Chapter 4

Days passed in the Looke mansion, but each one felt heavier than the last.

Erika had settled in like she owned the place. At first, she was polite, always smiling and calm but it didn’t take long for me to see the truth beneath it. She walked through the halls like a queen inspecting her land and the maids followed her instructions without question, the guards bowed their heads slightly when she passed.

One afternoon, I was walking back from the library when I stopped suddenly, Erika was standing near the staff corridor. She didn’t see me as I stayed still, hidden behind the wall, my heart beating fast as I listened.

“Watch everything,” she said softly to the maids gathered around her. “I want to know who goes where, who speaks to whom, and what they are doing.”

One of the maids hesitated. “Everyone, ma’am?”

Erika smiled. “Especially Lily.”

My breath caught.

“She is family,” another maid said carefully.

Erika’s smile faded just a little. “She is human and humans lie.”

I stepped back quietly before they could notice me, my hands were shaking.

So she was watching me.

That explained the looks, the questions, the way her eyes lingered on me like she was trying to peel something open.

I became more careful after that and avoided common areas. I stayed in my room longer and spoke less but some things are hard to hide, like the pain, fear, the longing.

One evening, I stood at the balcony, pretending to read, when I felt it again, that pull I couldn’t control. Vincent stood below in the courtyard, speaking to pack members. His voice was calm, commanding and he looked every bit the Alpha they worshipped.

I watched him without realizing how obvious it was as my hand rested lightly on my stomach.

That was when I felt it, someone else’s presence.

“Interesting,” Erika’s voice said behind me.

I froze.

I turned slowly and found her standing there, watching me closely. I didn’t know how long she had been there.

Long enough, I thought.

“You seem very focused,” she said lightly. “On Vincent.”

I forced a small smile. “I was just distracted.”

“Distracted,” she repeated, her eyes scanning my face. “You’ve been looking pale lately.”

“I’m fine,” I said quickly.

She took a step closer. “You should be careful, stress is dangerous for someone… weak.”

The word hit me hard.

It was always the same word, weak, human, unwanted.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said quietly.

She studied me for a moment longer, then smiled again. “Good. The ritual is coming soon and things will change after that.”

“Yes,” I whispered. “They will.”

That night, I lay awake staring at the ceiling.

The ritual bonding was close now and Vincent would choose her. The pack would celebrate and I would remain what I had always been in their eyes.

Nothing.

Just a human girl who didn’t belong and the truth I was hiding wouldn’t stay hidden much longer.

I couldn’t let that happen here, not in this house under her watchful eyes.

The idea came to me slowly yet painfully, to leave, to go far away and continue my studies, build something for myself and my unborn child. Somewhere I wasn’t weak.

I packed quietly before dawn, only the essentials. Before leaving, I wrote a short note and placed it on my mother’s desk.

“Mom, I need time away to focus on my studies. Please don’t worry. I will be okay, I love you.”

I didn’t tell anyone else, I couldn’t. I took one last look at the mansion, then turned away.

Vincent’s pov,

Erika’s arrival made everything harder.

Every move I made was watched and every decision questioned. She stayed close, too close, always smiling. It was impossible to speak to Lily without raising suspicion and suspicion would ruin everything.

Still, I told myself I would speak to her on the day of the ritual, before the bond.

That morning, I sent for her.

“Bring Lily to my study,” I ordered.

The servant nodded and left.

I waited as time passed and then the servant returned.

Alone.

What I didn’t know was that the reply he came with for the first time in my life would hit me in a way I hadn’t felt before.

“No,” I muttered. “No.”

I strode out of the office, my mind racing. I stopped the first maid I saw and asked again to be sure.

“Where is Lily?” I demanded.

Her eyes widened. “She… she left early this morning, sir.”

“Where?” I snapped.

“She didn’t say, she only left a note for her mother.”

My blood went cold, it was true. She hadn’t told anyone, not even me. The realization hit harder than any challenge I ever had.

She had run because she believed she wasn’t wanted, because I had made her believe that.

I turned back toward the window, staring out at the long road leading away from the mansion.

Erika’s voice echoed in my mind.

Humans are fragile but Lily wasn’t fragile, she hadn’t run because she was weak, Lily had walked away from an Alpha, from power and for the first time since taking my place as leader of this pack, I felt something dangerously close to panic.

The ritual was coming and the pack was watching. But the one person I needed most….was gone.