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.

Charlotte POV:

Chaos erupted.

Gabe dragged me out, shouting orders to his Beta. "Lock down the perimeter! Jam signals! Get the car!"

He was terrified. If the King found a pregnant, abused daughter here, the Sullivan Pack was history.

"Let me go!" I screamed, digging my heels into the carpet.

"Shut up!" Gabe hissed. He dragged me out the back exit.

A black SUV screeched to a halt.

"Get in," Gabe shoved me.

"Charlotte!"

My foster mother, Mary, ran toward us. For a second, I thought she was coming to save me.

"You forgot the sedative!" she yelled, tossing a syringe to Gabe.

My heart didn't break this time. It just hardened.

Gabe caught the syringe. He uncapped it with his teeth. Wolfsbane.

"Don't make me use this," Gabe warned. "Get in."

I scrambled into the backseat. Gabe jumped in beside me. The driver, a grim-faced enforcer named Vince, floored the gas.

We sped away.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"The clinic," Gabe said, scanning the sky. "We do the procedure. Then we hide you in the mountains."

"He will find me," I said. "I felt the bond, Gabe. He's close."

"He knows where you were," Gabe snapped.

We arrived at a secluded, run-down building in the woods. It wasn't a hospital. It was a chop shop.

As I was pulled out, I felt a pull in my gut. Like a compass needle swinging north.

Run.

Gabe was distracted, talking to the doctor.

I stomped on Gabe's foot. He grunted, grip loosening.

I wrenched free and bolted toward the woods.

"Get her!" Gabe roared.

I pushed through brambles, thorns tearing my skin.

Suddenly, a sharp pain pricked my neck.

I reached up. A dart.

My vision blurred. Vince had a good aim.

"Got her," Vince said.

I fell to the dirt.

Gabe stood over me, panting.

"Why do you make this so hard?" he asked.

He picked me up. I tried to push him away, but my arms were lead.

"Please..." I slurred. "My baby..."

"It's for the best," he whispered. "We can't have a Rogue baby, Charlotte. Mother was right."

He carried me into the clinic. The smell of bleach and silver hit me.

They laid me on a metal table. Leather straps buckled around my wrists.

"Hurry," Gabe said to the doctor. "Do it now."

The doctor picked up a scalpel. Silver. It burned my eyes just looking at it.

I couldn't move. I could only watch the blade move toward my stomach.

Father, my mind cried out. Daddy, please.

And then, the world exploded.

BOOM.

The wall didn't just break; it disintegrated.

Through the hole, a figure stepped in.

He was huge. He radiated power so intense the lights burst. His eyes were glowing crimson.

"I SAID..."

The King's voice knocked the doctor backward into the cabinets. Gabe fell to his knees, blood trickling from his nose.

Antony Dean looked at me strapped to the table. His expression shifted from the wrath of a god to the heartbreak of a father.

"...DO NOT TOUCH HER!"