Chapter 1

"Help! Let me out! The apartment's on fire—"

Coughing, I curled up in the corner of the bedroom, covering my mouth and nose as I called the pack guards over and over on the pack comms.

The kitchen was already in flames, licking up the cabinets. Thick smoke rolled in from the living room, stinging my eyes.

My pup kicked inside me. A sharp cramp twisted my gut. There was no way I could shift.

The call finally connected.

But the pack's head of security just sounded cold. "Amelia, save your breath."

"I'm five months pregnant! The fire's in the living room. I can't get out!" I screamed, the smoke making me gag.

"The Alpha's orders," he cut me off, his voice flat. "Any alarm from the penthouse tonight is you 'having a meltdown'. Don't waste the pack's resources."

Click. The line went dead.

A loud whoosh came from the living room as something flammable went up in a fireball.

Flames licked at the doorframe. The smell of burning was sharp in my nose.

I refused to give up. My fingers trembled as I dialed the emergency line for the pack's medical team.

"Please, send someone to the penthouse! I can barely breathe, and my stomach hurts so bad…" I slid to the floor, my vision blurred by tears.

The operator's voice was full of hesitation. "Luna, we… we can't."

"Why not?!"

"The Alpha has declared the penthouse his private territory. Anyone who enters without his permission faces a death sentence."

Despair tightened around my throat like a snake.

The system automatically rerouted my call.

A few seconds later, a voice I knew better than my own—a voice that now sounded terrifyingly strange—came on the line.

It was my Mate. Our pack's Alpha. Ronan.

In the background, I could faintly hear soft music and a woman's light laughter.

"Amelia, how long are you going to keep this up?" Ronan’s voice was dripping with impatience.

"Ronan! Help me! It's a real fire!" I shrieked into the comm, crying hysterically. "The door is locked, I can't get out!"

"Enough!" he roared, his Alpha command crashing over me. "I warned you. Don't make a scene tonight!"

"For our pup's sake, Ronan, just look at the security cameras—"

"Stop using the pup to get attention. Jessica's birthday is important. Don't embarrass me."

His words were a frozen blade twisting in my heart.

The line cut out completely.

A moment later, my private terminal lit up with a message from him.

"Stay put. Pull the alarm again, and I won't go easy on you just because you're my Mate."

I stared at the screen, unable to breathe.

It wasn't that no one believed me.

It was my Alpha. The father of my child. He personally ordered everyone to ignore me. To let me die.

He locked his pregnant wife in a burning building to celebrate his old flame's birthday.

The bedroom was getting hotter.

The wooden floor was starting to burn my feet. The smoke had completely blotted out the ceiling.

I dragged my heavy body toward the balcony.

Then, a click.

The handle of the locked oak door began to turn. Slowly. From the outside.

My blood ran cold.

The scent of a strange, dangerous wolf… Someone was out there. And they weren't here to save me.

The shadow under the door stretched long and thin.

This wasn't an accident. It was a planned murder.

The killer knew I was pregnant and couldn't shift. They knew Ronan had ordered the floor sealed off.

They didn't just want me to burn. They wanted to watch me burn.

BANG! Something slammed against the door.

The frame splintered with a groan.

"It's okay, little one. Don't be scared," I whispered, my hands clamped tight over my swollen belly as I stumbled backward.

I couldn't just wait here to die.

The second that door came down, my pup and I were dead.

I grabbed a heavy sculpture from the vanity and hurled it with all my might at the glass balcony door.

The shatterproof glass exploded.

Wind and fresh air rushed in, and the fire roared to life, greedily swallowing the bed.

At the same instant, the bedroom door crashed open.

A dark figure lunged in, reeking of an unfamiliar wolf. He held a silver blade, and he was coming right for me.

I had no way out.

I looked down from the 30th floor, the wind screaming in my ears.

For my pup, I had to take the chance.

I stepped over the shattered glass. To the sound of screams from the street below, I closed my eyes and leaped from the balcony, aiming for the roof of the smaller building next door.

The feeling of weightlessness seized me.

I was falling.

"Ronan…"

I whispered his name into the wind, a final, hopeless plea.

If I die tonight, he's the one who murdered our pup.

A second later, my body slammed into the hard rooftop.

The impact nearly shattered my insides.

I curled into a ball, my back taking the brunt of the force, my hands still wrapped protectively around my stomach.

But it was too late.

As I fell, a pain that felt like it was ripping my soul apart tore through my belly, and my world went black.