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"“I’m sorry. She’s pregnant with my pup.” “But I’m pregnant with your baby too!” After my eighth ovulation injection, I was finally pregnant. But so was my mate’s mistress. “Listen, human. You may be the Alpha’s mate, but you’re not one of us. He needs a werewolf to bring his heir into this world, and obviously I’m the best one to do it.” “No,” I felt like my whole world was sinking away, and I needed to find an even footing. “He won’t cheat on me. I don’t believe you, Claire. You’re just making this up.” “I haven’t cheated on you, Amelia. You need to understand. I need an heir, and I agreed that Claire is a suitable surrogate. That’s all this is.” he said. I stared at him. He said that like it was an inconvenient change of plans for the weekend, a minor disappointment I needed to get over. “You ‘agreed.’ So this was something you knew about and went along with?” He’d planned this and kept it from me - for what, weeks? Months? How long had I been a fool, thinking my husband actually loved and respected me? “No, Amelia. I love you. This is just…think of it like a business deal. That’s how I’ve thought of it. I knew it didn’t have to affect our relationship.” “Wouldn’t affect our relationship,” I said. “Damien, Claire is now the mother of your child. She is going to be raising that child, your heir. You’ll be with her and the baby - they’ll be your family. What will that make me?’ “Stop being so unreasonable, Amelia,” he said coldly, an Alpha clearly expecting to be obeyed. “This really doesn’t have to be that big of a deal. This is what’s best for the pack.” “Damien, either Claire leaves with the baby forever - or I will. If Claire and her child stay… You know what kind of situation I grew up in. This kind of thing only ends in tragedy. I refuse to allow children to grow up in a toxic environment like this.” Damien’s eyes narrowed, and he studied me sharply, finally noticing I held something in my hand. “Children?”" --- Amelia POV “You’re pregnant with the Alpha’s child, Luna Amelia. It’s a miracle!” My heart gave one long hard thump of joy at Dr. Wyatt’s words. Finally, after my eighth fertility injection, I got the life I had waited, hoped and prayed for. Breathless, I pressed a hand to my stomach, as if I could already feel the life growing there. I am a human Luna. My fated mate Damien is a powerful Alpha werewolf who took a big chance accepting a human as his mate. Our union hasn’t been easy for the pack to accept. Werewolves can rarely have children with humans. The whole pack keeps whispering and gossiping about how weak or useless I am. That I can’t even give my Alpha an heir. And not having an heir has kept Damien from being promoted to the Alpha Council, even though it was his leadership and skill that turned his pack into the strongest pack in hundreds of years. I believe it was all my fault, but Damien never doubted we were meant to be, no matter what anyone else thought. We’ve been trying to have a baby for two years. Last year I got desperate enough to try anything - tea made with special herbs picked by moonlight, a crazy special diet, taking my temperature every day to track my cycle. And I saw doctor after doctor after doctor. All of them said the same thing: a werewolf and a human could not create a child. Dr. Wyatt was different. As she stands in front of me, her dark eyes shining with excitement and happiness for me, I remember the first time I saw her, almost a year ago. She had those same kind eyes, and held my hand while I cried and told her my story. “It’s alright, Luna Amelia. I understand how hard it must be for you in the pack, and the pressure you’re under. But, I believe I can help you.” I couldn’t believe it at first. After so many doctors telling me it was impossible, maybe I was even afraid to believe Dr. Wyatt as she told me about the fertility injections she’d been developing to make it easier for a pregnancy between human and werewolves. I’ve been getting an injection of her serum every month. Her serum strengthens my body, creating a safer space for a werewolf baby, but to say that it hurts is a major understatement. Still, the idea of finally - finally - being able to carry my mate’s child has kept me coming back for another injection. After a moment of shock, when all my mate and I have been through flashes through my mind, I feel my eyes begin to fill with happy tears. “Are you sure? Is it finally happening? I have to tell Damien!” I’m already dialing his number before I finish the sentence, and jump up to pace as it rings. I’m so excited I just can’t sit still. I imagine Damien laughing, seeing me pace. He calls me his little firecracker, always on the move. He tells me it’s a good thing he’s an Alpha, since no one else would be able to keep up with me. Our children, I promised him, would be just as vibrant and energetic. I can’t wait to tell him that the first of those children is finally on the way. But the call goes to voicemail, so I hang up. Maybe it’s better to