"What?" A hysterical laugh ripped from the beast sitting before her. He leaned back, crossing one leg over the other, his posture and mannerisms designed to dominate the space. "You thought I would marry an Omega's daughter from a trash called Moonlight, a pack that barely exists? Your pack's leader, Alpha Vivian, licked my shoes to save his reputation. He couldn't defend his territory against my army. I do a lot of charity, and your pack thus survived without getting annexed into my territory. The deeper you go into this so called fancifully narrated rape episode, the greater you will rupture your wound."

Shireen shivered inwardly, overwhelmed by the threatening aura of the renowned figure across the polished oak desk. The long, floor-to-ceiling windows, the eco-friendly indoor plants in porcelain vases, the elegant sofa beside her-everything around her screamed power and money, melting her resolve to fight for her rights. However with a shivering tone she continued. "I gave you enough proof, Alpha Quinn. You're an Alpha, and it's your duty to bring justice to those who have been wronged. I expected tolerance and understanding from you."

Before she could finish he ordered bluntly. "That's not me in the video. You are mistaken. And I'm telling you for the final time: if you continue with this nonsense, I dare you. Go to the highest court. I will come out guilt-free, which is what I am. You're trying to damage my reputation with your baseless claims. Tell me who is behind you-who is trying to execute this dirty plan using you. Otherwise, I will find out on my own, and the repercussions will not be good."

Quinn was a monster, brimming with self-conceit. He would never admit his crime to a powerless girl, even though he was ashamed and anguished by his drunken mistake. He had thought she was dead. Who took this video? His mind was in chaos.

"Alpha Quinn, I came to your office and told you everything that happened between us that night. I thought you were unaware of what happened, but it looks more like a debauchery than a drunken slip. I follow a moral path. That's why we are still talking terms. Otherwise, it wouldn't take more than a day for me to expose you." Shireen had no patience left.

There was no way he would allow a puny female to get the best of him.

He extinguished the voice of ethics and spoke to Shireen in a threatening tone. "I am waiting. It's sad you completely misunderstood me. I am not the man you think I am." She had nothing-neither wealth, nor position, nor even looks. Her pack didn't even have enough cattle to provide milk for its members. For an assailable girl like her, Alpha Quinn didn't doubt he would have to fight tooth and nail to protect his family's name.

"Okay then, I am ready to give you the challenge. Tomorrow morning as soon as you wake up, you will see the media surrounding your pack headquarters, because by then, I will have leaked your rape video. Of course, you will say it is fake to save face, but I will present enough medical proof to justify that what I'm stating is the truth." Shireen's unperturbed confidence shook him. He thought she was defenseless, but he had entirely misunderstood her.

"Do you even know what you're doing? No wolf in your pack will even look at you after this example. Marriage is out of the question. You will be an abandoned she-wolf, living in slavery. Your father's treatment will become a lost option. He will die even sooner from the humiliation you suffer every day. Your family will be reduced to rags. With your reckless adventure, you are not only destroying your life but your family's too." Quinn did everything he could to Shireen-threatening her, insulting her for her low financial status, luring her with money, and finally advising her to drop the case.

"All that will happen if I don't win the case against you after presenting the proof. And that's not going to happen." She was too confident. Shireen wouldn't drop the matter. She gave him one last warning and left his office in triumph.

It felt like a death blow to Quinn's ego. She was a nameless commoner, not even qualified to be a maid in his house. He was surprised by where she got the confidence to come to his office and ask him to marry her. He called Dr. Shepherd as soon as Shireen left. "What am I hearing from this stupid girl, doctor? How the hell could you give her the name of the benefactor of her surrogacy contract?"

There was a long silence on the other side. "Alpha Quinn, I didn't give her your name. And I have no idea how she reached you. I am your pack's doctor, and I am always sincere toward my pack and my duties. According to the rules in the surrogacy contract, your name and details have been handled with utmost privacy."

Quinn tilted his head in arrogance, though Dr. Shepherd couldn't see him. "Is that so? Well, then I wonder how she could come to me threatening me about the contract. I need to see this girl dead before tomorrow's sunrise. It's an order."

There was a thick tension in the other side, instead of the expected affirmative. "Sir, your order is pivotal, but there is an issue here. The girl is carrying your offspring, and I'm afraid to say, you have a low sperm count because of a recent incident you suffered in the pack war. I have prescribed medicines that would work on your issue, but it will take two to three years. Until then, you won't be able to father a child. Shireen is your fated mate. Thus, she has a high fertility ratio to balance your low sperm count, and that's how she became pregnant with your child."

Quinn froze, the phone slipping from his grasp. Shireen, his fated mate? The girl he had just threatened to have killed was carrying his heir. His whole world tilted on its axis. Alpha Quinn felt the cold grip of anger. He was a monster; a wolf which howled in anguish for the mate he had just marked for death.

The air in the pack doctor's office felt thick, smelling of sterile herbs and ancient secrets. Alpha Quinn stood paralyzed. The medical report that the doctor read fell like a resound in his ears.

"I dare you to say that again," Quinn growled, his voice a low vibration that made the glass vials on the shelves rattle.

