Three days passed in that damp cell. I was fed, but only when Martha could sneak a tray past the guards. The dampness was seeping into my bones, making my joints ache.

I spent the time meditating, trying to reach the wolf inside me. She was usually a quiet presence, a shadow in the back of my mind. But now, she was pacing. She was agitated.

*He is leaving,* she whispered to me on the morning of the fourth day.

I scrambled to the small, barred window that looked out onto the driveway.

A convoy of SUVs was idling in the driveway. Servants were loading suitcases-Elena's suitcases.

The door to my room unlocked. It wasn't Theo. It was the Pack Doctor, a weaselly man named Dr. Evans who had always been too eager to please the highest bidder.

"The Alpha requested I check on you before he departs," Dr. Evans said, not meeting my eyes.

"Departs?" I stood up, ignoring the dizziness that swayed me. "Where is he going?"

"Miss Elena... she has a condition," the doctor lied smoothly. I could smell the deception on him; it smelled like sour milk. "The baby is in a breech position. Very dangerous. She requires surgery at the human hospital in the city. It is the best facility in the state."

"That hospital is four hours away," I said. "And my due date is in two weeks."

"You are perfectly healthy, Luna Aria," he said dismissively. "The Alpha will return in a few days."

I pushed past him. I had to stop him.

I ran through the hallways, my bare feet slapping against the cold tile. I burst out the front door just as Theo was getting into the driver's seat of the lead car.

"Theo!" I screamed.

He froze, one foot inside the car. He looked back at me. I must have looked terrible-my hair matted, my dress wrinkled, dark circles under my eyes.

"Aria?" He stepped back out. "What are you doing out here?"

"You're leaving?" I walked down the steps, ignoring the stares of his warriors. "You're leaving your Mate weeks before she gives birth? To drive your ex-girlfriend to the city?"

"It's an emergency," Theo said, but his eyes darted away. "Elena needs special care."

"I need you!" I cried out. The desperation was raw. "My wolf is weak, Theo. The bond... it's hurting me. If you leave the territory, the distance will weaken me further. You know the laws of the Mate Bond. An Alpha must be near his pregnant Mate."

It was biology. The father's presence strengthened the mother and the pup. His absence left us vulnerable.

Theo looked at me, and for a second, I saw a flicker of the man I fell in love with. I saw the conflict. His hand twitched, reaching toward me. The Mate Bond was pulling at him, screaming at him to stay, to protect what was his.

"Theo?" Elena's voice drifted from inside the car. She sounded pained. "Oh god, it hurts... Theo, please..."

*The chemical scent of vanilla wafted from the open car door, hitting Theo like a drug.* The conflict in his eyes vanished, replaced by a glassy, compliant mask of duty.

"She needs me more right now, Aria," he said. "You are strong. You always have been."

He turned his back on me.

"If you get in that car," I said, my voice trembling but loud, "don't bother coming back."

He paused, his hand on the door. He didn't look at me. He got in.

The engine roared to life.

I stood there, shivering in the morning breeze, as the convoy pulled away. I focused on the invisible thread that connected our souls. As the distance between us grew, I felt the thread stretch. It grew thinner and thinner.

Usually, this would cause panic. But as I watched his taillights disappear around the bend, I didn't feel panic.

I felt the snap.

It wasn't a full rejection-we hadn't spoken the words. But emotionally, the connection severed. The warmth that usually flowed from him to me was gone.

I was truly alone.

I turned back to the house. The servants were looking at me with a mix of pity and contempt. An abandoned Mate was a bad omen.

"Get back to your room," Theo's mother, the former Luna, stepped out onto the porch. She was a tall, severe woman with silver hair and eyes like flint. She had never liked me. *She considered my quiet wolf a genetic defect.*

"I am going to the kitchen," I said. "I am hungry."

"You are going to your room," she spat. "And you will stay there. We have tolerated your jealousy long enough. Now that my son is gone, I will not have you roaming around causing trouble."

She signaled to two guards. "Escort her."

They grabbed my arms.

"Don't touch me!" I snarled.

But I was weak. The stress, the lack of food, and the distance from my Mate had drained my energy. They dragged me back to the servant's quarters and threw me in.

This time, I heard the heavy slide of a deadbolt.

Two days after Theo left, the pain started. It wasn't labor pains. It was a burning sensation in my gut, like I had swallowed hot coals.

I banged on the door. "Help! Something is wrong!"

No one came.

Hours later, the door finally opened. But it wasn't help.

