X5

The computer lacked any encryption, and the OS flared to life in seconds. My heart hammered against my ribs at the speed of it. Taking a jagged breath, I jammed the USB drive into the port and pulled up my mail server.

I attached the translation and hit send just as the clock struck noon.

It was terrifyingly easy. I had made the deadline. But as I moved to shut down the interface, my hand shook, and the trackpad skidded. I accidentally double-clicked a restricted folder. A window snapped open, and my eyes widened as I stared at the contents.

I stood there, paralyzed for five minutes, before I finally managed to close the screen and stumble out of the study.

Patricia Bennett let out a long, jagged sigh of relief when she saw me in the hall. "See? I told you the Alpha wouldn't be back from the Silvercrest offices this early."

I couldn't even find my voice. My mind was a static hum of what I’d just seen. I felt like I’d accidentally stumbled into the dark heart of Ethan’s private world—a secret I was never meant to scent.

"Patricia... are there cameras in there?" I managed to choke out.

"Only in the corridor leading to the door," she replied.

The blood drained from my face. "Then he’ll know. He’ll know I crossed the threshold."

"Just be upfront with him when his scent hits the driveway. You were only in there for ten minutes. He’s a rational Alpha; he won't cull you for a five-minute email," she tried to console me.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. A notification showed a transfer of three hundred and twenty credits. My jaw dropped. Two hours of work for that much? The influx of money settled some of the jagged glass in my chest. I didn't mean to pry, and I was already leaving. We were getting a divorce; whatever shadows he was hiding would be someone else's problem soon.

I retreated to my room after a quiet lunch and locked the door. I sat at the small vanity, pressing my hand against my flat stomach. "I don't want to lose you, little one," I whispered to the empty air. "But bringing a cub into this world... when my life is a blizzard... I don't know if I'm strong enough."

The exhaustion of the early pregnancy hit me like a physical weight, and I slumped over the table, falling into a heavy, dreamless sleep.

I was jolted awake hours later by the sound of frantic, heavy boots in the hallway. Before I could even rub the sleep from my eyes, my door was thrown open.

"Collins!" Patricia looked terrified. "Did you touch something on his drive? Anything besides the email?"

My heart leapt into my throat. "Is he back? Did he see the logs?"

Patricia was trembling. "He said you breached a secure sector. He’s in a cold rage in the study, tearing through the digital footprints! I don't know how to protect you from this, Collins!"

I felt a wave of pure, primal terror. I was a dead man. At this rate, the divorce wouldn't matter because Ethan Carter was going to tear my throat out. Tears pricked my eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Patricia! I didn't mean to. My hand slipped when I was trying to exit... I swear, I only saw it for a second before I closed it..."

Patricia believed me, but her face remained grim. "He roared at me to get out. I might lose my position over this."

I couldn't let her take the fall. I stood up, my legs shaking, and walked out to face the Alpha.

The elevator dings on the ground floor. The doors slid open, and a guard pushed Ethan’s chair out into the foyer. Even though the mansion was only three stories, the previous Alpha had installed the lift for accessibility.

Ethan looked like a vengeful god. His face was a mask of cold fury, his amber eyes burning with a lethal fire. I’d expected him to be annoyed, but this was a hunt.

"I'm sorry, Ethan," I said, my voice thick with a sob. "My laptop crashed and I had a deadline. I used your station without asking. Patricia tried to stop me—this is all on me. I forced my way in."

The guard stopped the chair in the center of the living room. Ethan’s eyes were bloodshot, the gold light in them nearly blinding. He didn't speak for a long time.

"You saw it. All of it," he said, his voice a low, vibrating growl that chilled the room by ten degrees.

His hands were gripped on the armrests, his knuckles white as bone. If he weren't tethered to that chair, I knew he would have pinned me to the wall by my neck.

You reckless, stupid omega. Did I really think I was part of this pack? How dare I touch his private history?

I nodded, then shook my head frantically. "I don't even remember the details! It was a blur, I swear! I just wanted to shut the screen down and I clicked the wrong link—"

"Silence!" Ethan barked. The command hit me like a physical wave. "Get to your room. Do not cross that threshold again until the lawyers arrive with the decree."

I swallowed the rest of my excuses and bolted. I could feel the sheer loathing radiating off him like a physical heat. Once my door clicked shut, I heard his voice drift through the wood, cold and final.

"No meals for him. Not a drop."

He wasn't just locking me away; he was starving me out. Patricia didn't dare argue. In the Silvercrest fortress, Ethan’s growl was the only law.

Two days later, the news came that Margaret’s blood pressure had stabilized. She was released from the pack infirmary and came straight to the estate.

"How is your strength, Ethan? When will you be back on the ice?" she asked, her voice bright with hope as she greeted her son.

"I'm recovering," Ethan replied shortly. "But we need to talk about the dissolution of this arrangement, Mother."

Margaret’s smile faltered. "The marriage? I handpicked Collins myself. He’s a resilient boy, and I’ve grown fond of him. Where is he? You haven't sent him to the mountain peaks, have you?"