The doctor didn't flinch, though his scent soured with nerves. "The genetic markers are identical, Alpha. Shireen, the woman you brought in as a paid surrogate-is your fated mate. Her high fertility ratio normalizes your low sperm count."

Quinn's mind raced. "If she is my fated mate, how could she be my surrogate? We chose her from a list! She was an asset, a vessel for the bloodline and Alpha family dynamics state no surrogate can be a fated mate. It's the curse we have been carrying since ages. Don't you know that?"

"I do." The doctor struggled to maintain an even voice though she was shivering with fear from inside. "But that's a deeper situation you need to find out from your dad. As far as my duty goes, I had to inform you that she is your fated mate who can give you an heir with zero complications."

"Is she the only wolf who has a high fertility ratio? I can always choose someone else as my surrogate." Alpha Quinn was insistent.

"Alpha, you know we collected as many as one million samples in the last six months. Out of all Shireen is the only girl whose sample matches with yours hundred percent. Other samples have a lot of complications. The fetus will not be healthy. That's how I know she is your fated mate. Your forefathers didn't encounter this situation because their mates were infertile. They couldn't beget powerful lineages or their mates died before the child was born."

Quinn knew he had no reason to argue with the doctor but the anger in him wouldn't subside. Out of the whole draining conversation that he had with the doctor Quinn liked only one sentence from her. His father is the only person who will be able to answer all his questions.

The Confrontation

Quinn stormed into his father's study, slamming the doors open. The retired Alpha sat by the hearth, looking every bit the weary king of a cursed line.

"You lied to me," Quinn spat. "This 'genetic condition' that forces us to use surrogates... it's not biology. It's blood debt, isn't it?"

His father sighed, the flames casting long shadows across his face. "It was Dina," the old man whispered. "The lost wolf our ancestor took by force. With her final breath, she bound our loins. No ForestGrow Alpha would ever sire a powerful heir with his true Luna. To love our mates was to ensure our pack's extinction."

"What?" Quinn narrowed his eyes in abhorrence. So you forced us to become cold?" Quinn's voice rose in fury. "You turned our bloodline into a business transaction to bypass a curse?"

"It was the only way to reign, Quinn! A surrogate is a contract, not a bond. The curse doesn't recognize a paid womb. The Moon Goddess has played a hand we didn't see coming."

"What do you mean?" Quinn tilted his head, unable to understand anything of what his dad spoke.

The old man sighed. It was the time for his son to know the truth. "For centuries our family depended upon surrogates to continue our legacy as Alphas of Forest Grow pack. But when your turn came I was all the more frightened."

Quinn huffed, releasing the first button of his plain white shirt. This conversation took longer than expected. "Come straight dad. I don't have the time for your twisted truths."

Kappa noted the restlessness in his son's face. And he hastily continued. "I knew I needed the support of a powerful force before you ended up with the curse of another she-wolf. You had been a fearless, cold, powerful, and arrogant Alpha who is known for his strength and ruthless leadership. Many women despised you but they were mute because of the power you withheld. Dina's curse became the verdict of heaven not because of her strength but by the consent of the Moon Goddess. So I had to pray for the Goddess to have mercy. And she decided to cast her boon on us. But there is a loop."

Kappa looked at his son sadly. Quinn could recognise that scent. It was called the scent of retribution. Quinn felt the world tilting. He could read the lines on the face of Kappa through his werewolf powers. The Moon Goddess hadn't been kind; she had been revolutionary. By making the surrogate and the fated mate the same woman, she had created a loophole. The child Shireen carried would be born of both duty and destiny-the key to breaking Dina's curse forever. But the weight of his own cruelty would crash down on him. Alpha Quinn understood he would never be the sole owner of Shireen's love. HE WILL ONLY HAVE A SHARED MATE.

Quinn's eyes turned red with unshed tears. He had treated Shireen like a plaything, a pawn bought with ForestGrow gold.

Beta Danish found him hours later on the balcony, staring out at the dark treeline. The Alpha's usual predatory confidence had vanished, replaced by a hollow silence. "You look like a man mourning his own funeral," Danish said, stepping into the light. "The doctor told me the child is healthy. Why the gloom?"

Quinn turned, his eyes reflecting a rare, agonizing vulnerability. "I saw Shireen only as a playtoy, Danish. A tool to be used and discarded once the heir was born." He gripped the stone railing until it cracked. "Now I find she is my fated mate. The woman who was born for me to cherish is the same woman I just humiliated. How am I supposed to look her in the eye and ask for a soul I've already tried to buy?"

Danish remained silent. There was no easy answer for a king who had forgotten how to be a man. But at the same time something else ignited in him. THE EVIL HOPE TO RULE THE KINGDOM OF FOREST GROW.

Danish understood Shireen held the mystical powers which could turn the fate of Forestgrow packs in a better way. The pack which survived for centuries on the legacy built by surrogates now gets a chance to beget a powerful heir from the Alpha's own legally wedded mate. But Beta Danish would never let it happen. His ancestors had served the Alpha's family for centuries out of only one motto - destroy the Forest grow heir and take the rule in their hands. How will he be able to achieve that? The answer is to KILL SHIREEN.