tell him in person anyway, then I can watch his face as I give him the good news. Dr. Wyatt crosses the room and puts her hand on my arm. “This is such good news, and I know you must be overjoyed. But let’s run some more in-depth tests, just to make sure everything is coming along as it should.” She’s right. One quick pee-in-a-container test isn’t enough. We need detailed, high level tests to make sure these results are accurate, and that my pregnancy may actually be a success. I should have waited to call Damien, I don’t want to get his hopes up just yet. Just as I think this my phone buzzes in my hand. It’s Damien. “Hello, darling. I’m sorry I missed your call. Is everything alright?” Just hearing his voice, so deep and warm, soothes some of my jittery nerves, which are all tangled up with excitement and anxiety about what the new tests might show. “Of course,” I say, taking a breath so my voice sounds calm and even. “I was just checking in to, uh, see how your day is going, and when you’ll be home tonight.” “My day is busier than I thought it was going to be, actually,” he says. I can hear voices murmuring in the background, and my mate sounds distracted. “In fact, I’m not sure I’ll be home in time for dinner.” Dr. Wyatt has her own phone to her ear, calling up to the obstetrics department of the hospital, and I’m a little distracted myself. I guess we’re going to start doing those tests right now. “That’s okay, babe,” I say, rubbing a hand in circles over my belly. “I hope the rest of the day isn’t too stressful. I’ll see you when you get home.” We say our goodbyes and then Dr. Wyatt is telling me all about the tests she’s going to run today, and the other tests and monitoring that will be needed in the coming weeks and months. “I’m not going to lie, Luna. This first pregnancy could be quite risky. There may be a high chance of having a miscarriage. We’re going to take every precaution to keep both you and baby as safe as possible.” I take a deep, deep breath. I knew getting pregnant was just step one. Carrying a half-werewolf child to term was going to be a long, scary process. I knew I was up to it - I had to be - but… “Dr. Wyatt? I’d like to keep this between us, for now. I really, really want to tell Damien. But until we know this could really be happening, I don’t think we should say anything. To anyone.” “Luna, do you really think you should go through all of this alone?” “I can handle it. And I don’t want to break Damien’s heart if it doesn’t work out. Or give the rest of the pack more reason not to like me,” I added ruefully. Dr. Wyatt rubs her hand up and down my arm. Her simple kindness, and deep understanding of my situation, have been part of what’s helped me be so strong these last few months. I was so grateful for her help, and for what has turned into an easy friendship between us. “I understand, Amelia. I think, if I was in your place, I’d probably wait to tell anyone as well.” Feeling steadier, I followed her out of the exam room and up to another floor of the hospital. I hadn’t been up here before. The waiting room and main hallways were hung with soothing landscape photographs, mixed in with pictures of babies that had been delivered by the doctors here. Seeing them, it was easier to feel excited again, imagining a picture of our own child up there someday soon. “Just down here, Luna. We’ll get you into a gown and then begin testing.” We turn a corner and head toward an exam room, when up ahead in the hallway I spot a couple standing with their backs to us. Tall and built, the way most werewolves seem to be, they looked lovely together. The man was listening carefully to a doctor as they spoke to each other, and the woman stood at a slight angle to me, so I could see her belly gently curving outward. That’ll be us soon, I thought wistfully. I’ll be the one with their belly poking out, and Damien will be listening carefully to Dr. Wyatt’s instructions. But the more I looked at the couple, the more uneasy I felt. Like there was something wrong with the picture, something disturbing. And then my stomach clenched, and I stopped dead. That man… Even from a distance, and with his back mostly turned. That looks just like Damien. Amelia POV Before I could blink Dr. Wyatt whisked me into a room that was part lab, part exam room. “We’re going to take some blood, run a few other tests. It won’t take long, Luna Amelia.” I nodded as I sat, rolling up my shirt sleeve, thinking about the couple I had seen. The woman looked familiar, and the man had looked so much like Damien. True, I had only seen him from the back, but still… Dr. Wyatt swabbed my arm with rubbing alcohol, then stuck the needle in with a smooth, experienced motion. I took out my phone and sent Damien a message one-handed. Sorry your day is so busy. Are you with the Council? The Alpha Council ran everything here in the werewolf realm, the equivalent of a human government. My mate was a skilled leader, and often worked closely with the Council. In fact, he deserved to be an actual