come to this.”

|||

O

1/4

<

rating on So

Neither did 1. My voice was surprisingly steady. “But here we are.”

“Here we are indeed!” Richard Reed’s booming voice came from the doorway to his study. Alexander’s father looked positively gleeful. “Finally ridding our pack of a barren Lunal”

My hands clenched into fists. Even now, he couldn’t resist twisting the knife.

“Richard!” Elizabeth hissed. “How dare you!”

He waved her off, approaching me with a smirk. “Three years and not a single pup. What kind of Luna can’t give the Alpha an heir?”

The irony of his accusation made me want to laugh hysterically. If only he knew.

“Well,” I said, meeting his gaze steadily, “with me gone, you can finally have your preferred daughter–in–law. I’m sure Claire Watson will bear you as many grandpups as you desire.”

His eyes widened slightly before narrowing again. “You were never fit to be Luna.”

“Perhaps not,” I agreed, lifting my chin. “But I would never betray my mate the way your son betrayed me.”

I turned to Elizabeth, who looked torn between grief and anger. “Thank you for your kindness over the years. I truly wish things could have been different.”

She pulled me into a tight embrace. “This will always be your home if you change your mind.”

Over her shoulder, I could see Richard’s disgusted expression. Some things never changed.

With a final nod, I picked up my suitcase and walked out the front door of the Reed family home for the last

time.

Olivia was waiting in her car, furiously scrolling through her phone. Her face was contorted with rage as she

muttered under her breath.

“That absolute scumbag! And that homewrecking witch!”

“What now?” I asked wearily as I slid into the passenger seat.

Without a word, she thrust her phone into my hands. It was open to Alexander’s social media page.

My breath caught in my throat.

There, posted on the day of our mating ceremony, was a photograph of Alexander with his arms wrapped around Claire’s waist. Both were smiling, looking happily into each other’s eyes. It was an old picture – they looked younger – but the post was new. The caption read: “Some bonds transcend time. Always there for you, no matter what. #Oldest Friend #ForeverBond”

The timestamp showed it was posted while I was at the hospital, while my mother was dying.

“He… he posted this?” My voice sounded distant, as if coming from someone else.

“That bastard,” Olivia spat. “He couldn’t even wait until your mother’s body was cold before declaring his

affections publicly.”

I stared at the screen, numb with disbelief. The day I lost my mother, the day our mating ceremony fell apart,

he had been making public declarations to Claire.

I had been a laughingstock without even knowing it.

2/4

The whole pack must have seen this,” I whispered.

I handed her back the phone, unable to look at it any longer. A strange calm settled over me, the kind that comes when pain exceeds the body’s ability to process it.

“I have to go to work, but I’ll be back with dinner,” she promised, squeezing my shoulder gently. “Will you be okay alone?”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, pushing past me into the apartment.

His disgust snapped me out of my shock. “What are you doing here, Alexander?”

For a moment, I thought I’d misheard him. “Excuse me?”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “She did. I tore it up.”

“You what?”

I laughed then, a hollow sound that seemed to startle him. “After everything that’s happened, you seriously expect me to come back? Are you delusional?”

“Or what?” I challenged. “You’ll punish me? Force me to return? Go ahead and try.”

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify