Thorne's POV
"That's impossible," I say into the phone. "You're lying."
But even as the words leave my mouth, I'm doing the math. The timeline. The night in the parking garage when Caelan talked to Sable.
"I'm not lying." Caelan's voice is calm. "The night we met in your garage, I gave her protection. When souls touch during a protection ritual, sometimes nature finds a way."
"You're telling me you magically impregnated my wife?" My voice rises. "That's insane!"
"Is it? More insane than suppressing a true mate bond? More insane than buying omegas like livestock?" Caelan's voice hardens. "You broke every natural law, Thorne. Don't be surprised when nature breaks back."
I hang up. Throw my phone across the room. It shatters against the wall.
This is a trick. Has to be. Caelan is trying to manipulate me.
But what if he's telling the truth?
I pull up security footage from that night. There—Caelan and Sable, talking. He touches her face. She takes something from him.
The timestamp: exactly nine weeks ago. Right when Sable would have conceived.
No. I took her virginity on our wedding night. The baby is mine.
Unless...
I call security. "Pull up Sable's medical reports. Send them now."
Two minutes later, they arrive. I scan until I find it:
Estimated conception date: 9-10 weeks prior to first appointment.
Our wedding was eight weeks ago.
The baby isn't mine.
I'm on my feet, grabbing my coat, when my office door slams open.
Elder Mordecai stands there, flanked by two council members.
"Sit down, Alpha Corvinus." It's not a request.
"I have an emergency—"
"Your emergency can wait." Mordecai's ancient eyes bore into me. "We have concerns. Sit."
I sit. Every muscle screams to go home, confront Sable, demand truth. But you don't disobey the Council.
Mordecai settles across from me. "You seem unwell. Distracted. Your performance today was lacking."
"I'm fine. Just concerned about my omega's health—"
"The omega." Mordecai pulls out a file. "We've been monitoring your household. As is our right under Pack law."
Ice floods my veins. "Monitoring how?"
"Cameras. Audio feeds. Your security reports to us." He opens the file. "Did you know your omega contacted Caelan Greystone?"
"That's—I banned him from the property."
"And yet." Mordecai slides a photo across. "This was taken one hour ago."
It's Sable. In our bathroom. Holding a phone I've never seen. Caelan's contact on the screen.
Betrayal burns through me. "She called him."
"She's calling him right now, actually." Mordecai taps his phone. Sable's voice fills the room.
"Get me out. Please. Get me out of here."
Caelan's response: "I will. But first, you need to know something about that baby..."
Mordecai stops the recording. "Your omega is conspiring with your greatest rival. Planning to escape with your heir."
"She's scared—"
"She's a traitor. And you've been too distracted by the mate bond to see it." His eyes narrow. "Yes, Alpha. We know about the suppression spell. We know she's your true mate. We know it's failing."
The room tilts. "How—"
"We know everything." Mordecai leans forward. "You're going home. You're securing the omega. Tomorrow, you're selecting three new breeding candidates. This omega is unreliable. You need backups."
"I don't want backups—"
"What you want is irrelevant." Mordecai stands. "The Pack comes first. Always. Or do we need to remind you what happens to Alphas who put feelings above duty?"
The threat is clear. They killed my parents for being "too emotional."
"I'll handle the omega," I say through clenched teeth.
"See that you do. Three new omegas by next week." Mordecai pauses at the door. "Whatever you're feeling through that mate bond? Bury it. Or it'll bury you."
They leave.
I drive home too fast, mind spinning. Need to confront her. Demand truth.
I burst into the penthouse. "Sable!"
Silence.
Every room—empty.
She's gone.
I check security feeds. Rewind to ten minutes ago.
There. Service elevator. Sable slipping inside with the mysterious phone.
In the garage: Caelan holding his car door open.
I watch them drive away.
My mate. Gone.
My phone buzzes. Unknown number. Video file.
Sable. In Caelan's car. Crying. Talking to the camera—to me.
"Thorne, I know you're watching. So I'm only saying this once."
She wipes tears, and underneath fear, there's steel.
"I'm not your property. Not your experiment. Not breeding stock." She touches her stomach. "This baby deserves better than a cage."
Caelan's voice: "Sable, we should go—"
"Wait." She leans closer. "I loved you, Thorne. Even after everything, I loved you. Because you're my mate. Because I was too naive."
Her voice breaks.
"But I'm done being naive. Done hoping you'll change. So here's my message: don't come looking for me. Don't threaten my brother." Her eyes flash silver. "Because if you do, I'll tell the Council everything. About Vivienne. About the suppression spell. About how you violated Pack law."
She pulls out a flash drive.
"I have proof. Recordings. Documents. Everything to destroy you." She holds it up. "Leave me alone, and your secrets stay buried. Come after me, and I burn your empire down."
The video cuts off.
She has proof. Real proof that could end me.
My phone rings. Malachi.
"Saw the video. You really screwed up, didn't you?"
"Not now—"
"But I have good news! I know where Caelan is taking her. Safe house two hours north. Very isolated. Very vulnerable."
My stomach drops. "What did you do?"
"Me? Nothing yet. But I could make this problem disappear. One car accident, and your runaway omega is gone. The Council never knows she tried to escape."
"You're talking about murder—"
"I'm talking about solving your problem! She threatened you. She has information that could destroy the pack. That's treason."
He's right. By Pack law, Sable just signed her death warrant.
"I'll pay you five million to make it clean," Malachi continues. "Quick. Painless."
My hand shakes.
This is the smart choice. Eliminate the threat. Start over.
But all I see is Sable's face in the video. The tears. The heartbreak.
I loved you, Thorne.
Past tense.
"Make the call," I hear myself say. "But I want her alive. Bring her back. Unharmed."
"Alive? She's a liability—"
"I said alive! Capture her. Bring her home."
Malachi sighs. "That mate bond is going to get you killed."
He hangs up.
I sit in my empty penthouse, surrounded by Sable's absence.
And I just ordered my psychotic cousin to hunt down my mate and drag her back to a prison she's desperate to escape.
My phone buzzes. Another video.
It's my mother. Dead fifteen years. But alive in this video.
Pregnant. Crying.
"If you're watching this, Thorne, then I'm already gone. Your father will tell you I died of illness. He's lying. The Council is going to kill me because I refused to abort you."
She touches her belly—me.
"You're Sovereign-class, my son. Like me. We're the rarest type of wolf—powerful enough to have multiple true mates. The Council kills Sovereigns because we're too dangerous. So I hid what you are with magic before birth."
The video shakes.
"But the magic will fail eventually. During your first true mate bond. And when it does, you'll understand what you really are. Don't let them kill you like they're killing me. And whatever you do—don't reject your true mate. A Sovereign who rejects their mate goes insane. Violently insane. There's no coming back."
Black screen. Then text:
The suppression spell on Sable is breaking. When it does, you'll feel everything you put her through. Every moment of pain.
A normal wolf might survive that. But you're not normal.
You're Sovereign-class.
And Sovereign wolves who hurt their mates? They don't just feel the pain.
They go feral. Permanently.
You have 48 hours before the spell breaks completely.
Tick tock.
The phone slips from my hands.
I'm Sovereign-class. My mother was murdered for it. And I've been hurting my true mate while suppressing a bond that's about to snap back and drive me insane.
I just sent Malachi to capture the only person who might save me.