Chapter 10
During the recess, Alaric tried to corner me.
Dominic's security blocked him immediately — four wolves forming a wall between us — but I heard him. His voice cracked in a way I'd never heard before.
"Selene — wait. Just — let me explain—"
"There's nothing to explain." I didn't turn around.
"I didn't know. I swear to you, I didn't know you were pregnant—"
"And if you had known?" I stopped walking. Still didn't face him. "Would it have changed anything? Would you have stopped bringing her to our bed? Would you have looked at me — even once — like I mattered?"
Silence.
That silence told me everything.
"That's what I thought." I kept walking.
Dominic was waiting outside the chamber, leaning against the stone wall. His eyes tracked Alaric behind me — a cold, lethal assessment.
"Did he touch you?" Dominic asked quietly.
"He didn't get close."
"Good. Because if he does, treaty or no treaty, I'll tear his throat out."
He said it like a fact. Like stating the weather.
I should have been alarmed. Instead, I felt a dark, fierce satisfaction.
*This is what it feels like to have someone choose you.*
---
The tribunal reconvened two hours later.
Dr. Miriam — my old healer from Blackwood territory — had been summoned. She testified with tears streaming down her face.
"Luna Selene came to me for regular checkups. I confirmed her pregnancy at eight weeks. She asked me to keep it confidential — she wanted to tell Alpha Alaric herself."
"And did she?" the Head Councilor asked.
"She never got the chance." Miriam's voice broke. "That same night, I heard she left the territory. I later learned she'd suffered a traumatic injury before departure."
"What kind of injury?"
Miriam looked at me. I gave a small nod.
"Blunt force trauma to the abdomen. Consistent with being shoved into a hard surface."
Gasps from the council.
Alaric's face was gray. His lawyer was whispering urgently in his ear, but he wasn't listening. He was staring at me with an expression I'd waited five years to see.
*Regret.*
It tasted like nothing. I thought it would be sweet — vindication, justice, *finally*. But it was just... empty.
"Given the testimony," the Head Councilor said, "this council finds that Alpha Alaric Blackwood failed in his fundamental duty of care to his bonded mate and unborn child. The reclamation claim is hereby *denied*."
The gavel fell.
Alaric lurched forward. "No — you can't—"
"Furthermore," the Councilor continued, voice like iron, "any further attempts to contact, approach, or claim Luna Selene or her child will be considered a violation of Continental Law and grounds for territorial sanctions."
It was over.
I sat perfectly still, both hands on my belly, and let the relief wash over me.
*You're safe,* I told my baby silently. *We're safe.*
Dominic's hand found mine beneath the table. Warm. Sure.
When we stood to leave, Alaric was still sitting at his table. Vanessa was beside him, but he wasn't looking at her.
He was looking at me.
And the expression on his face — raw, gutted, *lost* — was one I'll carry with me forever.
Not because it made me happy.
But because it proved what I'd always known: he never saw me until I was gone.
Dominic's security blocked him immediately — four wolves forming a wall between us — but I heard him. His voice cracked in a way I'd never heard before.
"Selene — wait. Just — let me explain—"
"There's nothing to explain." I didn't turn around.
"I didn't know. I swear to you, I didn't know you were pregnant—"
"And if you had known?" I stopped walking. Still didn't face him. "Would it have changed anything? Would you have stopped bringing her to our bed? Would you have looked at me — even once — like I mattered?"
Silence.
That silence told me everything.
"That's what I thought." I kept walking.
Dominic was waiting outside the chamber, leaning against the stone wall. His eyes tracked Alaric behind me — a cold, lethal assessment.
"Did he touch you?" Dominic asked quietly.
"He didn't get close."
"Good. Because if he does, treaty or no treaty, I'll tear his throat out."
He said it like a fact. Like stating the weather.
I should have been alarmed. Instead, I felt a dark, fierce satisfaction.
*This is what it feels like to have someone choose you.*
---
The tribunal reconvened two hours later.
Dr. Miriam — my old healer from Blackwood territory — had been summoned. She testified with tears streaming down her face.
"Luna Selene came to me for regular checkups. I confirmed her pregnancy at eight weeks. She asked me to keep it confidential — she wanted to tell Alpha Alaric herself."
"And did she?" the Head Councilor asked.
"She never got the chance." Miriam's voice broke. "That same night, I heard she left the territory. I later learned she'd suffered a traumatic injury before departure."
"What kind of injury?"
Miriam looked at me. I gave a small nod.
"Blunt force trauma to the abdomen. Consistent with being shoved into a hard surface."
Gasps from the council.
Alaric's face was gray. His lawyer was whispering urgently in his ear, but he wasn't listening. He was staring at me with an expression I'd waited five years to see.
*Regret.*
It tasted like nothing. I thought it would be sweet — vindication, justice, *finally*. But it was just... empty.
"Given the testimony," the Head Councilor said, "this council finds that Alpha Alaric Blackwood failed in his fundamental duty of care to his bonded mate and unborn child. The reclamation claim is hereby *denied*."
The gavel fell.
Alaric lurched forward. "No — you can't—"
"Furthermore," the Councilor continued, voice like iron, "any further attempts to contact, approach, or claim Luna Selene or her child will be considered a violation of Continental Law and grounds for territorial sanctions."
It was over.
I sat perfectly still, both hands on my belly, and let the relief wash over me.
*You're safe,* I told my baby silently. *We're safe.*
Dominic's hand found mine beneath the table. Warm. Sure.
When we stood to leave, Alaric was still sitting at his table. Vanessa was beside him, but he wasn't looking at her.
He was looking at me.
And the expression on his face — raw, gutted, *lost* — was one I'll carry with me forever.
Not because it made me happy.
But because it proved what I'd always known: he never saw me until I was gone.