Gloria POV:

The next morning, Darwin came home smelling like morning dew and betrayal.

"Where were you?" he asked, finding me in the kitchen drinking herbal tea. He looked refreshed, while I felt like a hollow shell.

"I slept in the guest room," I lied smoothly. "The door was locked, remember?"

He frowned, checking his pockets for the key, realizing he must have forgotten to unlock it. "Right. Well. I was patrolling the northern border."

"Of course," I said.

Suddenly, a warm wetness gushed from my nose.

I brought a hand to my face. My fingers came away coated in bright red blood.

"Gloria?" Darwin took a step back, looking disgusted rather than worried. "You're bleeding on the counter."

"It's just the dry air," I muttered, grabbing a paper towel.

But I knew what it was. My body was fighting a war. The White Wolf bloodline was incredibly potent. If I was stressed, or if my body was rejecting the environment, it reacted violently.

Suddenly, Darwin's eyes glazed over. Mind-Link.

"I have to go," he said urgently. "Rogue attack at the eastern perimeter."

"Go," I said.

He didn't hesitate. He ran out the door.

I waited two minutes, then grabbed my keys. There was no rogue attack. I had access to the Pack's security grid through my old Council codes. The perimeter was silent.

I drove to the Pack Hospital.

I needed to know why my body was failing me. The nosebleed, the nausea, the fatigue. It wasn't just the heartbreak.

Dr. Aris, an old wolf healer who owed me a favor, ushered me into a private room.

"Run a full scan, Aris," I ordered. "And keep the results off the digital record."

Ten minutes later, Aris came back. His hands were shaking. He was holding the ultrasound printout.

"Luna..." he whispered. "You aren't sick."

He turned the screen toward me.

There, in the grainy black and white image, was a tiny, pulsing sac.

"You are six weeks pregnant."

The world stopped spinning.

"Pregnant?" I choked out. "But... we tried for two years. Nothing happened."

"It's the energy signature," Aris said, pointing to a halo of light around the fetus on the screen. "This isn't a normal pup, Gloria. The energy reading is off the charts. It's... it's stronger than an Alpha."

A White Wolf pup.

A child of legend. If the Elders found out I carried this bloodline, they wouldn't just kill me-they'd harvest the child.

Suddenly, a sound cut through the air.

Awoooooooo!

It was a howl of pure, unadulterated joy. It was Darwin.

The sound was coming from down the hall.

I slid off the exam table and walked to the door, cracking it open.

Darwin was standing in the middle of the hallway, holding Elyssa in his arms. She was beaming, rubbing her flat stomach. A crowd of nurses and Betas surrounded them, clapping.

"A miracle!" Darwin shouted, his voice booming. "The Moon Goddess has blessed us! Elyssa is with child!"

I felt the blood drain from my face.

"He's celebrating?" Dr. Aris whispered behind me, confused. "But... you are his Mate."

"He doesn't know about mine," I said, my hand instinctively covering my lower abdomen.

I watched as Darwin kissed Elyssa's forehead. "My heir," he said reverently. "Finally, a strong heir."

I listened with my enhanced hearing. I focused on Elyssa's womb. I could hear the heartbeat of her child. It was faint. Normal. Average.

He was celebrating a mutt while his true mate carried a king.

The irony was so bitter I could taste it like bile.

"Delete the records, Aris," I said, turning back to the doctor. My eyes were dry. I was done crying.

"Luna?"

"There is no baby," I said, my voice steel. "If Darwin finds out, he will take this child and give it to her to raise. Or worse."

I looked at the screen one last time, memorizing the shape of my little miracle.

"This child will not be born into the Dark Moon Pack," I vowed. "This child will be born free."

Gloria POV:

I walked out of the clinic, pulling my coat tight around me to hide a stomach that wasn't even showing yet.

Fate, it seemed, had a cruel sense of humor.

The elevator doors pinged open in the parking garage. As I stepped out, I came face-to-face with them.

Darwin froze. His hand was resting protectively on the small of Elyssa's back. When he saw me, he stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body.

The gesture was a slap in the face. He was protecting his mistress from his wife. He looked at me like I was the Rogue, the monster.

"Gloria," he said, his voice guarded. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a nosebleed," I said flatly. "Just getting it checked."

Elyssa peeked out from behind him. She smiled, a nasty, triumphant curling of her lips.

Suddenly, the air filled with a sweet, milky scent.

Pregnancy hormones.

Wolves can smell pregnancy almost immediately. Elyssa was pushing the scent out, projecting it, forcing me to smell her fertility. It was a biological taunt. I have what you don't.

"Did you hear the good news, Luna?" Elyssa asked, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "We're expecting."

"I heard," I said. "The whole hospital heard."

"Get in the car, Gloria," Darwin ordered, steering Elyssa toward his black SUV. "We're going home."

I climbed into the back seat. Darwin and Elyssa sat in the front. It felt like I was the child, and they were the parents.

The drive was suffocating. Elyssa kept her hand on Darwin's thigh.

"Darwin," I spoke up, breaking the silence. "Do you remember the story of Alpha Kael?"

Darwin glanced at me in the rearview mirror. "What?"

"Alpha Kael," I repeated. "The Rogue who rejected his mate for a younger she-wolf. He thought he could cheat the Moon Goddess."

Darwin's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "I don't have time for fairy tales."

"It's history," I corrected. "His mate died of a broken heart. And the moment she died, Kael went mad. The bond snapped back and shattered his mind. He ate his own young."

Elyssa gasped. "Stop it! You're trying to scare me!"

"I'm just stating facts," I said, looking out the window. "The bond is not just a feeling, Darwin. It's a tether. If you sever it, there is a price."

