Seraphine's POV
The moment I uttered those words, time stood still.
My eyes searched his face for a reaction, anything at all.
Eventually... he spoke.
"You think you can play me for a fool in front of my pack?" he snarled.
He held the moonstone I had presented to him and crushed it in his palm before throwing what remained of it to the ground.
"Explain yourself, Seraphine. Right now. How dare you claim that is my pup when you've been nothing but a barren disappointment for two years?"
I backed against the wall.
"It is not a claim, it is the truth. Doctor Cuwan tested me and told me himself that I am a week gone. From that night last week when we had the pack meet, and you were angered by men from Alpha Serbian's pack, you came to our room and shared yourself with me, remember? You held me as your mate until dawn. This is the result."
He laughed.
"Varyns do not breed with damaged, lowborn strays like you. You think a glowing rock proves anything? I've joined with you countless times, poured my hopes into you, and now suddenly, when I have been buried in pack business and haven't lain with you in days, you magically conceive?"
"That's...I can't explain it, but I really am pre-nngh!"
He grabbed me to his side and pressed his palm to my stomach, feeling around for signs of life. Fael's lip curled when he felt a heartbeat and his hand didn't pull away this time; instead, his claws pressed against the fabric, sharp tips dimpling my skin. A threat so cold I knew he meant to harm the baby inside me.
My eyes widened when I felt his claw break through my skin.
"Tell me, little omega, whose seed actually fathered this unhallowed child? Because it sure as the Moon isn't mine."
He was going to harm the child inside me.
"Fael, please," I whispered. "Listen to me-"
"I've listened enough."
He released my wrist only to grab my throat, slamming me back against the wall.
The other Alphas that had been in the hall with him had started trooping out. Finding amusement in the scene.
His hand tightened, claws grazing my stomach, and I screamed from the pain and terror.
"You will go to the healer's den, and you will have him rip that thing out of you before the next moonrise. Or I'll do it myself, right here."
I screamed, my hands flying to protect my stomach.
"No! Fael, stop! The pup! Our pup!"
I twisted, shoving at his arm with all my strength.
"Please, Moon above, no! It's yours! I beg you, feel it! Sense it!"
He growled and bared his fangs.
His eyes carried genuine hurt.
"Sense what? A faithless whelp from some lowly wolf who might've taken pity on you? You disgust me, Seraphine. You've shamed me, shamed the Varyn line. I should have never marked you."
"Fael... mate... please..."
With a savage snarl, he shoved me harder against the wall, his claws grazing my stomach, and I screamed again in agony.
"Stop!"
He released my throat, and I felt he had finally listened.
Only for him to step back just enough to chant the words that every mated wolf dreaded.
"By the Moon Goddess, I, Fael Varyn, Alpha of the Grimfang Pack, sever the bond between us. I reject you, Seraphine. I reject our bond."
The pain in my stomach was nothing compared to what hit next. It felt like a thousand silver blades slicing through my chest, my wolf howling in agony as the mate bond shattered.
I collapsed to my knees, clutching at my heart, gasping for air that wouldn't come.
I looked up through tear-filled eyes, blood seeping from the wounds on my belly.
"I wish I had never met you."
A copper taste filled my mouth.
"Fate will punish you for this. You will regret it!"
He scoffed, grabbing my arm and hauling me toward the door.
"Fate abandoned you long ago. Now get out."
×
I was thrown out of the pack gates.
It was raining. He had not given me a single suitcase, and my clothes were soaked in muddy water. My tears streaked my face in the design of roots, and I sobbed for what seemed like hours.
In a pathetic attempt to save the life of my little one, I forced my wolf to shield the pup within, letting my own skin bruise and ache in its place-the price of internal mending. But I didn't care.
Fael. Mate.
Those words kept ringing in my head. How did it all come to this?
How?
×
I was a dot near losing consciousness. But a pair of arms slid under my side and lifted me from the ground.
In a weak intake of breath, I tried to make out who it was. But I couldn't. My vision was blurry, but all I knew was that we were moving.
Moving where?
"I-I....w-who are...."
My words were barely audible. But he had heard me.
"Reserve your strength."
"Mm... My...my pup."
He placed a hand on my stomach.
"It's healing just fine."
I was curious about who this man was. He smelt like mountains, plum-bloom cologne, and ash, pinewood ash to be specific. But nothing familiar in the least.
"Your pup will be okay. I'm taking you somewhere I can tend to your wounds properly."
"Where....?"
"My home." He looked down at me, feeling the need to add the next sentence. "In the mountains up north."
The West never crossed over to the North. This man was carrying me to forbidden territory. It was known knowledge that banished wolves all took solace in the north.
And under the rule of one man, and one man only.
Darius Varyn.
The fates had truly forsaken me.
I forced the words out of me. Panic settled deep in my bones because of how firm he held me.
"Why?"
"You're asking why I'm taking you to my home?"
I managed a nod.
"Because I want to claim you and your pup as mine."
My tired eyelids snapped open almost immediately.
