The servant's quarters reeked.
It was a suffocating mix of damp earth, mildew, and the scent of forgotten things. I sat on the narrow, creaky cot, hugging my knees to my chest. My expensive white dress—the one I had bought with such fragile hope—was now stained with the filth of the basement floor.
My hip throbbed where I had hit the marble earlier, but that dull ache was nothing compared to the hollow cavern in my chest.
I looked at the pregnancy test again. The two lines remained. Steady. Unyielding.
"I can't give up," I whispered into the dark. "Not for me. For you, baby."
Kael had discarded me like trash, but I clung to a single, desperate thought: He doesn't know. He believed Serena was his savior—the girl who had dragged him from the frozen lake ten years ago.
But that was a lie.
Because I was the one who had saved him.
I remembered that night with terrifying clarity. The biting frost that crystallized on my lashes. The metallic scent of his blood. The crushing weight of his unconscious body as I dragged him through the snow for miles.
I remembered giving him my only coat, shivering until my lips turned blue. I remembered the jade pendant I had lost in the drifts—the only thing I had left of my mother.
"He has to know," I said, forcing myself to stand. My legs were shaky, but my resolve was iron. "Once I tell him the details, he'll realize she's a fraud."
The Alpha's office sat at the peak of the house. As I approached, the door was slightly ajar, spilling warm, golden light into the hallway.
Then came the voices. Low. Intimate.
I hesitated, peering through the crack.
Kael was on the leather sofa, his posture more relaxed than I had seen in years. Serena was nestled against his side, wrapped in a thick cashmere blanket.
"Is the water temperature okay?" Kael asked.
He brushed a stray lock of silver hair from her forehead with a tenderness that made my heart shatter. "I can have the maids heat it further."
"It's perfect, Kael," Serena whispered, her voice like spun sugar. "You're so good to me. I was so scared I'd never feel this warmth again."
"I will never let you be cold again," Kael vowed. He kissed the top of her head. "I promise."
The sight was a serrated knife twisting in my gut. That was my mate. That was the father of my child.
I couldn't endure another second. I pushed the door open.
"Kael."
The intimacy in the room died instantly. Kael looked up, and the warmth in his blue eyes evaporated, replaced by a mask of stone.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "I ordered you to the quarters."
Serena flinched, shrinking into Kael's embrace as if I were a monster. "Aria... you look so angry. Did I do something wrong?"
"Stop acting," I snapped. I stepped into the room, ignoring Kael's lethal glare. "Kael, we need to talk. Alone."
"Anything you have to say, you can say in front of Serena," Kael said icily. "She is my Luna. She has a right to know."
"Luna?" I let out a bitter, jagged laugh. "She's a thief, Kael! She's lying to you!"
Kael stood abruptly. His Alpha aura flared—heavy, suffocating, pinning me against the doorframe.
"Watch your mouth, Aria. Serena is a hero. She returned from the dead while you were busy playing Omega."
"She didn't save you!" I shouted, tears stinging my eyes. "She wasn't there ten years ago! I was!"
Silence fell over the room. Thick. Mocking.
Kael stared at me with utter disgust. "You?" He let out a harsh, dry laugh. "Aria, look at yourself. You are a weak, wolfless Omega. You can barely lift a crate without panting. And you expect me to believe you dragged a wounded Alpha through a blizzard for five miles?"
"I had adrenaline! I was stronger then!" I argued, desperation clawing at my throat. "I remember everything! You were bleeding from your left shoulder. You kept whispering about your father. I gave you my coat!"
"Common knowledge," Kael dismissed. "It was in the medical reports."
"But they don't know about the pendant!" I cried. This was my final card. "I lost a jade pendant that night! Shaped like a crescent moon! I dropped it when I pulled you from the water!"
For a heartbeat, Kael went still.
He remembers, I thought, hope surging like a tidal wave. He finally sees me.
"A pendant..." Kael muttered, reaching into his pocket. "A crescent moon made of jade?"
"Yes!" I nodded frantically. "Yes, that's it! I lost it—"
Kael pulled his hand out. Dangling from his fingers was the green jade pendant. My mother's legacy.
"Is this it?"
"Yes! That's mine!" I reached for it, relief washing over me. "See? I told you!"
But Kael didn't place it in my hand. He yanked it back, his expression darkening into pure, unadulterated fury.
"You are unbelievable," he hissed, his voice dripping with venom. "You are even more manipulative than I feared."
"What?" I froze.
Kael turned to Serena and gently placed the pendant in her palm. "Serena was clutching this when the patrol found us. She was unconscious, nearly dead from hypothermia, but she wouldn't let this go."
My blood turned to ice.
I looked at Serena. She was staring at the pendant, her lashes fluttering. Then she looked up at me, her eyes shimmering with fake, sugary pity.
"Oh, Aria..." Serena sighed. "I found this pendant years ago... maybe you dropped yours somewhere else? I held onto it for luck while I was dragging Kael. I didn't know you would use it to... to try and steal my life."
"You thief!" I screamed. "You found it in the snow after I left to find help!"
"ENOUGH!"
Kael's roar made the windows rattle in their frames. He stepped in front of Serena, shielding her from me as if I were a parasite.
"I have the evidence. I have the witness. And yet, you stand here and lie to my face?" Kael growled. "I knew you were jealous. But I didn't know you were this pathetic."
"Kael, please, look at me," I begged, reaching for his sleeve. "I'm your mate. Why would I lie?"
He recoiled as if I were a leper.
"You are a mistake," he hissed. "To think I let you share my bed. To think I almost felt a shred of pity for you."
I stood there, trembling. The truth had been twisted into a noose around my neck.
"I have a baby..." I whispered, the words barely audible. "Your baby..."
"What did you mutter?" Kael frowned.
I caught Serena's subtle smirk from behind his back. A cold shiver of terror washed over me. If I told him now, would he believe me? Or would he call this another 'manipulative lie'?
If he didn't believe me, Serena would make sure this child never saw the light of day.
"Nothing," I choked out. "Nothing at all."
Kael stared at me for an agonizing moment. Then, he delivered the final blow.
"I cannot have a liar in my pack. And I certainly will not be bound to one."
He walked to his desk, his voice as sharp as a guillotine.
"Pack your things, Aria. Be at the town square tomorrow at noon."
My heart stopped. "Why?"
"Because that is when the pack assembles," Kael said, his blue eyes as vacant as the Arctic sea. "Tomorrow at noon, in front of the Goddess and the Pack, I will officially reject you and break our bond forever."