"I am loyal to the Pack!" Darwin snapped. "I am doing what is necessary for our lineage!"

"Loyal?" I laughed, a dry, humorless sound. "You swore an oath to me before the Goddess. You broke it."

"I needed an heir!" he roared, slamming his hand on the dashboard. "And you couldn't give me one!"

The car went silent.

My hand hovered over my stomach. I gave you the greatest heir you could ever dream of, I thought. And you threw us away.

Suddenly, a notification popped up on the car's dashboard screen. Darwin's phone was connected via Bluetooth.

Message from Elyssa: Don't listen to the barren bitch, Alpha. Our pup is kicking. He knows his daddy is strong.

It was a lie. At six weeks, a pup doesn't kick. But Darwin didn't care about biology. He cared about his ego.

He smiled at the text, his anger vanishing. He reached over and squeezed Elyssa's hand.

I felt my inner wolf curl into a tight ball in the darkest corner of my mind. She stopped growling. She stopped fighting. She just began to weep.

She was preparing to die.

But I wasn't.

Let them have their fantasy, I thought, watching the passing trees. Because tonight, I'm taking everything away from them.

"Darwin," I said softly. "Drop me off at the lake house. I want to collect some of my things before... before we discuss the future."

"Fine," Darwin said, relieved that I seemed to be accepting defeat. "I'll meet you there later. We need to talk about the separation agreement."

"Yes," I whispered. "We do."

I wasn't going to the lake house to talk. I was going there to end this. One way or another.

Gloria POV:

The lake house was a trap. I knew it the moment Darwin suggested it. But a wolf does not run from a trap; she springs it on her own terms.

Back at the Pack House, the atmosphere was suffocating. Darwin was pacing in the living room, checking his watch every thirty seconds.

"I have to go out," he said abruptly, not meeting my eyes. "Pack business. There's a dispute over the western territory lines."

"Of course," I said, my voice devoid of emotion. "Go be the Alpha."

He didn't kiss me goodbye. He didn't even look at me. He just grabbed his keys and walked out.

As soon as his SUV disappeared down the driveway, I moved.

I didn't need a car. I was a Shadow Council agent. I went to my hidden stash in the back of the closet-a loose floorboard under the carpet-and pulled out a small vial of silver dust and crushed wolfsbane. It was a tracking powder, illegal in most territories.

I sprinkled a pinch into the air. To a human, it looked like dust motes dancing in the light. To me, it illuminated his scent trail like a neon highway.

I followed him.

He didn't go to the western territory. He drove to the edge of town, to a seedy motel called "The Moon's Rest." It was a place where Rogues-wolves without a pack-often stayed. It was dirty, smelling of stale beer and desperation.

I parked my car a block away and approached on foot, sticking to the shadows. My inner wolf was silent, prowling with intent.

I found his black SUV parked in the back. Room 104.

I crept up to the window. The curtains were drawn, but there was a gap. Just enough for me to see.

Darwin was there. And so was Elyssa.

They weren't having sex this time. They were plotting.

I pulled out my phone, activated the high-gain microphone app I used for Council missions, and hit record.

"She knows something," Elyssa was saying, pacing the small room. She was rubbing her belly, playing the part of the fragile mother-to-be perfectly. "The way she looked at me in the hospital... she knows I'm winning."

"She knows nothing," Darwin said, sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. "She's just jealous. She's barren, Elyssa. It makes a she-wolf bitter."

"When are you going to do it?" Elyssa whined, stopping in front of him. "You promised. Once the heir is born, you said you'd make me Luna. The Benefactor is getting impatient, Darwin. He says if you don't secure the line, he'll find someone who will."

"I know!" Darwin snapped. "I'll handle the Elders. But I can't just throw her out. The Council will ask questions. Her family... they were respected warriors."

"Respected dead warriors," Elyssa spat. "She has no one. Just reject her, Darwin. Send her to the Omega quarters. Or exile her."

Darwin looked up. His eyes were cold, lacking the warmth I had once drowned in. "I was thinking of the Rejection Ceremony."

My breath hitched. The Rejection Ceremony was a public humiliation. It wasn't just breaking up; it was stripping a wolf of their rank, their mate, and their dignity in front of the entire Pack.

"Yes!" Elyssa clapped her hands. "Do it! Do it before the pup arrives. I don't want that woman anywhere near my baby. What if she tries to hurt him out of spite?"

"She won't," Darwin said, though he sounded unsure. "But you're right. We need to secure the succession."

He stood up and pulled Elyssa into a hug. "I'll handle it. I sent her to the lake house to get her things. Tonight... tonight I'll set the stage."

"Make sure she understands," Elyssa whispered into his chest. "Make sure she knows she lost."

"She lost the moment she failed to give me a son," Darwin replied.

I stopped recording.

My hand was shaking, not from fear, but from a rage so cold it burned. "The Benefactor." So Christian was right. This went deeper than just infidelity.

He failed you, my inner wolf growled, her voice sounding like grinding stones. He betrayed the Moon Goddess. He is not an Alpha. He is prey.

Suddenly, a sharp pain spiked in my temple. A Mind-Link.

Gloria? Darwin's voice echoed in my head, sounding deceptively calm.

I'm here, I replied, staring at him through the window as he picked up his phone.

Change of plans. Meet me at the Sacred Lake pier in an hour. We need to talk about the separation terms. I want to be fair to you.

Fair. The word tasted like ash.

I'll be there, I sent back.

I watched him kiss Elyssa one last time before grabbing his jacket.

I turned away from the window, my silver eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Yes, Darwin," I whispered to the night air. "Let's talk."