Charlotte POV:

They didn't throw me out. That would have been too kind. Instead, they dragged me to the Pack House.

I was sitting in Gabe's office on the top floor. Cold glass, cold steel, overlooking a city the Sullivans owned.

My dress was torn. My arm was bleeding. But I sat straight, hands over my stomach.

The door opened. Gabe walked in. He had calmed down, but his aura was suffocating. He poured a glass of whiskey.

"You embarrassed me," he said, taking a sip. "The investors were watching. The Council was watching."

"I told the truth," I said, voice hoarse. "I am pregnant, Gabe. With your son or daughter."

He finally looked at me. Cold. Calculating. "And that is the problem."

He sat on the edge of his desk. "Let's look at this logically, Charlotte. The Sullivan Pack is mid-tier. We're bleeding cash. The Nicholsons have the capital we need for the IPO. Harper is the key to our survival."

"So you sell yourself?" I asked.

"I do what an Alpha must!" he snapped. "And you? You're twenty-one and haven't shifted. You are a genetic dead end. If I made you Luna, the other packs would laugh. We would be weak."

"I am your mate," I whispered.

"The Goddess gave the bond to the wrong person," he said dismissively. "I am choosing to reject it."

My heart cracked.

"However," Gabe continued, tone shifting. "We have a solution. Harper... there are complications with her pregnancy. The doctor is worried."

I stared at him. "What are you saying?"

"You will stay here," Gabe said. "You will hide in the Omega quarters. You will carry the child to term. And when it is born, you will give it to Harper."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "No."

"We will say it is adopted. Or perhaps we will say it is Harper's, if the timing works out," Gabe mused. "Harper needs a backup heir. And since the child has my blood, it might have some use. It might actually have a wolf."

"You are insane," I stood up, trembling. "I am not an incubator for your mistress! I'm leaving."

I turned to the door.

"SIT."

The word was a hammer blow to my nervous system. The Alpha Command.

My muscles betrayed me. My legs buckled, and I fell back into the chair. Tears of humiliation burned my eyes.

"You don't get to leave," Gabe said, walking closer. "You belong to this pack. You belong to me."

The door opened again. Harper walked in, looking radiant. Behind her were my foster parents, Robert and Mary Jennings.

"Mom? Dad?" I choked out.

They didn't look at me. They looked at Harper.

"Is everything settled, Alpha?" Robert asked, bowing his head.

"Charlotte is being difficult," Gabe said.

"Oh, Charlotte," Mary sighed, looking at me with disappointment. "Why must you always be so selfish? Alpha Gabe is offering you a way to contribute. You should be grateful."

"Grateful?" I gasped. "He wants to steal my baby!"

"It's for the good of the pack," Robert said sternly. "And frankly, Charlotte, we have debts. Significant ones. The Alpha has been generous enough to clear them in exchange for your... cooperation."

My stomach turned. They sold me.

Harper walked over. She leaned down, perfume overpowering. "Eleanor, Gabe's mother, agrees. She says your weak genes might taint the baby, but... we're willing to take the risk. But you can't stay in the guest room."

"Why?" I asked, paralyzed by the Command.

"Because your scent of despair upsets me," Harper smiled. "And stress is bad for my baby."

She snapped her fingers at my parents. "Take her things to the Omega quarters. The basement room next to the boiler. That's where the help sleeps."

"Gabe," I pleaded, looking at the man I had loved since childhood. "Please."

He turned away to look out the window. "Take her away."

My parents grabbed my arms. They didn't drag me, but their grip was firm. They escorted me down into the darkness, leaving me with nothing but the growing life inside me and a burning hatred that was just beginning to spark.

Charlotte POV:

The Omega quarters smelled of mold and unwashed bodies. My room was a closet.

It had been two weeks.

Two weeks of hell.

I was the 'Pack Slut' now. That was the narrative Harper spun. She told everyone I seduced Gabe in a moment of weakness, and the benevolent Alpha allowed me to stay out of pity.

I worked in the kitchens, scrubbing pots until my hands were raw. They fed me scraps. Every bite was a battle I fought for the baby.

Gabe blocked our Mind-Link. I couldn't feel him. It was like a phantom limb-a constant, aching emptiness.

One afternoon, I managed to sneak to my old studio. Before all this, I was the pack's architect. I had designed the new community center. I wanted my portfolio.

I opened the door and froze.

It was pink. Everything was pink.

My drafting table was gone. My blueprints were ripped to shreds, scattered like confetti.

Harper stood in the middle of the room.

"Oops," she said. She held up a piece of paper-my design for a greenhouse. She crumpled it and dropped it. "We needed a nursery. And this room has the best light."

"My work," I whispered. I fell to my knees to pick up the torn pieces. "Why? You could have moved them."

"I don't like your style," Harper sneered. "It's too... common. Like you."

She kicked a pile of torn paper at my face. "Clean this up, Omega."

Something snapped.

The heat that had been building since the gala flared up.

I stood up. "No."

Harper blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I said no." I looked her in the eye. "You took my mate. You took my home. You are not taking my dignity."

Harper laughed. "You have no dignity. You are a wolfless freak." She raised her hand to slap me.

I reacted.

