Three

Melinda’s POV

“Dr. Thomas," I breathed relieved, rushing to him.

“Please tell them what you told me just twenty minutes ago in your office."

He stiffly turned away from me refusing to meet my eyes,

Fear crawled into my chest like ice.

Something was wrong, terribly wrong.

Sweat glistened along his forehead and his hands shook slightly.

My heartbeat became uneven.

He would not look at me.

“No…” I whispered softly.

Ashley remained seated beside Carl, a smirk on her face.

Carl had both reports in his hand, his expression unreadable.

The council elders watched carefully from their seats around the room.

“Thomas,” I called again.

He flinched slightly and glanced at me briefly.

That small reaction made my stomach drop. My fingers curled tightly against my dress.

Carl’s gray eyes darkened dangerously.

“Answer the question; What the hell is this?” He said to raising the two test results.

Thomas swallowed hard.

“You examined both women?”

“Yes, Alpha,” he answered quickly.

“Why do they have the same exact pregnancy report?”

Thomas stood still for a while. I stared at him desperately.

Thomas finally lifted his eyes toward me but only for a second.

The warm, kind doctor who had patted my shoulder with fatherly affection just moments ago had completely vanished.

“Tell the Alpha that my report is real. You checked my blood work twice!"

Suddenly, his shoulder shook and a sob tore from his throat, he dropped straight to his knees right there on the hard floor.

I froze, watching

"Forgive me, Alpha!" Dr. Thomas cried out, his hands covering his face as tears streamed down his wrinkled cheeks.

"Forgive me! I couldn't do it. I cannot carry this sin on my conscience!"

“Melinda begged me,” he choked out painfully. “She begged me to forge the report.”

The world stopped.

I stared at him blankly.

“Speak clearly, Thomas. What are you talking about?" Carl barked standing.

He kept his head bowed to the floor, weeping openly. "The Luna...came to my office this morning.

She was hysterical and said she knew Ashley was pregnant with your child.

She said she knew you would leave her and strip her of her title if she didn't provide an heir immediately."

“No..." I whispered, the word barely leaving my lips.

"No, that’s not true!"

"She begged me!" Dr. Thomas shouted over my voice, his cry growing louder and more hysterical.

"She knelt and begged me to forge a pregnancy report for her and when I refused she threatened to use her power as Luna to banish my family from the pack if I didn't help her fake the documents!

I was terrified, Alpha. I printed the false report just to make her leave the clinic,

My mind refused to process the words I was hearing.

Why was he lying?

My lips trembled violently.

“You liar!" I screamed, the sound tearing from the depths of my throat. My vision went completely red.

"I never threatened you! You smiled at me and told me my baby was strong! I never threatened him or—"

"To threaten a loyal pack elder and fake the sacred bloodline of an Alpha? This is an absolute abomination!"

An elder said.

She is entirely devoid of shame."

I didn't care about the elders anymore. I spun around to look at Carl, my hands pressing against my stomach.

"Carl, I wept, stepping closer to the desk.

"Look into my eyes. Please, I’m telling the truth. "

Carl stood completely still.

The expression in his eyes destroyed the remaining pieces of my soul.

There was no rage there, only a profound, freezing disappointment.

It was the look of a man who had completely given up. I took another step toward him desperately.

“I’m telling the truth,” I whispered. “Please believe me.”

“Melinda," Ashley’s voice cut in, soft, gentle, and dripping with an agonizing warmth.

She stepped out from behind Carl . She looked at me with wide, tearful eyes, acting like the victim who felt sorry for her attacker.

"Please, stop this, we all understand your pain."

I bared my teeth at her, but she didn't even flinch.

"We know how hard these past three years have been for you," Ashley continued smoothly, turning her face slightly so the elders could see her tragic expression.

"Every woman wants to give her mate a child. It must be breaking your heart to see me carry Carl’s baby.

But even then you cannot do this. You cannot manipulate the Alpha, and you cannot secure your position by inventing imaginary children."

