Chapter 1

Amelia’s POV

When a rogue tore into my shoulder, I reached out to my mate, Alpha Ronan, through our mind link for help, only to discover he had blocked me.

Just twenty minutes earlier, I hadn't seen the bloodshed coming. I was enjoying a quiet morning when Beta Harvey’s frantic voice shattered the peace.

“Luna Amelia. Rogues. In the east forest. They’re approaching the border.” He rushed to report, his voice was tense. 

“I’ll mind link Ronan,” I had told him.

“Alpha’s….occupied.” Harvey looked uncomfortable. 

Occupied? Our border was being attacked. What could be more important than that? 

“With what?” I asked.

Harvey hesitated.

“With Sarah,” he eventually said.

“Oh.”

Sarah.

My heart dropped. Of course Ronan was with Sarah. Ronan was always with Sarah these days.  

Ronan was my fated mate and the Alpha of the Moonvale Pack. Sarah was the Chief Warrior’s daughter, and Ronan’s childhood friend. I always thought their relationship was innocent.

Until recently.

As his Luna, Ronan used to treat me well. He was sweet and kind. He doted on me. Lately though, Ronan had become distant. We barely spoke. He was never home. He was always with Sarah. 

He even blew off our third anniversary to be with her.

When I confronted him about it, he told me Sarah had been sick. It was a lame excuse. I didn’t believe her. She wasn’t sick. She was just making up lies so that Ronan would spend time with her.

“You shouldn’t trust her,” I told Ronan that night. The dinner I’d made for our anniversary was cold. Midnight had passed. I’d sat alone all night, waiting for him. “Sarah’s a liar. She’s trying to manipulate you!”

Ronan wouldn’t believe me though. He accused me of being jealous and petty. We had a big fight.

“You’ve been unreasonable and selfish lately, Amelia. Don’t contact me about these petty issues anymore. I’m serious. No more unnecessary mind links!”

So when Beta Harvey told me our pack was being attacked, and that Ronan was with Sarah again, I decided not to contact him. 

Instead, I ran to the border with Harvey. We led the warriors to fight off the rogues.

The rogues were far stronger and more numerous than we expected. They emerged from the trees with a menacing glint in their eyes.

“Be careful,” Beta Harvey warned right before he shifted.

We fought hard and managed to push them back, away from our border. Some of them retreated.

As I lunged at one of the rogues though, another one caught me from behind. It’s strong jaw clamped down on my shoulder. Its teeth tore through my flesh. Red hot pain. Agonizing and raw.

I screamed out and fell to my knees.  Desperately, I reached out to Ronan. To my utter shock though, the mindlink was silent.

‘He blocked you,’ my wolf growled. ‘He blocked our mindlink!’

The rogue gnashed its teeth at me. My own blood dripped from its fur. One more bite and I was done for.

Thankfully, Harvey lunged. He threw the rogue off. It landed with a thud against a tree. Then it gave a yelp and ran off.

“Luna Amelia,” Harvey said. He rushed towards me.

The trees swam in my vision. The pain was too much to bear.

“Hang in there. You’re gonna be okay.” Harvey’s panicked face was the last thing I saw before everything went dark.

When I came to, I was disoriented. Bright lights blinded me. Turning my head to the side, I realized I was in the pack hospital. I tried to sit up, but agonizing pain ripped through my shoulder.

Right. The rogues. The bite. It all came back to me.

My shoulder was bandaged but it still hurt.

“Ronan,” I whispered.

He was here. He had to be. I was badly injured. Harvey would have told him. Even though things weren’t great between us at the moment, he was still my mate. He still cared for me. He still loved me.   

Confident that he’d come rushing to my side, I called his name again.

The seconds ticked by. No Ronan. My confidence wavered. 

‘He’s not here,’ my wolf said, her voice tinged with sadness. 

Struggling to sit up, I glanced around the room. My eyes landed on Harvey, sitting in the corner of the room on a small stool.

“Luna Amelia.” He smiled at me. He was still in his warrior gear. His face was smudged with blood and dirt. “Don’t try to sit up. Just lie down and rest.”

“Where’s Ronan?” I asked. My heart hammered in my chest. He wasn’t there. He hadn’t come…

“He’s talking to the doctor.” Harvey’s voice was gentle. Reassuring. I let out a sigh of relief.

Of course Ronan was there. Even though he was spending most of his time with Sarah, he still cared about me.

“You took a really bad bite,” Harvey said. He came to my bedside and patted my hand. “I was worried for a moment there. I thought…” His voice trailed off. He didn’t need to finish the sentence. I knew what he thought. He thought I died.

“Nope,” I smiled weakly at him. “It will take more than a rogue to bring me down.”

Harvey squeezed my hand. “Rest,” he said. “You need to regain your strength.” Then he flashed me a comforting smile and left.

I waited for Ronan to come but he didn’t. So, desperate to see him, I carefully got out of my bed. My knees wobbled a bit but I made it to the door. In the corridor, I steadied myself on the wall and made my way towards the doctor’s office.

The office door opened a crack. I was about to go inside, when I heard the doctor say something that made me pause.

“She’s a bit anemic,” the doctor said. “So she needs lots of rest.”

“Is the baby okay?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. That was Ronan’s voice.

But what did he mean by ‘the baby’? What baby? What was he talking about?

“Yes, of course.” The doctor’s voice was gentle. Reassuring. “Wolf pups are very resilient. But she needs your full attention.”

My mind spun. What wolf pup? Who was pregnant? This didn’t make any sense.

That’s when I heard it. Sarah’s unmistakable laugh.

“You heard what he said. You need to spend more time with me. Doctor’s orders.”

A sense of foreboding washed over me. Something wasn’t right. I stood frozen in place, my palms sweaty.

The scrape of chairs against the floor came next. Then footsteps towards the door. Seconds later, Ronan and Sarah emerged.

The color drained from my face. Ronan stood with one arm wrapped around Sarah’s shoulders, his hand resting protectively over her swollen belly. The pieces snapped into place.

My heart shattered. My chest squeezed. The room spun as my throat went completely dry. My words came out as a croak:

“Sarah… is carrying your baby?”