CHAPTER 4: PRESSURE

(Meanwhile, at the Oreblack Wolf Pack House)

ALPHA SEBASTIAN LEONARD (Wolf: George)

I sat beside Aurora on her sickbed, watching her skin turn paler, her life draining away day by day.

It pained my heart that I couldn't do anything to save her. I lifted her hand and planted a soft kiss on it, and she gave me her usual weak smile in return.

"Sab, please," she whispered, pleading for the tenth time.

I shook my head in refusal. I couldn't afford to betray her. I loved her. I wouldn't bear to see another woman take her place just because she couldn't give me an heir.

"There's no time. Don't be stubborn — I can't carry a child in this weak body. Just this once. Just a surrogate. That's all I ask." She forced herself to speak.

But we tried for many years, and she still could not conceive. It was like a curse from the Moon Goddess.

It’s was as if the illness stole her joy, and no matter how I tried to get my Luna back, she always slipped away.

I lowered my head in grief and shook it again. "I can't cheat on you," I said, a note of finality in my voice.

Suddenly Fin, my Beta, entered her chamber and bowed slightly to me and my Luna. My brows furrowed in confusion — I hadn't sent for him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, turning my attention to him.

He hesitated, his eyes flicking to my Luna and staying there. I looked at her, then back at him.

Was I missing something?

"Say it," Luna Aurora said, giving him permission.

He stepped closer. "Luna, about the order you gave — as we speak, several young maidens from the Cranstone Pack are already applying for the surrogacy." He kept his eyes carefully off me.

Wait.

What were they talking about?

"Aurora, what is he talking about?" I asked, brows knitting further. I was completely lost.

She sighed and waved Fin off with a flick of her hand. He bowed and left, still not meeting my eyes.

I turned to her. "I had to do it, for your future," she said, and burst into tears. "I sent Fin to find a surrogate in the neighboring pack."

"What?!" I shot to my feet, anger flooding through me.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, as if the word alone could undo it.

I stormed out of her room, my mind reeling at how much pain she was willing to put herself through. How could she deliberately ask for another woman to sleep with her own mate?

Most women would tear an idea like that apart the moment it left someone's mouth.

And yet there she was, taking the lead on it herself. Did she have any idea what kind of trouble women created when forced to share the same roof, the same mate?

I walked into my chamber and found Fin already waiting there.

"Betrayal," I muttered, stepping past him with my hands clasped behind my back — and I let the word sit in the air long enough for him to feel it, because he had earned it.

"I'm sorry, Alpha. I was acting on her orders," he said, bowing.

I scoffed. "Why are you here?" I asked, ignoring his apology entirely, and went to sit on the edge of my bed.

"The council is requesting your presence," he informed me.

I nodded. I already knew why they'd come — to stir up trouble again, to press their usual demands. I stood and made my way outside to face them, as I always did.

Every maid bowed her head as I passed. When I entered the meeting chamber, the council rose at once and bowed in greeting.

"Greetings, Alpha," they said in unison.

I nodded and took my seat, studying each of their faces as they exchanged brief, uneasy glances with one another.

"What brings you all here at this hour of the evening?" I demanded.

One of them rose. "We came to ask what your intentions are — regarding a second Luna."

I slammed my fist against the armrest of my seat and fixed him with a furious glare. I had always issued a warning that this matter shouldn’t be brought up in my presence.

They are really daring!

"I already have a Luna," I growled, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"You don't have an heir." One of them stood up boldly and shot back.

Another stood up again. "Be ready to vacate your Alpha position to your stepbrother, Killian, and relinquish every bit of power you hold."

My furious gaze snapped toward him, but he didn't so much as flinch, as if he had someone backing him.

Of course it was Killian, who else? That despicable brother of mine. He was the one pushing them, pressuring every last one of them against me.

This wasn't new. Killian had been circling this for years — first with quiet remarks disguised as concern.

Then with allies bought and planted carefully among the council, each one waiting for the day Aurora's body would finally fail her for good.

She'd lost three pregnancies in our first years together, and I had held her through every single one of them, watching something in her dim a little more each time.

I remembered, too, exactly which of these men had offered their sympathies too easily, their eyes already counting the days. They called it concern, but I knew it was patience — the kind a vulture has.

"You have exactly one year to produce an heir, a natural pup, or we will take matters into our own hands." They all threatened me in turn, then began leaving, one after another.

"Do your worst!" I yelled after them, my chest rising and falling in rapid breaths.

Everything was becoming too much, a burden I didn't know how much longer I could carry.

Fin entered a moment later and stood there without a word. I walked straight over to him.

"What will you have me do, Fin?" I asked, seeking advice from my most trusted Beta.

He raised his head and looked me dead in the eyes. "Maybe we follow Luna's suggestion," he said. "Our last choice is to go through with the surrogacy."

"But what if—" I started, raking a hand through my hair in frustration.

"Your stepbrother is lurking, waiting for any excuse," he pleaded, his voice filled with remorse. "Please don't give him the chance." Then he left me alone with my own thoughts.

I paced my room, turning it over in my head. This was the power and the throne I'd held for ten years of my life. I wouldn't let it slip through my hands, not like this. And it would fulfill Aurora's wish, too.

‘I have to do something about it.’

I mind-linked my Beta, and the connection opened at once.

‘Fin. Inspect and choose the surrogate yourself. Then bring her to me.’ I said.

‘Yes… Alpha.’ His voice came back shaky, surprise and something like excitement threaded through it.

I disconnected the mindlink, and began making my way back to my room.

‘Even if that strange woman gives me an heir, I will only see her as a breeder. Nothing will come in between Aurora and I.’ The thought echoed in my head.