Imaginary children.

The words stabbed through my brain like an iron spike.

“The healer examined me himself! I saw the report!”

Ashley lowered her eyes sadly.

“You should stop before this becomes even more humiliating.”

I laughed suddenly because this entire situation already felt like a nightmare.

I looked toward Carl again desperately.

“Say something please. You know I’ll never lie about this.”

He simply stood there watching me fall apart and it hurt to see the look he gave me.

“Carl…” I whispered again.

Finally, he spoke.

“Did you ask him to forge your report?”

“No… he is lying,” I whispered weakly.

Ashley looked towards Carl sadly.

“She clearly isn’t thinking rationally anymore.”

That sentence broke the last piece of control holding me together.

Because suddenly I understood. Nobody cared about the truth, no one was trying to understand me.

They had chosen Ashley long before today.

Carl turned to the weeping healer, his back slightly turned. The elders were murmuring among themselves and in that split second of distraction, Ashley looked directly at me.

The sadness vanished from her face. Her hair caught the sunlight as she tilted her head, her perfect pink lips curling up into a faint, mocking, victorious smile.

It was the smile of a monster who knew she had stripped me of my life, my husband, and my dignity.

Something inside me snapped.

"You traitor!" I screamed, lunging forward across the space between us.

My fingers curved into claws, trying to tear that smug, lying smile right off her face.

“You did this,”

Her eyes widened dramatically

“What?”

“You did this!”

But before I could even reach her a strong hand grabbed my wrist violently.

"Ah!" Ashley shrieked loudly, stumbling back against the mahogany desk.

She instantly covered her stomach with both hands, dropping to her knees as if the sheer wind of my movement had shattered her.

I gasped sharply as my body jerked backward.

Carl.

His grip tightened painfully around my wrist as he dragged me back against him.

"Ashley!" Carl growled, his eyes widening in alarm at her scream.

He immediately let go of my wrist, throwing me to the side like a piece of trash, and rushed to her side.

He dropped to his knees, his large hands wrapping around her shoulders with a gentleness he had never once shown me.

"Are you hurt? Did she touch you?"

"My stomach," Ashley sobbed, her face burying into Carl ’s neck as her entire body shook.

"Carl , my baby... she tried to hurt our baby! She’s insane! She wants to kill my child!"

"She is a danger to the pack!" Elder Richard shouted, stepping between me and the Alpha, his hand resting on the hilt of his ceremonial dagger.

"She has completely lost her mind! Attempting to assault a pregnant mother in the Alpha’s own office?"

"She is unstable and a threat to the future heir. She must be restrained!" Another elder chimed.

I stumbled backward against the wall, my wrist throbbing where Carl had gripped it. I stared at the floor, watching my husband hold Ashley tightly against his chest, murmuring soothing words into her hair while she sobbed fake tears into his shoulder.

He didn't look at me.

He didn't ask if I was okay or care that he had thrown his own wife aside to comfort the woman who had ruined me.

Carl slowly stood up, lifting Ashley effortlessly into his arms. He turned his head to look at me, his face completely devoid of any warmth.

"Return to your quarters immediately, Melinda," Carl commanded, his tone ringing with absolute authority.

My body instinctively tensed

"Stay there until the council decides how to handle your punishment. You are restricted from leaving your room."

"Carl , please," I whispered, desperately.

I took a half-step forward, my hands trembling. "She lied, Thomas too is lying.

I am carrying your pup. Please, just believe me once…"

"Quiet," Carl cut me off, his voice dropping to a dangerous,

“I don’t want to hear another word or see your face.”

He turned on his heel holding Ashley protectively against his chest, her head resting against his shoulder, he walked past the bowing elders and marched straight out of the office.

The elders followed closely behind them, whispering furiously among themselves.

“She must have gone mad from barrenness,"

The reality of my situation kicked in; nobody believed me, not Carl, the elders or the pack.

I was completely alone and worse I had become a dangerous, barren lunatic.