CHAPTER 1: The Public Break

"You are out of your mind, Dreda," I snapped, my voice echoing off the high stone walls of the Silver Moon pack house.

The grand assembly hall was packed. Hundreds of wolves stood shoulder to shoulder, their whispers rustling through the crowd like dry leaves scattered by the wind. At my feet, a shattered ceramic mug leaked a dark puddle of rosehip tea across the pale marble floor. The sweet, tart scent of the herbs mixed with the heavy stench of sweat, damp fur, and anger filling the room. It was supposed to be a normal evening. Now, my world was rapidly tilting on its axis.

Dreda stood three steps above me on the raised dais, trembling like a fragile leaf. She clutched the edge of Caomh’s dark sleeve. Her blonde hair fell in messy, pristine waves, and tears streamed continuously down her perfectly flushed cheeks.

"I'm not lying, Meghann," Dreda sobbed, her voice cracking in a pitch-perfect display of misery. She pressed herself closer to Caomh, her small hands gripping his muscular arm. "I didn't want this to happen. We didn't plan it. But we can't hide it anymore. It isn't right."

I looked at Caomh. My fated mate. The man who was supposed to stand by my side and lead this pack with me. He wouldn't meet my eyes. His jaw ticked, a muscle jumping frantically under his tan skin. He stared straight ahead at the massive silver crest mounted on the far wall.

"Caomh," I said, dropping my voice to a dangerous, steady whisper. "Tell her to stop talking. Tell them she's crazy. End this right now."

Silence stretched. The kind of silence that made my ears ring and my stomach plummet.

Caomh finally shifted his gaze to me. His golden eyes, usually warm and bright when he looked at me, appeared dull. Heavy with guilt. "She isn't crazy, Meghann."

I blinked. Once. Twice. The sharp taste of copper flooded my mouth where my teeth had bitten down too hard on my inner cheek. "What do you mean she isn't crazy? She just stood in front of the entire pack and said you spent the night in her bed."

"Because I did," Caomh said flatly.

Gasps rippled through the gathered wolves. My sister, Selene, tried to push forward from the front row, her face pale with fury, but two heavy-set pack warriors quickly grabbed her arms and held her back.

My chest tightened. The air in the room felt thick, heavy with the sudden shift in the pack's scent. Pity. Disgust. Shock. It coated the back of my throat.

"We are fated," I reminded him, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep it steady. "The Moon Goddess chose us. I have stood by you for years. And you slept with her?"

"It was a mistake," Caomh growled, rubbing a large hand over his face. He looked exhausted, but I didn't care. "It was the night of the winter solstice. We were both drunk. The bond hadn't fully settled between us yet, Meghann. You know that. I lost control."

"A mistake," I repeated. A bitter, jagged laugh scraped up my throat. I took a step up the marble stairs of the dais. Caomh flinched slightly, but Dreda just squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face against his chest, whimpering softly.

"It's more than just a mistake, Caomh," Dreda cried loudly enough for the elders in the back row to hear. She turned her head, looking down at me with puffy, red eyes. "Tell her. Please, Caomh. Tell her the truth."

The cold from the marble floor seemed to seep up through the soles of my boots, freezing the blood in my veins. My wolf paced anxiously in the back of my mind, scratching at my mental walls. She sensed the danger before my human brain could process it.

"Tell me what?" I demanded.

Caomh swallowed hard. His Adam's apple bobbed. He gently grabbed Dreda’s waist, pulling her flush against his side. The highly protective, instinctual gesture hit me harder than a fist to the jaw.

"Dreda is pregnant," Caomh announced. His voice boomed across the hall, carrying the deep, resonant tone of an Alpha. It left no room for doubt. "She is carrying my pup. The Silver Moon heir."

The hall erupted. Shouts, growls, and frantic, loud whispers bounced off the walls. I stood completely frozen in the center of the chaos.

Pregnant.

The word echoed in my skull, over and over, until it lost all meaning. I stared at Dreda’s flat stomach, wrapped in a pale pink dress. Then I looked at Caomh's hand, resting gently, protectively, just above her hip.

"You're lying," I whispered, though I knew he wasn't. Werewolves couldn't hide the scent of a growing pup for long. The elders would demand to check her. Dreda wouldn't risk this massive public display if it wasn't entirely true.

"I'm sorry, Meghann," Caomh said softly. He stepped away from Dreda and walked down the steps toward me. He reached out, his large hands aiming for my shoulders to comfort me.

I slapped him.

The sharp crack of my palm against his cheek silenced the room instantly. Caomh’s head snapped to the side. A bright red, stinging mark bloomed rapidly on his jawline. My hand burned from the force of the impact, but I kept my fingers curled tightly at my sides so they wouldn't shake.

Low, warning growls rumbled from the loyalist warriors in the crowd. A Beta stepping to their Alpha was treason. A mate striking him was completely unheard of.

"Do not touch me," I hissed, my voice dripping with pure venom. "You claim the Moon Goddess makes mistakes? You claim a drunken night overrides our destiny?"

Caomh slowly turned his head back to me. His eyes flashed with bright, dangerous Alpha authority, his wolf pushing to the surface in response to the disrespect. "Watch your tone, Meghann. I am still your Alpha."

"You are a coward," I shot back, lifting my chin, refusing to submit to his aura. "You broke our bond before it even had the chance to solidify. You brought a child into this world out of sheer weakness."

"I am taking responsibility!" Caomh yelled, his patience finally snapping. The sound rattled the windows. "A true Alpha protects his bloodline. Dreda is carrying my child. I cannot abandon her, and I cannot split the pack's loyalty between the mother of my heir and a mate I have not yet marked."

I stared at him, truly seeing him for the first time. The man I had loved since we were teenagers. The man I had trained alongside in the dirt, bled with on border patrols, and fought for against rival packs. He was entirely gone. In his place stood a stranger holding onto a frightened girl who had played him perfectly.

"So, what does that mean for us?" I asked. My voice sounded incredibly hollow, stripped of all the fiery anger from moments before. Only a deep, heavy exhaustion remained.

Caomh closed his eyes. When he opened them, the last shred of warmth I had ever known from him was gone.

"It means I have to make a choice for the good of the Silver Moon Pack," he said.

"Caomh, no!" Selene screamed from the crowd, struggling violently against the guards holding her. "You can't do this! She's your fated mate! You'll kill her!"