Chapter 1
My mate marked another woman the same night I found out I was carrying his child.
The pack healer had just confirmed it—two heartbeats inside me. Twins. I ran through the rain to tell Kael, my fated mate, the Alpha of Bloodmoon Pack. But when I burst through the packhouse doors, I heard her moan from upstairs.
I didn't go up. I didn't need to.
Instead, I stood in the foyer, dripping rainwater onto the marble, clutching the ultrasound printout in my trembling hands, and listened to the woman I'd considered my best friend scream my mate's name.
Kael and I had been fated for three years. Three years of waiting for his father, the former Alpha, to approve our Luna Ceremony. Three years of being told I wasn't enough—no wolf lineage, no pack connections, an orphan raised by humans who wandered into pack territory at sixteen.
"Once you prove your worth," Kael always said, stroking my hair after another rejection from his parents. "Once you give them an heir, they'll have no choice. Then I'll crown you Luna in front of every pack in the region."
Now I was pregnant with his heirs. And he was in bed with someone else.
The moaning stopped. Footsteps above. Then voices drifted down the stairwell—his mother, Vivian, and another woman I recognized as Greta, the pack's Beta female.
"Now that Mira is carrying the Alpha's pup, there's no reason to keep that stray around." Vivian's voice was sharp, pleased. "Tell Kael to reject her tonight."
"Mira's bloodline is impeccable," Greta agreed. "The council already blessed the union in private. The Luna Ceremony is scheduled for the full moon."
Luna Ceremony. Full moon. That was six days away.
My knees buckled. I grabbed the banister to keep from collapsing.
Mira. His childhood friend. The girl who'd left the pack eight months ago for "training abroad." She was back. And apparently pregnant.
Heavy footsteps descended the stairs. Kael appeared, shirtless, his dark hair disheveled. His golden eyes locked onto me and every muscle in his body went rigid.
"Serena." My name left his mouth like a curse. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough." I held up the ultrasound with a hand that wouldn't stop shaking. "I came to tell you something. But I think you've been too busy."
He descended the remaining steps slowly, his expression shifting from shock to something I hated more—pity.
"It's not what you think," he said, reaching for me.
I stepped back. "Your mother is planning your Luna Ceremony with Mira. Tell me what I'm supposed to think."
"Listen to me." He grabbed my wrists, his grip firm but not painful. "Mira was attacked. Rogues—they violated her during a raid on the eastern border. She's pregnant from the assault. The pup is innocent, Serena, but if the council finds out it's a rogue's offspring, they'll kill it."
"So you're claiming it as yours," I whispered.
"I owe her my life. She took those rogues on to protect me during the ambush." His jaw clenched. "It's temporary. Once the pup is born and she's safe, I'll tell everyone the truth. Then you and I—"
"And what am I in the meantime?" I yanked my wrists free. "What about YOUR children?"
His eyes dropped to the ultrasound. I watched his pupils dilate—shock, real and raw.
"You're... pregnant?"
Before he could reach for me again, a soft voice floated from the top of the stairs.
"Kael?" Mira appeared in his shirt, her hand resting delicately on her bump, her eyes wide and wounded. "Who is she talking to you like that?"
He turned to look at her. And in that single second—that fraction of a heartbeat where he chose to look at her instead of me—I understood everything.
"Tell her, Kael." Mira's voice hardened, her doe eyes narrowing at me. "Tell her that the Luna Ceremony is happening. That her... situation... changes nothing. Tell her that any pup born outside the Luna bond will be declared cursed by the council."
Cursed.
The word hit me like a silver blade.
"Mira, enough—" Kael growled.
But she was already descending the stairs, her hand on her belly like a shield. "The pack will never accept a cursed child, Serena. You know our laws. Leave now, before they find out and put it down like the abomination it—"
My palm connected with her face before I could think.
The sound cracked through the foyer like thunder.
The pack healer had just confirmed it—two heartbeats inside me. Twins. I ran through the rain to tell Kael, my fated mate, the Alpha of Bloodmoon Pack. But when I burst through the packhouse doors, I heard her moan from upstairs.
I didn't go up. I didn't need to.
Instead, I stood in the foyer, dripping rainwater onto the marble, clutching the ultrasound printout in my trembling hands, and listened to the woman I'd considered my best friend scream my mate's name.
Kael and I had been fated for three years. Three years of waiting for his father, the former Alpha, to approve our Luna Ceremony. Three years of being told I wasn't enough—no wolf lineage, no pack connections, an orphan raised by humans who wandered into pack territory at sixteen.
"Once you prove your worth," Kael always said, stroking my hair after another rejection from his parents. "Once you give them an heir, they'll have no choice. Then I'll crown you Luna in front of every pack in the region."
Now I was pregnant with his heirs. And he was in bed with someone else.
The moaning stopped. Footsteps above. Then voices drifted down the stairwell—his mother, Vivian, and another woman I recognized as Greta, the pack's Beta female.
"Now that Mira is carrying the Alpha's pup, there's no reason to keep that stray around." Vivian's voice was sharp, pleased. "Tell Kael to reject her tonight."
"Mira's bloodline is impeccable," Greta agreed. "The council already blessed the union in private. The Luna Ceremony is scheduled for the full moon."
Luna Ceremony. Full moon. That was six days away.
My knees buckled. I grabbed the banister to keep from collapsing.
Mira. His childhood friend. The girl who'd left the pack eight months ago for "training abroad." She was back. And apparently pregnant.
Heavy footsteps descended the stairs. Kael appeared, shirtless, his dark hair disheveled. His golden eyes locked onto me and every muscle in his body went rigid.
"Serena." My name left his mouth like a curse. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough." I held up the ultrasound with a hand that wouldn't stop shaking. "I came to tell you something. But I think you've been too busy."
He descended the remaining steps slowly, his expression shifting from shock to something I hated more—pity.
"It's not what you think," he said, reaching for me.
I stepped back. "Your mother is planning your Luna Ceremony with Mira. Tell me what I'm supposed to think."
"Listen to me." He grabbed my wrists, his grip firm but not painful. "Mira was attacked. Rogues—they violated her during a raid on the eastern border. She's pregnant from the assault. The pup is innocent, Serena, but if the council finds out it's a rogue's offspring, they'll kill it."
"So you're claiming it as yours," I whispered.
"I owe her my life. She took those rogues on to protect me during the ambush." His jaw clenched. "It's temporary. Once the pup is born and she's safe, I'll tell everyone the truth. Then you and I—"
"And what am I in the meantime?" I yanked my wrists free. "What about YOUR children?"
His eyes dropped to the ultrasound. I watched his pupils dilate—shock, real and raw.
"You're... pregnant?"
Before he could reach for me again, a soft voice floated from the top of the stairs.
"Kael?" Mira appeared in his shirt, her hand resting delicately on her bump, her eyes wide and wounded. "Who is she talking to you like that?"
He turned to look at her. And in that single second—that fraction of a heartbeat where he chose to look at her instead of me—I understood everything.
"Tell her, Kael." Mira's voice hardened, her doe eyes narrowing at me. "Tell her that the Luna Ceremony is happening. That her... situation... changes nothing. Tell her that any pup born outside the Luna bond will be declared cursed by the council."
Cursed.
The word hit me like a silver blade.
"Mira, enough—" Kael growled.
But she was already descending the stairs, her hand on her belly like a shield. "The pack will never accept a cursed child, Serena. You know our laws. Leave now, before they find out and put it down like the abomination it—"
My palm connected with her face before I could think.
The sound cracked through the foyer like thunder.