I shoved her.

It should have been weak. I was malnourished. But Harper flew. She slammed into the freshly painted wall.

She slid down, leaving a smear in the wet paint.

"My baby!" she screamed, clutching her stomach.

The door burst open. Gabe was there instantly.

He saw Harper on the floor. He saw me standing there, hands trembling.

"You monster!" Gabe roared.

He crossed the room in a blur. His hand wrapped around my throat, lifting me off the ground.

I clawed at his wrist. I couldn't breathe. His eyes were red.

"Gabe... stop..." I rasped.

"I gave you a chance," he snarled. "I let you live. And you attack my Luna?"

He threw me. I hit the floor, gasping.

Harper sobbed fake tears. "She tried to kill the heir, Gabe! She's jealous! She's dangerous!"

That evening, the door to my basement room slammed open.

It was Eleanor, Gabe's mother. She held a clipboard. Behind her stood a doctor I didn't recognize. He smelled of antiseptic and silver.

"Get up," Eleanor spat.

I sat up on the cot. "What is this?"

"Gabe is too soft," Eleanor said. "He thinks you can be controlled. But today proved otherwise. You are violent."

I looked at the paper. Medical Consent: Termination of Pregnancy.

My blood ran cold. "No."

"We can't trust the bloodline," Eleanor said coldly. "We ran a test. The results just came in. It's not Gabe's. It has Rogue markers."

"That's a lie!" I screamed. "I've never been with anyone else!"

"It doesn't matter what you say," Eleanor smirked. "I showed the results to Gabe. He was... disappointed. He agreed that a Rogue bastard cannot be born in the Pack House."

"You forged it!" I backed into the corner. "You poisoned him against me!"

"We are removing the problem," Eleanor said to the doctor. "Prepare the clinic. I want this done before the Council arrives."

"Wait!" I cried. "Gabe wouldn't allow this!"

Eleanor stopped at the door. She looked at me with pure contempt.

"Gabe signed the order, dear. He doesn't want a whore's mistake."

She slammed the door. The lock clicked.

Charlotte POV:

Darkness. Silence.

I curled into a ball on the hard mattress. I'm sorry, I whispered to the tiny spark of life. I'm so sorry.

Eleanor had won. She played on Gabe's insecurity, his fear of weakness, and convinced him our child was a monster.

I closed my eyes, and a memory surfaced. Five years old. Lost in the woods. A man with eyes like molten gold. He gave me a letter. Open it only when you have lost all hope.

My coat. It was in the pile of "trash" my parents brought down here.

I scrambled off the bed, tearing through the garbage bags. There. The tattered gray coat.

I ripped open the lining. A yellowed envelope fell out.

Inside was a single card with a phone number and a symbol embossed in gold.

A wolf's head wearing a crown.

The Dean family crest. The Royals.

Below the number: For the Lost One.

I needed a phone. They had taken mine.

Wait.

Gabe. He came down earlier to shout at me through the door. He dropped his spare keycard-he didn't notice because he was so angry. But a phone?

No. I had to be smarter.

The next morning, the door opened. It was Gabe, holding a tray. His face was pale. He looked like a man trying to convince himself he was doing the right thing.

"Eat," he said flatly. "The doctor says you need strength for the... procedure."

He put the tray down. He looked at me, hesitation flickering.

"Gabe," I said softly. I didn't scream. I used the only weapon left. "Can I... can I just call my friend? Sarah? In the human city? Just to say goodbye. In case... something goes wrong."

"Nothing will go wrong," he said stiffly.

"Please," I looked down, feigning submission. "Just one call. Then I'll be good."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He pulled his phone out. "Two minutes. Speakerphone."

He unlocked it and handed it to me.

I dialed the number from the card. My fingers trembled.

Ring... Ring...

"Who is Sarah?" Gabe asked suspiciously.

The line clicked.

"Speak," a voice said.

It wasn't a greeting. It was a command. The voice was deep, ancient. It vibrated with power.

Gabe froze. He felt it too. The aura coming through the speaker.

"I..." My voice failed. "I have a letter. With the Royal Crest. I think... I think I am your daughter."

Silence.

Then, movement on the other end. "Name."

"Charlotte," I whispered. "I'm in the Sullivan Pack. They are going to kill my baby. Please..."

"Charlotte." The man said my name like a prayer.

Heat exploded in my chest. Not the mate bond. Blood. Lineage. A golden cord connecting my soul to the voice.

The man roared. Pure, unadulterated fury.

"DO NOT TOUCH HER!"

The speaker crackled. Gabe stumbled back, clutching his chest. That was the voice of a King.

"Who is this?" Gabe stammered.

"I am Antony Dean," the voice growled. "I am currently in the city for the Council summit. I am ten minutes away."

Ten minutes.

"If a single hair on her head is harmed, I will burn your pack to ash."

I looked at Gabe. "He's coming."

Gabe snatched the phone and smashed it against the wall. Panic wild in his eyes.

"You're lying," Gabe said, voice shaking. "You're a nobody!"

He grabbed my arm. "The procedure happens now. Before anyone gets here. We get rid of the evidence."

"No!" I fought.

"Guards!" he yelled.

He was going to kill me before my father could save me.