It was Theo's mother, Lydia, and Elena's mother, a bitter woman named Carol. Behind them stood Theo's father, the former Alpha Marcus.

"Stop your screaming," Lydia snapped, entering the small room. She held a handkerchief over her nose as if I smelled like garbage.

"My baby," I gasped, clutching the wall for support. "I need a doctor."

"There is no baby," Lydia said coldly.

I froze. "What?"

"We know the truth," Marcus grunted, stepping forward. He was a large man, his muscles still thick despite his age. "Theo is too soft. He tried to protect you. But we know what you carry."

"A Rogue's bastard," Carol hissed, her eyes gleaming with malice. "Just like my daughter said. You tried to pin it on Theo, didn't you? You whore."

"No!" I screamed. "It's Theo's! Elena lied! She's the one carrying the Rogue child!"

"Lies!" Lydia stepped forward. She was wearing elegant leather gloves. "My son has pure blood. He would never sire a weakling like the thing inside you. I can smell it, Aria. It smells of rot."

She slapped me.

The pain was blinding. It wasn't just the force of the blow. Her glove... it burned. My skin sizzled where she struck me.

"Silver," I gasped, falling to my knees. She had woven silver dust into the leather. For a wolf, silver is poison. It disrupts our healing and causes agony.

"We are cleansing the pack," Marcus declared. "We cannot allow a Rogue spawn to be born on our land."

"Get her up," Lydia ordered.

Two warriors I didn't recognize rushed in. They grabbed me by my hair and arms, dragging me across the rough floor.

"No! Please!" I fought, kicking and scratching. "You're killing him! You're killing your grandson!"

"It is an abomination!" Marcus kicked me in the ribs.

I heard a crack. White hot pain exploded in my side. I screamed, a sound that tore my throat raw.

They dragged me out of the house, into the courtyard. It was raining. The cold water mixed with the blood running down my face.

"Throw her beyond the border," Lydia commanded. "Let her die in the woods with the other Rogues."

They dragged me toward the iron gates. My vision was blurring. The pain in my stomach was unbearable. I could feel the life inside me fading, the tiny heartbeat slowing down.

*Mama...* a faint, tiny voice echoed in my mind. It was my pup. He was dying.

*No, stay with me!* I mentally screamed. *Hold on!*

The guards threw me onto the asphalt just outside the pack gates. I landed hard on my stomach.

"And don't come back," Marcus spat, standing on the other side of the bars.

Darkness was closing in. The rain pounded against my back. I was going to die here. My baby was going to die here.

*I had sent the message days ago. Had it failed? Had James abandoned me too?*

Then, the ground shook.

It wasn't thunder. It was the sound of engines. Dozens of them.

Roaring down the highway, a fleet of armored vehicles screeched to a halt. *They had torn through three state lines to get here.* The lead car, a massive military-grade truck, smashed straight through the iron gates of the Black Rose Pack, sending metal flying.

Marcus and Lydia stumbled back in terror.

A figure leaped from the truck before it even stopped moving. He was a giant of a man, radiating an aura so powerful it felt like the sun had descended to earth. His eyes were glowing a furious, molten gold.

Alpha King James.

He didn't look at the guards. He didn't look at Theo's parents. He ran straight to me, falling to his knees in the mud.

"Aria!" His voice was a roar of pure panic. He scooped me up into his arms, ignoring the blood and mud.

"Dad..." I whispered, the word slipping out. I had never called him that before.

"I'm here," he growled, tears streaming down his face. *"The storm delayed the choppers. I drove. I drove as fast as I could."* He looked up at Marcus, and the killing intent that exploded from him made the former Alpha drop to his knees, forced down by the sheer weight of James's power.

"If she dies," James bellowed, his voice shaking the very foundations of the Pack House, "I will slaughter every single one of you!"

I looked up at his face one last time. Then, the pain became too much, and the world went black.

I woke up to the sound of beeping machines. The air smelled sterile, but expensive-like ozone and clean linen.

I wasn't in the damp servant's room. I was in a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs. The room was filled with flowers.

My mother was asleep in a chair next to me, holding my hand. James was standing by the window, his back to me, staring out. His posture was rigid, like a coiled spring.

"Mom?" My voice was a dry croak.

Her eyes snapped open. "Aria! Oh, Goddess!" She jumped up, pressing the call button for the nurse. "James, she's awake!"

James turned. The look on his face broke my heart. He looked aged, tired.

"My baby," I whispered, my hand moving to my stomach.

It was flat.