"He’s in his quarters," Ethan said, signaling Patricia.

Patricia hurried to my room. It had been forty-eight hours since I’d had anything but tap water. She wasn't sure what she’d find.

Margaret stood in the doorway as the lock turned. I was curled in a ball on the floor, leaning against the cold stone wall, my hair a matted mess over my face. I looked up through a daze, my vision swimming.

"Collins! Moon Mother, what has happened?" Margaret cried. When she saw my face—gaunt and pale as a ghost—her own face went red with fury. "Ethan! Is this how you treat your mate? Are you an Alpha or a monster?"

Her voice trembled. I had lost weight I didn't have to spare. My lips were cracked and dry, and my chest felt heavy with every shallow breath. I tried to speak, but my throat was a desert.

Patricia rushed forward with a glass of warm milk, pressing it to my lips. "Drink this, Collins. It’s okay now. The Matriarch is here."

Margaret stormed back into the living room, standing over Ethan’s chair. "You are starving him? He is half the size he was a week ago! Are you trying to kill him before the ink is dry on the divorce?"

"He committed a trespass," Ethan said, his voice bored and lethal. "If it weren't for your interference, I would have broken more than his spirit. He crossed a line. He learned the price."

"A trespass? What could he possibly have done?"

In Margaret’s eyes, I was a perfect, submissive pawn. She couldn't imagine me being bold enough to anger her son. Ethan just stared at her, his lips pressed into a thin, tight line.

"I know why you fear intimacy, Ethan," Margaret said softly, her eyes filling with tears. "But I won't let you do this. Collins is a good boy. Even if this union is only a shadow on paper, you will keep him as your consort!"

She grew more hysterical, her scent turning sour with stress. Ethan saw her swaying and signaled his guards to catch her.

"As long as I draw breath, you will not cast him out! You want a divorce? Find a girl or a boy you actually care for first! I won't let you live as a lone wolf!" Margaret screamed as they helped her to the sofa.

The stress was too much. Her head tilted back, and for the second time in a week, the Matriarch of the Carters was rushed back to the hospital.

Ethan hadn't expected her to be so stubborn. He’d wanted me gone, but now his mother’s life was tied to my presence. He hated me, and he hated all omegas, but he couldn't kill his mother to satisfy his spite.

In the guest room, the milk had brought a tiny bit of life back to my limbs. I heard everything. I heard the Alpha’s cruelty and the Matriarch’s desperate defense.

Patricia brought me a bowl of warm broth and began to gently brush the tangles out of my hair. "Did you hear, Collins? As long as she’s fighting for you, he won't kick you out."

I looked at her, my voice a jagged rasp. "I want out. Whether he lets me go or not, I am leaving this fortress."

I wouldn't stay another hour in this cage with that devil.

"Eat your broth," Patricia said sadly. "I have to see what the Alpha commands next."

She met Ethan at the door. He was being pushed toward my room. "He’s still very weak, Master Ethan," she warned.

Ethan didn't change his expression, but his eyes were like frozen lakes. I looked up as he entered, our gazes clashing with the force of an on-ice collision.

"Let’s end this, Ethan!" I snapped, putting down the bowl and grabbing the suitcase I’d packed days ago. I forced myself to stand, even as my knees wobbled. "Go find someone you actually want to mark!"

Ethan’s eyes narrowed to slits. "You hate me that much? You think you’re the victim here after what you did?"

"I was wrong to touch your computer. I paid for it with two days of hunger. We’re even. Give me the papers, or I’ll go to the Pack Council myself."

Seeing my desperation to leave, a cruel smirk touched Ethan’s lips. "Did I say your penance was finished?"

I felt like he’d struck me across the face.

"Since staying by my side is such a nightmare for you... you will remain the Consort of Silvercrest."

His tone was final. An Alpha’s decree. "We will divorce when I decide the time is right for my mother’s health. Not a moment before."

He signaled his guard to wheel him away. I watched his back, my teeth bared in a silent snarl. He thought he could own me? He thought I would just wait for his permission?

A sudden wave of vertigo hit me. My ankles gave out, and I collapsed onto the bed, the world spinning in shades of gray. I needed to calm down. If he wasn't letting me go yet, I just had to be patient. I had to wait for Margaret to recover.

A week later, I had regained enough strength to walk. I went to the pack clinic for a follow-up. I was certain the baby was gone. Two days of starvation and extreme stress—there was no way a tiny life could survive that blizzard.

I sat on the exam table, feeling hollow. "Doctor... did I lose it?"

"Why would you think that?" the healer asked, moving the wand over my abdomen.

"I didn't eat for forty-eight hours. I was under immense pressure..."

"Collins, wolves are hardy. Some omegas can't keep food down for a month during their first trimester and still deliver Alphas," she chuckled.

My heart hammered. "So, the baby...?"

"Congratulations, Collins. There isn't just one heartbeat on this monitor. You're carrying twins. Two heirs for the Silvercrest line."