I didn’t return to my own den after the healer examined me.
Instead, I took a moon-cart down the ridge path and went straight to my parents’ lodge.
My mother opened the door, took one look at my face, and her expression tightened like a bowstring.
“Where’s Eason? He didn’t go with you to the check-up?”
I shook my head.
“Mother… I don’t want to keep the baby.”
She seized my hand and pulled me to the hearth side bench, already reaching for her summoning crystal.
“Is this because of those clan-marked bark sheets everyone is passing around?”
Two latest tags were carved deep and bold:
[#WolfGodOfTheArena’sChosenMate]
[#LangfordFireworksBondingRomance]
Every surface of the clan message boards was etched with the same images—Eason and Nancy wrapped around each other beneath a sky of star-fire.
He looked like a carved war deity broad shouldered, scarred, intimidating.
And she? Small, delicate, moon-pretty.
Together they looked disgustingly perfect.
I didn’t answer.
I just stared at the stone floor.
Mother scoffed.
“That boy… he’s really something. He hasn’t even publicly claimed you yet and you’re supposed to marry him soon! Spirits above—I’m calling him right now!”
I reached over and caught her wrist before she touched the crystal.
“Mother,” I said, meeting her gaze.
“I’m not marrying Eason.”
She lurched to her feet as if I’d struck her.
“Are you out of your mind? You’re carrying his pup and now you say you won’t wed him? If word spreads, our family will be shamed across every ridge!”
She jabbed a finger toward my stomach.
“And don’t forget—he promised to perform the clan trade rites for us for free. If you end this, who’s paying for a top-rank warrior’s endorsement ritual?”
A bitter laugh scraped my throat.
Her voice… her priorities…
It all exhausted me as much as Eason’s empty vows.
This is my family, I thought.
They only agreed to the engagement after Eason became famous in the arena.
Back when he was a nameless trainee fighting in dust pits, they barely remembered he existed.
I used to think parents were meant to love you.
Protect you.
But to them, I was simply… a bargaining token.
Mother suddenly stepped aside and called him anyway.
“Eason? Hi, sweet boy—yes, Sophia is here. You should come take her home. She’s pregnant, you know how sensitive and moody females get. Just bear with her, alright? I talked some sense into her. She won’t trouble you anymore.”
When she ended the call, she dragged me back to the bench like I was a runaway wolf pup.
“Sit. He’ll be here soon.”
Her hands locked around my arms like shackles.
Fifteen minutes later, Eason arrived with a large bouquet of night-bloom petals.
But they weren’t large enough to hide the faint red scratches on his neck.
“Babe, I’m sorry. I should’ve gone with you to the healer, I know. But the War Chief summoned me—there’s a major trial match coming. I couldn’t skip training. Please don’t be upset. I swear I’ll be there for every check-up from now on.”
He smelled like vanilla.
Nancy’s perfume oil.
There is no ‘from now on,’ Eason, I told myself silently.
“I brought you a new moon-silk pouch,” he added brightly, holding out a pastel-pink satchel woven with delicate runes, as if it would fix everything.
I didn’t reach for it.
I’ve never liked pink.
I wear black. Always.
But Nancy?
Yes. This was exactly her style.
My mother snatched the pouch before I could reject it and practically pushed me into his arms.
“Go with Eason. And don’t forget, dear—your ad ritual is tomorrow!”
We had barely stepped inside our shared lodge when his crystal rang.
Nancy, of course.
“Eason! See? I told you she wasn’t mad anymore! Didn’t I tell you the satchel would work? You owe me—it was my pick! I have great taste. That’s why she forgave you!”
When he hung up, my own message crystal pulsed.
I lifted it.
The same satchel.
Same color, same runes.
Then another image two hands intertwined.
Hers wearing a diamond so large it caught even the moonlight.
My eyes drifted down to my own bare ring finger.
I inhaled slowly.
Just one last time, I promised myself.
