Chapter 1: Ella's View

The pregnancy test landed hard on the bathroom floor. The pink lines seemed to mock me from the pristine white tiles. My hands shook as I gripped the vanity, staring at my reflection. I looked pale, tired, and broken.

I was six weeks pregnant carrying the child of the man who had just embarrassed in front of our whole pack.

*“I, Alpha Nathaniel Blackthorne, reject you, Ella Montgomery, as my mate and Luna,”* he had said.

The words kept playing in my head. It felt like a knife to the heart. He said it at a pack meeting, with tons of people watching. His mistress, Vivian, was right there, clinging to him like she'd won a prize.

I put my hand on my stomach, where our child was growing, not knowing any of this was happening. Nathaniel didn't have a clue. How could he? I found out myself just hours after he dumped me in the worst way possible.

A knock at the door broke my thoughts. “Luna? The Alpha wants you in his office.” It was Beta Harrison, sounding formal and cold.

Luna. Not for long.

I stood up straight, trying to act tough. “Tell him I’ll be there soon.”

My reflection showed a woman about to fall apart, but I wouldn't let Nathaniel see me like that, knowing that I was carrying his heir, a kid he’d never even know about.

The walk to Nathaniel’s office felt like a march to my own funeral. Pack members who used to be like family now looked away. Some even whispered about me. The rejection didn't just break our bond; it took away my position, my home, everything.

But not my child. Never that.

Nathaniel stood with his back to me behind his huge desk, looking out the windows. He was tall and had broad shoulders, which used to be my safe place. His dark hair caught the light. For a second, I remembered when his hands used to touch my face so gently, before Vivian came back from Europe and reminded him that love was for the weak.

“The papers are on the desk,” he said, not turning around. He sounded empty inside. “Sign them, and it’ll all be done.”

I walked to the desk, looking at the divorce papers that would end our marriage. The rejection already broke the bond between us, but there was still some legal process to be done.

“Just like that?” I asked quietly, touching the papers. “Five years, and it ends with your signature?”

He finally turned around. He looked like a cold stranger wearing my husband’s face. Those gray eyes that used to look at me with so much love now looked at me with something close to disgust.

“You knew this was coming, Ella. We both did.” He sounded sharp and business-like. “The Council wants me to have a stronger Luna. Someone who can help bring the packs together, not…” He waved his hand at me, and it hurt more than anything.

“Not someone like me,” I said, hating how weak I sounded. “Someone without the right family. Without the right connections.”

“Vivian’s dad controls some of the biggest packs up north. Marrying her will make the region more stable.” He poured himself a drink, not offering me one. Not that I could drink it anyway, not pregnant.

“What about love?” It came out before I could stop it, and I felt stupid for even asking.

Nathaniel laughed, but it was cold and mean. “Love is a kid’s story. Power is real. What you leave behind is real. You were… a fun thing to do, nothing more.”

His words were meant to hurt, and they did. But even as my heart broke, I felt protective and angry. He could hurt me, but I wouldn't let him ruin our kid's life.

I grabbed the pen and signed my name carefully. “There. Are you happy now?”

Something flashed in his eyes—surprise? Regret?—but it was gone fast.

“Harrison will help you pack. You have to leave by tonight.”

“How thoughtful,” I said, putting the pen down. “And Vivian? When are you going to tell everyone?”

His jaw tightened. “The Council will say we’re engaged next week.”

Of course. He probably planned this for months, maybe even before I felt us growing apart. The late nights, the missed dinners, the way he acted distant—it all made sense.

“I hope she makes you happy, Nathaniel. I hope she gives you what you think you need.”

I turned to leave, holding my head high even though I wanted to cry. I was almost to the door when he stopped me.

“Ella.”

I stopped but didn’t turn around. I couldn’t look at him again when I was about to lose it.

“I’m sorry it had to end like this, if that means anything.”

His apology hung there between us. It was too little, too late. I touched my stomach, trying to find strength.

“No, you’re not,” I said quietly. “You will be.”

I walked out and left his life for good, carrying a secret that could destroy us both or save us; I wasn’t sure which.

But as I went upstairs to pack, I knew one thing: Nathaniel Blackthorne just made the biggest mistake of his life.

He just didn't see it yet.

**Three hours later**

My old bedroom at my dad’s pack felt like a prison after being Luna of one of the most powerful packs. The wallpaper I used to like now seemed childish and silly. Everything looked smaller than I remembered—the bed, the dresser, even the window where I used to watch wolves learn to fight.