member, everyone said so. But politics among werewolves is always complicated by family ties. Because Damien didn’t have an heir, he hadn’t yet been given the position he deserved. Which was all my fault. By the time Dr. Wyatt finished drawing the last tube of blood, my phone buzzed. No, I’m stuck in the office all day. Wish I was with you, sweetheart. Then he sent a picture of himself at his desk. His hair was ruffled, like he’d been running his hand through it, something he did when he was stressed. Relieved, I told myself to forget about that couple. My emotions were all over the place. It made sense that my anxiety would be high enough to think I saw something I didn’t. I sent back heart and kiss emojis, and decided to make him something special for dinner. Just because I couldn’t share the good news - yet - didn’t mean we couldn’t start celebrating a little anyway. I put my phone away and focused on the tests Dr. Wyatt wanted to run. By tomorrow we’d know for sure if I was carrying my mate’s child. A few hours later I turned off the main road, onto the wide driveway of Damien’s estate. His pack is now one of the wealthiest, thanks to Damien’s hard work and skill as a leader. Most of the pack lives in this area, and the estate is large enough to include over a dozen large homes on the property, including the pack house. Our house sits close to the deep woods, and many in the pack gather here for meetings, special gatherings or just to hang out. Even though it’s never felt like I’ve really been accepted by the pack I still love how social our home is, how much energy and life it holds. Our child will grow up surrounded by that community. I stopped my car and got out to stand for a moment looking at the perfectly manicured lawn with its garden in full bloom, so many different kinds of flowers glowing brilliantly in the sunlight. A breeze carried their smell, and the smell of the woods, and I took a deep breath. We’re going to raise our children here, I thought, hugging the feeling close to my heart. Our children. I got back in the car and drove it into the garage. As the automatic door went up I saw Damien’s car already parked in his spot. It was a sleek and fancy town car, a deep forest green. I parked my own zippy little car next to it, excited that he hadn’t had to stay late after all. “Damien?” I called when I went inside. I dumped my shoes, purse and keys just inside the door. When he didn’t answer I went looking for him. Not in the kitchen, or the den, or the bedroom. Eventually I went down to the basement, where we had a home gym, a movie room and a storage area. A few small noises drew me to the storage room. I found him there, among the snowboards and skis, the camping and fishing gear, unpacking and stacking what I realized were baby things. Bottles, tiny clothes, a large box with a picture of a bassinet on the side. My heart melted. My poor mate, he wants a child so badly. And I want so badly to give him one. I sighed, touched, and the sound caught his attention. “Amelia. You’re home. I didn’t realize… I’m sorry. I meant to be upstairs to say hello.” He stopped what he was doing, leaving the room and shutting the door, blocking my view of the supplies. There were a lot - he must have been stocking up for a while. But he never said anything about it to me, probably not wanting me to feel any more pressure than I was already putting on myself. He was right, seeing that would have made me sad. Before. Now, I had hope things would be different, and soon. Full of that feeling of hope and excitement, I rushed into his arms. “It’s okay,” I said. “I understand how much you want a child.” I boosted up a little higher to whisper in his ear, “Why don’t we try again?” I’ve become so familiar with my mate and his body that I could tell the instant his wolf stirred inside him, when his breath quickened as he took in my scent. His hands began to explore my body as a low growl rumbled in his throat. Knowing just where and how he liked to be touched, I playfully licked up the side of his neck. The growl erupted into a snarl, and he pinned me roughly to the wall, already pulling at my clothes. Excitement leaped in my belly, as it did every time he put his hands on me. This time, however, that excitement was mixed with a quick stab of concern for the baby. I took his face in my hands and kissed him slowly, softly. “Slow down,” I said. “I want to take our time.” “Of course, my love,” Damien said, and swept me up into his arms, carrying me all the way upstairs to our bed. He was slow and sweet and gentle, and we stayed there for hours. The next morning I woke up excited. I kissed Damien goodbye as he headed off to work, then headed straight to the hospital. I sat waiting in the exam room until my nerves started to stretch thin. Then Dr. Wyatt came in, and the good news was all over her face. “Congratulations, my Luna. You are officially pregnant!” I was so excited I popped up out of my chair and hugged her. “Dr. Wyatt, I can’t thank you enough! Your treatments are a