Joseph’s hand paused on the brass doorknob. He turned back, his gaze heavy, and crossed the study in two long strides. He grabbed my waist, hauling me hard against his chest.

"Trust me," he demanded, his mouth crashing down on mine.

He didn't wait for a response. He dragged me down the hall to his private bedroom, kicking the heavy oak door shut behind us.

"I need to fuck you," he growled, ripping the cream dress down my shoulders. The fabric tore, pooling at my feet. "Tell me you're mine, Vivian. Say it."

"I'm yours," I gasped, my hands frantically unbuttoning his shirt.

I remembered the day I turned eighteen. The exact second our eyes locked across the training grounds, the mate bond snapping into place like a steel trap. He had been wild back then, a relentless force of nature, claiming me with a ferocity that terrified and thrilled me.

Now, his hands were rough, shoving my underwear down my thighs.

"I'm going to stretch your pussy out," he snarled, shoving two thick fingers deep inside me. "You feel so fucking good. Always so wet for me."

"Joseph, please," I begged, my hips chasing his hand. "Put your cock in me. Now."

He unzipped his pants, freeing his hard cock, and pushed into me in one brutal thrust. I screamed his name, my back arching off the mattress.

"Fuck, Vivian," he grunted, slamming his hips against mine. He grabbed my thighs, pulling them wider. "I'm going to breed you. I want to fill your womb with my pups."

His words shattered my hesitation. As the pleasure built, tightening my muscles around his thick shaft, I couldn't keep the secret anymore.

"Joseph," I cried out, my nails digging into his bare shoulders. "I'm pregnant! I'm having our baby!"

He froze for a fraction of a second, his eyes widening. Then a raw, ecstatic roar tore from his throat. He pounded into me with frantic, desperate force, hitting my deepest spot over and over.

"Our baby!" he yelled, burying his face in my neck, biting down on my collarbone. "Fuck, yes! A baby, Vivian!"

He came inside me with a violent shudder, crushing my lips with a bruising kiss. He held me tight, his heart hammering against my chest. He was happy. He loved me. Everything was going to be fine.

***

The next morning, the illusion shattered.

I walked into the parlor of my adoptive parents' house. Caroline sat on the velvet sofa, sipping herbal tea.

"I heard the news, stray," Caroline sneered, setting her porcelain cup onto the saucer. "You're knocked up."

"How do you know that?" I demanded, my hands curling into fists at my sides.

"Word travels fast when a human pet visits the pack clinic." She stood up, smoothing her crimson skirt. "Whose bastard is it? Some rogue you spread your legs for in the woods?"

"Don't you dare," I snapped. "This baby is Joseph's. He knows about it. He's thrilled."

Caroline laughed, a harsh, grating sound that bounced off the high ceilings. "You really are delusional. You think the Alpha would claim a mutt's offspring?"

The front door opened. Joseph walked in, Marcus right behind him.

"Joseph!" I rushed forward, grabbing his arm. "Tell her. Tell Caroline about our baby."

Joseph stopped. His jaw locked. He looked at Marcus, then at Caroline, and finally down at me. His eyes were completely blank.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Vivian," Joseph said, his voice carrying through the quiet room.

The floor seemed to drop out from under me. "What?"

"Caroline is carrying my only heir," Joseph announced, stepping around me to stand beside my sister. He placed a protective hand on her waist. "Whatever bastard you're carrying, it isn't mine."

I stared at him, my stomach twisting into violent knots. "You're lying. Last night—"

*It's only temporary, darling,* his voice echoed in my head, invading my mind through our mate bond. *Just to put your parents at ease. Play along.*

I stumbled back, my shoulder hitting the doorframe. Play along? He was publicly disowning our child.

"You ungrateful wretch," Marcus spat, glaring at me with pure disgust. "Living under my roof, eating my food, and you bring this shame upon us? Claiming your filth belongs to the Alpha?"

"Dad, no," I whispered, shaking my head. "I'm telling the truth."

"Silence!" Marcus barked, his Beta aura flaring, pressing down on my human senses. "Sit down in the corner and keep your mouth shut, or I'll throw you out on the street right now."

I sank into a wooden chair by the window, my legs refusing to hold my weight.

Joseph pulled out an armchair for Caroline, kissing her cheek before sitting beside her.

*I love you, Vivian,* his voice murmured in my mind again. *I'm doing this for us. Be a good girl.*

I watched them. Marcus laid out fabric samples and catering menus on the glass coffee table.

"The Luna ceremony needs to be perfect," Marcus said, pointing to a swatch of gold silk. "The entire council will be there to witness the union."

"I want white roses," Caroline said, resting her head on Joseph's shoulder. "Thousands of them. What do you think, Joseph?"

"Whatever you want, Caroline," he replied, squeezing her hand. "Money is no object."

I sat in the shadows, perfectly invisible. Nothing had changed since I was a child. I was still the outsider, the unwanted burden. No one in this room cared about me. Not Marcus, who viewed me as trash. Not Caroline, who stole my life. And not even my mate, who sat there planning his wedding to another woman while our baby grew inside me.

