phin

mask on Kael's face cracked. His cyan eyes widened, and I could almost feel his inner wolf, Fenr

licate laugh sha

nt. "A phantom child to secure your crown? You truly have no shame, S

t stomach. I turned wildly to the only person left. "Isabelle, tell him!

ming in perfectly timed tears. "Alpha... I am so sorry. She told me weeks ago that if you continued to grow

trayal was so absolute, so flawlessly e

found it radiated from him like heat. His jaw clenched, and when he spoke

le 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

s frozen grip and threw it at my feet. The heav

hollow numbness. I picked up the pen Elias had dropped. My hand shook violently, but I pressed

gainst Kael's chest. He didn't even look at me. He turned his b

ler sneered, gestur

issed, yanking my arm

manicured fingers clamped onto my arm, her sharp nails biting deep into m

wood land," she whispered, her voice a venomous hiss meant only fo

e Warriors shoved me out

e into the dirt where the manicured lawns met the wild, dark woods. Th

ue hit my nose. Panic spiked in my chest. I scrambled backward, but he was too fast. H

g wildly against his iron grip

He stood over me, his eyes dead

t slammed int

y trying to cover my stomach, but his knee crashed into my side, then his foot

oodline," the Rogue spat, kicking dirt on

e night, leaving me

s began to pool between m

ead leaves and sharp rocks, crawling toward the distant hum of the asphal

oming. I raised a trembling, blood-soaked ha

crawling from the woods. The tires shrieked as the

ough my womb, and as the darkness finally pulled me under, I felt