My Alpha Bought Me to Bear His Heir

The cave smelled like damp earth and old stone. I'd been here for three days—or maybe four. Time blurred when your body was tearing itself apart from the inside out.

The fever came in waves. One moment I was shivering so hard my teeth chattered, the next I was burning up, sweat soaking through my clothes. My muscles ached like I'd been beaten. My head pounded. Every breath felt like dragging glass through my lungs.

This was withdrawal. The wolfsbane leaving my system. Three years of poison, and my body didn't know how to function without it.

I curled tighter around myself, pressing my back against the cold cave wall. The duffel bag sat beside me, mostly empty now. I'd rationed the food Elena had slipped into my bag, but it was gone. The water bottle was down to the last few sips.

I should move. Find a stream. Find shelter that wasn't a hole in the ground.

But I couldn't. My legs wouldn't hold me.

The baby. I pressed my hand against my stomach, feeling for something, anything. Was it still there? Was it okay?

Please be okay.

Then I heard it.

*You're stronger than this.*

I jerked upright, my heart slamming against my ribs. The voice was inside my head—clear, distinct, furious.

"Who—" My voice came out as a croak.

*Me, you idiot. Your wolf.*

I stopped breathing. My wolf. I had a wolf.

*Of course you have a wolf. You've always had a wolf. He just kept me buried.*

Christian. She meant Christian.

The realization hit like a physical blow. All those years of believing I was broken, defective, worthless—it was a lie. He'd done this to me. Poisoned me. Suppressed the one thing that made me whole.

*He's coming,* my wolf said, her voice weak but urgent. *I can smell him. Cedar and pine. He's close.*

No. No, no, no.

I tried to stand, but my legs gave out. I hit the cave floor hard, my vision swimming. I couldn't run. Couldn't fight. Couldn't do anything but wait.

Footsteps crunched on gravel outside the cave entrance.

"Naomi?"

That voice. I knew that voice.

Christian stepped into the cave, his silhouette backlit by the fading daylight. He looked the same—sandy hair, easy smile, the kind of face that made people trust him. But now I saw what I'd been too blind to see before. The coldness in his eyes. The calculation.

"There you are." He crouched down, tilting his head like he was examining a wounded animal. "You look terrible."

I tried to speak, but my throat was too dry.

"I have to admit, I'm impressed." He settled onto his heels, making himself comfortable. "I didn't think you had it in you to run. Guess there's some fight in you after all."

"Stay away from me," I managed.

He laughed. "Or what? You'll collapse at me? You can barely sit up."

He was right. I hated that he was right.

"I've been thinking," Christian continued, his tone conversational. "Estelle turned out to be a disappointment. Rogue Queen, can you believe it? All that power, all those promises, and she was just using me." He shook his head, like it was a minor inconvenience. "But you—you're carrying Montgomery's pup. That's valuable. Very valuable."

My hand moved instinctively to my stomach.

"I could drag you back to Wylder myself. Claim a reward. Or—" His smile widened. "I could use the baby as leverage. Make my father pay for selling me out. Either way, I win."

*Don't let him touch you,* my wolf snarled.

Christian reached for me, his fingers closing around my wrist. His touch burned, wrong in every way.

"Come on, Naomi. Let's go home."

"No." The word came out stronger than I expected.

His expression darkened. "That wasn't a request." His voice shifted, taking on that commanding edge—the Alpha tone. "Submit."

The command slammed into me, trying to force my body to obey. For a moment, I felt myself starting to fold, starting to give in like I always had.

Then my wolf roared.

*NO.*

Something inside me snapped. Not broke—snapped into place. Like a lock finally turning, a door finally opening.

Christian's grip tightened. "You know, it was almost too easy. The wolfsbane in your vitamins. You took them every single day, never questioned it. God, you were so gullible."

He was laughing. Laughing at how he'd poisoned me, controlled me, destroyed three years of my life.

Laughing at the threat to my baby.

*Enough,* my wolf said.

And then she was there—not just a voice, but a presence. Power flooded through me, hot and fierce and absolutely furious. My vision sharpened. My muscles stopped shaking. The fever burned away, replaced by something else entirely.

Christian's smile faltered. "Naomi?"

I looked at him, and for the first time in three years, I wasn't afraid.

"Get your hands off me."

My voice didn't sound like mine anymore. It was deeper, stronger, carrying a weight that made Christian's eyes widen.

He didn't let go. "You don't have a wolf. You're—"

"Wrong." I grabbed his wrist and twisted. Hard.

He yelped, stumbling back. "What the—"

The shift started before I could stop it. My bones cracked, reshaping. My skin burned as fur erupted across my body. The pain was excruciating and exhilarating all at once.

And then I was standing on four legs, staring at Christian through eyes that saw everything differently now.

My wolf was white. Pure white, like fresh snow.

Christian's face went pale. "That's impossible."

*Nothing about me was ever impossible,* I thought. *You just made me believe I was.*

I took a step forward, and Christian scrambled backward, his confidence shattering.

"Naomi, wait—we can talk about this—"

I growled, low and threatening.

He ran.