Chapter 4: The Scent of Secrets

"Get in here. Now."

Victor’s voice crackled through the intercom like a whip. I didn't even have time to swallow my lukewarm coffee before the buzzer on my desk hissed again, more insistent this time.

I stood up and smoothed my cheap pencil skirt. This was my new reality. Eight hours a day in a glass cage, pretending I wasn't drowning in the scent of pine and dominant male. Every time I stepped into his office, the air turned thick. It felt like walking through a swamp of raw, unfinished business.

I pushed open the heavy oak doors. Victor was standing by the window, his back to me. His suit jacket was off, his white shirt stretched tight across those shoulders the ones that still haunted my dreams.

"The Logan file is on your desk, Victor," I said. I kept my voice flat. Professional. Safe.

He didn't move. "I don't care about the file."

He turned around, and the intensity in his eyes made my breath hitch. He wasn't looking at me like a boss. He was looking at me like he wanted to devour me. He crossed the room in three long strides, stopping so close I could feel the heat radiating from his chest.

"You’re wearing that perfume again," he growled.

"It’s soap, Victor. Just soap."

"It’s a lie." He reached out, his fingers grazing the skin of my neck, right over the spot where my pulse was jumping like a panicked rabbit. "You’re trying to hide it. The scent of the bond. My scent."

"There is no bond," I whispered, though my body was already betraying me, leaning into his touch like a flower to the sun. "You made sure of that with your note."

His jaw tightened. "I said it changed nothing. I didn't say I stopped wanting you."

The door to the outer office swung open. I jumped back, nearly tripping over my own feet, just as Camille strolled in with a shopping bag in each hand.

"Hey, big brother! Elodie, thank God you're here. I need an honest opinion on" Camille stopped, her nose wrinkling. She looked between us, her eyes wide. "Ugh, why does it smell like a mating den in here? Victor, did you forget to vent the office again? Gross."

My heart stopped. I looked at the floor, my face burning red.

"I was just giving Elodie her instructions for the gala," Victor said. His voice was perfectly smooth. The transition was terrifying; he went from predatory lover to cold CEO in a heartbeat.

"The gala?" Camille’s eyes lit up. "Oh, Elodie, you have to come! It’s going to be so much fun. All the northern packs are sending people."

"I’m staff, Camille," I said, my voice shaking. "I’ll be working the floor."

"Staff or not, you’re coming," Victor said. His eyes locked onto mine, issuing a silent challenge. "I want you where I can see you."

The gala was a nightmare draped in velvet and diamonds.

The Blackwood estate was crawling with high-society she-wolves, their scents clashing in a dizzying cloud of expensive florals and aggression. I stood by the buffet line, holding a clipboard I didn't need, feeling every bit the "stray" Victor claimed I was.

"Look at her," a tall blonde whispered. She was the daughter of some big-shot Beta, her neck draped in pearls. "Victor’s new 'assistant.' She doesn't even have a scent. She’s practically human. Why is she even allowed in the inner circle?"

"A charity case," her friend sneered, sipping champagne. "I heard she’s a Hart. You know, the family that lost everything? I guess she’s here to pick up the scraps."

I clutched the clipboard tighter. Scraps. That’s all I was to them. All I was to him.

I looked across the ballroom. Victor was surrounded by three beautiful she-wolves, all of them leaning in, baring their necks, practically begging for the Alpha King’s attention. He looked bored. His eyes scanned the room until they landed on me. He didn't smile. He just stared, his gaze heavy and possessive, marking me from across the room.

Suddenly, the heat in the room felt unbearable. The smells the heavy perfume, the roasted meat, the underlying musk of a hundred shifting wolves hit me like a physical blow. My stomach gave a violent, sickening lurch.

"Elodie? You look green." Camille appeared at my side, her hand reaching for my arm.

"I... I just need some air," I gasped.

I turned and bolted for the hallway, my heels clicking frantically on the marble. I just needed to breathe. I needed the scent of Victor to stop suffocating me. I made it halfway down the corridor before the world started to tilt. The lights blurred into long streaks of white.

