2. The Weight of Truth

The nausea hit me three weeks later.

I stared at the three positive pregnancy tests lined up on my bathroom counter like tiny bombs waiting to explode. This wasn’t possible. It shouldn’t be possible. Rejected mate bonds didn’t result in pregnancy, the severed connection prevented it, or so every piece of werewolf biology I’d ever learned claimed.

But my body didn’t care about should or shouldn’t.

The evidence was undeniable, confirmed by the pack doctor I’d visited under a false pretense, claiming I wanted to update my medical records. Dr. Reeves had congratulated me with a knowing look that made my skin crawl, asking carefully neutral questions about the father that I’d deflected with practiced ease.

Triplets.

I was carrying triplets.

Three babies from three Alphas who’d rejected me without explanation, who avoided me like I carried a plague, who’d made it devastatingly clear that the Blood Moon had been an aberration they wanted nothing to do with.

I pressed my hands to my still-flat stomach, terror and wonder warring in my chest. I had no idea how to do this alone, no idea if I even could. My position in the pack was already tenuous. An unmated omega with illegitimate Alpha children would be lucky to keep her housing, let alone her dignity.

But as I stood there, something fierce and protective unfurled in my chest.

These babies hadn’t asked to be created in the middle of a supernatural disaster. They were innocent. And they were mine.

I would figure it out.

I had to.

The decision to tell the Alphas took another week of agonizing deliberation. Part of me wanted to disappear without a word, to spare myself the humiliation of their rejection a second time. But they deserved to know, didn’t they? And maybe…maybe…this would change things. Maybe the reality of children would break through whatever wall they’d constructed between us.

I was so, so naive.

I found them in Kieran’s office, the three of them bent over territorial maps, their heads close together in the way that had once made me feel included and now only emphasized my exclusion. They looked up when I entered, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

“Sage.”

Kieran’s voice was flat, his gray eyes cold as winter steel.

“You were told not to contact us regarding the bond matter.”

“This isn’t about the bond,” I said. My voice came out steadier than I felt. “At least, not directly.”

Asher straightened, his amber eyes sharp with that calculating intelligence I’d once found attractive and now found terrifying.

“Then what is it about? We’re in the middle of something important.”

Dominic said nothing, but his jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin. He wouldn’t meet my eyes, his dark gaze fixed somewhere over my left shoulder.

I forced myself to say the words.

“I’m pregnant.”

The silence that followed was crushing.

Kieran recovered first, his expression shifting from cold to something almost dangerous.

“That’s not possible.”

“Apparently it is.” I wrapped my arms around my middle, hating how defensive I sounded. “I’m eight weeks along. With triplets.”

“Triplets.”

Asher’s voice was carefully neutral, but I could see the calculation happening behind his eyes—the rapid assessment of implications and consequences. “How very convenient.”

The words hit like a physical blow.

“Convenient?”

“You’re claiming they’re ours,” Kieran said, not a question but an accusation. “Despite the rejection.”

“I’m not claiming anything. I’m stating a fact.” My voice rose despite my best efforts to stay calm. “I haven’t been with anyone else. I’ve barely left my quarters since—since that night.”

“Sage.”

Dominic finally spoke, and the false gentleness in his voice was somehow worse than Kieran’s ice or Asher’s calculation. “You need to think carefully about what you’re saying. The rejection severed our biological connection. Any pregnancy now couldn’t possibly be related to the Blood Moon.”

“I’m not confused!” The words came out sharper than I intended, edged with desperation. “Dr. Reeves confirmed it. Eight weeks. That’s exactly when the Blood Moon…”

“Dr. Reeves confirmed a pregnancy,” Asher interrupted smoothly. “That’s all. The timing is coincidental.”

I stared at them, watching the wall they’d constructed become impenetrable. Kieran leaned back in his chair, his expression carved from ice.

“I suggest you identify the actual father, Sage. Making false claims against pack Alphas is a serious offense that could result in your expulsion from Silver Crest.”

The casual cruelty of it stole my breath.

These were the men I’d loved for six years. And they were looking at me like I was a stranger. Worse, like I was a threat.

“I’m not making false claims,” I said quietly, hearing the break in my own voice. “I’m telling you the truth. These babies are yours.”

“Then you’ll have no objection to a paternity test,” Asher suggested, a smile on his lips that didn’t reach his eyes. “When it comes back negative, this unfortunate misunderstanding can be put to rest.”

I looked at Dominic, desperate for some sign of the man who’d whispered promises against my skin during the Blood Moon. But he’d turned away completely now, his massive shoulders tense, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

“Dom, please,” I whispered. “You know me. You know I wouldn’t lie about this.”

For just a moment, something flickered in his expression, pain, longing, regret.

Then it was gone, replaced by the same stone wall the others wore.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing,” he said, his voice rough, “but it’s not going to work. