Chapter 4

The answer was clear—I couldn’t.

I couldn’t keep pretending. Couldn’t keep fighting for a mate that was no longer mine.

Becky stood there, all doe-eyed and pitiful. I turned away from her and locked eyes with the man I once called mine. Alpha Tom. My mate. My husband. My heartbreak.

“So,” I said, my voice steady even as my claws threatened to punch through my skin, “you’ve really decided? You’re divorcing me?”

His eyes didn’t meet mine. He stared at the floor like it had all the answers. I pressed my palm to my abdomen, right where the faintest flutter of life had begun.

“What if I told you I’m pregnant too?” I said quietly. “Whose pup will you choose to be a father to—hers, or mine?”

For a fleeting moment, his eyes lit up.

“Grace… you’re serious? We’re having a pup?”

I nodded slowly, reaching into my purse for the crumpled lab results. The faint scent of disinfectant still clung to the paper—it had been a rough few weeks. My wolf had sensed the shift in my body before I did, but I needed proof.

And then Becky’s voice sliced through the air.

“Alpha Tom… you promised,” she said, her voice wobbling. “You said you’d be my pup’s father.”

As she spun around, her elbow struck my stomach—hard. A sharp pain lanced through me.

I gasped. She didn’t look back.

But Alpha Tom?

He didn’t even notice.

He was already chasing after her . “Don’t be like this,” he murmured, catching her wrist . “Grace understands. She’s just testing me.”

Testing him.

Right.

Sure.

I clutched my stomach, where the pain was now pulsing with heat. My wolf whimpered in the back of my mind, tense and ready to rip something apart.

When he finally turned back to me, the man who used to worship looked at me like I was a child throwing a tantrum in the middle of a pack meeting.

“Grace, stop this,” he said, voice heavy , “We’ve been trying for a pup for months. How is it that you sudScottly get pregnant now, right when Becky needs me?”

My wolf snarled.

He reached into his coat and pulled out a crisp envelope.

“I’ve already explained everything,” he said. “No matter what you say, this divorce is happening.”

The paper . Prepared. Signed. Sealed.

He’d brought the damn thing with him. Like he’d known I’d still try to fight.

“Sign it,” he added, tone clipped. “My decision won’t change. And you don’t want this to get messy with lawyers, do you?”

Lawyers? Really? He was threatening me with lawyers now?

The pain in my stomach twisted, like my pup already knew they weren’t wanted. Like they were curling into a ball and hiding from this mess.

Fine. If this was how it had to be.

I took the pen and signed. Quick. Decisive. No tears. No begging.

He hesitated. For a second, something flickered in his eyes—regret, maybe.

“I’ll move out for now,” he said finally. “Once the divorce is finalized… go back to Golden Fang Pack for a while.”

I didn’t answer.

He turned and left, arm wrapped around Becky . He didn’t look back.

I waited until their scent faded from the house.

Then I let the pain hit me full force.

I dropped to my knees, one arm around my stomach, the other gripping my phone.

My voice trembled as I whispered the words no mother-to-be should ever have to say.

“911… I think I’m losing my pup.”