"Hey! Someone help! She's falling!"

Camille’s voice was the last thing I heard before the darkness rushed in.

The smell of antiseptic brought me back. I was lying on a cot in the pack’s private clinic, the quiet tick-tick of a heart monitor nearby.

"Ohh, you’re finally awake."

The pack doctor, an older man named Elias, sat on a stool nearby. He wasn't looking at a chart; he was looking at me with pure bewilderment.

"What happened?" I sat up, my head throbbing. "I just got dizzy. The heat..."

"Elodie," Elias said, leaning forward. "I ran a quick blood panel while you were out. I thought it was just exhaustion, or maybe a reaction to the Alpha pheromones in the room."

"And?"

He hesitated, rubbing his chin. "You told me years ago, after that accident at the border, that you were barren. That the trauma to your wolf had scarred you internally."

"I am," I said, my voice cracking. "I have the records. Victor... he saw them."

"The records say you shouldn't be able to carry a pup," Elias said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "But the blood doesn't lie. Elodie, your HCG levels are through the roof. You’re pregnant. Almost four weeks."

The world stopped.

"That’s impossible," I breathed. My hands flew to my stomach. It felt as flat and empty as always. "I’m wolfless. I’m broken."

"Apparently," Elias said, a faint smile touching his lips, "the Alpha King’s seed didn't care about your records. It’s a miracle, Elodie. Or a sign from the Moon Goddess."

A miracle? No. This was a death sentence. Victor wanted a secret mistress. He didn't want a pup with a stray. He needed an heir from a High Luna, not a girl who had been banished in disgrace and couldn't even shift. If the pack found out the Alpha King’s heir was being carried by a "broken" woman, they’d demand I be replaced. Or worse.

The door to the clinic was kicked open.

Victor stood there, his hair disheveled, his tuxedo jacket gone. He looked frantic—until he saw me sitting up. Then, the mask of the cold Alpha snapped back into place.

"Out," Victor commanded, looking at Elias.

"Alpha, I should explain"

"I said OUT."

Elias scurried out, closing the door with a soft click. Victor walked toward the bed, his presence filling the small room until I felt like the walls were closing in. He stopped at the foot of the cot, his eyes boring into mine.

"Camille said you fainted. She’s hysterical." He stepped closer, his nostrils flaring as he caught the scent of the clinic. "What did the doctor say, Elodie? Why are you in a clinic bed instead of at your post?"

I looked at himthe man who had told me I was nothing, the man who was currently holding my life in his hands. I thought about the tiny life flickering inside me.

If I told him, he’d either lock me in a cage or force me to disappear to protect his reputation.

"He said..." My voice failed me. I swallowed hard. "He said I had a drop in blood sugar. That's all. I haven't been eating much."

Victor leaned down, his face inches from mine. He grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his golden gaze. "You’re lying. I can smell the change in your chemistry, Elodie. It’s sweet. Pungent. It's different than it was this morning."

He slid his hand down, his palm resting flat against my abdomen. I flinched, but he didn't let go. His eyes widened, his pupils dilating until they were almost entirely black. He let out a low, vibrating growl that made my skin prickle.

"Tell me the truth," he hissed, his hand tightening slightly against my skin. "What is growing inside you? I can hear a second pulse, Elodie. It’s faint, but it’s there."

The room felt like it was spinning. I looked at the door, then back at the man who was both my mate and my master.

"Victor," I whispered, the truth breaking through my fear. "I think you’ve got your heir. And I think we're both in a hell of a lot of trouble."

Victor’s face went deathly pale. But before he could speak, the clinic's emergency alarm began to howl.

"Alpha!" a guard screamed through the door. "The Silver Crescent! Sebastian Cole is at the gates... and he’s claiming the woman inside the clinic is his runaway mate!"

Victor’s grip on my chin turned to iron. "What the f**k did you do, Elodie?"