miracle!” Dr. Wyatt laughed and hugged me back, then we sat down. “Actually, Luna, according to the tests your baby is about two months old already - and likely wasn’t conceived during one of the treatments. You two seem to have done it all on your own!” “But - how is that possible?” “I don’t know, actually. Perhaps there’s something unusual about your physiology. Either way, monitoring your pregnancy could help develop my treatment even further.” I agreed to the careful monitoring and regular exams Dr. Wyatt suggested, both for the baby and to develop the treatment, then took the report and hurried out, nearly in tears from being so happy. I hugged the report to my chest. I couldn’t wait to tell Damien! On the way out of the hospital I ran into Claire. Claire is the daughter of Kendrick, the retired Beta, and her brother Ethan is the current Beta. Claire is beautiful, a cool blonde with all the charm of an iceberg. To me, anyway. She’s always sweet and friendly to Damien of course. Claire grew up with Damien, and he treats her like a close childhood friend. I always wished she would let me in so we could be friends too, but her attitude toward me had never warmed. I figured it was probably because she had feelings for Damien, since it was obvious that she did. Not that I cared. Damien loves me, we’re fated mates. In the werewolf world that trumped any lingering childhood crush. Claire was being shown out of the clinic by a few doctors, a medical report similar to mine in one of her hands. The other hand sat on her belly, which was slightly rounded. Suddenly I realized she was the woman I saw the day before. I hadn’t heard anything about her getting married, or even finding a mate. How was she pregnant? Still riding the high of my own excitement, it wasn’t hard to smile when Claire saw me and stopped. “Oh my god, Claire, congratulations! You must be so excited. I’m sorry, I hadn’t heard that you’d found a mate. I guess I owe you double congrats.” I expected Claire to give me one of her cool, not-actually-friendly smiles, maybe blow me off or whatever. Instead she got a look of panic on her face. “Amelia! I - why are you - I was just…” With a look of concern the doctor nearest to her put a hand on Claire’s shoulder. “Don’t be nervous. It’s alright to tell her. You, a noble Beta’s daughter, are carrying Damien’s child, after all. You carry the future heir of our pack!” Amelia POV A buzzing filled my ears, and it took me a moment to realize I was about to pass out. I shook my head, took a step back. “What? What are you saying?” Obviously feeling bolder now, Claire stood up a little taller, ran the hand on her belly in a circle, tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “That’s right, Amelia. I’m carrying Damien’s child. He needs a werewolf to bring his heir into this world, and obviously I’m the best one to do it.” “Damien…cheated on me? With you??” “Oh don’t be silly. It’s nothing as dirty as that. All we needed was a little of his DNA, a little of mine and, well, here we are.” She smiled, obviously pleased with herself. Then she stepped closer, speaking only so I could hear. “But listen, human. You may be the Alpha’s mate, but you’re not one of us, and you can never carry an heir. Even Damien’s family knows that. It was his own mother and sister who brought this idea to me.” Everyone knows Damien wants a child, of course. For a werewolf finding a mate also means preparing to start raising a family. And as an Alpha he also needs an heir to be raised up to Council member. But…this? Could Damien’s mother Samantha and his sister Victoria really have come up with some twisted kind of plot like this? “No,” I said, taking a breath, trying to consciously slow my frantic heartbeat. I felt like my whole world was sinking away, and I needed to find an even footing. “I don’t believe you, Claire. You’re just making this up.” “Don’t be such a child. You know how important family is to werewolves, and especially to Alphas. As a Beta’s daughter my blood is far more royal than yours. And Damien and I grew up together - everyone has always said what a perfect match we would make. How powerful our children would be. Don’t you see?” Her eyes glittered as she sneered at me, and I felt my shock begin to melt into anger. “You foolish human. I am the one who will fulfill Damien’s needs. I am the one who will carry his heir.” Suddenly she shrugged and stepped back, into the circle of waiting doctors. “It’s what he wants. Who am I to say no?” The doctors escort Claire down the hallway, leaving me standing there alone. I’ve always known Damien’s family weren’t thrilled with him taking a human mate, and the assumption that I can’t carry an heir is a part of that. But I had tried so hard to please my mate as well as his family, serving the pack tirelessly. But it didn’t matter, did it? I was still foolish, worthless human. I thought they had accepted me. But in the end they went behind my back and arranged this whole horrible thing. I stormed out of the hospital, heading straight to