Seraphina POV

The deafening silence stretched, heavy and suffocating. For a fraction of a second, the glacial mask on Kael's face cracked. His cyan eyes widened, and I could almost feel his inner wolf, Fenrir, thrashing against his iron control, howling in sudden, desperate joy at the mention of a pup.

Then, a cold, delicate laugh shattered the quiet.

Genevieve stepped forward, her eyes glittering with malicious amusement. "A phantom child to secure your crown? You truly have no shame, Seraphina. A desperate, pathetic lie from a desperate, pathetic Rogue."

"It's not a lie!" I cried, my hands instinctively moving to shield my flat stomach. I turned wildly to the only person left. "Isabelle, tell him! You're my best friend—you know I wouldn't lie about something like this! "

Isabelle let out a broken sob, burying her face in her hands. When she looked up at Kael, her eyes were swimming in perfectly timed tears. "Alpha... I am so sorry. She told me weeks ago that if you continued to grow distant, she would fake a pregnancy to trap you. I didn't want to believe she would actually stoop this low."

The air punched out of my lungs. The betrayal was so absolute, so flawlessly executed, that I couldn't even form words.

Kael's brief flicker of hope died instantly, replaced by a disgust so profound it radiated from him like heat. His jaw clenched, and when he spoke, his voice carried the crushing, undeniable weight of the Alpha's Command.

"You are a stain on my bloodline," Kael snarled. The power in his words washed over me, and though my wolfless body didn't physically buckle under the Command the way a wolf's would, the sheer force of his hatred—combined with the exhaustion, the rejection, and the loss—made my legs give way. I sank to my knees, not by magic, but by despair. "The thought of you carrying anything of mine makes my very soul sick."

He snatched the Writ of Exile from Elder Elias's frozen grip and threw it at my feet. The heavy parchment hit the stone floor with a dull thud.

My tears stopped. The agonizing throb of my severed mate-bond was suddenly eclipsed by a cold, hollow numbness. I picked up the pen Elias had dropped. My hand shook violently, but I pressed the nib to the paper and signed away my life, my pack, and any claim I had to the Blackwood name.

I stood up, my knees trembling, and shoved the parchment hard against Kael's chest. He didn't even look at me. He turned his back and walked up the grand staircase, taking my heart with him.

"Throw her out," Tyler sneered, gesturing to the Warriors.

"Don't touch me," I hissed, yanking my arms away. "I can walk."

As I moved toward the heavy oak doors, Genevieve stepped into my path. Her manicured fingers clamped onto my arm, her sharp nails biting deep into my flesh. She leaned in, her expensive perfume masking the rot in her soul.

"That little mongrel in your belly will never draw breath on Blackwood land," she whispered, her voice a venomous hiss meant only for my ears. "The Moon Goddess doesn't bless the wombs of traitors."

Before I could react, the Warriors shoved me out into the freezing night.

They dragged me to the very edge of the Blackwood territory, tossing me into the dirt where the manicured lawns met the wild, dark woods. The moment their footsteps faded, the shadows between the trees shifted.

A massive figure stepped out. He wore a dark mask, and the sour, feral stench of a Rogue hit my nose. Panic spiked in my chest. I scrambled backward, but he was too fast. He grabbed me by the hair, dragging me deeper into the suffocating darkness of the trees.

"Please!" I screamed, thrashing wildly against his iron grip. "I'm pregnant! Please don't!"

The Rogue threw me to the ground. He stood over me, his eyes dead and merciless. "That's the point."

His heavy boot slammed into my abdomen.

A scream tore from my throat, raw and bloody. I curled into a ball, desperately trying to cover my stomach, but his knee crashed into my side, then his foot found my stomach again. Agony exploded through my body, blinding and absolute.

"A message from those who value a pure bloodline," the Rogue spat, kicking dirt onto my face. "Your kind has no place here."

He vanished into the night, leaving me broken in the mud.

A warm, terrifying wetness began to pool between my thighs. No. No, please.

Gasping through the blinding pain, I dragged my shattered body over the dead leaves and sharp rocks, crawling toward the distant hum of the asphalt road. My fingernails tore as I pulled myself onto the freezing pavement.

