Urgency

POV: Gideon

A sharp, heavy pain shot through the back of my head. I closed my eyes and pressed my thumb hard against the bridge of my nose. Another headache. They had been getting worse every single week, ever since Cynthia got sick.

It felt like a dark, tight iron band squeezing my skull, refusing to let go.

"You need to sign these, Alpha," Beta Marcus said, putting a stack of papers on my desk. "The elders are getting impatient."

I opened my eyes. The bright sunlight coming through the window hurt my head like knives. "What is this?"

"The list of surrogate candidates," Marcus said. "Three females from our pack, and two from the border pack. The doctors cleared them all."

I pushed the papers away, disgust rising in my gut. "I told you I’m not doing this."

"Gideon, you don't have a choice!"

The office door opened. Cynthia walked in, supported by her maid. She looked super thin, her blonde hair was dull, and her skin looked pale and translucent. The sweet flower smell she used to carry was completely gone, replaced by the bitter, sharp smell of medicine.

My chest tightened with a heavy, suffocating weight. Look at her, I thought, guilt washing over me. She was so full of life when I claimed her. Now she’s fading away, and it’s my job to protect her. I got up right away, walked around the desk, and took her arm from the maid. "Cynthia, you should be resting."

"The elders are right, Gideon," she interrupted, her voice weak and desperate. She looked up at me with pale blue eyes. "Silas met with the southern clan leaders yesterday. He’s telling everyone you can't rule because we don't have an heir."

"Silas is a bastard who wants my crown," I said coldly. "He won't take it."

"He WILL take it if you don't have a baby before the blood moon!" Cynthia’s voice cracked. She grabbed my arm, her fingers weak. "The law is clear, Gideon. An Alpha without an heir loses his throne. Silas will kill me the moment he takes over! You know he will!"

I went quiet. She was right, and that was the terrifying part. Silas hated Cynthia. If he challenged me and won over the traditional elders, he would execute my whole household to secure his claim.

"The law doesn't allow fake methods like IVF," Cynthia whispered, tears running down her cheeks. "It has to be natural. Please, Gideon. Do this for us. Do it for the pack."

To lay with another woman while my bonded wife sat in the next room went against every rule of honor I had lived by. My wolf growled inside my chest, resisting the idea. Yet, deep down, a strange part of me knew our mate bond had felt muted and quiet for years—a distant hum instead of a roaring flame. But my duty to protect her was absolute.

"You are asking me to sleep with another woman," I said, the words tasting like ash in my mouth.

"It's not a real relationship!" she begged, holding my hand. "It's just business. She's just a tool to have a baby! Once she gives birth, we pay her, she leaves, and the baby is ours. Ours, Gideon."

I looked down at her sick face. I promised to protect her when I put the Luna mark on her neck. I can't let Silas butcher her just to save my own pride.

I looked over at Beta Marcus, who was standing by the desk.

"Set up the interviews," I said, my voice cold and flat. "Bring the top candidate to the house on Friday."

"Do you want to see her paper?" Marcus asked, holding up a folder. "A Beta's daughter from the border pack applied. Her bloodline is clean."

"No," I said, turning away to look out the window at the trees. If I read her name, if I look at her face, she becomes a real person. I can't afford that. "I don't want to know her name. I don't want to see her face until the interview. She is a stranger, Marcus. Treat her like one."