By sunrise, the entire estate already belonged to Sophia.
Not legally.
Not officially.
But in all the ways that mattered inside a Pack.
The staff no longer looked me in the eye when they passed the east wing. The guards who had once straightened their backs when I walked by now lowered their heads as if respecting me would get them punished. Even the scent of the mansion had changed overnight, because Sophia had apparently ordered every vase of white roses removed and replaced with pink peonies before breakfast.
I stood in front of the east wing mirror with one hand over my stomach, trying to decide whether the woman looking back at me still counted as a Luna when her own Pack had watched her husband replace her on a livestream.
A knock came from the door.
“Luna Olivia?” Maria called softly.
I opened the door.
She stood in the hallway holding a breakfast tray, but her hands trembled so badly the coffee cup rattled against the saucer.
I looked at the tray.
“You brought breakfast yourself?”
Maria lowered her eyes.
“The kitchen staff were told not to send service to the east wing unless Alpha Ethan approved it.”
I stared at her.
“By whom?”
Her face went pale.
“Miss Sophia.”
I almost laughed.
Miss Sophia.
Not Luna Sophia.
Not yet.
But everyone was already practicing.
I stepped aside.
“Come in.”
Maria entered quickly and placed the tray on the small table by the window.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“For bringing me toast?”
“For all of it.”
I studied her.
Maria had served this family for twenty years. She had been here before Ethan became Alpha, before Silver Moon became a global corporation, before WolfNet livestreams turned Pack politics into public entertainment.
“Do you believe her?” I asked.
Maria looked up.
“About the baby?”
“Yes.”
She hesitated, and that hesitation told me more than an answer would have.
“I believe Alpha Ethan believes her.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“No,” Maria said quietly. “It wasn’t.”
Before I could respond, the door opened without a knock.
Sophia walked in wearing a silk robe I recognized immediately.
Mine.
My fingers curled against my palm.
Maria stiffened.
Sophia smiled as if she had not noticed.
“Good morning. Olivia, I wanted to check on you.”
“By wearing my robe?”
She glanced down, her smile widening.
“Oh, this? The closet staff must have mixed things up during the move.”
“There was no mix-up.”
Sophia’s eyes flickered toward Maria.
“You can leave.”
Maria looked at me.
I gave a small nod.
The moment the door closed, Sophia dropped the sweet voice.
“You should tell your staff to be less obvious when they pity you. It makes everyone uncomfortable.”
“She has more loyalty in one hand than you have in your entire body.”
Sophia laughed.
“That’s adorable. You still think loyalty matters.”
I looked at her flat stomach.
“Does your doctor know you’re wandering around this early after your big pregnancy announcement?”
Her smile sharpened.
“Concerned for my baby?”
“I’m concerned for your ability to keep your lies straight.”
For one second, the air between us went cold.
Then Sophia touched her stomach and sighed.
“You know, jealousy really does make you cruel.”
“Jealousy?”
“You heard Ethan. He chose me because he loves me. The baby only made him brave enough to say it publicly.”
The Fate Bond reacted to his name with a slow, grinding pain beneath my ribs.
I refused to let her see it.
“If you came here to rehearse your victim speech, pick a better audience.”
“I came to be kind.”
“You came to see if I cried myself to death overnight.”
Her expression twisted before she hid it.
“You always do that.”
“Do what?”
“Act like you’re above me.”
“I’m not above you, Sophia.”
I stepped closer.
“I’m just not stupid enough to think you suddenly became innocent because you wore white on camera.”
Her eyes flashed.
Then, before I could move, she grabbed the edge of the breakfast table and deliberately knocked the coffee cup onto the floor.
Ceramic shattered.
Hot coffee splashed across the rug.
I stared at the mess.
Sophia looked toward the door and screamed.
“Olivia, don’t!”
Then she threw herself backward.
Her shoulder hit the wall. She slid to the floor, clutching her stomach.
For half a second, I could only stare.
Then I understood.
The door burst open.
