Four

CHAPTER FOUR

Kiara’S POV

I stared at the healer as if I had forgotten how to breathe.

“You are pregnant.” The words echoed inside my head, refusing to disappear even after the healer had gone silent.

Pregnant. For five years, that was the word I had prayed to hear.

For five years, I had watched other women in the pack carry their children while I stood at a distance, smiling whenever they spoke about their pregnancies even though something inside me broke a little more each time.

I had endured the whispers, the pitying looks, the cruel laughter, and the name that had followed me everywhere. Barren Luna and now, after all those years, the Moon Goddess had finally answered my prayers but instead of happiness, fear slowly settled inside my chest, because I knew exactly when this pregnancy had begun.

I knew whose child I was carrying, ay hand slowly moved toward my stomach.

Cassian.bThe healer was watching me closely, and I realized that she had mistaken my silence for shock caused by happiness.

She had known about my struggles for years.

She had seen me come to her more times than I could remember, asking if there was anything she could do to help me conceive, and she had watched me leave her home with tears in my eyes when every remedy failed.

So when she smiled at me now, her eyes filled with warmth.

“You don't have to hide your happiness, Kiara,” she said softly. “After everything you have endured, you deserve to celebrate this moment.”

I forced my lips into a smile. “Yes,” I whispered. “I am happy.”

The lie tasted bitter, the healer smiled even wider.

I left the healer's home with one hand pressed against my stomach, my mind filled with questions I could not answer.

How was I going to hide this?

How was I going to look at Maelor every day and pretend that the child growing inside me was his?

How was I going to face Cassian knowing that he was the father?

And most importantly, what would happen if the truth ever came out?

I had barely reached the estate when I noticed something strange.

The entire place was crowded.

People were gathered around the entrance, laughing and celebrating, while servants carried trays of food and drinks through the courtyard.

My heart sank, people began to look at me with nice face, that wasn't how it was before

Had the healer told them?

I stopped walking, I wanted to turn around.

I wanted to disappear before anyone saw me, but it was already too late.

Maelor stepped out of the crowd.

The moment his eyes landed on me, his entire face changed.

For the first time in years, I saw something I had almost forgotten existed in his eyes, happiness.

He hurried toward me, before I could react, his arms wrapped around me.

I froze against his chest. “My Luna,” he whispered, holding me tightly. “You are finally pregnant.”

My fingers curled into my dress.

He pulled back just enough to look at me, his face filled with excitement.

“I knew it,” he said. “I knew that night would finally change everything.”

My heart stopped. “What?”

He laughed softly, completely unaware of the horror spreading through me. “That night, when you gave me whatever you had prepared, I thought you were trying to force me to stay with you, but it worked.”

I stared at him, he thought I had drugged him.

He thought the child inside me was his because of whatever he believed I had given him that night.

I had never drugged Maelor, I had taken the fertility seed myself.

The man I had been with had been Cassian but I could not tell him that, not here, not with half the pack standing around us, celebrating the pregnancy they believed belonged to the Alpha.

Maelor reached for my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I knew you could do it.”

The words should have made me happy.

Instead, they made my stomach twist, I forced myself to smile. “Yes.”

“I am tired,” I told Maelor. “I need to rest.”

He immediately nodded. “Of course, you should go upstairs.”

I turned away before he could see the fear in my eyes and hurried toward the house.

I had barely entered the corridor when a hand suddenly caught my wrist.

I gasped, before I could turn around, Cassian pulled me into a quiet corner and stepped in front of me, placing one hand against the wall beside my head.

His body blocked my escape.

I stared at him nervously. “What are you doing?”

His eyes moved over my face. “The pregnancy isn't Maelor's, is it?”

My blood ran cold. I forced myself to remain calm. “Of course it is.”

Cassian's expression didn't change. “Don't lie to me.”

“He is my mate, my husband.”

“That doesn't answer my question.”

I swallowed hard . “It is Maelor's child.”

A faint laugh escaped him. “You expect me to believe that?”

“Yes.”

Cassian leaned closer. “Do you want me to bring you the security footage?”

My heart stopped. “What footage?”

“Before leaving, I secretly put in a camera that only I had access to, just so I could know what was happening in the estate while I was away.”

My breathing became shallow.

“You're lying.”

“Am I?”

He watched the fear appear on my face and gave a quiet, humorless smile.

“The recording will show exactly who entered your room that night, and it will also show when the last time your so-called husband entered your room was.”

I shook my head, refusing to let my panic show.

“No.”

I couldn't say anything else.

Cassian lowered his voice. “So tell me again, Kiara. Whose child are you carrying?”

I pushed against his chest, desperate to create some distance between us.

“Leave me alone, Cassian.”

“You're afraid.”

“I am your brother's wife.”

“And that is supposed to make what happened between us disappear?”

My eyes burned.

“It was a mistake.”

His jaw tightened.

“Perhaps it was, but that mistake is now growing inside you.”

I immediately placed a hand over my stomach.

Cassian's eyes followed the movement.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

I quickly lowered my hand.

“No. One night can't mean anything. Stop this.”

I couldn't let him hear the truth in my voice.

I couldn't tell him that he was the father.

I couldn't admit it, not when Maelor was only a few steps away from me, not when the entire pack believed I was carrying his heir, and certainly not when Cassian himself had returned to reclaim the position Maelor had taken after everyone believed him dead.

Cassian stared at me as though he could see every thought running through my mind.

“You can lie to yourself all you want,” he said quietly, “but I am giving you seven days.”

I looked at him.

“Seven days for what?”

“Seven days to tell me the truth.”

My heart pounded painfully against my ribs.

“And if I don't?”

His expression became cold.n“Then I will show everyone the recording.”

My blood ran cold. “You can't do that.”

“I can.” He stepped away from me and adjusted his jacket as though the conversation meant nothing to him.

“Think carefully about what happens when everyone sees that Maelor never entered your room that night.”

I stared at him helplessly.

He turned and walked away.

I remained frozen in the corridor long after he disappeared.

Seven days, he  already knew.

Perhaps he didn't know every detail, but he knew enough to destroy the lie I had built around my pregnancy.

I pressed my back against the wall and slowly lowered my gaze to my stomach.

My hand trembled as I placed it over the place where my child was growing.

“No,” I whispered. “I can't let him do this.”

But what could I do?

How could I convince Cassian to remain silent when he knew the child might be his?

And how was I supposed to face Maelor every day while pretending that the child he was celebrating as his heir belonged to him?

Only hours ago, I had thought becoming pregnant would finally give me the life I had always wanted.

Now, it felt like the beginning of my downfall.

I forced myself to stand straight and wiped the tears from my eyes before anyone could see them.

I could not fall apart.

Not now, not when the entire pack was celebrating outside.