Pregnant and Cast Out: The Alpha's Betrayal

I stood outside the hospital door, heavy with our unborn pup, only to hear my Fated Mate destroying our future.

Theo was promising his ex-girlfriend, a woman carrying a Rogue’s child, that he would claim her baby as the Alpha heir.

As for our own legitimate son? He planned to hide him away as a shameful mistake.

When I confronted them, Theo didn't beg for forgiveness. Instead, he stripped me of my Luna title, moved his mistress into my bedroom, and locked me in a moldy servant's cell.

But the cruelty didn't end there. To "cleanse" the pack, his mother kicked my swollen stomach with silver-laced gloves.

I felt my baby die inside me as they dragged me through the mud and threw me out of the territory.

They thought I was just a weak, abandoned girl who would perish in the woods.

They didn't know that the "orphan" they abused was actually the lost daughter of the Alpha King.

Six months later, I returned.

They were throwing a party for the mistress's baby, celebrating a lie.

I walked in wearing a green dress, holding the deed to their bankrupt pack and a paternity test that proved their "heir" was nothing but a fraud.

I didn't come back for an apology.

I came to burn their world to the ground.

Chapter 1

*Aria POV:*

The sterile scent of antiseptic usually calmed me, but today, it made my stomach churn. I stood outside the heavy oak door of the private consultation room in the pack hospital. *My hand hovered over the handle, trembling not from cold, but from a gut instinct screaming that my life was about to implode.* Inside, I could hear the low murmur of voices.

My hearing had sharpened since I became pregnant. It was a gift from the Moon Goddess, a way for a mother to protect her pup. But right now, it felt like a curse.

"Don't worry, my love," a deep voice said. It was a voice that used to whisper sweet nothings into my ear, a voice that belonged to my Fated Mate. "I won't let anything happen to you or the baby."

My breath hitched. Theo.

"But what about Aria?" a female voice whimpered. It was high-pitched, sugary, and sickeningly familiar. Elena. "If the Elders find out this baby isn't yours... if they find out it belongs to a Rogue..."

"They won't," Theo interrupted, *his tone firm, though I detected a strange, glazed quality to it, as if he were speaking through a fog.* "We will say it is mine. And we will say Aria's child... is the mistake."

The world tilted on its axis.

I didn't think. I didn't breathe. I shoved the door open, the metal handle slamming against the wall with a deafening crash.

The scene before me was a tableau of betrayal. Theo, the Alpha of the Black Rose Pack, was kneeling beside the examination bed. Elena, his childhood sweetheart-a she-wolf with no rank and a history of disappearing-was reclining there, her hand resting protectively over her swollen belly.

The air in the room was suffocating. Usually, being near Theo brought me peace. The Mate Bond meant that his scent usually smelled like fresh pine and rain to me. It was supposed to signal home.

*But today, that scent was buried under a cloud of cloying, artificial vanilla perfume. Elena's scent. It was aggressive, stinging my nose like ammonia. It wasn't just perfume; it smelled like a masking agent. Something herbal and wrong.*

"Aria," Theo stood up, his face paling. He didn't look like a powerful Alpha in that moment. He looked like a child caught stealing sweets.

"You..." I choked out, my hand instinctively going to my own stomach. My baby, barely five months along, gave a tiny flutter. "You are going to claim a Rogue's bastard as the heir? And cast aside your own flesh and blood?"

In our world, Rogues are wolves without a pack. To carry a Rogue's child is considered a stain on the bloodline.

Elena sat up, tears instantly welling in her eyes. "Aria, please! I made a mistake. I was alone, scared... the Rogue forced himself on me. If the pack finds out, they will kill my baby! You are the Luna. You are strong. You can handle the shame. But I... I am weak."

"You want me to say my child is the Rogue's?" I whispered, the horror of it making my knees weak. "You want my child to be killed so yours can live?"

"No one will kill your baby," Theo stepped between us. *His eyes were dilated, his pupils blown wide as he inhaled the thick vanilla cloud radiating from Elena.* "I will send you away to the countryside. You will raise the child in secret. Elena's baby will take the place of the heir. It is the only way to save everyone, Aria. Be reasonable."

"Reasonable?" I laughed, a broken, jagged sound. "You are asking your Mate to sacrifice her child for your ex-girlfriend's mistake!"

"It is an order, Aria!" Theo's voice dropped an octave. The air in the room grew heavy. He was using his Alpha Voice. It wasn't a full command yet, but the pressure was there, pushing against my will, demanding submission.

My inner wolf, *dormant and quiet due to my suppressed lineage*, whimpered. She clawed at my chest, howling in betrayal. The pain of a Mate turning against you is physical. It feels like your ribs are being slowly crushed.

"I refuse," I gritted out, fighting the pressure.

"We are leaving," Theo snapped. He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising. "Elena needs to rest at the Pack House. We will discuss this there."

He helped Elena off the bed with a tenderness he hadn't shown me in months. We walked to the car in silence.

When we reached his black SUV, Elena opened the front passenger door. That was my seat. That was the Luna's seat.

She paused, looking at me with wide, innocent eyes. "Oh, Aria... my back hurts so much. The doctor said I need the heated seat. You don't mind sitting in the back, do you?"

She didn't wait for an answer. She slid in, settling onto the white fox fur seat cover-a gift I had given Theo for his birthday.

Theo didn't say a word. He just opened the back door for me, his eyes cold.

I climbed into the back seat. It felt cramped and distant.

*As Theo walked around to the driver's side, I fumbled for my phone in my pocket. My hands were shaking, but I managed to type a single, desperate message to my mother:*

*Code Red. Theo compromised. Elena here. I'm in danger.*

*I hit send just as Theo opened his door. I saw the 'Delivered' checkmark appear a split second before he started the engine.*

As we pulled away, his voice echoed in my head via the Mind-Link.

*Do not make a scene in front of her, Aria. She is fragile. You are the Luna, act like it.*

I looked at the back of his head. I looked at Elena's hand resting on his arm, her fingers tracing the muscle.

The bond between us, once a golden thread of light, felt like it was turning into a rusted chain around my neck.

*I am the Luna,* I replied, my voice in his head icy and flat. *But you are no longer acting like my Alpha.*

I felt him flinch. I closed my eyes and did something I had never done before. I raised a mental wall and slammed the Mind-Link shut.