Ava’s POV
The morning was silent, heavy, almost cruel.
Maribel was gone. Her absence was a weight pressing into my chest, stubborn and
unkind. Every corner of the packhouse reminded me that the killer lived under the same roof.
The one I called my alpha. The one I still served with a fake smile. The life inside me, the pulse in my womb, was the only thing keeping me steady.
It was my birthday. Not that anyone around me cared. Not even Xavier probably noticed. But I needed it. A tiny celebration for myself. A reminder that something was mine, untouchable, safe, even if only in my head.
I went straight to the kitchen. Hazelnut cake. My favorite. I baked it slowly.
The oven’s warmth was a small comfort. It smelled like home, like something I could claim just for me. The timer chimed. Cake cooled. I slipped into a floral dress, light and soft, above the knee. A small defiance against the darkness in my chest. Against the grief.
Against the knowledge that the people who ruled my life would use this against me.
Back in the kitchen, I froze. Liezel. Already slicing a piece. She hadn’t even let me blow out the candle. Not a single chance to make a wish.
Seconds later, her face changed. Her eyes widened. She clutched her throat. Gasps tore through her chest. Hazelnut. Her allergy.
Panic flared. “Liezel! Are you-”
“You did this on purpose!” she wheezed, dragging me forward, shaking me like she could push the truth out of me. “I know you hate me. I know you think I’m stealing Alpha Xavier. I know you’ve hated me since we were kids, but this, this is low! Are you trying to kill me?!”
My stomach twisted. “I baked it for myself, Liezel. For me… I never meant-”
A shadow moved faster than my eyes could follow. Xavier. Black coat, sharper than sunlight on glass. He caught her before she fell, arms steady and unyielding. Her panic faded the moment she saw him.
“What happened?” His voice was calm, cold. Like ice over a blade.
“She- she tried to kill me! Hazelnuts! She’s evil, Xavier! She really is!” Liezel gasped,
trembling. She stumbled, and Xavier caught her fully, protective, towering.
“I- Alpha- It wasn’t my intention!” I tried to explain, words spilling. “I baked it for myself.
I swear, I never meant to hurt anyone, especially not Liezel!”
He grabbed me by the hair, yanking me close. Pain flared through my scalp. “You baked the cake for yourself?” His voice was venomous. “Then finish the whole thing, you ungrateful little bitch!”
Before I could respond, he shoved my face into the cake. Soft, sweet frosting crushed against my skin. My hands clawed at him, my cries cut off by the cold, merciless power in his arms.
I struggled, but he didn’t stop. My body shook. Every thought was chaos. Maribel. The baby. Alexander. The years of pretending. The constant survival. All of it collided in that one moment.
Finally, he let go. I sank to the floor, trembling, frosting and tears mixing into a paste on my cheeks.
Xavier lifted me effortlessly, carrying me through the estate. Silence, except my ragged
sobs. Every step was a reminder that power wasn’t kind, that cruelty wasn’t
occasional, it was permanent. At the hospital, Liezel was already being treated.
Xavier’s gaze never left me. His warning was sharp.
“Liezel is sick. Pray nothing happens to her. If it does… You will pay.”
The chaos settled. Wolves moved silently, dragging me. My struggles were weak,
useless.
“Where- what- ” I tried to shout, but Xavier’s shadow fell over me. In his hand, a peanut
butter. My allergy. My stomach dropped. Panic clawed my chest.
“You caused this,” he said, every word a whip across my mind. “You did everything on
purpose, didn’t you? Now, you’ll feel what she felt.”
He pushed me forward. Wolves held me steady. I screamed. I begged. My body shook,
limbs flailing. He forced the peanut butter into my mouth. Swallow. My body screamed. I
gagged, choked, tasted my own panic mixed with the bitter nut paste.
When they finally let me go, I collapsed. Vomit burned my throat. Darkness pressed
against my eyelids. My throat was closing. My lungs screamed.
I woke in a hospital bed. Alone. Silence except for the hum of machines. My heart
thumped erratically.
A gentle knock. The doctor entered, calm. “You’re lucky. Not enough peanut butter to harm the baby. But… it could have been fatal.”
My hand flew to my stomach. “The pup… is it-”
“Nothing to worry about,” the doctor said, with a warm smile. “Strong heartbeat. Perfect. All
good.”
I exhaled, a trembling, shallow thing. Relief and terror collided.
“Did… did you tell Alpha Xavier?” I whispered, voice raw.
The doctor shook his head. “Never my place. And… consider yourself lucky. He brought you in immediately. Warned you to be careful next time. You have a… carrying husband.”
The words tasted like iron. “Carrying husband…” Bitter. I wanted to laugh, scream, and cry.
If only anyone knew. If only they knew how twisted this all was. How the one I loved,
feared, served, Xavier was the same man who almost ended me.
The life inside me kept beating. That steady pulse was a lifeline. A reminder. I wasn’t powerless. Not yet.
I would survive.
I would endure.
Even if it meant hiding every truth, pretending every day, playing the perfect Luna while my body and mind were a battlefield. Even with Xavier’s cruelty sharpening around me, even with Liezel’s venom, even with the pack’s whispers, my secret, my child, my strength, they would not touch.
And if they tried… I would outlast them.
The pulse inside me was hope. And hope could be a weapon.
