Chapter2 Not Pregnant. Never Was

Lyra's POV

The next morning arrived gray and cold, mist clinging to the windows of Dr. Blackwood's private clinic. I sat in the passenger seat of Dorian's black SUV, my hands folded tightly in my lap to keep them from shaking.

Today would prove everything. Today, Dr. Blackwood would confirm my pregnancy, and this nightmare would end.

'Something's wrong,' my wolf said uneasily. 'The air tastes of deception today.'

"Nervous?" Seraphina asked.

"No," I said. "I have nothing to hide."

Dorian said nothing, his eyes focused on the road ahead. He'd barely looked at me since picking me up this morning, his jaw set in that familiar line of barely controlled patience.

The clinic sat on the edge of Moon Shadow Bay's medical district, a converted Victorian house that served the supernatural community. Dr. Blackwood had been treating werewolves for over thirty years. She was respected, trusted. She would tell them the truth.

"Dr. Blackwood will see you now," the receptionist said, gesturing toward the familiar examination room.

I walked in first, confidence radiating from every step. Behind me, I heard Dorian's measured footsteps and Seraphina's stilettos clicking against the hardwood floor.

Dr. Blackwood stood beside her desk, her silver hair pulled back in its usual neat bun. But something was different about her expression. The warmth I'd seen two days ago was gone, replaced by something that looked almost like... guilt?

"Thank you all for coming," she said. "I've reviewed Miss Nightfall's file thoroughly."

"And?" Dorian asked, crossing his arms.

Dr. Blackwood cleared her throat. "I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding. Miss Nightfall is not pregnant. She never was."

The words hit me like a physical blow. "What?"

"I'm sorry, my dear, but the tests were... inconclusive at best. I should never have given you false hope."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "That's not what you said two days ago. You showed me the blood work. You said I was six weeks along."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken." Dr. Blackwood's eyes wouldn't meet mine.

"I didn't misunderstand anything!" My voice rose. "You congratulated me. You explained my symptoms. You said---"

'False hope?' my wolf raged. 'She congratulated us! She explained our symptoms! She LIED then or she's lying now!'

"Miss Nightfall," Dr. Blackwood interrupted. "I think we need to discuss the real reason you're here."

She opened her desk drawer and pulled out something that made my blood freeze. A delicate silver chain, suspended from which hung a crescent moon pendant carved from moonstone.

My mother's necklace.

"You recognize this, don't you?" Dr. Blackwood asked, holding it up for everyone to see.

"Where did you get that?" I whispered, my hand unconsciously rising to my throat where the necklace should have been.

'Our mother's necklace,' my wolf whispered. 'They stole it. They stole our mother's memory and turned it into a weapon against us.'

"You brought it to me two days ago," she said, her voice heavy with disappointment. "As payment. As a bribe, to falsify your pregnancy results."

'What?' my wolf snarled. 'That's not true. We would never---'

"You offered me this beautiful piece in exchange for fake test results," Dr. Blackwood continued relentlessly. "You said it was a family heirloom, that it meant everything to you. You begged me to help you prevent the dissolution of your mating bond."

The room spun around me. My mother's necklace, the only thing I had left of her, the piece I'd discovered missing from my jewelry box just last week. I'd searched everywhere, thinking I'd simply misplaced it.

'Every word is poison,' my wolf snarled. 'But look at Seraphina. See how she watches us? Like a cat watching a mouse die. She orchestrated this.'

"I never gave you that," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "It was stolen from my room. I've been looking for it for days."

"Really?" Dr. Blackwood's eyebrows rose. "That's a rather convenient story."

I could smell everything in that room with crystalline clarity, my heightened wolf senses picking up layers of scent. Dr. Blackwood's nervous sweat. Seraphina's satisfied smugness. through my panic.

'It's her,' my wolf insisted. 'Seraphina stole our mother's necklace and gave it to the doctor. This whole thing is a setup.'

But none of it mattered. Not when I looked at Dorian.

His face had gone completely stone cold. Those eyes that had once shown me brief moments of warmth now burned with disgust. His hands were clenched at his sides, every line of his body radiating fury.

"You tried to bribe a doctor," he said. "You tried to trap me with a lie."

"No," I said desperately. "Dorian, you have to believe me. I would never---"

"Enough." The word cracked like a whip. "The kind of desperate scheme that brings shame to our entire bloodline."

He turned to Dr. Blackwood. "Doctor, I need to speak with you privately. Now."

"Of course, Mr. Blackthorne." Dr. Blackwood nodded quickly. "Miss Nightfall, Miss Crimson, if you could wait in the outer office..."

As Dorian and the doctor stepped into the adjacent room, I stood frozen in place, my mother's necklace still dangling from Dr. Blackwood's fingers like an accusation.

"Well, well," Seraphina murmured, moving closer to me. "That didn't go quite as you planned, did it?"

I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Everything was falling apart, and I couldn't understand how or why.

"Poor little Lyra," she continued. "Did you really think a cheap trick like that would work? Did you honestly believe Dorian would fall for such an obvious lie?"

'Look at her eyes,' my wolf snarled. 'Pure satisfaction. She planned this entire thing.'

Through the glass partition, I could see Dorian speaking with Dr. Blackwood, his expression thunderous. As if sensing my gaze, he turned and looked directly at me.

The coldness in his eyes was absolute.

In that moment, I knew. Our arranged mating bond, our four years together, whatever fragile connection we'd built—it was over. He wasn't just disappointed in me. He was disgusted.

He looked at me like I was less than nothing.

"You know what the beautiful part is?" Seraphina whispered beside me. "He'll never trust you again. Never. Even if you somehow proved your innocence, which you can't, he'll always wonder. He'll always doubt."

She was right. I could see it in the set of his shoulders, the way he'd positioned himself with his back to me. Even when Dr. Blackwood gestured in my direction, he didn't turn around.

"The Moon Goddess has a sense of humor," Seraphina continued. "Giving Dorian a true mate like me, while saddling him with a desperate little liar like you."

I watched my husband write me off completely. And for the first time since this nightmare began, I wondered if I was losing my mind.