I’d been fighting my whole life—fighting to be accepted, to be loved, to have a place. Now I had a new fight: protecting my child from their father, who would either try to take them or reject them like he rejected me.

Neither of those futures was okay.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. “Come in.”

My younger sister, Ivy, opened the door. Her blonde hair caught the light. She was nineteen and still hopeful, which I wasn't anymore.

“Dad wants to see you,” she said carefully. “He’s… not happy about why you’re back.”

I almost laughed. Of course he wasn’t. His daughter getting dumped and divorced would hurt his reputation with the other pack leaders. My feelings weren't the first thing on his mind.

“I’ll be down in a minute,” I said, staying put on the bed.

Ivy came in and closed the door. “Ella, what really happened? The stories aren’t making sense. You and Nathaniel were so happy at the summer party…”

Happy? We were good at pretending for the cameras and keeping up appearances. But behind closed doors, we’d been living separate lives for months.

“Sometimes people change,” I said. It was a lie, and it felt gross coming out. “Sometimes love isn’t enough.”

“But you’re mates. Real mates.”

“The bond can be broken.” I stood up and smoothed the wrinkles of my dress, that was one of the few things I was able to pack before Harrison escorted me off the territory. “And some bonds aren’t as strong as we thought.”

Ivy started to cry. “I’m so sorry, Ella. I know how much you loved him.”

*Loved*. Past tense now, I guess. Even though I'll always have some love for the man I thought Nathaniel was. The one who gave me wildflowers and wrote me letters, who held me during storms and said that he would always love me.

That man was either make-believe all along, or something happened to him on his way to becoming the cutthroat Alpha who ruined our marriage to climb the ranks of politics.

“Love’s not always enough, Ivy. Remember that when it’s your turn.”

I left her there and went downstairs to face my dad and whatever speech he had waiting for me. I felt trapped, surrounded by memories and expectations I could never live up to.

Alpha Richard Montgomery was waiting in his office, pacing like a caged wolf. He was fifty-five and still intimidating—tall, with broad shoulders and some gray in his hair. But Nathaniel demanded respect with his power; my dad uses fear and tricks to control people.

“Explain,” he said the second I walked in.

“There’s nothing to explain. Nathaniel dumped me. I signed the papers. It’s done.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t get smart with me, Ella. Do you know what this means for our pack? For our agreement with Crescent Moon? You were supposed to protect our future, and instead, you ruined it, didn't you?”

I was disappointed, but this was nothing new. I'd felt like I was never enough, I wasn't good enough, for him my whole life.

“I didn’t ruin anything. Nathaniel made his own choice.”

“And what choice was that? What made him leave you?”

It shouldn’t have surprised me that he figured it was my fault. “I was myself. Apparently, it was too much.”

My dad slammed his hand on the desk. “This isn’t a joke, Ella! The Council is already wondering about my ability to lead. They’re saying if I can’t control my own daughter, how can I control a pack?”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you pressured me when I was nineteen, pushed me into marrying for practical reasons. Maybe you should have, don't you think?”

“Enough!” His Alpha voice shook the whole room, meant to force me to obey. It would have worked before, but I’d been Luna of a strong pack for five years. I’d learned to go against those commands.

I stood my ground and glared back at him. “I’m not a kid anymore, Father. I’m not your pawn. I’m done being what everyone else wants me to be.”

“Fine. Then you’re on your own. But you’re not going to take this pack down with you.”

His words knocked the wind out of me, but I didn’t show it. “Is that your way of saying I’m not welcome here?”

He didn’t say anything.

I turned to leave, touching my stomach. My child would grow up without their dad, and now maybe without their grandfather, too. But maybe that was for the best. Maybe we’d be better off without the politics that hurt every relationship I’d ever tried to have.

“Ella.”

I stopped at the door.

“You have two weeks to find somewhere else to go. I don’t want you here when the Council meets next month.”

Two weeks! Pregnant, rejected, and now homeless.

But as I walked back to my temporary bedroom, I felt really great and that I haven't felt in a long time. Now I was free—scary, overwhelming, but true freedom.

Nathaniel thought he’d won. My dad thought he taught me a lesson.

They were both wrong.

I knew something they didn't—something that would switch things up.

And for the first time since I saw those pink lines, I smiled.

They have no clue what's coming.