85

ALINA

I don’t know why I thought Alexander would come back, tell me he’d spoken to his brother, admit I was right, and if I was really lucky, he would apologize. Maybe the last part was wishful thinking, but at the very least, I’d expected the first two.

What I hadn’t expected was for him to vanish completely. It had been a week since he walked out of the room, and I hadn’t seen him once. No knock at the door. No orders sent through Lisa. It was just total silence.

I told myself I should be relieved. His absence meant I had space to think, space to plan, space to figure out how to get somewhere safe before my baby was born. Somewhere I wouldn’t have to live with the constant threat of her being killed every few days.

But relief never came. Instead, most days were spent perched on the window seat, staring through the glass at the empty stretch of land beyond, or watching the door like some lovesick fool. At first, I thought I wanted him to return so we could finish our argument. Eventually, I realized it didn’t matter if he believed me or not. I just wanted him to come back.

That hollow ache in my chest made no sense. We didn’t have a real relationship. We’d never built anything worth missing. All we had was a few nights where he'd given into his lust and it put me in this situation now.

My hands stroked my stomach slolwy.

It's just, the way he held me after. How patient he was. I stupidly mistook it for what it was. What it would never be.

This shouldn’t have felt like abandonment, yet somehow, it did.

I kept replaying the things he’d said when that Cassandra woman was here. How he’d claimed I’d stay longer than all the others. I’d taken that as a sign that maybe I was different to him. Now I saw the truth. I wasn’t different at all.

I was just like the rest, except I wasn’t even worth the trouble of him telling me he was done with me.

The reality stung, sharp and cold. I was nothing more than an omega who’d been paired with him by mistake. He wasn’t the kind of man who wanted someone like me. Cassandra, bitter or not, had been right. I should have listened.

Lisa was still recovering from her own trauma, she was more herself than before, but still not whole. Two days ago, we’d overheard that a body had been taken out of the dungeon. The whispers said it was Jane. I’d tried to summon some kind of reaction. Anger, sadness, anything, but all I could think was that Alexander was still here in the house. Just not here for me.

It was like those first days all over again. I was confined to the room, meals delivered at the usual times, my only conversation coming from Lisa. It felt less like being a guest and more like being a pet, fed, watched, but not truly free.

The one small comfort was knowing the doctor had kept her word. She hadn’t told Alexander about the baby. If he knew, he wouldn’t be able to ignore me. He’d have stormed in here trying to find a solution.

“Do you have anything you want to do today?” Lisa asked as she came into the room, leaning against the doorframe. She was late as it was nearly lunchtime.

I didn’t answer. I just turned back to the window.

She sighed and crossed the room to sit beside me. Our shared silence was heavy, a fog neither of us knew how to lift.

“I guess it’ll be like every day in the past week, then.”

Her voice was light, but I could tell she was forcing it.

I wasn’t in the mood for her sudden chattiness. Earlier, some maids and warriors had come in to take Alexander’s clothes from the closet. I’d wanted to snatch the garments out of their hands, force him to come and get them himself, but I’d stayed seated, watching as they cleared most of his things. Only a few sweatpants and t-shirts were left, things I’d been wearing the past few days.

My own clothes were still in the room I’d been given before. Not that I could bring myself to call it mine anymore. This place didn’t feel like a home; it felt like a prison, and I wasn’t even a proper inmate anymore, just something kept here out of habit.

“I heard something about the alpha,” she said suddenly, biting her lip like she wasn’t sure she should have spoken.

My head turned sharply. “What?”

“They said he’s gone on a trip.”

I stared at her. That was supposed to mean something?

“To where?”

“He never says. And apparently this one’s important.” She lowered her voice. “Usually it means he’s taking over another pack. But Claude’s here, so I don’t think that’s it. They always go together for that. At least, from what I’ve seen.”

It was more than we’d spoken to each other in days.

“You think that’s really what he’s doing?” My throat felt tight.

Unwanted memories of the night they’d come to my pack clawed their way forward. Blood on the ground, bodies strewn like broken dolls. The terror in the air alone was enough to force some people into submission.

A shiver tore through me. My skin prickled with goosebumps, and her brows drew together. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Fine.” I cleared my throat and looked away.

The idea of Alexander having another side, a softer side, slipped away like water through my fingers. What remained was the truth that he was exactly what they called him. A monster. And I’d been stupid enough to imagine otherwise.

If I needed a reason to leave, he was giving me one. My baby would never be safe here. Not with him. Not while he ruled this place.

“At least you know he’s not ignoring you,” Lisa said, her voice almost teasing.

The comment made me sit up, my head snapping toward her. She flinched slightly.

“You think we could go out?” I asked quickly. “Now that he’s not here to give orders?”

She shook her head. “He’ll have people watching you. His brother, for one.”

“If his brother hasn’t come to check on me in a week, I doubt he’ll notice.” I stood and went into the closet only to stop short. I’d forgotten I had nothing in there but his clothes. I came back out. “We need to go to the other room. I need clothes. And underwear.”

“We can go,” she said, following me.

I moved fast, adrenaline buzzing in my veins.

In the other closet, I grabbed a bra first, then slid on panties. The fabric caught against my overly sensitive skin, and I winced. My breasts had been tender for days, and going without a bra had been bad enough, putting one back on was worse.

She lingered in the doorway. “Are you going to tell me what you have in mind?”

“I don’t know.” And I meant it.

I didn’t know where we’d go or what we’d do. I just knew I was done sitting in that room, staring at the same four walls, waiting for Alexander to decide when I was worth seeing again. At the very least, I could breathe fresh air. Maybe even take note of escape routes.

Since I couldn’t tell her the real reason, I went for something easier to believe. “We could walk around the house. I need to go outside before I suffocate in there.”

She looked at me for a long moment, then sighed in defeat. “If the alpha asks, this was your idea.”

I nodded. “Fine. I’m sure he won’t care.”