Exposing Pack's Schemes

I couldn't sleep. The house felt different now—hostile, as though the very walls had turned against me. My hand rested protectively over my swollen belly as I lay in bed, listening to the faint whispers coming from the kitchen below.

"She's completely oblivious," Megan's voice drifted up, barely audible to anyone without enhanced pregnancy hearing. "We can easily convince the Council she's unstable."

"Her pregnancy hormones will work in our favor," Luna Hadlee replied, her tone calculating. "I've seen it before—wolves who lose their grip during gestation."

I strained to hear more, my wolf stirring anxiously within me.

"We'll petition the Council to revoke her pack access," Hadlee continued. "For her own protection, of course. The stress isn't good for the pup."

"And then we'll have clear access to whatever assets her family might have hidden," Megan added with a soft laugh.

My breath caught in my throat. They were planning to declare me mentally unfit—to separate me from my pack, from my pup's birthright. I clutched the bedsheets tighter, fighting the urge to storm downstairs and confront them.

"Vance is already on board," Hadlee murmured. "He understands what's best for the family."

A floorboard creaked, and I quickly closed my eyes, feigning sleep as footsteps approached. The bedroom door opened slightly, and I sensed rather than saw Hadlee checking on me.

"Asleep," she whispered to someone behind her. "Good. Let her rest while we prepare."

I waited until they retreated before opening my eyes, my heart pounding against my ribs. My wolf growled low in my chest, urging me to protect what was ours.

---

The next morning, I wandered into the living room, still groggy from a night of restless half-sleep. Megan sat at our dining table, flipping through a magazine with casual entitlement.

Something glinted at her throat, catching the morning light.

My mother's moonstone necklace.

I froze, my fingers instinctively reaching for my own neck where the pendant should have been safely stored in my jewelry box.

"That's my mother's," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

Megan's eyes widened in practiced innocence. "Oh, this? Vance gave it to me yesterday."

"That's impossible." I stepped closer, my hand trembling as I pointed at the distinctive silver chain with its crescent moon pendant. "It was in my private box. The one with the lock."

Hadlee emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "Is something wrong, dear?"

"That necklace belonged to my mother," I said, louder now. "It's the only thing I have left of her."

"Oh, Sierra." Hadlee's voice dripped with false sympathy. "You've been so forgetful lately. Pregnancy brain, you know."

"I didn't forget," I insisted, my voice shaking with anger. "Vance gave you my mother's necklace?"

"Vance mentioned you'd misplaced it," Megan interjected smoothly. "He found it while cleaning and gave it to me as a friendship token."

Hadlee placed a gentle hand on my arm. "You've been misplacing things for weeks now, dear. It's perfectly normal with pregnancy hormones."

I stared at them both, the gaslighting so blatant it made my head spin.

"My mother died wearing that necklace," I said quietly. "I put it away myself."

Megan's fingers caressed the moonstone, a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. "Well, I'll take good care of it for you."

---

Later that afternoon, I awoke to the smell of bacon and coffee. My stomach lurched—morning sickness had been particularly brutal today.

I dragged myself upright, expecting to find breakfast waiting as usual. Instead, I discovered Vance sitting on the edge of Megan's bed in the guest room, tray balanced on his knees as he fed her tiny bites of bacon.

"You're awake," he noted without looking at me.

"I'm starving," I said, one hand on my belly. "And nauseous."

Megan giggled softly. "Poor thing. Pregnancy is so hard."

Vance didn't offer to make me breakfast. Instead, he continued feeding Megan, his eyes softening as she licked her lips.

Something snapped inside me. My wolf surged forward, eyes flashing silver as I stepped between them.

"That's enough," I growled, my voice carrying the hint of an Alpha tone I usually suppressed.

Vance's expression hardened. "Stand down, Sierra."

"Not until—"

"STAND DOWN!" His Beta command hit me like a physical blow, forcing me to my knees.

Pain radiated through my body as our mate bond cracked under the pressure of his command. I gasped, one hand flying to my belly as the other braced against the floor.

"Vance," I whispered, tears springing to my eyes. "You're hurting me."

He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Know your place, Sierra. Remember who you're dealing with."

As he turned back to Megan, offering her another bite of bacon with a tender smile, I felt something fundamental shift between us—a fracture in our bond that I wasn't sure could ever be repaired.