Chapter 1
“If she doesn't get pregnant, I shall humiliate her and then drive her out of my pack. I don't care if she's my mate. She's pretty useless to me without giving me an heir.”
“But, Alpha, you've been giving her pills which are slowly killing her womb.”
“That's the whole point.”
I overheard this heart-wrenching conversation when I ran excitedly to announce to my mate, Alpha Dimitri, that I was over two months pregnant.
I froze at the door as Dimitri made it clear he had been poisoning me, so he could drive me out. My heart was filled with crushing pain. Tears formed in my eyes as I heard the last part of the dialogue:
“My first love is a jealous lover. If terminating Andrea will make Vera comfortable and agree to marry me, I'll waste no time doing that.”
“But Andrea has loved you for six years! When you were dying, she gave up one of her kidneys to save your life.”
“So what? Why would a powerful Alpha like me be seen around an incomplete woman?”
These last words had barely left his mouth when my weight suddenly pushed the door in and I fell into the private office.
“What a pleasant surprise!” Dimitri bellowed, rushing to gently guide me towards a couch. “You're shivering, Andrea. What did I tell you about getting yourself cold? Here's my jacket.”
I was at the brink of bitter tears as Dimitri, as he had always done, hid his true color behind that romantic lover act. If I hadn't overheard that conversation, I would have fallen for his lies once again. My heart and my wolf would have melted under his gentle gestures and soft touches.
His beta excused himself. “I shall get going, Alpha.”
Dimitri scratched his hair. “Yes, remember to keep our dialogue secret. Those rogues are vicious.”
The beta nodded slyly and then he noticed a slip of paper on the floor. The instant he picked it up, I screamed and jumped off the couch.
Grabbing the pregnancy test from his hand, I squeezed the paper into a ball and held it under the jacket. My panic level skyrocketed. Dimitri must not know about my pregnancy! At least not yet.
The beta laughed uneasily. “That's weird.” Then left.
Playing the doting and understanding mate, Dimitri didn't ask me about the paper I hid.
But as the weeks progressed, my stomach kept getting bigger. My gowns couldn't hide it any longer.
And of course Dimitri noticed it. So when one morning, he decided to make me tea himself, I began to tremble.
He sat close to me in the bed, urging me to take the tea. When I told him I had no appetite, his smile disappeared and he left without a word.
My blood ran cold. Why was Alpha Dimitri so bent on rendering me barren and driving me away?
“Why are you such a devil, Dimitri?” I muttered.
My horror increased when I checked the secret compartment I had hidden the pregnancy test and found it empty.
Things got even worse. Dimitri told me he was going for an Alphas' conference in another city. But going through Vera's socials later that day, I saw pictures of her in lingerie. She was sitting on Dimitri's laps, her body moulded into him. In the last slide, she pressed her lips to his.
I suppressed the pain that coursed through me. I phoned Dimitri and asked how the conference was going. “Don't disturb me right now, you know how intense these meetings can be. Is there anything you need?”
From the background, I could hear a muffled female voice, who sounded like she had something in her mouth.
The phone fell from my hand and I clutched at my waist. A searing pain tore through me. My water had broken.
A maid rushed in when I screamed. I was rushed to the hospital. There, I gave birth to a boy. I told the doctor not to call Dimitri yet. I was filled with fear as I imagined what would happen if Dimitri set eyes on my baby.
I was discharged three days later. The same day Dimitri returned from the “conference”.
To my horror, he didn't come alone. When I went to welcome him, I saw Vera clinging by his side, her dress mere strips of fabric that barely covered her body.
“What is she doing here?” I whispered to Dimitri, my heart beat doubling.
He offered me a winning smile. “She decided to move into our pack, and since getting a decent apartment is pretty difficult, I figured she could stay here with us.”
“Here?” I almost screamed. “I have a free duplex a few miles from here. She can stay there for—”
Dimitri's eyes flashed in anger. “Don't be so heartless, Andrea!”
“I can leave if she doesn't want me around her,” Vera moaned.
“Don't be too kind, Vera. There are hundreds of rooms here, why is Andrea making a big deal out of it?”
Then my baby's cry rang out, making Dimitri's eyes go wide in horror. “What the hell was that?” he barked, and I could see unease in his eyes.
“My child.”
“You have a child? Who's the father?”
I could barely hear my own thoughts over my heartbeat. I was about to give a response when Dimitri, overwhelmed by wrath, grabbed me by the neck.
“How dare you give birth to a baby without telling me? How… how dare you?” he stammered as rage tore through his words.
He wheeled around and ran upstairs. With tears streaming down, I ran after him.
But Vera suddenly grabbed my wrist. “And where do you think you're going, Andrea?”
