Chapter 3

The door closed.

I collapsed onto the floor.

I could feel our mate bond, distant and thin, being smothered by another woman's scent.

The pack was already gossiping. Ryan had abandoned me.

I stayed home, enduring the sharp, pulsing pain from the bond.

Two weeks later was the full moon celebration.

"Luna, are you sure you should go?" My omega housekeeper, Lena, looked at me with worried eyes.

I stared at my haggard reflection in the mirror. At over four months, my belly was just starting to show.

I had to go.

I refused to let them see me as broken.

The grand hall of the Black Moon Estate glittered with light.

I walked in alone, wearing a black evening gown, my head held high.

The chatter died instantly.

Every head turned toward me.

Their eyes were filled with pity, mockery, and morbid curiosity.

"Monica?"

Chloe, Ryan's sister, glided toward me, a viper in silk.

She was flanked by the daughters of pack elders, her face a mask of fake concern.

"Are you alright? You look awful."

"I'm fine."

"Are you?" Chloe leaned in, her voice suddenly sharp. "Then why did my brother move out?"

The music in the ballroom seemed to stop. Everyone was listening.

"Chloe, this is none of your business."

"None of my business?" she sneered. "My brother is the Alpha of this pack! The purity of his bloodline is everything!"

She suddenly pointed a finger at my stomach, her voice a piercing shriek.

"Everyone is dying to know! While you're claiming to carry my brother's heir, he's off protecting some other woman! So, tell us, Monica. Who is the real father of the pup you're carrying?"

Dead silence.

"Chloe!" I was shaking with rage. "You're insane!"

"Am I?" she laughed, triumphant. "Let's ask the pack! Our Alpha values his bloodline above all else. If that was really his pup, do you think he would ever leave its side for a second?"

Whispers erupted around me, and the looks of suspicion felt like arrows.

"This is Ryan's child! The only heir to the Blackthorne family!" I screamed.

"An heir?" she shrieked with laughter. "A bastard with no name? Guards! Seize the woman who shamed our Alpha!"

Two towering enforcers walked toward me, their faces blank.

"You wouldn't dare!" I backed away. "I am Ryan's mate! I am your Luna!"

"Mate?" Chloe's eyes glinted with malice. "A woman who can't even name her pup's father has no right to be our Luna!"

Rough hands grabbed my arms.

I was dragged from the hall.

They hauled me back to the manor.

In the main hall, Ryan was gently rubbing Bonnie's back.

She was curled up on the sofa, pale and looking terrified.

"Ryan…" she trembled. "I heard so much noise outside…"

"It's nothing," Ryan's voice was impossibly soft. "I'll protect you."

Then he saw me. Dragged in by his guards, my dress torn, my hair a mess. A complete wreck.

But there was no sympathy in his eyes. Only cold disgust.

"What happened?"

"Alpha," one of the enforcers reported. "She caused a scene at the gala. Lady Chloe accused her of disgracing the pack's name."

Ryan looked at me like I was a stranger.

Bonnie whimpered, pressing a hand to her stomach. "Ryan, I'm so scared… The way she's looking at me… What if she hurts the baby?"

That was the last straw.

Ryan's face hardened.

He didn't even look at me. His voice was ice.

"Lock her in the west wing's silver cell. She doesn't leave until I say so."