Damien’s office to confront him. The only reason I didn’t floor it on the drive over was the thought of keeping the baby safe. No matter what else was going on, I needed to keep him or her in mind. But I was still fuming when I strode into his office, throwing the door open so that it banged against the wall. Damien took one look at my face and hung up the phone he’d been talking into. And any hope I had that this wasn’t true, or at the very least wasn’t something he’d been a part of, disappeared. I saw it in his face, and I knew he could tell that I’d found out. He stood up and hurried around the desk, trying to put his hands on my shoulders. “Amelia, it isn’t what you think.” “Oh really? So what exactly is it?” He lowered his hands and drew himself up. “I haven’t cheated on you, Amelia. You need to understand. I need an heir, and I agreed that Claire is a suitable helper for the pregnancy. That’s all this is.” I stared at him. He said that like it was an inconvenient change of plans for the weekend, a minor disappointment I needed to get over. “You ‘agreed.’ So this was something you knew about and went along with?” I guess I had been holding onto hope after all. Maybe, I don’t know, somehow his DNA had ended up in Claire’s hands without him knowing it. But that hope just died too, and behind it a deep pit of betrayal and agony started to open. I put my hand to my stomach, feeling sick. My mate, my husband, was going to allow a woman who clearly had feelings for him, to carry his child. Because she was a werewolf, one who had high status in the pack. Higher, apparently, than the pack’s own Luna, since I was just a human. He’d planned this and kept it from me - for what, weeks? Months? How long had I been a fool, thinking my husband actually loved and respected me? I had so many questions, but the biggest one came out first. “Is this because you want a divorce?” It’s the only thing I can think of. He wants me to leave, wants to replace me with someone who deserves to be Luna, and deserves to be his mate. How foolish of me, to think a human could ever belong in this world. “No, Amelia. I love you. This is just…think of it like a business deal. That’s how I’ve thought of it. I knew it didn’t have to affect our relationship.” I stared at him, and it was like I could actually physically feel my heart cracking into pieces. “Wouldn’t affect our relationship,” I said. “Damien, Claire is now the mother of your child. She is going to be raising that child, your heir. You’ll be with her and the baby - they’ll be your family. What will that make me?’ I was already barely accepted as Luna of the pack, and actually treated with the respect a Luna deserves by very few. How could he not think about the slights and outright insults, the direct challenges and subtle disrespect I dealt with every single day? And about how much worse that would get if he had a child with someone else? If Damien had a new family, a proper werewolf family, my life would become nothing but humiliation, or worse. And what about the baby I now carried? What kind of life would it have? My own childhood had been difficult. I was orphaned at a young age, and though I’d been adopted by a kind family unable to have children of their own, by adopted father’s one night stand - and the illegitimate child that came from it - had torn my new family apart. Would my baby have to deal with the same situation? What’s worse, Damien knew about my childhood, how I felt about cheating and dragging children into the dysfunctional mix. He knew about my scars, yet he was dragging me down into a nightmare that felt so awfully, terribly familiar. Trembling, I lowered the hand from my stomach and balled my fists, willing my voice not to shake. “Damien, either Claire leaves with the baby forever - or I will.” Amelia POV Damien’s eyes turned cold, and his expression hardened. “That’s ridiculous, Amelia. You of all people know what kind of stress I face, and the difficulties of leading a pack. I need an heir, and Claire can provide one. It’s as simple as that.” As I looked up at my mate and his hard expression, I realized something I’d never seen before. Or maybe, something I hadn’t wanted to accept: To Damien, having an heir was far more important than our love, our bond. No matter how hard I loved him, how much I tried to serve the pack - it would never be enough. What kind of man had I married? A sudden noise in the hall drew my attention, and a whirlwind burst into the room. It was Claire, with Damien’s mother Samantha and his sister Victoria. She rushed to Damien’s side, tears streaming down her face. “Please, Damien, don’t listen to her hateful ideas! I won’t terminate this pregnancy, and I won’t be separated from my child. A baby needs its mother!” Damien comforted her, giving her more care in one brief moment than he had to me during our entire conversation. I’d known Claire had feelings for my husband, but now I wondered, did he have feelings for her? “Don’t worry, Claire. I already said, your child will be born