The silence in the room was deafening. It was a heavy, suffocating blanket.

"Aria..." my mother sobbed, burying her face in the sheets.

"No," I stared at the ceiling. "No, no, no."

James walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. He took my hand. His large, rough hand was trembling.

"We tried," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "The trauma... the silver poisoning... the kick to the ribs caused a placental abruption. He was too small, Aria. His lungs weren't ready."

"He?" A tear slid down my temple into my hair.

"A boy," James nodded. "He fought hard. Just like his mother."

I closed my eyes. I reached for my inner wolf. I needed her strength. I needed to howl.

But there was nothing.

Where my wolf used to be, there was only a void. A dark, silent cavern. *The grief had shattered something fundamental. She hadn't just retreated; she had gone silent, burying herself deep within my psyche to survive the heartbreak.*

"My wolf," I whispered. "I can't feel her."

"She has gone into a coma," James explained gently. "From the grief. Losing a pup... it is the hardest thing a she-wolf can endure. She has retreated to heal."

I was empty. My baby was gone. My wolf was gone. My Mate had abandoned me.

I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I just stared at the wall. I felt like I had been hollowed out, leaving only a shell behind.

*

Two weeks passed. I existed in a fog. I ate when told, slept when the drugs took effect.

"I want to go back," I said one morning over breakfast.

James dropped his fork. "Absolutely not. You are never setting foot in Black Rose territory again. I am preparing to absorb their pack. I will crush them economically and then militarily."

"I need to get my things," I said, my voice devoid of emotion. "My locket. The one Grandma gave me. It's still in the servant's room."

"I will send a squad to retrieve it," James said.

"No," I looked at him. "I need to go. I need to see them. I need... closure."

My mother looked at James. They had a silent conversation. Finally, James sighed.

"I will take you. And I will bring fifty of my best Elites. If anyone looks at you wrong, I will rip their throat out."

We took the helicopter.

When we landed on the lawn of the Black Rose estate, the atmosphere was jarring. There were balloons everywhere. Blue and white streamers. Music was playing.

It was a party.

"What is this?" my mother hissed.

We walked toward the gathering. The pack members saw James and parted like the Red Sea, fear etched on their faces.

In the center of the garden, sitting on a throne-like chair, was Elena. She was holding a baby.

Theo was standing next to her, smiling. He had returned.

They were celebrating.

My baby was dead in a cold grave, and they were celebrating.

Theo looked up and saw me. His smile faltered. He took a step forward, looking confused. "Aria? You... you look well."

He didn't know. He didn't know what his parents had done. He didn't know about the hospital.

Lydia, Theo's mother, pushed through the crowd. She saw me and sneered. She clearly hadn't told Theo either.

"You have some nerve coming back here," Lydia said loud enough for everyone to hear. "After running off to your sugar daddy." She gestured to James.

James growled, a sound so deep the ground vibrated.

"And that... thing?" Lydia pointed at my flat stomach. "Did you finally get rid of the Rogue spawn? Thank the Goddess. It's a blessing it's dead. Now the bloodline remains pure."

The music stopped. The silence was absolute.

Theo froze. He looked at his mother, then at me. "Dead? What is she talking about, Aria? Where is the baby?"

I looked at him. I felt nothing. No love. No hate. Just cold ash.

"Ask your mother," I said, my voice dead. "Ask her how she kicked me in the ribs while wearing silver gloves. Ask her how she dragged me through the mud while I begged for our son's life."

Theo turned pale. "Son?"

"He is dead, Theo," I said. "Your son is dead."

At that moment, Elena's baby started to cry.

"Oh, hush now," Elena cooed, bouncing the baby. "Don't let that woman upset you, my little Alpha."

James stepped forward. He didn't shout. He just spoke, his voice carrying the weight of a King.

"That child," James pointed at the bundle in Elena's arms. "Smells like a wet dog."

He looked at Theo. "You are celebrating the birth of a Rogue, boy. While your true heir lies in a morgue."

Theo looked at the baby in Elena's arms. For the first time, the illusion seemed to crack. He leaned in, really smelling the child, past Elena's perfume.

Confusion, then horror, dawned on his face.

"This isn't my scent," Theo whispered.

I turned around. I had seen enough.

"Let's go, Dad," I said to James. "I have nothing left here."

As we walked away, the screaming started. But I didn't look back. The Aria who loved Theo died with her baby.

The woman who walked toward the helicopter was someone else entirely. And she would be back. Not for closure.

But for revenge.