His to Claim: Alpha

"I'm pregnant, Cecelia. And it's your husband's baby."I looked up at her stunned. The crystal wine glass slipped from my fingers, shattering against the marble floor of the pack house dining room. Red wine spread on the floor, soaking my shoes and hers."What did you just say?" My voice shook. I was not understanding. How? Why?Layla, my beautiful, perfect sister, stood across from me, the definition of everything that I thought I was not. She was graceful, could get anything she wanted, men worshipped the ground that she walked on. Why my husband? Even as she delivered the news that rocked my world, she looked like a goddess. Her hand rested protectively over her still-flat stomach, and tears glistened in her blue eyes."I'm so sorry, Cecelia. I never meant for this to happen.""You're lying." I gripped the edge of the dining table until my knuckles went white. "Zeke wouldn't... he wouldn't do that to me.""Wouldn't he?" Layla's voice was soft and full of pity. "Be honest with yours

A thudding headache from the right side of my skull dragged me into consciousness. I forced my eyes open, and my vision was blurry. The surroundings around me were unfamiliar. Finally, all the blur cleared into focus and I immediately saw three pairs of brown eyes staring at me."She's awake!" The smallest girl smiled down at me, then nudged the others who were still staring at me in awe. "Mama, she's awake!"They ran off, shouting, "Mama! The sea lady opened her eyes!"I tried to sit up bewildered by what it was they were saying. What did they mean sea-lady? What was I doing here? The last thing I remembered was sitting on my favourite nest on the sea-cliff and crying. The rest was fuzzy. As I sat up, there was a sharp pain in my lower belly. I flinched, shutting my eyes as the pain almost demoralized me.A woman appeared in the doorway, clearly their mother from the resemblance."Easy now," she said, settling into a chair. "I'm Fatima. You've been asleep for a very long time.""I...

The Brooke Pack territory looked like entirely different from what I had known it to befrom three years ago. It was beautiful, impressive, and completely foreign to the place I'd once called home.My hands trembled as I approached the main gates, every instinct screaming at me to run.The last time I was here, somebody attempted to murder me, and for all I know,the person could still want me dead. Now I was walking back into the zeke’smansion, and neither he nor Layla knew I was alive. "State your business," the guard said, his voice bored but professional."I need to see Alpha Zeke," I said, surprised by how steady my voice sounded."It's urgent."The guard's eyes swept over me dismissively. "Yeah, you and half the unmated femalesin the territory. The Alpha doesn't take walk-in appointments, especially notfrom—" He paused, his nostrils flaring as he caught my scent. His face went white."What's your name?" His eyebrows arched in confusion."Cecelia Mayers." The name felt strange

CHAPTER SEVENCECELIAS POVI bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste blood. Every instinct screamed at me to defend myself, to shout that I wasn't lying, that Golden was real and terrified somewhere without his mother. But I forced myself to stay quiet. Zeke needed to make this decision himself.Zeke pulled his arm away from Layla's touch. "She's agreed to a healer's examination. That will settle any questions about paternity.""A healer's exam?" Layla's voice rose another octave. "You're actually giving credibility to this insanity?""A child is missing," Zeke said coldly. "Whether he's mine or not, that's reason enough to investigate.""She probably doesn't even have a child," Layla insisted. "This is all an elaborate scheme to worm her way back into your bed, into your life, into this pack. Can't you see that?""What I see," Zeke said, his Alpha authority bleeding into every word, "is that you need to leave my office. Now."Layla flinched like he'd slapped her. "Zeke, pleas

Chapter NineCECELIAS POVThe photograph sat on Zeke's desk between us like a live grenade. Golden's tear-streaked face stared up at me, and each time I looked at it, something twisted violently in my chest. My baby. Someone had my baby in a concrete room and was making him cry."We're reviewing security footage from every entrance," Zeke said, his voice clipped and professional. He'd switched into full Alpha mode the moment he saw the photo, barking orders through his phone, summoning guards and trackers. "Whoever delivered this will be identified within the hour."I couldn't take my eyes off Golden's face. "He looks so scared.""We'll find him, Cecelia.""You keep saying that." My voice came out sharper than I intended. "But we're no closer than we were yesterday. Someone walked right up to my door in your palace and left a threat, and you didn't even know they were here."Zeke's jaw tightened but he didn't argue. He couldn't. The breach was inexcusable and we both knew it.A knock