safely. Besides, your father and brother have done so much for the pack as loyal Betas. I could never drive out any member of their family.” Claire looked up at him. “I’m your family now too, Damien. Me and this child I carry.” I felt sick all over again, looking at them. They made a beautiful picture, two gorgeous royal werewolves. Of all the emotions I was feeling, embarrassment began to creep in the strongest. I’d been such a fool. Samantha and Victoria seized this opportunity to turn on me, corner me, block me from Damien’s view, cut me away from that picture-perfect family portrait. “Amelia, you’re just going to have to deal with this. After all, it’s your fault Damien has been passed over by the Alpha Council. If he had a real mate he’d already have an heir by now,” said his mother. Samantha was a lot like Claire, gorgeous and cold. I wondered, before, how a man a loving as my husband managed to survive being raised by someone so cold-hearted. Now I realized he was a lot more like her than I ever knew. “Honestly I don’t see why you’re being so dramatic,” Victoria said, eyes glittering. Oh, she was loving seeing me so hurt and upset. She always reminded me of a viper, always ready to strike. “Victoria, this doesn’t involve you,” Damien warned, but she waved that warning away. “My brother needs an heir. Claire can make that happen. It’s as simple as that. You’re being very foolish, Amelia.” “silly, and selfish,” Samantha added. “A petty, spiteful child throwing a tantrum because she isn’t getting what she wants.” “I said enough,” Damien said, loudly enough to get the attention of both of them. But it was too late. The rest of my heart was already cracking and shattering into pieces. Selfish? Petty? Spiteful? I thought about everything I’d given up for Damien, my life, my family and friends, the entire human realm, just to be with him. And I thought about the life I’d endured here, a place full of people who had never fully accepted me. I’d given my heart and my life to Damien and his pack. I’d been alone and lonely, my mate the only island of comfort in a sea of foreign politics and hierarchy. I had dedicated myself to being the best Luna I could be. And that was even before I submitted my body to month after month of fertility treatment, to the pain and discomfort, to having my hopes dashed time and time again. For him, my mate. For his pack. And now Damien and his family were trampling all over my dignity. Worse, they were acting like there was something wrong with me for not going along with it. Heartbroken, but no longer willing to blindly submit myself to pack politics and pack rule, I straightened my shoulders, looked beyond Samantha and Victoria. Ignoring Claire, I spoke quietly but firmly to Damien: “I want a divorce.” Damien frowned. “Stop being so unreasonable, Amelia,” he said coldly, an Alpha clearly expecting to be obeyed. “This really doesn’t have to be that big of a deal. This is what’s best for the pack.” But I refused to back down. “If Claire and her child stay… You know what kind of situation I grew up in. This kind of thing only ends in tragedy. I refuse to allow children to grow up in a toxic environment like this.” Damien’s eyes narrowed, and he studied me sharply, finally noticing I held something in my hand. “Children?” Dr. Wyatt’s report! I’d forgotten it, and now I might have said too much. If Damien knew I was pregnant, things will get more complicated. But I’d meant what I said - no child should grow up in an environment like I did, not even Claire’s. If ending the relationship was what I had to do to keep that from happening, then it’s what I would have to do. Ignoring the curious looks of the women in the room, I turned and hurried away. I needed to get home and pack. Damien POV Amelia hurried out of the room, just as a fascinating suspicion began to tickle at my mind. I started to rush after her, but Claire continued to hold me, and my mother and sister blocked my way. “Damien, you need to listen to me,” my mother said. “This is for the best. You knew she could never truly be a Luna to this pack, or a mother to your children. Now it’s time you listen to some sense!” “I’ve listened to your ‘sense,’ haven’t I?” I retorted. “I’ve gone along with this whole pregnancy assistant scheme for months, keeping it secret from my wife - my mate.” “And you were right to do so,” my sister chimed in. “Look at the tantrum the human just threw. It’s ridiculous. Come on, Damien. You know Claire is the better match for you. Let Amelia go.” “Then we can make Claire the official new Luna, and everyone will be happy,” my mother added. I saw the image my family was painting: The Alpha with the Beta’s daughter as my Luna, and mother of my child. Claire was a werewolf, and, since she was from a Beta line, very likely she will give me a relatively strong pureblood child. And since she’d been raised in the werewolf realm, she understood the complexities of pack life and even Council business better than Amelia could as just a human. All I had to do was let