CHAPTER SIX: A DANGEROUS GAMBLE

Seraphina

Rowan took a slow, disbelieving step forward “A...a baby? You’re... carrying my pup?”

“Don’t look at her like that” Asheron’s voice was a low, terrifying rumble that vibrated through the tension.

Pearl had shattered my timeline. I was supposed to have until tonight—supposed to find a way out, or make my peace with the dark deal I had made in Asheron’s study. But now, with Rowan staring at me like I was a prize to be reclaimed, I knew I had seconds before my life was completely decided for me.

Knowing his temper, Rowan would fight to the death to drag me back

I had to end this. I had to sever the link to Rowan so completely that he would never, ever look at me again.

“Lira!” I screamed into the crowd of estate servants huddled near the archway

A young Beta girl, the pack’s doctor who had been assigned to me by Asheron, flinched and stepped forward, trembling under the collective gazes of two Alpha presence.

“Y-yes, Miss Seraphina?” Lira stammered while clutching her apron.

“A potion...for the termination. Bring it out. Now” I said

“Are you insane?” Rowan roared.

“I am not waiting for a quiet procedure in a back room tonight, Asheron” I said as I turned to face the rival Alpha directly and ignore Rowan’s shouts entirely. “You said you wouldn’t protect an offspring that wasn’t yours. You demanded I get rid of it to stay under your contract. I will not let Rowan use this child to drag me back into hell.”

Asheron stared at me, a flicker of genuine shock pierced through his rage. He hadn’t expected me to call his bluff in front of the entire pack, in front of his rival, and in front of his fiancée. His lips parted slightly, his inner wolf visibly warred with the brutality of what I was demanding. He could have stopped it. With a single word, he could have ordered Lira to stay back.

He said nothing. He simply stood there with a silent, imposing shadow to let the nightmare unfold.

Lira scrambled back out to the courtyard within moments, holding a small vial filled with the liquid. She looked at me with wide, terrified eyes, silently pleading with me not to do this.

“Give it to me” I said, stepping forward and snatching the vial from her hands.

“Seraphina, STOP!” Rowan roared as he surged forward with absolute desperation.

Asheron's arm slammed directly into Rowan’s chest and threw him backwards onto the gravel. “Touch her, and I will rip your tongue out” he growled, his voice was laced with absolute Alpha authority. This forced Rowan’s guards to pin their own Alpha back to prevent a bloodbath.

I didn’t wait. I didn’t let myself think about the tiny life inside me, or the quiet warmth that had settled in my belly when Asheron had marked me earlier. I opened the bottle, lifted it to my lips, and swallowed the bitter, burning liquid in one violent gulp.

It tasted so bad. It burned like liquid fire sliding down my throat.

Rowan let out a broken, agonizing scream. He fell to his knees as if the death of his legacy had physically struck him. “No... no, no, no! You this bitch”

“Get off this land, Rowan” I whispered, my vision already started to blur around the edges. “You have no Luna here. You have no heir. You have nothing.”

The world began to tilt violently. I felt the bottle slip from my numb fingers, shattering on the floor.

As my knees buckled, I expected to hit the hard, cold ground. But strong arms caught me before I landed. A heavy, dominant scent wrapped around my senses

Asheron.

The last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me completely was Asheron’s face hovering over mine, and Rowan being dragged away by his guards, weeping in the dirt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When my eyes opened back to consciousness, I was lying in a massive, canopy bed draped in charcoal silk.

I gasped and sat up abruptly when I realised that I was in Asheron’s private bedchamber. It was so cold and empty. My hands went straight to my stomach.

A hollow, devastating ache bloomed in my chest. Tears instantly filled my eyes, blinding me as the reality of what I had done crashed over my soul. I had killed my own child. I had sacrificed my own blood just to spite Rowan and secure a place under Asheron’s roof.

“Forgive me...” I sobbed into the quiet room, pulling my knees to my chest and burying my face in my hands. “I’m so sorry...”

The room was empty, but the door leading out was slightly ajar.

I slipped out of the bed to go check

As I rounded the corner, a hand suddenly reached out from the shadows and pulled me behind a curtain.

I almost screamed, but a small hand clamped over my mouth.

“Shh! Miss Seraphina, please! It’s me, Lira!” the Beta girl whispered frantically with her eyes darting around the empty corridor.

I relaxed slightly, even though my heart was pounding. “Lira? What are you doing? I...thank you for bringing the substance, but I need to be alone—”

“Miss Seraphina, listen to me very carefully” Lira hissed, leaning in so close her lips almost touched my ear. “You aren’t grieving. The pup is fine.”

I froze in place and my breath caught in my throat. “What do you mean?”

“The bottle I gave you... it wasn’t for termination ” Lira whispered, her hands gripped my arms tightly. “It’s an ancient herbal mixture used by rogue Omegas. It’s basically a masking potion. It temporarily suppresses the pregnancy aura and hides the pup’s heartbeat for a while. It makes your body look and feel completely empty to even the strongest Alpha scent.”

My mind reeled and my knees trembling so hard I had to lean against the wall. “My baby... is alive?”

“Yes...yes. But you do not have much time!” Lira urged desperately. “I knew what Rowan was trying to do, and I saw how scared you were. I couldn’t let you kill your baby out of desperation. But Alpha Asheron thinks it’s gone. Rowan thinks it’s gone. You have to figure out your next move before the Alpha realizes you tricked him!”

Relief, so sharp and profound it felt like a physical blow, flooded my veins. Tears of pure joy spilled down my cheeks as I pressed my palms over my stomach, feeling the faint, microscopic flutter of life still resting safely inside me.

“Thank you,” I breathed while clutching Lira’s hands. “Thank you, Lira...”

“Go back to his room before he notices you’re gone” she warned before she slipped back into the darkness of the servant stairs.

I hadn’t destroyed my own flesh. But the clock was ticking. I had to figure out how to survive an Alpha who would tear me apart the second he realized I had made a fool of him in front of his entire pack.

I turned to walk back toward Asheron’s quarters, stepping quietly along the floor.

Snap. A subtle imperceptible rustle of fabric echoed from the shadow of the arched window just few feet down the hall.

I stopped dead in my tracks

Standing in the deep shadow of the pillar was a slender silhouette. The soft moonlight glinted off a familiar gold ring on her finger and a pair of narrow, venomous eyes fixed directly on me.

Pearl.

She had heard everything.