Chapter 3 The Mistake

Sienna's POV

The glass shattered against the wall, inches from my head.

I flinched, one hand instinctively moving to protect my swollen belly. Seven months pregnant, and Vera Ashford's visits had become a weekly nightmare.

"You trapped him!" Vera's voice cut through the air like a knife. "You knew exactly what you were doing, getting pregnant. You wanted to force your way into this family."

My hands shook. "I didn't trap anyone. We love each other."

Vera laughed—a cold, bitter sound. "Love? My son feels obligated to you. There's a difference, girl."

The words hit harder than the thrown glass. Mostly because part of me feared they were true.

Kael had changed since I told him about the baby. The news I'd delivered three months ago with hope and fear had made him go pale. He'd stared at the pregnancy test for a full minute without speaking.

"Are you sure?" he'd finally asked.

Not that's wonderful or we'll figure this out together. Just are you sure.

"Yes," I'd whispered. "I'm pregnant. We're having a baby."

He'd pulled me into his arms then, said all the right words. But his body had felt stiff. Distant. Like he was hugging a stranger.

Everything went downhill from there.

Kael told his family. Their reaction was worse than I'd imagined. His father had simply walked out of the room without a word. His mother had looked at me like I was something dirty she'd stepped in.

"This child will be defective," Vera had announced at that first meeting, her eyes boring into me. "The wolfless gene will pass to it. You're contaminating our bloodline."

I'd waited for Kael to defend me. To tell his mother she was wrong, that our baby would be perfect no matter what.

He'd stayed silent.

Now, three months later, I stood in the apartment Kael had moved me into—away from his place, away from anywhere his pack might see us together. Vera had somehow gotten a key and let herself in whenever she wanted.

"You need to leave," Vera said, stepping closer. "End this pregnancy and disappear. I'll give you money. Enough to start over somewhere far from here."

My blood ran cold. "You want me to kill my baby?"

"It's not a baby yet. It's a mistake." Vera's eyes were merciless. "One that will ruin my son's life if you don't fix it."

"Get out." My voice came out stronger than I felt. "Get out of my home."

"This isn't your home. Kael pays for it." Vera smiled cruelly. "Nothing you have is really yours, is it? Not the apartment. Not the food in your fridge. Not even the father of your child."

She left, slamming the door behind her.

I sank onto the couch, my whole body trembling. The baby kicked inside me—strong, alive, real. I pressed my hand against my stomach.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to the tiny life inside me. "I'm so sorry I brought you into this."

My phone buzzed. A text from Kael: Can't make dinner tonight. Emergency surgery. Sorry.

The third time this week he'd canceled. I knew there weren't that many emergencies. He was avoiding me.

I'd tried everything to make his family accept me. I'd learned to cook traditional pack recipes. I'd studied their history and customs. I'd smiled through Vera's insults and her friends' whispered comments at pack gatherings Kael reluctantly brought me to.

Nothing worked.

The pack members treated me like a disease. They stopped talking when I entered rooms. They pulled their children away from me like I might infect them. One woman had actually told me to my face that I was cursing the pack by carrying a "half-breed abomination."

I'd cried in the bathroom for an hour after that.

Kael had been furious when I told him. He'd promised to talk to the pack council, to make them stop.

But weeks passed, and nothing changed. If anything, it got worse.

I pushed myself off the couch and walked to the window. The sun was setting, painting the sky orange and pink. Somewhere out there, Kael was at the hospital. Or maybe he was with his pack, laughing with people who actually belonged.

Without me.

A sharp pain shot through my stomach. I gasped, gripping the windowsill.

Not now. The baby wasn't due for two more months.

The pain faded. I took slow breaths, telling myself it was nothing. Just stress. Just my body reacting to another awful day.

My phone rang. Kael's name flashed on the screen.

"Hello?" I answered, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice.

"Sienna." He sounded tired. Defeated. "We need to talk. Can I come over?"

My heart sank. Nothing good ever started with we need to talk.

"Okay," I said quietly.

"I'll be there in twenty minutes."

He arrived in fifteen. When I opened the door, he looked terrible—dark circles under his eyes, his shoulders slumped forward like he was carrying something heavy.

"Hi," I said softly.

He walked past me without touching me. Without even looking at me properly. He sat on the couch and put his head in his hands.

I sat beside him, close but not touching. "What's wrong?"

"Everything." His voice cracked. "Sienna, I don't know what to do anymore."

Fear crawled up my spine. "Talk to me. Please."

He finally looked at me, and what I saw in his storm-cloud eyes made my breath stop. Guilt. Regret. Pain.

"My mother came to see me today," he said. "She brought the entire pack council with her."

My hand moved to my belly protectively.

"They gave me an ultimatum." Kael's hands were shaking now. "They said if I don't... if I don't reject you before the baby is born, they'll reject me as the next alpha. They'll strip my family of our position. Everything my parents have built will be destroyed."

The words hung in the air between us like poison.

"What did you tell them?" I asked, even though I already knew. I could see it in his face.

"I asked for more time." He wouldn't look at me anymore. "But Sienna, they're serious. They'll actually do it. They'll destroy my entire family."

"So you're choosing them over us." It wasn't a question.

"I'm trying to find a way where I don't have to choose!"

"But if you had to?" I pressed, needing to hear him say it. "If it came down to your pack position or your family—me and our baby—what would you choose?"

The silence that followed told me everything.

Tears burned my eyes. "Get out."

"Sienna—"

"Get out!" I stood up, anger finally breaking through the hurt. "You don't get to sit here and tell me you're thinking about abandoning your child because your mother and some old pack council told you to. You don't get to make me feel like I'm the problem!"

Kael stood too, reaching for me. "You're not the problem. This situation is—"

"I'm part of this situation!" My voice broke. "Me and your baby. We're what they want you to reject. So if you reject the situation, you reject us."

"I need more time to figure this out."

"You've had seven months!" Tears streamed down my face now. "Seven months to stand up to your family. Seven months to choose us. And you haven't done it. Not once."

He opened his mouth. Closed it. He had no defense because I was right.

"Leave," I whispered. "And don't come back until you decide whether you want to be a father or whether you want to be their perfect son. You can't be both."

Kael left without another word.

I locked the door behind him and slid down to the floor, sobbing. The baby kicked again—harder this time, like she was trying to comfort me.

"It's okay," I told her through my tears. "I'll protect you. Even if your father won't."

My phone lit up with a text message. From Vera: Good choice, convincing him to leave. Now finish it. End the pregnancy, or I'll make sure you regret it.

I stared at the message, my blood running ice cold.

How did she know Kael had just left? How did she know what we'd talked about?

Unless she'd put listening devices in my apartment. Unless she'd been spying on me this whole time.

Another text appeared: The council meets in three days. Kael will make his decision then. If he chooses you, we'll destroy him. If he chooses us, you'll be cast out with nothing. Either way, you lose. Save yourself the pain and leave now.

My hands trembled as I typed back: I'm not going anywhere.

Three dots appeared. Then disappeared. Then appeared again.

Finally, Vera's response came through: Then I'll make you wish you had.