this all unfold the way they planned. Then I’d be a father, and a member of the Alpha Council. All I had to do was let my mate, the love of my life, walk away. I shrugged off Claire’s clinging hands, pushed past my mother and my sister. “Not a chance,” I said, and hurried home. I hurried home, hoping Amelia would have calmed down enough to listen. If I could just make her see that this was about politics - that it really was just business - surely she would see the sense in my decision. As an Alpha, I had responsibilities I had to handle, and making sure I have an heir is one of them. But when I got home, I found Amelia packing. And I realized she was serious about leaving. I grabbed her arm as she marched past me to throw more clothes into a suitcase. She yanked her arm away. “Don’t touch me, Damien. Don’t you dare.” “Amelia, be reasonable. Darling, come here.” I took her arms in my hands and stepped closer. I tried to give her a kiss, to remind her of our bond and calm her worries, but she turned her face and stepped away from me. Just a step, but it felt like a million miles. “Amelia, listen - ” Just then my phone rang, and I answered out of habit. It was my duty to always be available to the pack. But it wasn’t the pack - it was my mother, calling from the hospital. “That little scene in your office upset Claire so much she fainted. It may have triggered complications with the pregnancy. Damien, you need to get down here. The baby is in trouble.” I hung up the phone and swore, torn. I needed to talk sense into Amelia, make her see that this had nothing to do with her, or with us. I was her fated mate, nothing could change that. But Claire is carrying my child. Mine. I can’t just ignore that. “oh no, Amelia. I have to leave - but this isn’t over! And you’re not leaving until we talk about this.” Before she could stop me I grabbed her and carried her down to the basement, ignoring her struggles, telling myself it was for the best. We could deal with this, we could get through this, I just needed her to stay put. I called one of the staff to watch the basement, make sure Amelia didn’t leave. Then I carried her down into the basement, plunking her down on a sofa. I knew my voice was cold when I spoke to her, but she needed to understand that there was no way we were anywhere near finished: “No one loves you more than I do, Amelia. You’ll stay here until I can come back and we can talk. Until then - don’t even think about running away.” Amelia POV I stared at the doorway Damien disappeared through for a full minute, in complete disbelief. He’d picked me up and carried me down here like an old piece of luggage he needed to store. Once I got over my initial shock I marched out of the room and up the stairs. The door was locked! “Hey!” I yelled, banging on the door. “Let me out of here!” “Not a chance, Luna,” said a man’s voice. “Alpha’s orders,” he hissed, then laughed. That voice made my stomach sink. His name was Jeremy, and he hated me. He was one of the people that had made my life so miserable these last few years. There were so many werewolves in Damien’s pack who refused to accept a human Luna. Maybe not outright - that would be too close to rebellion for even the bravest of them to try - but they had plenty of ways to show me what they thought of me. Jeremy was a member of the household staff, and had always made me feel so inferior and weak. As one of the enforcers of the pack he was powerfully built and incredibly dangerous, but it was his attitude toward me, and all humans, that always made him seem scary. Now here I was, pretty much a prisoner in my own home, and he got to stand guard. I could only imagine how delighted he was with this turn of events. I knew there was no chance of talking him into letting me out, so I went back down the stairs and thought about my situation. Was there some other way I could get out of here? But as I roamed from room to room I realized it was pointless. There were no other doors in the basement, and the few windows were only half sized and set up high into the walls. Even if I could pile up some furniture to reach one, I wasn’t sure I could fit through. When we first moved into this home Damien explained all the security measures he’d put into place. Back then that made me feel safe. Now, I just feel trapped. Hours later, I had an even bigger problem: I was starving. In fact my blood sugar was so low I felt like I was going to faint as I walked back up the stairs yet again. I had to pause halfway just to catch my breath and hold onto the railing until my head stopped swimming. When I finally got to the door I begged shamelessly - I needed food, but more importantly so did my baby. “No one said you were allowed to eat,” Jeremy snapped, opening the door and crowding into my face. “Maybe you should have thought of your little grumbly tummy before you disobeyed the Alpha.” “I didn’t disobey Damien.” I thought of trying to explain the whole sordid situation, but doubted he would even care. I tried reasoning with him