chapter 1: The Accusation

Alisha's POV

I knew something was wrong as Joshua's hand tightened on my arm, not gently or protectively.

"We need to talk," he said.

His Alpha voice cut through the pack gathering like a blade.

Three hundred wolves fell silent. Conversations died mid-word.

I was eight months pregnant with his twins. He was looking at me as if I were a stranger.

"Joshua?" My free hand went to my swollen belly.

The babies kicked, responding to my spiking heart rate.

"What's…"

"Don't." His grip tightened.

"Just shy of pain."

"Don't pretend you don't know."

Pack members nearest us began to shift. Sensing the tension radiating from their Alpha.

I caught Celine's worried gaze across the clearing. I saw my friend take half a step forward, but her mate pulled her back.

Whatever was happening, it was serious enough that even friends wouldn't intervene.

Joshua pulled me toward the edge of the gathering. Away from the celebration tables and music. But not away from the eyes.

If anything, more wolves were turning to watch. Conversations stuttered to a halt.

They registered their Alpha's rigid posture. And their Luna's confusion.

"You're hurting me," I said quietly.

Tried to tug my arm free. The mate bond between us felt wrong. Strained and pulled taut like a rope about to snap.

Now there was nothing but cold fury. He released me abruptly.

I stumbled off-balance from the pregnancy weight. I caught myself against a nearby oak, breathing hard.

A contraction rippled across my abdomen. Not labor, just Braxton Hicks. But the stress was triggering them more frequently.

Joshua stood there for a long moment. His hands were hovering over his jacket pocket.

His jaw worked like he was chewing words too bitter to swallow.

For just a second, I saw conflict flash across his face. The man I loved was warring.

Then his hand dove into his jacket. The finality of someone making an irrevocable choice.

"Who is he?" Joshua demanded. His voice was low and deadly.

"Who is who?" I asked.

"Joshua, I don't understand…"

He pulled out an envelope, extracted four photographs. His hands trembled slightly not from uncertainty. But from barely contained rage as he held them up.

My world tilted sideways. The woman in the photos was me.

Same blonde hair, green eyes. Same delicate features. Even, she wore my clothes.

That blue sundress I bought three months ago. My favorite leather jacket.

The necklace Joshua had given me for our first anniversary. But the man beside her was a stranger.

In the first photo, they sat at a restaurant table, leaning close.

In the second, his hand covered hers. In the third, they stood outside what looked like a hotel. And his arm around her waist. And

in the fourth, the worst one, they were kissing.

"I've never seen him before in my life," I whispered.

"Joshua, I swear to you, I've never…"

My voice cracked.

"Don't lie to me!" His roar made me flinch.

Several pack members gasped. Alphas didn't lose control like this in public. Ever.

"My mother saw you with him."

"She took these photos herself."

My blood ran cold.

"Your mother?"

"She came to me two weeks ago with concerns."

"Said she'd seen you meeting this man."

"Acting suspicious."

Joshua's laugh was bitter, broken.

"I told her she was wrong. That you would never betray me."

"I defended you."

"God, I actually defended you."

"Because I didn't do this!" My hands trembled as I reached for the photos. I need to see them closer.

To find proof of the manipulation, I knew I must be there.

"These aren't real. They can't be real."

"Joshua, please, you know me…"

He jerked the photos away from my grasp.

"I thought I did."

"I thought I knew my father, too."

"Before he cheated on my mother with your aunt."

His eyes were ice.

"Guess betrayal runs in the Davis bloodline."

The words hit like a physical blow, and I staggered back.

One hand pressed to my chest, where the mate bond was screaming in agony.

"That's not fair."

"I'm not Lisa."

"I would never…"

"When were you going to tell me?" Joshua cut me off.

His eyes were glacial.

"After the twins were born?"

"Or were you planning to pass his children off as mine?"

My knees buckled. I caught myself against the tree again. Bark rough under my palms.

"The twins are yours."

"Joshua, please, you can't actually believe…"

"I don't know what to believe anymore."

The admission hurt worse than accusations.

If he were raging, I could fight back.

But this cold, distant stranger wearing my mate's face was unreachable.

Beta Nathan appeared at Joshua's shoulder. His expression is deeply troubled.

"Alpha, maybe this conversation should be private…"

"Stay back," Joshua ordered. Didn't even look at him.

"This concerns the whole pack."

"They deserve to know their Luna's true character."

"Joshua, no." Panic clawed up my throat.

Whatever was happening, making it public would be irreversible.

"Please, just listen to me. Give me a chance to…"

"To what?" Joshua's voice rose.

"Explain away the evidence?"

"Convince me my mother is lying?"

"She has no reason to lie."

"You, on the other hand, have every reason."

The gathering had gone completely silent now.

Three hundred faces turned toward us, shock and confusion written across their features.

I saw some pack members whispering behind their hands.

Saw judgment forming in the eyes that had looked at me with respect just minutes ago.

The twins kicked frantically responding to my distress. Another Braxton Hicks contraction squeezed my belly, but stronger this time.

I pressed both hands to my stomach, trying to calm myself and them.

Stress wasn't good for the babies. I needed to stay calm.

"I've never cheated on you," I said.

Forcing my voice steady.

"I've never even thought about another man."

"You're my mate. You're everything to me."

"Apparently not everything."

Joshua looked at the photos again.

Something in his expression cracked.

"Was I not enough?"

"Did I fail you somehow?"

"Is that why you…"

"No!" I tried to close the distance between us.

Reaching for him desperately.

"You didn't fail me.I love you."

"Only you."

"Always you."

He stepped back before I could touch him.

The rejection of even that small contact broke something inside me.

The mate bond twisted, sending sharp pain through my chest.

"I wanted to believe that," Joshua said quietly.

"God, you have no idea how much I wanted to believe that."

Movement at the edge of the clearing caught my attention.

Irene Williams emerged from the crowd. Immaculate in a dove-gray dress, silver hair perfectly styled.

She moved to Joshua's side with practiced grace. Placed a hand on his arm, giving him that maternal comfort.

"I'm sorry, dear," Irene said to me.

Her voice dripped with false sympathy.

"But Joshua deserves the truth."

"I couldn't stand by and watch you destroy him the way your aunt destroyed his father."

I stared at my mother-in-law. Seeing clearly for the first time, the cold calculation behind those kind eyes.

"You did this."

"I documented your affair," Irene corrected smoothly.

"A mother protects her son."

"Always."

The twins kicked again.

Hard, sharp jabs that made me gasp. I looked down and saw my belly contracting.

The skin pulled tight in a way that wasn't Braxton Hicks. Real fear flooded through me.

"Something's wrong," I said.

But my voice came out too quiet, under the rushing sound in my ears.

Joshua was still staring at the photos.

Irene murmured something in his ear that I couldn't hear.

The pack members watched with morbid fascination. No one moved to help me.

Another contraction, this time stronger.

I bent forward with a cry of pain. Liquid gushed between my legs, soaking through my dress. Splashing onto the grass.

"I'm in labor," I whispered.

Joshua looked up. For one moment, just one, I saw my mate again. Saw concern flash across his face.

His hand reached toward me automatically.

Then Irene's hand tightened on his arm. His expression shuttered closed.

"I'm in labor," I repeated.

Louder and desperate this time.

"Joshua, the babies are…"

The twins kicked frantically.

Once, twice, three times in rapid succession.

Pain lanced through my abdomen.

I looked down, and the liquid pooling at my feet was tinged pink. Blood.

Joshua didn't move to help me.

The mate bond, already strained, felt like it was tearing in half.

Yet, Irene smiled.