1

Six months pregnant, I fought to secure a thirty-million-dollar territory for my mate, Alpha Ethan. I came pack house to find him getting intimate with his adopted sister, Tessa, in the council room.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Every head in the room snapped toward me. The air went still.

Ethan quickly pulled his hand from Tessa’s shoulder and stood up. "Sophia, you're back early."

"Early?" I met his gaze. "I thought my mate might want to know that I just closed the deal on the thirty-million-dollar territory."

"Of course, of course." He moved toward me, trying to pull me into a hug. "You've done well."

I took a step back. "Am I interrupting pack business?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm.

Tessa stood up, a flash of panic in her eyes before she smoothed it over. "Sophia, we were just discussing the future of the pack."

"The future?" I scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "And does that future involve you taking my place beside him?"

The other pack members started exchanging nervous glances. The tension in the room thickened.

Ethan’s face hardened. "You're mistaken, Sophia. Tessa has just come of age. We were discussing her new responsibilities within the pack."

"And do those 'responsibilities' include receiving your mating mark?"

"That's enough!" Ethan unleashed his Alpha command. "You're not stable right now. Go to our room and rest."

The full force of his command crashed down on me, but my Silver Wolf bloodline allowed me to stand my ground.

"No, Ethan. We're settling this right now."

Tessa moved to Ethan's side, putting on a wounded expression. "Ethan, maybe I should just leave the pack. Then Sophia wouldn't misunderstand."

"No, Tessa." Ethan wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "The Blackwood pack is your home. No one is driving you out."

He looked at me, his eyes holding none of the warmth of a mate, only the cold authority of an Alpha. "Sophia, for the harmony of this pack, I want you to apologize to Tessa."

"Apologize?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Yes. Apologize for your baseless accusations."

I looked around the room. Every pack member was staring, waiting for me to submit.

A war raged inside me. My wolf snarled at the disrespect, but the thought of the pup in my belly—our future heir—and my father’s hopes for this alliance forced me to submit.

Swallowing my pride, I walked to the bar and poured a glass of whiskey.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice tight. I tossed the glass back, the liquid fire searing a path down my throat.

"Good," Ethan said, his voice dangerously low. "That was for your apology. Now, for your success... Nine more glasses."

"What?" I whispered, disbelieving.

"Ten glasses. One for every three million you earned this pack," he said, his voice flat and cruel. "A toast to your success. And a lesson in humility. Now drink."

I stared at him. The man I had loved for three years.

I poured another glass and drank.

And another. And another.

By the seventh glass, the room was spinning, my pup stirring restlessly inside me as if sensing the poison.

"Isn't that enough?" I gripped the edge of the bar, my knuckles white, just to stay on my feet.

"Three more to go," Tessa's voice purred with a hidden glee. "You have to be truly sorry, Sophia."

I looked at Ethan, praying he would stop this.

He just watched me, his expression cold, waiting for me to continue.

The eighth. The ninth. The tenth.

I set the glass down, my tongue numb from the alcohol. "Is… is that enough now?"

Tessa walked up to me, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Sophia, you know, I've always thought that maybe you and Ethan… just aren't a good fit."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Your mate bond feels so… forced," she said, looking at Ethan with pure adoration. "But Ethan and I, we grew up together. What we have is real, not some chain forced on us by fate."

I laughed, the alcohol making it sound hysterical. "So what's your point?"

"My point is," Tessa said, her voice sharp, "maybe you should consider breaking the mate bond. Let Ethan mark someone who's truly meant for him."

"Someone truly meant for him? You mean yourself?"

"I carry the true blood of the Blackwood Pack," she said, puffing out her chest. "By birthright, I'm a better Luna than some Silver Wolf outsider."

I turned to Ethan, waiting for him to shut her down.

He didn't.

Instead, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a ritual silver dagger, placing it on the bar between us. The same kind of dagger used to sever a mate bond.

"Maybe Tessa is right, Sophia," he said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Perhaps it's time we end this. Peacefully. You could still have a place in the pack, just… in a different capacity."

I stared at the dagger, then at him. The humiliation, the poison burning in my gut, the casual cruelty in his eyes—it all converged into a single, chilling realization: this pack was a cage, and this pup was its lock.

My tears stopped. A frightening calm washed over me.

"You think I need your protection to survive?" I asked, my voice hollow.

I picked up the dagger, its silver edge a cold promise against my skin. Instead of turning it on myself, I walked toward the door, clutching it like a lifeline.

"Sophia!" Ethan’s voice cracked like a whip. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

I paused at the threshold, not daring to look back. My free hand pulled out my phone. As the cold night air hit my face, I dialed a number I never thought I'd use.

"I need a potion," I said, my voice chillingly steady. "One that can end a lycan pregnancy. Immediately."