Hide-and-Seek with Death

I'm eight months pregnant when my Alpha mate abandons me at a hunting ground. He leaves to welcome his ex-girlfriend, who's returned from her travels.

From that day on, I disappear without a trace.

Initially, my mate doesn't take this to heart. He's even in the mood to make a bet with his subordinates. "She'll be back in three days at most!"

Ten days later, he freezes my credit cards and sends me a threatening text. "You can starve to death out there if you still refuse to come back!"

A hundred days later, he barges into my best friend's home and forces her to hand me over. "Where have you hidden her? I admit defeat, okay? I've had enough of this game!"

My best friend sneers as she throws photos of my body, which has been pierced through by countless blades, at him. "Wake up, you fool! Your Luna is dead, and you're the one who led a team to dig her body up from the trap! Have you forgotten?"

Enzo Chetson drove me to a prenatal checkup in the eighth month of my pregnancy. On the way through the hunting grounds, he received a phone call.

"Enzo, I'm back from my trip. Did you miss me?"

I recognized that voice as Charlotte Wilbur's—soft and sweet, each word captivated him. This was how she always talked to my mate.

I held my breath and looked at Enzo. Sure enough, his expression suddenly changed—he looked excited and expectant.

Charlotte continued, "My friends are throwing me a welcome-back party. You're definitely coming, right? I'll be waiting at our old spot."

Enzo replied without hesitation, "Okay, I'll be there right away."

When I realized he was about to leave, I instinctively grabbed the hem of his shirt and looked at him with teary eyes. "Enzo, don't go. You promised to accompany me for the checkup. You said you had forgotten her and only wanted to live a good life with me. Have you forgotten?"

Enzo mercilessly shook off my hand. Without even looking at me, he said coldly, "I'm just going to a party with her. What can that change? Don't make a big deal out of it."

A storm of negative emotions churned in my heart. Perhaps it was affected by me, but the pup in my belly started to move restlessly.

I clutched my belly, breaking into a cold sweat from the pain, and instinctively turned to my Alpha mate for help. "Enzo, my stomach hurts…"

Enzo finally looked at me, but it was a look filled with disgust and contempt.

"Quit acting! I'm not in the mood for your performances right now."

"I'm really in pain! Alpha, please, take me to the hospital first!"

My pleading didn't change his mind—he only thought I was trying to make him stay.

He slammed on the brakes and stopped the car in the middle of the hunting grounds, impatiently saying, "Get out!"

In that instant, his words froze me in place. I looked up at him in disbelief—only to meet his cold and cruel gaze.

"Lynn, get out. Don't make me say it again."

My Alpha gave me a final command in a tone that allowed no refusal. Ever since I was young, I knew that when he used this tone, I could never go against him. Otherwise, I'd pay for an unimaginable consequence.

I got out of the car, carrying the pup in my belly that kept tossing restlessly. Was the pup also feeling sorrow for me?

I wasn't sure. All I saw was my Alpha mate stepping on the gas right after slamming the door shut, eagerly rushing off to attend his ex-girlfriend's welcome-back party.

He never looked back once at me as I stood in the dark forest—pregnant, desperate, and helpless.

It was only at that moment that I finally gave up completely. It turned out Enzo truly didn't care about my safety, and he truly didn't love me.

How laughable it was that I even hoped he might just be joking. I was so foolish to only come to my senses now.

I wandered aimlessly through the hunting grounds, holding my belly.

Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet gave way, and I fell straight into a shiny silver trap. Before the agony and death struck, I looked toward the direction Enzo had gone as tears spilled from the corners of my eyes.

How did things end up like this? Why were Enzo's feelings so impossible to grasp? Were all his past kindnesses toward me just a lie as well?

Memories of the past began to flash before my eyes, as if forcing me to examine them one frame at a time.

…

The first time I met Enzo as a child, he gave me a piece of candy. It was sweet but not cloying, and the flavor lingered on my tongue—it was the best candy I had ever tasted.

I thought he had given me something precious, and from that moment on, I wanted to repay him. But looking back now, it was nothing more than a casual handout from Enzo.

In his eyes, I was probably no different from a stray dog.

I was an illegitimate Omega born from my father's one-night stand, and since I was born, I had pitifully weak strength.

The form of my wolf was also small and frail, often unable to do what other werewolves could easily achieve—even my wolf spirit awakened later than everyone else's.

My father didn't care for me, my mother didn't love me, and I carried sinful blood in my veins.

It was only whenever they happened to remember me that they would give me a bite to eat, all the while cursing me as an illegitimate child and blaming me for ruining two once-beautiful families.

No one ever loved me—only Enzo gave me the illusion of being loved. He was once the only light in my dark life. He would protect me when other kids bullied me, and he would buy me snacks.

Even my first dress and first lipstick in life were gifts from Enzo.

Because of that, I willingly followed him around and became his little tag-along for over ten years.

At first, he treated me well too, and I was treated no differently than his other friends.

Until the night I finally awakened my wolf in my 20s—he got drunk, and under the guidance of the Moon Goddess and his wolf, he found his true mate—me.

He kissed me while calling out his girlfriend Charlotte's name, and no matter how I called him, he wouldn't snap out of it. In the end, we spent a wild night together.

The next day, he left without saying a word. I knew why—I was weak, useless, and boring. He was deeply dissatisfied with me being his true mate.

Later, Charlotte broke up with Enzo, and he blamed that on me too.

I had planned to bury that one-night stand deep in my heart, stay far away from him, and never be involved with him again.

But no one could have expected that I would get pregnant.