"I need to use the restroom," Caroline announced, standing up with a delicate smile. "I'll be right back."

She glided out of the parlor. A minute passed. I couldn't sit there watching Joseph pretend anymore. I stood up and slipped into the hallway, needing a moment to breathe.

"Where are my things, Greta?" I asked, staring at the empty wardrobe in my bedroom.

"Beta Marcus ordered them moved," the housekeeper replied, keeping her eyes fixed on her feather duster. "Miss Caroline requires the space for her wedding gifts."

"This is my room."

"Not anymore. Your boxes are in the attic."

I marched up the narrow, creaking stairs. Dust coated the wooden planks. Three cardboard boxes sat next to a rusty mop bucket.

"You owe me your life," Marcus used to bark, shoving a broom into my ten-year-old hands. "I saved you from the border. A wolfless stray with no name. You work for your food here."

I scrubbed floors for eight years. I endured Caroline’s constant sneers. I accepted my place at the bottom of the pack.

Then came my eighteenth birthday. Joseph had cornered me in the gardens during the summer gala.

"You're mine," he had demanded, his Alpha aura wrapping around me like a warm blanket. "My mate."

I believed him. I gave him everything.

Now, my entire life was packed into cardboard.

I headed back downstairs. I needed to face Caroline. I needed to expose her treacherous phone call about Alpha Mercer.

I reached the master suite. The heavy oak door stood slightly ajar.

"Are you sure she won't cause trouble, Joseph?" Caroline purred.

"Vivian obeys me," Joseph said. "She knows her place."

I peered through the two-inch gap. Caroline wore a sheer silk robe. She backed Joseph against the mahogany dresser, her hands sliding up his chest.

"Prove I'm your only Luna," she whispered.

She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his.

I waited for the rejection. I waited for my fated mate to shove her away.

He didn't.

Joseph’s hands settled firmly on her hips. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss. A low groan rumbled in his throat.

A loud, grating laugh erupted from my chest. It was an ugly sound. I should be crying, but the sheer absurdity of his betrayal just made me laugh.

Joseph’s head snapped toward the door. "Who's there?"

I spun on my heel and bolted.

"Vivian! Stop!" Joseph yelled from the hallway.

I ignored him. I slammed the front doors open and sprinted into the freezing night.

I ran blindly. Branches whipped my face. Mud ruined my shoes. I didn't stop until the glow of the pack house vanished completely.

"Well, well. Look what wandered away from the rich wolves."

I skidded to a halt. Three massive men blocked the moonlit trail. Their clothes hung in tatters. Their eyes glowed a sickly yellow.

"I don't have any money," I said, backing away slowly.

"You smell like an Alpha's whore," the tallest rogue sneered. "But you don't have a wolf. How tragic."

"Let me pass," I demanded, grabbing a heavy branch from the dirt.

"A wolfless toy giving orders?" Another rogue chuckled, cracking his knuckles. "We're going to have fun with you."

"Get her," the leader barked.

I threw the branch at his face and sprinted into the thick underbrush. Thorns tore at my jeans. Heavy paws slammed against the earth behind me. They had shifted. I was entirely human. I stood no chance.

A sudden, violent cramp ripped through my lower abdomen.

"Ah!" I shrieked, doubling over.

My foot caught on an exposed tree root. I slammed hard onto the cold ground. The impact knocked the wind completely out of my lungs.

The snarling beasts circled me, snapping their jaws. But the terror of the wolves faded beneath a much sharper, more devastating agony.

Liquid pooled between my thighs, warm and sticky.

I pulled my trembling hand up to the moonlight. My fingers were slick with thick, dark red blood.

"No," I sobbed, curling into a tight ball. "No, please. My baby. Not my baby."

The pain spiked again, blinding and absolute. The yellow eyes of the wolves blurred into twin stars. The forest spun, and then everything faded into a silent, pitch-black void.

***

Hundreds of miles away, a fire crackled in the grand hearth of the Ashberg Pack stronghold.

Luna Maria paced the length of the Persian rug. She wrung her hands together, her silver hair catching the firelight. "Did the trackers return?"

Alpha Tom sat heavily in his leather chair. "They searched the northern territories, Maria. Nothing."

"She’s out there, Tom," Maria insisted, her voice breaking. "Our daughter. I can feel it."

"It has been eighteen years."

"A mother knows!" Maria shouted, slamming her hand against the mantle. "She is alive. My heart tells me she is out there."

"We will find her," Tom said softly, standing up to pull his mate into his arms. "Even if I have to tear apart every pack on this continent."

A frantic knock shattered the quiet room.

The heavy wooden door swung open. Beta Silas stood in the entryway, panting hard. He clutched a crumpled piece of fabric in his fist.

"Alpha," Silas gasped, holding up a torn, blood-stained piece of cream-colored silk. "Our border patrols found this near the Blood Moon territory."

Maria gasped, snatching the fabric from his hands. She pressed it to her nose, her eyes going wide.

"It carries the scent of your bloodline," Silas said grimly. "But there was a massive amount of blood. We don't know if she survived the night."