Headlights pierced the darkness. A car was coming. I raised a trembling, blood-soaked hand, praying to a Goddess who had abandoned me.

The human driver saw me—a battered, bloody nightmare crawling from the woods. The tires shrieked as the car violently swerved, speeding away into the night.

The taillights faded into red blurs. The agonizing cramps tore through my womb, and as the darkness finally pulled me under, I felt the tiny, fragile spark of my baby's life slip away into the cold.

Seraphina POV

The harsh, stinging scent of bleach and rubbing alcohol dragged me back to consciousness. There was no damp earth, no pine, no comforting warmth of a Pack House. Only the sterile, lifeless hum of a heart monitor and the blinding glare of fluorescent lights.

I tried to move, but a sharp, tearing agony ripped through my abdomen. I gasped, my hand instinctively flying to my stomach.

It was flat. The subtle, warm flutter of life I had clung to was gone.

"Miss Harmon?" A woman in a white coat stepped into my line of sight. Her human eyes were soft with a practiced, clinical sympathy. "I'm Dr. Evans. You were brought in by a passing motorist. You suffered severe blunt force trauma to your abdomen." She paused, her voice dropping. "I am so incredibly sorry. We couldn't save the pregnancy. The embryo was only about five to six weeks, but the damage was... complete."

The words hung in the air, suffocating me. I stared at the ceiling, the white tiles blurring as the memory of the dark woods crashed over me.

That little mongrel in your belly will never draw breath on Blackwood land. Genevieve’s venomous whisper echoed in my ears, perfectly synchronized with the heavy thud of the Rogue’s boot. That's the point.

A violent shudder wracked my broken body. This wasn't a random tragedy. It was an execution. Genevieve Blackwood had orchestrated the entire thing, and Isabelle Pruitt had handed her the knife by destroying my credibility. They had murdered my baby.

"Miss Harmon, the police are here," Dr. Evans said gently. "They need to ask you a few questions."

Two human officers stepped into the room, their expressions grim. "Miss Harmon, your injuries suggest a targeted assault. Nothing was stolen. Do you know who did this? Do you have any enemies?"

Genevieve’s name burned on my tongue. But as I looked at the officers, reality settled over me like a shroud of ice. How could I explain a wolfless Omega, a hired Rogue, and a ruthless Luna? To them, Kael Blackwood was a respected billionaire CEO, a pillar of human society. One phone call from him, and I would be locked in a psychiatric ward for the rest of my life. Human law could not touch the monsters of my world.

"No," I whispered, my voice hoarse and dead. "It was dark. He wore a mask. Just a random lunatic."

The officers exchanged a frustrated look, took their notes, and left. By lying to them, I had chosen my path. There would be no human justice. I would have to survive, and I would have to make them bleed on my own terms.

Yet, beneath the boiling hatred, a pathetic, bleeding fragment of my severed mate-bond still twitched. A foolish, desperate part of my soul screamed that if Kael only knew the truth—if he knew his child was dead—the Alpha who once swore to protect me would wake up from his mother's manipulation.

"Excuse me," I croaked to the nurse. "Do you know if my personal belongings came with me? My phone?"

She nodded and retrieved a small plastic bag from a drawer. Inside was my battered phone—screen cracked, but still alive. Kael hadn't even bothered to take it from me. He probably wanted me to remember every hateful comment online.

I powered it on. My fingers trembled violently as I opened the messaging app and typed in the private number I knew by heart.

I was attacked. I'm in the hospital. The baby... our baby is gone.

I hit send. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat of agonizing hope. Minutes bled into one another. I stared at the screen, praying to a Goddess I no longer believed in.

The phone buzzed.

My breath hitched. I opened the message, my eyes scanning the glowing text.

Stop the lies, Seraphina. I don't care about your games. You are dead to me.

The phone slipped from my numb fingers, clattering onto the thin hospital blanket.

Isabelle POV

The crystal goblet felt heavy in my hand, the dark red wine inside swirling like the blood spilled in the woods last night.

