Five

IRA’S POV

Despite the obvious shock, the pack erupts into joyous sounds, congratulating the Alpha for his pup while I stand apart from them with an ache in my chest. No one acknowledges my presence or pain, maybe they do and deem it insignificant when the Alpha himself is humiliating me among the pack like this. The bond weakens, my stomach pains and I clutch it softly, fearing for the life growing inside before rushing to my room. As soon as I entered my room, I closed the door shut behind me and kneeled near the toilet seat, throwing up until I felt empty. 

After coming back to my room, pulling my knees closer to my chest, I rest my head against the bed while sitting on the floor. Closing my eyes shut, I tried to ignore the increasing pain in my chest and nauseating feeling as tears started streaming down my cheeks. My wolf howls in agony but I sit there, helpless, suppressing my cries. What have I done to deserve this? To deserve this kind of treatment from the man I devoted my whole life to? The people whom I never treated less than my family. How could life be so cruel to me? How could Goddess Moon be so oblivious to my pain?

I cried until my eyes dried of tears and I drifted to deep slumber on the floor itself. Sharp and aggressive sunlight struck my face, forcing me awake in the early morning. My lashes fluttered open and my head throbbed with blooming ache because of extreme crying last night. Holding my head between my hands, I groaned as if it would miraculously heal it. Just then, a knock appeared on the door. Groaning, I stood up and walked over to open the door. But as soon as the doors were pulled open, revealing the face of my personal doom, I wished I had let her knock until her knuckles bleed.

“What is it, Myra?” I asked, rubbing the side of my head to help myself with the headache.

Her eyes narrowed at my face, “Have you been crying, sister?” She asked, a hint of smugness evident in her tone. 

I realised that she must have seen my swollen red eyes and mess of hair. I internally cursed myself for giving her the satisfaction of seeing me in this disastrous state. 

“Have you been selling your dignity for mere moments of feeling powerful, Myra?” I retorted. If she thinks she can walk over me then she needs to think again. She might have stripped me of a family I spent three years building. But I would be damned if I let her step on my dignity. 

Her jaw clenches but she was quick to mask it with a shameless smile, “Now, Ira, is this a way to talk to the Alpha’s pup’s mother?” 

“Have you even noticed that your identity has resorted to being an Alpha’s pup’s mother?” I snapped. “I would rather stay identity-less than being introduced in such an awfully long sentence.” 

Her jaw set in a hard line, fingers curled into tight fists and she opened her mouth to spit out venom before looking right and left but then something strange happened and she fell down on her knees? I stepped back out of reflex, looking down at her, frowning. 

“Please don’t hurt me, Ira. I am begging you. I know that you hate my baby, but he is Alpha Ares’ baby too. The pup is innocent.” She started, sobbing in her palms. My frown deepened and I opened my mouth to speak but before I could, a loud familiar voice boomed, “Ira!”

My head snapped to the right, watching the Alpha rushing towards us with anger on his face. Standing in front of me, he blazed fire through his eyes at me as he helped Myra stand on her feet. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” He asked her, cradling her face between his palms. 

Myra nods, meekly, like she just survived a fucking earthquake. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Ira?” He yelled, clenching his jaw, he took a threatening step forward, making me take one out of protective instinct for my child. 

My heart hammers against my chest, but I hold his gaze, steadily, “I didn’t do anything. She was the one—”

He cut me off by gripping my jaw in a painful hold, “Not a word, not a fucking word.” He spat out. My molars hurt because of the painful grip. 

“How dare you even think of hurting Myra or my pup?” He snarled at my face as tears gathered at the corner of my eyes. “You are as barren as a desert. That’s why you couldn’t give me an heir in even three years. Do not provoke me to hurt you by threatening my child.” 

His words coiled around my throat like a noose, tightening and suffocating me as tears streamed down my cheeks. 

I am not barren. 

And, he is already hurting me. 

But the words get stuck in my throat. He lets me go with a jerk and I take the support of the nearby wall to catch my balance before I could fall. Resisting the urge to caress my belly, I used my hands to caress my aching jaw. I see Myra smirking at me in amusement over Ares’ shoulder. Ares’ throws one last disgusting glance towards me before storming out of my room, taking Myra along like I am a threat to her. Like he has never known me at all.

I spend the day, wallowing in self pity until the news arrives in the evening like a beacon of light amidst the darkness threatening to swallow me in its bottomless pit. 

‘Alpha Lucian is coming three days later for a business alliance.’

Alpha Lucian, the Alpha who can be her key out this cage if used right.