Chapter 4

ARIAI'd hidden the pregnancy for six weeks.

Six weeks of pretending everything was normal while my body changed in small, terrifying ways. Six weeks of baggy clothes and skipped meals and avoiding anyone who might notice.

Because I knew what would happen if Clarissa found out. I'd seen what she did to threats to her power. I'd cleaned up the aftermath more than once.

But I'd been naive to think I could hide it forever.

The pack healer, Miriam, had been one of Clarissa's spies for years. I should have known better than to trust her when I'd fainted during morning duties and been forced to the infirmary.

Miriam had examined me with cold, clinical efficiency. And then she'd smiled.

"Well," she'd said softly. "This is interesting."

"Please," I'd begged. "Please don't tell anyone. I'll leave. I'll go to another pack. I'll disappear. Just please—"

"Oh, my dear," Miriam had said, her smile widening. "You should have thought of that before you spread your legs for the Alpha."

She'd gone straight to Clarissa.

Now, three days later, I was running for my life.

It was snowing, fat flakes falling from a dark sky. My thin jacket was no match for the cold, and my breath came in white puffs as I crashed through the forest. Behind me, I could hear them—the assassins Clarissa had sent.

I'd overheard their plans by accident, hiding in a supply closet while two of Clarissa's beta guards discussed it in the hallway.

"Make it look like rogues," one had said. "The Luna wants no evidence. No witnesses."

I'd run immediately, grabbing nothing but the jacket on my back. I had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. The Alpha wouldn't believe me—he'd made his choice clear. And even if he did, he was completely under Clarissa's influence. She'd convinced him I was a threat, a seductress, someone who'd used "dark magic" to trap him into that night in the grove.

My only chance was to get beyond pack borders before they caught me.

But I'd always been weak. Always been slow. And they were trained warriors.

They caught me at the frozen stream.

I tried to fight. My wolf surged forward, snarling and snapping. But I'd never trained for combat, never learned to use my teeth and claws as weapons. They subdued me easily, forcing me back into human form.

There were three of them. All male. All cold-eyed and efficient.

"Please," I begged, on my knees in the snow. "Please, I'm pregnant. I'll leave. I'll go far away. You'll never see me again. Just let me live."

The leader—a scarred beta named Marcus—looked down at me with something like pity.

"Luna's orders," he said simply. "Can't disobey the Luna."

"The baby," I sobbed. "It's his baby. The Alpha's baby. If you kill me, you're killing his heir."

Marcus hesitated for just a moment. "The Alpha has no heir with you. You're just an omega whore who got lucky once. Now shut up and make this easy."

But I couldn't shut up. Couldn't go quietly into death.

"He'll know," I screamed as Marcus drew his knife. "He'll feel it through the bond. He'll know what you did."

"The bond will break when you die," Marcus said. "He'll feel it for a moment. And then it'll be gone. Like you never existed."

The knife flashed in the moonlight.

I tried to shift, to fight, to do anything. But the other two held me down, their hands like iron.

“Moon Goddess,” I prayed. “Please—save my baby. Save us both. I’ll do anything.”

The knife plunged into my chest. Pain exploded through me—white-hot, all-consuming. I screamed as blood poured over my skin.

The bond with Kael flared—bright, desperate—reaching for him one last time.

But he didn’t come.

He was with Clarissa, believing her lies. Believing I’d tried to trap him. Never knowing about the child we created together.

The second stab tore into my stomach.

“No,” I gasped, clutching the wound. “The baby—please. Not my baby—”

They didn’t stop.

The blade fell again and again, until I felt nothing at all. Until the world faded to gray and silence.

As my blood soaked into the snow, my final thought wasn’t fear. It was a curse.

Moon Goddess—if you ever cared for me at all, let me return. Give me one more chance. And I swear, I’ll make them pay.