I Was Betrayed While Carrying My Alpha's Heir

My eyelids fluttered open. The scent of pine and burning firewood filled the air, replacing the damp rot of the forest floor. I pushed myself up against a wall of rough-hewn logs. The mattress beneath me was soft, covered in thick furs.

A shadow moved near the hearth.

I scrambled backward, pulling a heavy wool blanket up to my chin. My spine hit the wooden headboard with a thud.

"Who's there?" I demanded, my voice cracking.

The figure stepped into the amber light of the fire. Broad shoulders, a sharp jawline, and piercing gray eyes.

Lucien Hawthorne.

The former Alpha of the Blackwood Pack. He had vanished a year ago, handing the title to his younger brother, Adrian, without a single explanation. Rumors said he had gone mad. Others said he left to avoid a war.

"Are you here to finish it?" I asked. I pressed a hand over my stomach, shielding my unborn child. "Did he send you to kill me?"

Lucien stopped a few feet from the bed. He held a steaming wooden bowl in his large hands. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have left you in the snow."

He extended the bowl toward me. "Drink. It's yarrow and sweetgrass. It will stop the internal bleeding and heal the frostbite."

I stared at the dark, swirling liquid.

"I have no interest in punishing you," Lucien added. His tone was flat, completely devoid of the malice I expected. "Drink."

My hands trembled as I took the bowl. The heat seeped into my icy fingers. I tipped it back and swallowed the bitter broth. Warmth bloomed in my chest, chasing away the bone-deep chill of the exile lands. My muscles untensed.

Lucien pulled up a wooden stool and sat. He rested his forearms on his knees, his gray eyes studying my face.

"Why are you in the Deadlands?" he asked.

I lowered the empty bowl to my lap. "I was exiled."

"Exiled." He tasted the word, his brow furrowing. "You are Adrian's mate. He should be tearing the forest apart to find you, not throwing you to the rogues."

A bitter laugh scraped my throat. "He threw me out himself."

Lucien’s posture stiffened. "Explain."

"The Luna ceremony," I started, staring at the empty bowl. "I thought it was for me. I walked up the dais. I had a secret to tell him." I touched my abdomen again, my fingers tracing the curve. "I'm pregnant."

Lucien’s eyes dropped to my stomach, then snapped back to my face. "He banished his pregnant mate?"

"He didn't know about the pup," I said. "He didn't give me a chance to tell him. He called Vivian up instead. He held her hand."

"Vivian."

"My best friend," I clarified, the betrayal tasting like ash on my tongue. "He announced her as the new Luna. Then he looked at me and called me a wolfless waste."

I gripped the edge of the blanket, my knuckles turning white. "He severed the bond right there on the altar. The elders dragged me to the border and shoved me into the Deadlands."

Silence stretched between us, heavy and thick.

Lucien didn't offer pity. His jaw locked. The muscles in his neck strained against his collar. A low rumble vibrated in his chest. Pure, unadulterated anger.

"He broke the bond," Lucien stated, his voice dangerously quiet.

"Yes."

"He has no idea what he just threw away." Lucien stood, pacing the small cabin. He ran a hand through his dark hair. "My brother is a fool."

"He threw away a wolfless runt," I muttered. "I have no wolf. I have no strength. He was right about that."

Lucien stopped pacing. He turned and pinned me with his stare. "Do you honestly believe that?"

"It's the truth."

"It is a lie fed to you by blind elders," Lucien countered. He stepped closer, towering over the bed. "Tell me, when did the Blackwood Pack become the strongest in the region?"

"Two years ago," I answered.

"And when did you mate Adrian?"

"Two years ago."

"Do you think that is a coincidence?"

I blinked, confused. "Adrian is a strong Alpha. He trained the warriors. He secured the borders."

"Adrian is mediocre at best," Lucien interrupted. "I trained him. I know his limits. The power that fuels this pack doesn't come from him. It comes from you."

I shook my head. "That's impossible. I can't even shift."

"You possess an ancient energy," Lucien explained. "Older than our wolves. The elders couldn't sense it because they only look for fur and fangs. But I felt it. The moment you bonded with Adrian, your power flowed into him. It bled into the soil of our territory. You are the battery keeping the Blackwoods alive."

I looked down at my pale hands. They looked so ordinary. So weak.

"I'm a monster," I whispered.

"You are a savior," he corrected.

"If I'm so powerful, why couldn't I stop him from rejecting me?" I challenged, my voice rising. "Why did I freeze on that stage?"

"Because you gave it all to him," Lucien said. "The bond acted as a siphon. You emptied yourself to make him a king. And now that he severed the tie..."

"The power stops," I realized.

Lucien nodded. "The Blackwood Pack will wither. The protection is gone. Adrian doomed them all."

I dragged my gaze from my hands to his face. "Why are you telling me this? Are you trying to use me too? Do you want my power?"

"I left the pack because I refused to rule over a den of blind fools," Lucien said. He took a step closer, closing the distance between us. He knelt by the bed, bringing himself down to my eye level. "You don't need a wolf to have value. The one who should be exiled is the boy who destroyed his own kingdom."

He held out his large, calloused hand.

"I am asking you to stay with me," Lucien said.

I stared at his open palm. "Stay?"

"Be my Luna," Lucien said. The words hung in the warm air, echoing off the wooden walls.

"I'm pregnant with your brother's child," I reminded him, my voice shaking. "I carry his blood."

"I don't care about his bloodline," Lucien replied firmly. "I will claim this pup as my own. I will protect you. I will protect the child. No one from the Blackwoods will ever touch you again."

Tears pricked my eyes. I searched his face for any sign of deceit, any hidden trap. There was only quiet resolve.

He believed in me. He didn't see a broken, wolfless girl. He saw a queen.

"Why?" I asked, a single tear slipping down my cheek.

"Because you deserve someone who sees you," he answered.

I reached out. My fingers brushed his.

He closed his grip around my hand, his hold firm and warm.

"I accept," I whispered.

A sudden, sharp pain pierced my skull. I gasped, doubling over.

"What is it?" Lucien asked, catching my shoulders.

"I don't know," I cried out.

A blinding white light erupted from my chest, illuminating the entire cabin. The wooden beams groaned under an invisible pressure. Outside, the wind howled, unnatural and fierce.

The power Adrian had discarded was returning to me.

And it was hungry.