I placed the stack of pack documents on Lukas's desk, my fingers lingering on the polished mahogany surface. The afternoon sun streamed through the windows of his office, casting long shadows across the room. Everything seemed normal—too normal.
"Sarah?" My assistant's voice came from the doorway. "The alliance papers need your signature before tomorrow's meeting."
"Thanks, I'll be right there," I replied, straightening the documents one last time.
As I turned to leave, my wolf stirred within me. *Something's wrong.*
My inner wolf, Luna, had always been attuned to subtle changes in our environment. I paused, inhaling deeply. The familiar scents of pine, leather, and Lukas's distinctive cedar-and-ember aroma filled my nostrils. But there was something else—something that didn't belong.
"I'll just be a minute," I called back to my assistant, then followed my instincts.
The bottom drawer of Lukas's desk was slightly ajar. I knelt down, pulling it open fully. Nothing seemed out of place at first glance—just the usual pack ledgers and correspondence. But Luna pushed me forward, her presence suddenly urgent.
*There.*
My fingers brushed against a small bottle tucked behind a folder. I pulled it out, turning it over in my palm. Prenatal vitamins. The label was crisp, unmarked by age or handling.
"What are these doing here?" I whispered, unscrewing the cap. The pills inside were fresh, not the kind that had been sitting forgotten for months.
I lifted one to my nose. The chemical scent was sharp, but beneath it was something else—a faint trace of someone else's scent. Not mine. Not Lukas's.
My hands trembled as I replaced the cap and slipped the bottle into my pocket. Luna growled low in my mind, her suspicion mirroring my own.
---
"Dinner was delicious," I said, pushing my plate away. The family dinner at my father's house had dragged on for hours, each minute feeling like an eternity since my discovery earlier that day.
Lukas sat beside me, his hand occasionally brushing mine in what would normally be a comforting gesture. Now it felt like a lie.
"I need to ask you something," I said quietly when we were alone in our bedroom later that night.
He looked up from his phone, his expression open and warm. "What is it, love?"
I pulled the bottle from my pocket and placed it on the bed between us. "These were in your desk."
His face changed instantly—a flicker of shock quickly masked by confusion. "Oh, those. They belong to a pack member's mate."
"Which pack member?" I pressed, watching his eyes carefully.
Lukas stood up, moving to the window. "You know I can't discuss pack members' private matters, Sarah."
"Private matters that require you to keep their prenatal vitamins in your desk?" My voice remained steady despite Luna's growing agitation.
"They asked me to hold them for a while," he said, his back to me now. "It's... complicated."
I could smell the lie. Werewolves couldn't necessarily smell lies the way humans claimed dogs could, but mates developed an intuition about each other. And right now, every instinct screamed that he wasn't telling the truth.
"Who is it, Lukas?"
He turned, his Alpha aura flaring slightly—not enough to command me, but enough to try to make me back down. "Drop it, Sarah."
---
The next evening, my father's house buzzed with activity. I arrived early to help prepare for the family dinner, but found Sloan already there, hovering near the kitchen.
"You're here early," I remarked, noting how she flinched slightly at my voice.
"Just helping Mom," she replied, her hand unconsciously moving to her stomach.
I watched her more carefully now, seeing what I'd missed before. Her face was paler than usual, with a hint of nausea in her scent. When my stepmother Amari placed a plate of salmon in front of her, Sloan turned away, her nose wrinkling.
"Still not feeling well?" Amari asked, her voice too loud, too concerned.
"It's nothing," Sloan muttered, pushing the fish away.
Luna stirred restlessly within me. *Look closer.*
I did. The subtle rounding of Sloan's belly that I'd attributed to weight gain now told a different story. Her scent had changed too—a hormonal shift that only another werewolf would notice.
"You're pregnant," I said quietly.
Sloan's eyes widened, darting to her mother. Amari rushed forward, grabbing Sloan's water glass. "Everyone gets morning sickness sometimes," she said brightly. "Even when they're just coming down with a stomach bug."
But I could see the truth in their panicked expressions. Luna howled in my mind, the sound of betrayal echoing through my soul.
As I looked between them, pieces began falling into place—terrible, devastating pieces of a puzzle I never wanted to solve.
