Chapter 4

Silas couldn't stop looking back.

The second my knees buckled, he dropped Mara, sprinting across the mud like a rabid beast to catch me.

He shoved me into the healer's arms and rushed back for Mara.

Too late.

Mara curled on the gravel, clutching her belly in agony.

The forbidden gestation elixir in her veins had collapsed, unable to sustain the illusion of life any longer.

Thick, dark blood soaked straight through her dress.

The pack healer took one look and shook his head with a heavy sigh. "This pup was never viable."

Silas froze, his face blank with shock.

Mara let out a feral screech. "He’s lying! My pup was strong! It was alive!"

Driven mad by panic, she clawed at Silas's chest. "It was you! You and Ophelia murdered your heir! Kill her, Silas! Rip her throat out for our baby!"

She sobbed violently, her nails drawing blood on his neck. "You knew she was faking! Look at her—she's fine! Why did you drop me for her?!"

Silas stood rigid, letting her tear into him.

His hands trembled violently. I couldn't tell if it was guilt for Mara or regret for catching me first.

For once, his ruthless eyes softened with sorrow.

But when he turned toward me, that softness hardened into pure ice.

"You faked it," he rasped, his voice dropping low. "I thought you were dying. Why did you play me like that?"

I didn't answer. I met his glare and let out a cold laugh. "Are you mourning, Silas? Surprising. I didn't think a parasite like you had a heart."

His jaw locked.

"If you care so much about her," I taunted, tilting my head, "why did your instincts choose me? You're pathetic."

Silas flinched as if struck.

His chest heaved, a dangerous growl vibrating in his throat. "Ophelia, do not test my patience just because I love you."

He slammed his fist into the stone pillar behind him, cracking the rock. "Get back to your quarters. I can't stand the sight of you."

For the next month, he vanished from my life.

The possessive Alpha who once hovered over my every breath went completely cold.

He stayed glued to Mara’s side, nursing her frail body and begging for her forgiveness.

Thirty days later, he dragged me out into the biting wind.

He brought me to a fresh mound of earth at the edge of the Wasteland cliffs.

I almost laughed out loud.

Silas, an Alpha obsessed with dark rituals, still hadn't figured out Mara had deceived him with a forged pregnancy potion.

The moment Mara spotted me, venom flared in her eyes. "Make her kneel! Make the barren bitch bleed for my child!"

I stood tall, lifting a brow at Silas.

A cruel light flickered in his eyes. He unleashed his crushing Alpha aura, bearing down on my shoulders until my knees slammed into the sharp rocks.

Before I could move, he seized my hair and smashed my forehead against the stone.

Pain exploded behind my eyes. Blood and dirt trickled down my temple, blurring my vision.

"She hasn't eaten in days, Ophelia," Silas whispered hoarsely above me. "She finally forgave me. All that’s left is your penance. We owe this pup our blood."

Through the red haze, I read the crudely carved headstone: Son of Silas Greyson.

It didn't even have a name.

A ragged laugh tore from my chest. "You want me to beg for mercy from an unborn phantom? A twisted monstrosity cooked up by forbidden herbs?"

I slowly forced my head up, meeting his widening gaze. "Silas, you're the most useless, despicable Alpha I've ever met, just as vile as you were five years ago."

Silas instantly froze.

The color drained from his face until he looked like a corpse. "Ophelia... your memories. You remember?"

I didn't bother answering. I closed my eyes and whispered into the wind, "You finally found me."

Mara blinked, bewildered. "Silas? Who is she talking to?!"

Before he could speak, a catastrophic roar ripped through the valley.

It tore the clouds apart and made the cliffs shudder under our feet.

It was no ordinary wolf. It was the lethal, wrathful fury of the true ruler.

Alaric was here.

The earth trembled beneath the charge of the Alpha King.

I smiled through the blood on my face, looking dead into Silas’s terrified eyes.

"You're done, Silas."