Two guards rushed in.
Maria came behind them.
Sophia sobbed instantly.
“I told her I didn’t want to fight. I told her the baby was innocent.”
I laughed once, quietly.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
One guard stepped between us.
“Luna Olivia, please move back.”
I looked at him.
“Did you just give me an order?”
His face tightened.
“I’m asking you to step back.”
Sophia whimpered.
“She pushed me.”
Maria’s eyes widened.
“I didn’t see—”
Sophia cut her off with a sob.
“She said my baby was a lie. Then she shoved me.”
The guard’s expression changed.
I felt the first real flicker of fear, not for myself but for the child inside me.
Because if Sophia could fake a fall in my own room and get guards to believe her within seconds, she could do much worse.
Ethan arrived less than five minutes later.
He entered like an Alpha walking into a crisis, his face cold, his presence filling the room with command.
His eyes went to Sophia first.
Of course they did.
She reached for him with shaking fingers.
“Ethan, I’m sorry. I tried to make peace with her.”
He knelt beside her.
“Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know. My stomach hurts.”
My wolf snarled.
I said, “She threw herself.”
Ethan looked up.
The anger in his eyes was instant.
“Don’t.”
“That’s all you have to say?”
“This is not the time.”
“No, Ethan. This is exactly the time. She came into my room wearing my robe, insulted me, broke a cup, screamed, and threw herself against the wall.”
Sophia cried harder.
“Why would I do that?”
I looked at her.
“Because you’re not pregnant.”
The room went silent.
Ethan stood slowly.
“What did you say?”
The Fate Bond burned, but I forced myself to meet his eyes.
“I said she is not pregnant.”
His face darkened.
Sophia whispered, “How could you say that?”
“Show the medical records.”
Ethan’s jaw clenched.
“Enough.”
“No. Show them.”
Sophia pressed a hand to her stomach and looked at Ethan with trembling lips.
“I can’t believe she would attack our child like this.”
I stepped forward.
“Your child?”
Ethan’s Alpha power rolled through the room.
“Olivia, stop.”
The command hit the Fate Bond like a blade.
I gasped before I could hide it.
Ethan noticed, but instead of concern, suspicion crossed his face.
“You’re making this worse for yourself.”
“For myself?”
“Yes.”
He turned to the guards.
“Escort Sophia to the medical wing.”
Sophia clung to his arm.
“Please don’t punish her because of me.”
The performance was almost beautiful.
Almost.
Ethan touched her face gently.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
The words struck deeper than I expected because he used to say them to me.
After Sophia was carried out, Ethan turned back to me.
His expression had hardened into something official.
Not husband.
Not mate.
Alpha.
“Until the council reviews your conduct, you are relieved of all Luna authority.”
I stared at him.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“You’re taking her word over mine?”
“I’m protecting my heir.”
The words came out like a verdict.
I placed a hand over my stomach beneath the loose sweater I had chosen to hide my body.
“What about me?”
His mouth tightened.
“You should have thought about that before threatening a pregnant woman.”
“I never touched her.”
“That’s not what the guards saw.”
“They saw what she wanted them to see.”
He lowered his voice.
“Olivia, I know you’re hurt. I know last night was difficult. But if you keep acting this way, the council will have no choice but to remove you entirely.”
I stared at him, really stared, trying to find any trace of the man I loved.
All I found was a stranger using concern as a weapon.
“You already removed me.”
“No,” he said. “I gave you space to accept reality.”
I laughed, but it hurt.
“Reality seems very convenient for you.”
“Don’t make me your enemy.”
“You did that by yourself.”
His eyes flashed.
For a second, I thought he might say something cruel enough to end whatever remained of us.
Instead, he turned toward the door.
“There will be a council statement at noon. Stay in the east wing.”
“Am I your wife or your prisoner?”
He paused.
“You’re my mate.”
The Bond pulsed painfully.
I whispered, “Then why does it only hurt me?”
His back went rigid.
Then he left without answering.