"To the future of the Blackwood Pack," Genevieve murmured, her voice as smooth as silk. She took a delicate sip, her scent of winter roses and expensive perfume filling her lavish private sitting room.

I forced a smile and clinked my glass against hers. "To the future."

A flicker of unease gnawed at the edge of my conscience. The plan had been to ruin Seraphina's reputation, to make Kael reject her. But the hired Rogue... the brutal attack on a pregnant female... it was a line I hadn't fully prepared to cross.

Genevieve noticed my hesitation. Her sharp, calculating eyes pinned me down. "Do not let misplaced pity cloud your judgment, Isabelle. You are looking at this like a weak human, not a Luna." She set her glass down, her tone hardening. "That wolfless Omega was a parasite. The mongrel in her belly would have been a permanent stain on our pure bloodline. I simply cleansed our legacy."

Her words acted like a potent venom, paralyzing my guilt and replacing it with a intoxicating rush of ambition. She was right. Seraphina didn't belong here.

"Kael's soul is bleeding from the Rejection," Genevieve continued, stepping closer to touch my shoulder. "His inner wolf is in chaos. He needs an anchor. Go to him now. Be his comfort, and the Luna title is yours."

My heart raced. I nodded, leaving the sitting room and heading straight for the Alpha's office.

Before pushing open the heavy mahogany doors, I paused to unbutton the top two buttons of my silk blouse, ensuring the curve of my cleavage was perfectly visible. I took a deep breath, projecting my sweetest, most inviting scent, and walked in.

The air inside was suffocating. Kael's usually crisp scent of cedar and winter wind was soured by a raw, violent agony. He sat behind his massive desk, his head buried in his hands, fingers gripping his dark hair. I could practically feel his inner wolf, Fenrir, thrashing and howling in the confines of his mind, devastated by the severed mate-bond.

"Kael?" I whispered, walking around the desk. I perched on the edge of the polished wood, leaning in close so my perfume would wrap around him. "I'm so sorry you're hurting. I'm here for you. Whatever you need."

I reached out, letting my fingers brush against his tense shoulder.

He flinched, pulling away as if my touch burned. He lifted his head, and the emptiness in his eyes sent a chill down my spine. He wasn't looking at me; he was staring right through me.

"Thank you for your loyalty, Isabelle," he said, his voice mechanical, completely devoid of the Alpha heat I craved. "But I need to be alone."

Frustration flared hot in my chest. Even gone, that pathetic Omega's ghost still had its claws in him. The mate-bond was a stubborn, wretched thing.

Suddenly, Kael stiffened. His eyes glazed over for a fraction of a second—a Pack mind-link.

"Rogues spotted near the western border," he growled, his Alpha instincts momentarily overriding his grief. He stood up so fast his chair scraped loudly against the floor. Without another glance in my direction, he stormed out of the office, the heavy doors clicking shut behind him.

I let out a breath of pure annoyance, sliding off the desk.

Then, the screen of his phone, left carelessly on the leather blotter, lit up.

My eyes darted to the display. The name Seraphina flashed across the screen.

My blood ran cold. I snatched the phone before the screen could lock. I knew Kael's passcode—I had watched him type it a hundred times, pretending not to look. My fingers flew across the keyboard, unlocking the device.

My eyes scanned the glowing text.

I was attacked. I'm in the hospital. The baby... our baby is gone.

Panic seized my throat. If Kael saw this... if his Alpha protective instincts were triggered by the loss of his pup, he would tear the city apart to find her. He would ask questions. He would find out about the Rogue. He would find out about us.

The panic quickly morphed into a vicious, protective malice. I had come too far to let that wolfless bitch ruin my future with a pity plea.

My fingers flew across the keyboard, mimicking the cold, ruthless tone Kael had used since the Rejection.

Stop the lies, Seraphina. I don't care about your games. You are dead to me.

I hit send.

I watched the little 'delivered' notification pop up. Then, with methodical precision, I deleted the entire conversation—incoming and outgoing. I even cleared the "recently deleted" folder. I wiped her existence from the device entirely.

I set the phone back on the desk, exactly where Kael had left it. The office was dead silent, save for the steady ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner.