Chapter 4: The Heirs of Ruin

Ann's POV

I lay perfectly still with my eyes fixed on the molding of the ceiling. The curtains were drawn tight against the morning sun but the darkness of the room perfectly matched the hollow and shattered void inside my chest. My body did not feel like my own anymore. It felt like a bruised and discarded vessel.

I turned my head slowly. The massive four-poster bed was empty. Alpha Reginald and Beta Logan were gone, having slipped out before dawn to maintain their public facade and they left behind only the violently tangled sheets, the faint, metallic scent of my own blood and the overwhelming, pheromones of their combined dominance.

My newly awakened wolf who had flared to life with such desperate and terrifying intensity just hours before was completely silent.

I pulled the duvet up to my chin with a single silent tear slipping down my cheek and soaking into the pillow.

I had survived the poverty of my childhood and I had survived two years of grueling invisible labor as a maid but I knew with a terrifying certainty that I would not survive being their Luna.

***

Time quickly lost all meaning. Days bled into weeks, turning my existence into a sick and twisted performance built on a foundation of agonizing lies.

To the outside world, to the skeptical elders and the hopeful pack, I was the revered and chosen Luna of the Silverstone Pack. Reginald paraded me through the grand halls and the estate gardens with his possessive hand resting firmly on the small of my back.

He would kiss my temple in front of the council with his smiles so charming and triumphant. He played the part of the devoted Alpha flawlessly, silencing the whispers of impeachment and securing his throne but the moment the doors of the Alpha suite locked behind us at night, the illusion violently shattered.

I became their secret toy.. their breeder and the dynamic between the three of us was a toxic volatile storm that kept me in a constant state of paralyzing fear.

I was forced to sleep in the same bed, pushed to the very edge of the mattress, listening to the muffled groans and desperate whispers of the two men who had stolen my life but it was Logan who confused and terrified me the most.

The Beta hated me.. he loathed my presence in their lives with his eyes tracking my every movement with a jealous rage. Yet beneath his violent hostility there was a dark and terrifying push-and-pull that neither of us could control.

My omega biology was hopelessly, pathetically desperate for a male’s approval and Logan’s Beta instincts were violently clashing with his loyalty to Reginald.

We were hosting a massive banquet for the visiting Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack. I sat at the head table in silver jewelry and a suffocating crimson gown while Reginald sat to my right with Logan to my left.

Midway through the second course, a strange, creeping nausea clawed its way up my throat.

The rich scent of roasted meat, which usually made my mouth water, suddenly smelled like rotting garbage. A cold sweat broke out across my forehead. The loud, booming voices of the pack began to muffle, sounding as though I were entirely underwater.

“Ann,” Reginald muttered, his fingers digging sharply into my thigh beneath the table. “Stop fidgeting. You look pale. Sit up straight.”

I tried to obey.

I tried to take a breath. But the room violently spun on its axis. The last thing I remembered was the terrified gasp of the visiting Luna across the table and Logan’s sudden, sharp curse ringing in my ears before the darkness completely swallowed me.

The steady, rhythmic 'beep' of a heart monitor was the first thing that pierced the void.

I slowly blinked my eyes open, wincing against the harsh, sterile fluorescent lights. I was lying on a crisp, white cot in the pack's medical wing. The air smelled of rubbing alcohol and bleached cotton.

“She’s awake.”

Reginald’s commanding voice cut through the silence, and beside my bed stood Doctor Mercer. He was an older man with graying hair, tired, gentle eyes and a perpetually stoic demeanor. He had a small, handheld ultrasound transducer pressed against my lower abdomen, slick with cold blue gel.

“Well?” Reginald demanded, stepping closer to the monitor. “Why did she collapse? Is she sick? If she's poisoned...”

“She isn't poisoned, Alpha,” Doctor Mercer interrupted softly. His eyes remained fixed on the small, flickering black-and-white screen. He moved the wand slightly, pressing it deeper into the gel.

Suddenly, a sound filled the quiet room.

'Swoosh-thump. Swoosh-thump. Swoosh-thump.'

My breath caught in my throat. My hands flew to my stomach. I stared at the screen, my heart stopping completely in my chest.

Reginald froze. The anger instantly drained from his face, replaced by a look of sheer, predatory triumph. He looked at Logan, a wide, victorious smile spreading across his face.

“An heir,” Reginald breathed, stepping up to the monitor and placing a heavy hand on Elias’s shoulder. “The council can never touch me now. You've done exactly what you were meant to do, Ann.”

Logan didn't smile. He stared at my stomach, his amber eyes darkening with an emotion I couldn't decipher. Was it relief? Hatred? Or something far more dangerous?

Before Reginald could gloat any further, the medical wing doors burst open. A young, breathless guard stood in the doorway.

“Alpha Ashcroft! Beta Fisher! We have a breach at the southern border. A rogue pack is trying to cross the river. They are heavily armed.”

Reginald’s eyes flashed gold. “Logan, with me,” he barked. He turned back to the doctor. “Keep her here on bed rest. I want a full nutritional plan drawn up by the time I return.”

Without a second glance at me, Reginald and Logan swept out of the room, the heavy doors swinging shut behind them.

The moment the lock clicked into place, the energy in the room violently shifted. Doctor Elias Mercer’s calm, stoic demeanor shattered. He reached up with a trembling hand and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. He quickly grabbed a towel, wiping the cold gel from my stomach with frantic, hurried movements.

“Doctor?” I whispered, my voice trembling with sudden dread. “What is it? Is something wrong with the baby?”

Elias looked over his shoulder, checking the locked door, before he leaned down until his mouth was inches from my ear. His tired eyes were wide with absolute, naked terror.

“I only let them hear the loudest heartbeat,” Elias whispered, his voice shaking so badly I could barely hear him. “I hid the screen from him, Ann.”

My blood ran ice cold. “What do you mean?”

Elias reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it with bruising force.

“You aren't carrying just one heir,” the doctor choked out, his eyes darting to the ultrasound screen, which he had frozen on a frame he refused to let Reginald see. “You are carrying Triplets..”