Chapter 5: The Alpha’s Claim

"Tell me the truth, Elodie. Right now."

Victor’s voice wasn't a roar. It was a low, vibrating hum that made the medical instruments on the tray rattle. He was standing so close his shadow swallowed me whole. His hand remained flat against my stomach, his fingers splayed, heat seeping through the thin fabric of my dress.

"I told you," I rasped, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. "The heat. The crowd. I just... I haven't been eating well. It was a panic attack, Victor. My blood sugar dropped."

"Liar." He leaned down, his nose brushing against my temple. He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring. "The scent coming off your skin... it’s different. It’s heavy. It’s sweet, like honey and rain. It’s the scent of a female who has been claimed."

"You claimed me!" I shoved at his chest, my voice rising in a desperate pitch. "In the villa. You marked me with everything but your teeth. Of course I smell like you."

Victor’s eyes narrowed, the amber glow fading into a dark, calculating gold. He didn't believe me. He could hear my heart jumping. He could probably smell the metallic tang of my fear.

"Get up," he commanded, his hand sliding from my stomach to grip my elbow.

"Where are we going? I need to go home. I need my apartment"

"You aren't going back to that rat-infested hole in the city," Victor snapped. He pulled me off the cot, his grip firm but strangely careful. He didn't jerk me. He didn't manhandle me. It was like he was handling something fragile, something that might shatter if he squeezed too hard. "Zack! Bring the car around to the private entrance. Now!"

"Victor, the guests" I stumbled as he led me toward the back door of the clinic. "You can't just leave your own gala. There are Alphas out there. Sebastian is out there!"

"Let them wait," he growled. He kicked open the exit door, the cool night air hitting my face like a bucket of water. Zack, his Beta, was already idling the black SUV at the curb. Zack’s eyes widened as he saw Victor practically carrying me toward the car, but he didn't say a word. He just opened the back door.

"The penthouse," Victor told Zack as he slid in beside me, pulling me flush against his side.

"Victor, please," I whispered, looking out the tinted window as the lights of the estate faded into the distance. "Just let me go back to my life."

"This is your life now, Elodie," he said, his voice dropping to a jagged whisper. He reached out, his hand hovering over my abdomen for a second before he pulled it back, clenching it into a fist. "Until I figure out exactly what the hell is happening to your body, you belong to me."

The penthouse was a fortress of cold steel and floor-to-ceiling glass, perched so high above the city that the streets below looked like veins of fire. Victor didn't let go of me until we were deep inside the living room.

"Sit," he ordered, pointing to a sprawling leather sofa.

"I don't want to sit. I want to leave." I paced the length of the room, my mind racing.

A barren wolf carrying an Alpha King’s heir? It was impossible. If the pack elders found out, they wouldn't celebrate. They’d see me as a freak. A mutation. They’d think I used dark magic to trap their King. They’d kill me to 'purify' the bloodline. My own family had rejected me the moment my wolf was injured six years ago; they wouldn't protect me. I was wolfless and alone.

I had to get out. I had to get to the city, find Sebastian, or just disappear into the sea of humans where Victor couldn't track me.

"Drink this."

Victor appeared in front of me, holding a glass of water. His face was unreadable. The anger was gone, replaced by a strange, unsettling tenderness. He brushed a stray hair away from my eyes, his touch lingering on my cheek.

"Why are you being like this?" I pushed his hand away, my lip trembling. "In Montana, you treated me like trash. You left a note telling me I was nothing. Why the sudden concern?"

Victor set the glass down on the coffee table. He stepped into my space, his hands coming up to rest on my shoulders. "Because I never planned for the bond to be this strong, Elodie. I thought I could use you and forget you. I thought I could exorcise the ghost of you from my head."

"And?"

"And every time I touch you, it feels like I’m being branded," he whispered. He leaned down, his forehead resting against mine. "I saw those medical records. I know what they said. But my wolf... he’s screaming that those papers are wrong. He’s telling me there’s something of mine inside you."

"There's nothing," I lied, my voice breaking. "Victor, please. Don't do this to me."

"I have to." He pulled me into his arms, holding me so tight I could hear the steady, heavy thrum of his heart. "I’m going to protect you, Elodie. Even if I have to protect you from yourself."

