Chapter 3

Raven

Two weeks after the banquet, I stood frozen in my bathroom, staring at the plastic white pregnancy test in my hands. Two pink strips showed.

Pregnant. My first time, and I’d gotten pregnant.

My hand trembled, and my lips curled back in a snarl. Hot tears prickled at my eyes, and, furious, I threw the test into the door behind me.

It clattered to the floor as I raked my fingers painfully into my hair. My breaths came too fast and my heartbeat raced.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I have let this happen?

This was bad. This was beyond bad. I’d prayed to the Goddess to give me a mate who could help me escape, and instead she’d given me a child I couldn’t care for.

Did she have no mercy for me?

I needed to get to my mother. She’d know what to do, and, if she didn’t, she’d hold me and tell me everything would be okay.

Even if it wasn’t true, it would bring me comfort.

Lost in my frustration and fear, I didn’t hear the door to the bathroom open.

“What is this?” my half-sister’s disgusted voice shocked me out of my stupor.

I turned to look at her, seeing the pregnancy test in her hand. She looked at it and then up to me over and over again, and her face went from confused to shocked to enraged within seconds.

I tried to snatch it from her hands, but she was faster, clutching it to her chest and taking a step backwards out of the bathroom.

“Lexi, wait–” I pleaded. Before I could finish begging, she began running.

“Father!” I heard her cry. I took off after her, panic flooding my body. I was weak from years of malnourishment, though, and I couldn’t keep up with her.

I turned a corner, still desperate to keep my secret, only to see her standing behind my father, who now held the pregnancy test in too-still hands. Lexi had wild eyes and a cruel half-smile as she saw me come around the corner.

“You dirty little whore,” my father growled, biting out every word. He slowly raised his head, eyes ablaze with fury as he saw me.

I backed up a step, terrified to argue against his cruel words. His face contorted into something monstrous, and he was in front of me within the blink of an eye.

He grabbed the front of my shirt and slammed me into the wall. I cried out as pain exploded across my back, slamming my eyes shut. His breath was hot on my face as he snarled at me.

“After all I’ve done for you,” he sneered, spit flying onto my skin. “After I find someone who would marry a disgusting little slit like you, this is how you repay me? You’ve ruined everything!”

I whimpered, trying to melt into the wall behind me.

“Who?” he asked.

I bit my lip, refusing to answer. My pup may have been a surprise, but my inner mother wolf screamed at me to protect it from any threats. I would not endanger it by telling my father its father’s name.

He let go of my shirt then, only to backhand me across the face. I shrieked at the white-hot pain as I fell to the floor, clutching my jaw. It pulsed under my palm, and something warm trickled from my lip.

I tried to push myself up with my other hand, but my father grabbed a fistful of my hair before I could crawl away. I yelped again as he began to drag me across the floor, the wood scraping against my skin and leaving it raw.

He dragged me all the way to the dungeons, throwing me into the first empty cell. He slammed the door shut and struggled to lock it, his hands shook so much in his rage.

“You will get an abortion,” he hissed, “and you will stay here until your wedding day. You obviously can’t be trusted anywhere else. I suggest you take this time to think about what you’ve done.”

The next two days were agony. My father sent down a slice of bread once a day, and hunger panged inside of me so brutally I could barely string together thoughts. It was difficult to drag myself to the front of the cell when there was food.

I’d tried shifting, hoping I could escape between the bars in wolf form, but Lunar was so weak from hunger that she couldn’t summon the magic to make us turn.

Even if she had, it would’ve been impossible to escape. Guards were posted at the cell all hours of the day, none of them even daring to look at me. If we’d shifted, catching us wouldn’t have even been a challenge.

I hugged my arms around my stomach, huddled in the corner of the cell. Even though it was still new, I couldn’t bear the thought of parting with my baby. It was innocent in this mess.

Everything about my life – my food, my clothes, my body – were all under my father’s control. Nothing I owed was truly mine, even my own skin. But this baby…it was the one thing that was truly mine.

And he was going to take it away from me.

“Lady Cristina,” one of the guards said then, taking me out of my thoughts. I looked up, hopeful.

My mother walked into the dungeons, eyes dark and hard as obsidian. It had been years since I’d seen her like this.

“In the name of the Luna,” she ordered, voice echoing through the dungeon, “I command you to leave us.”

The guards glanced at one another, briefly hesitating, before they bowed their heads and left the dungeon.

Despite how much my father mistreated her, she was still the Luna of the pack – her word was law to the rest of us.

As the guards left, she reached into her sleeve, pulling out an iron key. Quickly, she unlocked the door and pulled it open.

“Mom,” I said, voice wavering as I found the strength to stand and run into her arms, tears falling. I hadn’t cried since I’d been put down here, but, in the warm arms of my mother, I fell apart.

That’s when I noticed the angry red welts on her arm. My tears burned away from my face as I pulled back to inspect them.

“He did this, didn’t he?” I hissed. “This is all my fault. He took it out on you.”

“Believe me sweetheart, it has nothing to do with you,” she said, stroking a stray hair behind my ear.

“Listen to me Raven,” she continued, pulling me along to the front of the dungeon. “You need to run, now. This is the only chance you’ll get.”

She bent to grab a satchel and handed it to me.

“You need to go to the baby’s father,” she said, words coming out faster and faster. “It’s the only way to keep the two of you safe. Beg him if you have to, but make sure he takes you in.”

“I can’t leave you here,” I protested, but she shook her head.

“I cannot disobey your father,” she said, helping me pull the bag over my shoulders. “Not without the help of another Alpha.”

“But mother…” I started, but I held my tongue. I wanted to tell her who the father was, but seeing this fire fade from her when I told her I’d slept with our worst enemy…I couldn’t bear it.

“You must go now, Raven!” she said again, eyes frantically glancing towards the dungeon entrance.

I clenched my teeth, breathing in a heavy breath. She was right – without another Alpha, she would be trapped here forever. Without another Alpha, I would lose my baby.

I couldn’t allow that to happen. For the both of them, for any hope that the three of us could be free, I had to try.

I embraced her one more time.

“I love you, Mom,” I whispered. “I’ll find him, and then I’ll come back for you.”