CHAPTER 5: WHAT THEY MADE OF ME

I quickly covered my mouth, holding back the whimper that was about to escape. It felt like my soul was dying. 

Every word of neglect, every moment of isolation, every lie he’d told me about having to work late came crashing down. 

I was in a daze as I backed away from the door and walked out of the villa into the courtyard. Everything felt like a blur with faraway noise. 

Ford was my entire life. I had left everything when I had moved across a continent for him. Without him, I was and had nothing. 

I bent over as my heart started pounding and my lungs constricted. I was having a panic attack. 

I winced when a sharp wave of nausea suddenly struck me and black spots danced in my vision. The world tilted and darkened, and I collapsed in the courtyard.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the pack clinic. The fluorescent lights were blinding, and the smell of antiseptic made my stomach churn with a new intensity.

I looked up to see the pack doctor, his expression neutral. “You should be more careful,” he said.

I blinked, disoriented. “What happened—”

“You fainted. A guard found you and brought you here.”

My head throbbed faintly as memory rushed back. “I need to speak to Ford—”

“You’re pregnant.”

The words cut through everything.

I froze. “What?”

“You’re pregnant, ma’am.”

My heart skipped a beat. For a split second, a flicker of the old Keren tried to spark in my chest. A baby. A piece of the love I thought we had. 

Maybe this would bring us closer to each other. 

“What a disaster,” I heard the doctor mutter under his breath just as I was about to leave the room. 

 “As if things weren't complicated enough. The pack doesn’t need the unnecessary weakness of a half-breed.”

I wrapped my hand around my stomach protectively. They didn't just hate me. They hated the life inside me. They saw my child as a defect.

I sat on the steps of the communal hall, thinking about my next move. 

The same man who promised I was his soulmate was cheating on me. I was pregnant without anything of my own. I was twenty years old and stuck an ocean away from everything and everyone I had ever known. 

I was stuck with no idea of what to do next. 

“The healer just told me the good news.” A voice said from behind me. 

I jolted and turned to see Bree standing behind me with a mug in her hands. 

The most shocking thing was the warm smile on her face. 

She rolled her eyes at the look on my face. “Oh, stop looking like I’m going to bite you,” she said, walking up to me. “Ford is going to be so happy.” She whispered, pressing the mug into my hand. “Drink this. It's a Vale family recipe for pregnancy. You’re carrying the heir, you’d need it.” She patted my cheek gently. “You’ve finally proven your worth, Keren.”

She left before I could respond.

I stood there holding the glass and feeling, for the first time in weeks, something that might have been relief. If Bree knew and was reacting like this, maybe the pregnancy changed things. Maybe this was the bridge Ford kept telling me I needed to build.

I was about to take a sip when the mug was knocked from my hand so hard it shattered against the floor. 

“What are you—” I looked up to see the only person I could call a friend looking at me with wide eyes. “Irene??”

“Don’t.” She said, her voice alarmed. “Don’t drink that. There’s something wrong with it. Who gave you that??”

“Bree. Why?”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the stares. 

When we were in the corridor, she turned to me, and her face froze. “You’re pregnant.” She said in awe. 

“How do you—”

“I could smell the change in your scent. You know I'm training to be a healer.” She looked at the door behind us, then back at me. “And that drink was designed to end it.”

“She just tried to kill my child?” I whispered in shock, my hands trembling as I wrapped them around my belly. 

Irene pulled me into a hug. “You need to report this to the alpha,” she whispered, tightening her grip around me. “This has gone on too long. And now, they’ve gone too far.”

I let out a deep breath, the careless whisper of the pack doctor echoing in my head: “... half breed.”

Was it the same Ford that wouldn’t listen to me when I complained about something as little as being ostracized that would now listen to an accusation as serious as his cousin trying to hurt my child?

I was so not in the mood for that discussion when I knew what his choice would be. His pack over me. 

I was past the point of sadness or heartbreak. I was done.

I could bear it when it was just me they were directing their hate at.

But what I wouldn't bear was them extending that hate and bigotry to my child. 

I needed to get out of here. 

And the only way to make sure Ford never came after us… was to burn everything down on my way out.