Aria's POV
My hand shakes as I push open the heavy wooden door to Dominic's office.
I practiced what I'd say a hundred times last night. But now, standing here, all those words turn to dust in my throat.
He doesn't even look up.
Papers cover his massive desk. Maps with red marks and circles. Reports stacked in towers. The scent of pine and something darker—anger, maybe—fills the room.
"Alpha Dominic," I whisper.
"I'm busy." His voice is flat. Cold. Like I'm just another servant interrupting his day.
My wolf whimpers inside me. She remembers him differently. Remembers his hands in our fur. His voice saying our name like a prayer.
That was six weeks ago.
Now he won't even meet my eyes.
"I need to tell you something." My voice cracks. "Something important."
He still doesn't look up. Just keeps writing something on one of those maps. His jaw is tight. His shoulders are stone.
"Five minutes," he says. "Then leave."
Five minutes. That's all I get to destroy both our worlds.
I force myself to walk closer. Each step feels like walking through water. My heart pounds so loud I'm sure he can hear it.
"I'm pregnant."
The pen in his hand stops moving.
Everything stops.
The clock on the wall. My breathing. Time itself.
Then, slowly, Dominic lifts his head.
His face is so pale it's almost gray. His golden eyes—the ones that looked at me with such heat that night—are now ice.
"What did you say?"
"I'm pregnant," I repeat. My hands move to my stomach without thinking. "With your baby."
He stands so fast his chair crashes backward. The sound makes me jump.
"You're certain?" His voice is sharp. Dangerous.
"Yes. I—"
"Certain it's mine?"
The words hit me like a slap.
I actually stumble back a step.
"What?" Tears burn my eyes. "How can you... we were each other's first—"
"Were we?" He walks around the desk. Each step is slow. Predatory. "Because I've heard stories, Aria. Stories about omega girls who trap powerful Alphas. Who claim pregnancy to climb ranks."
My mouth falls open. "You think I'm lying?"
"I think," he says, stopping right in front of me, "that you're an omega who spent one night with an Alpha and now sees an opportunity."
The tears spill over. I can't stop them.
"That night," I choke out. "You said I was beautiful. You said the bond—"
"There is no bond." His voice drops to Alpha command. The force of it makes my knees weak. "There is no baby. There was one night of weakness. That's all."
I'm shaking now. Full body tremors.
"I felt it," I whisper. "When we... I felt the mate bond start—"
"You felt what you wanted to feel." He turns away from me. Walks back to his desk. Picks up his pen like this conversation is already over. "I'm marrying Selene Blackwood in three months. Our packs need this alliance. Nothing will stop that."
The room spins.
Selene Blackwood. The Alpha daughter from the neighboring pack. Beautiful. Powerful. Perfect.
Everything I'm not.
"But the baby—"
"There is no baby." He still won't look at me. "And if you tell anyone there is, I'll deny it in front of the entire pack. I'll say you're delusional. Desperate. A liar trying to ruin my engagement."
Each word is a knife.
I can barely breathe.
"You don't mean that," I whisper. "You can't mean that."
Finally, he looks at me. And the emptiness in his eyes breaks something inside my chest.
"Get out, Aria. Before I have you removed."
I run.
I don't remember opening the door. Don't remember stumbling down the hallway. Don't remember the stairs or the shocked faces of pack members watching me cry.
I just run.
My wolf is howling in my head. Screaming. She doesn't understand. How can our mate reject us? How can he deny our pup?
I burst through the back door and collapse against the side of the building. My whole body shakes with sobs.
What am I going to do?
No mate. No Alpha to protect me. A baby growing inside me that the father won't even acknowledge.
Omegas who have pups without mates are shamed. Cast out. Sometimes killed.
"Well, well. That didn't go as planned, did it?"
I jerk my head up.
Beta Marcus stands a few feet away. He must have followed me from inside. His handsome face wears a smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes.
"Leave me alone," I manage through my tears.
He walks closer. Crouches down so we're eye level.
"I heard everything," he says softly. "The walls aren't as thick as Dominic thinks."
Horror floods through me. "You can't tell anyone—"
"Oh, I won't." His smile widens. "In fact, I want to help you."
I blink at him. "Help me?"
"Dominic is making a mistake." Marcus reaches out and wipes a tear from my cheek. The touch makes my skin crawl. "He's so focused on his precious alliance that he can't see what's right in front of him."
"I don't understand."
"You will." He stands, offering me his hand. "But first, you need to trust me. Can you do that, Aria?"
I stare at his hand. Something feels wrong. My wolf is growling a warning.
But I'm desperate. Broken. Alone.
I reach for his hand—
And that's when I see it.
Behind Marcus, in the second-floor window, Dominic stands watching us. His face is twisted with something I can't name. Rage? Jealousy?
Our eyes lock.
Then Marcus pulls me to my feet, and Dominic vanishes from the window.
"Come with me," Marcus murmurs. "I know exactly how to make Alpha Dominic regret everything."