Chapter 3

Nicole's POV

I stared at the test with two lines. I had read enough books to know what they meant, I was pregnant. I was carrying Tate’s child.

At first I felt shocked, I couldn’t think straight. I just stared at the test, lost. Then I calmed down as small hope grew inside me, he had always said he would never give me children. But that was before this baby existed, before his own blood was already growing inside me. This child was the heir of South River Pack. This had to change things.

I pressed my hand to my stomach, he did not love me, I knew that. But a child was different from a mate.

A child was a legacy, Tate cared about duty more than anything. When he sees this baby—his baby—something in him would shift, it had to. And maybe one day, through the child, he would see I was not my father. Maybe he could forgive me, maybe he could even love me a little.

I folded the test in a tissue paper, tucked it into my pocket, smoothed my clothes in the mirror, and went to find him.

His office door was not fully closed. I heard the voices before I reached it and slowed automatically, years of living in this house had made that reflex completely involuntary.

Jonathan's voice first, and then Davis, and then two others I recognised as senior counsel, all of them talking over each other.

"The pack is watching, Tate. You need an heir."

"The succession line is vulnerable without one. Every allied pack knows it."

"The destined bond is the only bond that produces a rightful heir, a child from any other woman cannot legally inherit."

"Then you'll wait." Tate's voice cut through all of them.

"We've been waiting for three years." That was Jonathan's voice . "She is your fated mate. Whatever your feelings about the situation, the biological fact is"

"Don't." Something in Tate's voice changed, into something that made the back of my neck prickle even through the wall. "Don't stand in my office and tell me what she is."

"She is a vessel," he said. "If the pack requires an heir and she is the only viable option, then she is a petri dish. That is the beginning and the end of her function here." His voice was very controlled. "What disgusts me is the rest of it. That my child would carry her blood, the blood of the man who killed my father. I am not certain I could look at that child without wanting to"

He stopped himself and no one in the room said anything.

"The kitchen staff have standing orders," he continued, quieter. "The birth control is in her food daily. That remains, until I have decided how I want to handle this, nothing changes."

I froze when I heard that as my hand flew to my chest, all this time they had called me barren. Tracy had mocked me in front of everyone. And it was all Tate’s doing.

He had been putting birth control in my food every day without me knowing, and he let his mother humiliate me while he watched. How much evil could one person hold?

The most surprising part was how I had still gotten pregnant. The only answer was that the birth control had failed, that had to be it.

I stood there for a second, heart pounding, then turned to see Sophia standing in the corridor outside.

She saw me and let the contempt show slowly, like she enjoyed it. “Finished playing secretary?”

I kept walking as her hand grabbed my arm hard. “I’m not finished.” She leaned closer, eyes narrowing. “What is that?” Her head tilted as her nostrils flared. “You smell.” Her lip curled. “When did you last wash yourself? In fact you reek. What are you hiding, Nicole?”

“Nothing,” I whispered.

She laughed softly. “Nothing? Your scent is all over the place. Are you sick? Or did you finally manage to open your legs for someone else while Tate wasn’t looking?”

I tried to pull away. “Let me go, Sophia.”

“Not until you answer.” Her grip tightened. “You think you can walk around smelling like that and no one will notice? If you embarrass this pack tonight, I’ll make sure Tate knows exactly how disgusting you are. Maybe I’ll tell him myself, your little omega pet is rotting from the inside. How does that sound?”

My stomach twisted, but I kept my voice steady. “I said excuse me.”

Sophia’s smile turned mean. “You always act so quiet and broken, but I see you. Always sneaking around, always watching. If you’re planning something, I’ll find out. And when I do, I won’t be as nice as Tate. I’ll enjoy watching you beg.”

She finally let go of my arm and stepped back. Her voice dropped to a cold whisper. “Fix it before the banquet. Scrub yourself raw. Burn those clothes. But if you walk in there smelling like this and shame the South River Pack in front of our guests” She paused, eyes gleaming. “Tate will make you wish you were dead. And I’ll be right there smiling while he does it.”