By noon, the council statement streamed across WolfNet.
I watched from the east wing while Elder Marcus stood beside Ethan and announced that, due to “emotional instability” and “an incident involving the future heir,” I would no longer carry executive Luna authority within Silver Moon Pack.
The comments appeared instantly.
She attacked a pregnant woman? Disgusting.
Olivia lost her title and still acted jealous.
Sophia deserves protection.
The old Luna needs to leave.
A knock sounded at the door.
I opened it to find three maids standing in the hall.
One held a laundry basket. Another held linens. The third stared at the floor.
“I asked for clean sheets two hours ago,” I said.
The first maid swallowed.
“Miss Sophia said the main laundry is prioritizing the Alpha wing.”
I blinked.
“You’re refusing me sheets?”
“No, Luna. I mean—”
“Don’t call me that if you’re going to treat me like a guest no one wants.”
Her face flushed.
The youngest maid whispered, “We’re sorry.”
I closed the door before I said something I could not take back.
That evening, I heard Pack members laughing outside the east wing garden.
One voice said, “She should leave before the Alpha has to reject her publicly.”
Another replied, “He should have picked Sophia years ago.”
I sat on the edge of the bed with one hand over my stomach and let them talk.
Not because their words didn’t hurt.
They did.
Every word sank into me.
Every laugh scraped against the Bond.
But my child was warm and alive beneath my palm, and that was the only truth I trusted.
At midnight, I left through the service corridor wearing a long coat and a scarf pulled over my hair.
Daniel’s car waited beyond the old greenhouse.
The moment I got inside, he looked at my face and said, “What happened?”
“How much time do you have?”
His expression darkened.
“That bad?”
“Worse.”
He drove without turning on the headlights until we reached the private road.
“Dr. Harper is waiting.”
At the small clinic outside Pack territory, Dr. Harper scanned the baby while Daniel stood behind a privacy curtain pretending not to worry.
I stared at the monitor, barely breathing.
“Please say something.”
Dr. Harper smiled.
“The baby is fine.”
I covered my mouth.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. Strong heartbeat. Good development. No signs of distress.”
For the first time all day, my body loosened.
Daniel’s voice came from behind the curtain.
“Thank God.”
I laughed through tears.
“You can come out, Daniel. You’re not invisible.”
He stepped out looking awkward and relieved.
Dr. Harper printed another image and handed it to me.
“Olivia, you need rest, proper food, and absolutely no more exposure to Ethan’s Bond pressure if you can help it.”
I looked at her.
“How do I avoid my Fate Mate when he lives in the same house?”
She did not answer.
Because there was no good answer.
When we returned to the estate before dawn, I slipped quietly into the east wing with the new ultrasound tucked inside my coat.
I thought no one had seen me.
I was wrong.
Sophia stood at the end of the hallway in a silk robe, her hair loose around her shoulders.
Her eyes fell to my coat.
Then to the folder in my hand.
Then to my stomach.
The smile left her face.
“Where were you?”
I held the folder behind my back.
“None of your business.”
She walked closer slowly.
“You went to a clinic.”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“So are you.”
Her eyes sharpened.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
Not offended.
Not jealous.
Afraid.
Then she whispered, “You’re pregnant.”
The hallway went so quiet I could hear my own heartbeat.
I should have denied it.
I should have laughed.
I should have done anything except stand there with one hand instinctively moving to my stomach.
Sophia saw everything.
Her face changed.
The fear disappeared.
Something colder replaced it.
“If Ethan finds out,” she said slowly, “everything becomes complicated.”
I met her eyes.
“It should.”
She stepped closer.
“No, Olivia. It won’t.”
A chill moved through me.
“What does that mean?”
Sophia smiled, but there was nothing sweet left in it.
“It means you should have left when you still had the chance.”
Then she turned and walked away.
I stood alone in the hallway, the ultrasound pressed against my chest, and understood with terrifying clarity that Sophia no longer wanted only my title, my room, or my husband.
She wanted my child gone too.