I closed my eyes, a single tear escaping. For a second, I let myself believe him. I let myself feel the warmth of his chest and the safety of his arms. It was a glimmer of hope, a tiny, foolish dream that maybe, just maybe, he would choose me over his pack.

Then the elevator chimed.

Zack Vale burst into the penthouse, his face pale and sweat beading on his forehead. He was holding a tablet in one hand.

"Victor. We have a problem. A big one."

Victor shoved me behind him, his body instantly going into a defensive crouch. "What is it?"

"The photos from the villa," Zack said, his voice tight. "Someone leaked them. They’re everywhere, Victor. Social media, the morning tabloids... everyone knows the 'Stray Hart' was at your private estate."

"What the f**k?" Victor snatched the tablet. His jaw creaked as he scrolled. "I’ll kill whoever did this. I’ll rip their hearts out."

"It gets worse," Zack whispered. He looked at me, his eyes filled with a grim pity. "The pack elders are already calling. They’re demanding to know why a banished, wolfless female is sleeping in the Alpha King’s bed. They’re calling for a tribunal, Victor. They want her gone. Permanently."

I felt the blood drain from my face. The glimmer of hope shattered into a thousand jagged pieces. He won't fight them. He can't. He’ll choose the throne.

"And Camille?" I whispered. "Does she know?"

"Look for yourself," Zack said, pointing toward the penthouse entrance.

The heavy glass doors weren't fully closed. Camille was standing there, her face a mask of devastating realization. She was holding a copy of the Daily Sentinel. The front-page photo was grainy, but clear: Victor carrying me into the villa, my legs wrapped around his waist.

"Camille..." I stepped forward, my hands shaking. "I can explain. I wanted to tell you—"

"Explain what, Elodie?" Camille walked into the room, her voice trembling with a rage I’d never seen. "Explain that while I was crying for you, while I was trying to help you, you were busy screwing my brother? The man who ruined your life?"

"It wasn't like that"

"Was it the villa?" Camille stepped closer, her eyes flashing. "Was it the office? How long has this been going on? Are you even my friend, or were you just using me to get back into the Blackwood family?"

"Camille, enough!" Victor barked.

"No! It’s not enough!" Camille screamed, turning on him. "You banished her, Victor! You made me believe she was a traitor! And all this time, you were keeping her as your little secret? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I love her!"

The words exploded from Victor’s throat, silencing the room. I froze, my heart stopping in my chest. He said it. Camille laughed, a harsh, hysterical sound. "You love her? Or you just love that she can't say no to you? You’re an Alpha King, Victor. You don't love. You possess."

She turned back to me, her eyes filled with tears. "And you... I trusted you. You were the only person I had. What else are you hiding, El? What else haven't you told me?"

I opened my mouth to speak, to beg for her forgiveness, but a sudden, blinding white pain ripped through my lower abdomen. It felt like a hot iron being twisted in my gut.

"Ahh!" I buckled, my knees hitting the hardwood floor.

"Elodie!" Victor was at my side in a second, his hands catching me before I collapsed.

I looked down. A thin trail of red was staining the cream rug beneath me. The pain flared again, sharper this time, a scream tearing from my throat.

"Victor..." I gasped, grabbing his shirt. "Something’s wrong. The baby... Victor, the baby!"

Camille’s face went from rage to absolute horror. "Baby? What baby?"

The elevator chimed again. This time, it wasn't Zack. The doors opened to reveal three High Elders of the Blackwood pack, their faces grim and their eyes cold as ice. They looked at the blood on the floor, then at me, then at their King.

"The secret is out, Victor," the lead Elder said, his voice echoing through the penthouse like a funeral bell. "And we are here to ensure the bloodline remains pure. By any means necessary."

Victor snarled, his fangs extending, his body shielding me even as I bled. "Stay away from her."

"She is a defect, Alpha," the Elder said, stepping into the room. "And a defect cannot carry the King's heir. We have a doctor waiting. We will remove the... complication... and then we will deal with the stray."

I looked up at Victor, my vision blurring from the pain. "Don't let them," I whispered. "Victor, please..."

Victor’s eyes were blood-gold as he looked from the Elders to me, then to his crying sister. He reached for his phone, his voice a lethal rasp.

"Zack. Seal the building. And call Sebastian Cole. Tell him... tell him I’m ready to make that deal."