instead. “Alpha Damien didn’t say I should starve either, did he? I haven’t eaten since this morning. Please, call him. I’m sure he’ll say it’s alright. He would never forbid me from eating, you know that.” There was a long pause as he thought about it. Jeremy might be hateful, but he wasn’t foolish. At the very least he’d want to cover his own back, just in case Damien really didn’t intend for me to go hungry. “Fine. I’ll make the call.” He slammed the door. Relieved, I leaned against the wall. “Thank you, Jeremy. I - I appreciate it.” I heard his footsteps fade as he walked away. They returned just a few moments later, and the door opened again. I was shocked at how cold his face was. “Alpha Damien is with Claire and isn’t to be bothered with the likes of you. He’s not to be disturbed again.” I could tell that whatever Damien had said to Jeremy, it had made him think talking to him again would get him in trouble. What was wrong with Damien? Didn’t he care about me anymore? “Please, Jeremy. I won’t try anything. I’m just so hungry. I’m - I’m pregnant. I need to eat.” I hated - hated - that I had to tell him, that the good news I’d been so excited to share with my mate was now so desperately shared to keep my baby safe. Jeremy sneered. “You lie. A human could never carry a werewolf child.” Then he studied me for a moment, maybe wondering if I was telling the truth. “If you are pregnant… Then it obviously isn’t with Alpha Damien’s child. It must be human. No wonder he’s locked you in here.” “What? No! No, that isn’t true. I would never - ” But Jeremy was already yanking me up to my feet, dragging me down the stairs and into the storage room. He rummaged around one handed, holding my hands together at the wrist with the other hand, grinding the bones together. When he pulled out a bit of rope from the camping gear I felt myself go pale. “No,” I said, trying to pull myself away from his steely grip. “You can’t. Jeremy, I’m pregnant. You can’t tie me up!” “Mere human, unfaithful mate, pack betrayer - I can do whatever I want to you,” he said, pulling me close and getting right in my face. “You are worse than nothing. You deserve whatever punishment Alpha Damien gives you.” It was clear, in that moment, that without Damien by my side, humiliation at the hands of the pack might be the least of my worries. For the first time I felt true fear about the future, for myself and for my baby. Jeremy tied me up, the cords biting into my skin, then shoved me to the cold cement floor of the storage room. I lay there shivering, terrified, hungry and now in pain. I tried to stand up, to try begging him again, but the effort was too much - I passed out. Damian POV At the hospital, I stepped back into Claire’s room after receiving a report from one of her doctors just as she was hanging up my phone. I frowned at her. “What are you doing?” “Your phone rang,” she said, waving a hand away like it was nothing. “Just Ethan, checking in.” Which made sense, so I didn’t pursue it. And I could always check the call log later, unless she deleted it. But why would she do that? I shook my head - I was tired, and emotionally spent, and the exhaustion was making me paranoid. I just wanted to get home. But when I tried to say goodbye, Claire burst into tears. “Oh Damien, I’m so afraid! Please don’t leave me. I need you.” So it took even longer to calm her down, convince her to finally close her eyes and get some sleep. By the time I was finally able to leave it was well after midnight. I rushed home, still exhausted but now eager to deal with my own business. I just wanted to make peace with Amelia and curl up beside her, forget the whole world for a few hours. But something about Jeremy’s expression, the way he told me he’d handled things just the way I wanted, made me hurry down into the basement. It grew worse when I didn’t see her in the theater room, or the gym. Desperate, I checked the storage room, and what I saw made my blood run cold. Amelia lay on the floor, bound hand and foot with rope, unconscious. And I saw, as I rushed to her, bright red blood staining her pants. My god, was it true? Was my mate actually pregnant? And had she been treated so brutally that the child was now in danger? When I heard Jeremy enter the room behind me, I exploded with rage. I punched him, connecting powerfully with his jaw, then kicked him when he sagged to his knees. “How dare you,” I growled. Inside, my wolf longed to tear into his throat, sink my teeth into his soft skin and taste his blood. He deserved to pay for this betrayal. But Amelia was more important. Ignoring Jeremy - for now - I rushed to her, frantically tried to wake her. “Amelia, wake up. Wake up!” I shook her gently, patted her face. She didn’t respond, and I began to panic. Behind us Jeremy stumbled to his feet and came over to my side. “I’m sorry, Alpha. I was told that she didn’t matter - ” I cut off his pathetic mumbling and kicked him again, viciously pulling back on my temper and the urge to tear him to pieces. “Call an ambulance! Now!”