Chapter 4
I couldn’t remember exactly what he whispered that night. His voice had been hoarse, his lips pressed against my skin, his breath warm with need.
Maybe I imagined it. Maybe it was real.
But somewhere between his groans and kisses, I thought I would hear him say my name with tenderness. I thought he clung to me like I was the only thing keeping him grounded. That night felt... sacred. A night of desperate passion, born out of pain, survival, and a flicker of something that felt like love.
But the morning after?
I panicked.
What if it meant nothing to him? What if he woke up and regretted everything? What if his murmured endearments were never meant for me—but for the ghost of a woman he still loved?
So I ran.
I left before he could open his eyes. Before I could see whatever expression, he might wear once reality set in.
It wasn’t until weeks later that my body began to change, when the dizziness lingered and the scent of blood made me sick, that the Pack Doctor confirmed it:
I was pregnant. With Alpha Byron’s child.
After countless sleepless nights, I worked up the courage to tell him.
I stood before him with a trembling voice: “Byron… I’m pregnant.”
He stared at me. Silent. Expression unreadable. The longer he said nothing, the colder I became. The hopeful light inside me dimmed.
And then, finally… he sighed. He took my hand, not out of love, but something else. Duty, perhaps?
“Hilda,” he murmured. “Maybe this is the Moon Goddess’s way of showing us we’re meant to be. You’ve helped me so much. Maybe… maybe we’re destined.”
I smiled. But it wasn’t a joy. It was hollow. Broken. Almost hysterical. I wanted to scream, to laugh, to cry all at once.
“Destiny? Is that what you call it now?”
That one night between us—that raw, feverish moment—had already been twisted beyond recognition by Lucia. She’d spun a web of lies, flipping truth on its head.
She told the pack she was forced to leave after sacrificing her body for Byron. That she bore his child that night, while I—the usurper—schemed to take her place.
And he believed in her.
Again.
Outside the altar, the heat had long passed the threshold of cruelty.
“Alpha Byron,” one of the guards spoke hesitantly, “the moonstone altar’s been running for over 24 hours now. If we don’t open the door soon… something might have already happened.”
Byron waved him off without even looking up.
“She’s not new to confinement,” he said coldly. “She’s just hungry. A day of fasting won’t kill her.”
“She’s pregnant—was pregnant,” the guard insisted, voice tight. “The altar’s supposed to regulate for safety. If there’s real danger, the system shuts down and sounds like an alarm. But Alpha... the stones haven’t stopped glowing.”
A warning. One that had been blaring silently for hours.
“Enough!” Byron shouted, slamming a porcelain bowl to the ground. Shards scattered across the floor. “What did she give you, huh? You think I don’t see it? All this sympathy for a woman who’s done nothing but lie?”
The room fell into stunned silence. Lucia’s soft voice broke through like a blade wrapped in silk.
“Maybe… maybe we should let her out this time,” she whispered, blinking away fake tears. “I’m afraid the longer she stays in there, the more she’ll hate me when she gets out…”
“I never said Hilda treated me badly,” she added sweetly. “It’s just that I came back too late. It’s only natural she resents me…”
Byron rushed to her side immediately, wrapping his arms around her like a shield.
“Don’t talk like that, Lucia. You’re the one I love. You’ve done nothing wrong. Hilda brought this on herself. She’s the reason you’ve suffered. You shouldn’t feel guilty for her pain.”
I felt the last of my soul cave in.
My head bowed low. My hands trembled, but there were no more tears left to shed.
He was gone. The man I had once saved. The mate I had once believed in.
“Alpha Byron…” I whispered under my breath, alone in the blistering dark. “As you wish.”
From this moment forward, your beloved will never be troubled by me again.
You will have peace. So will I.
And my peace…Will begin with you burning in the same hell you locked me in.
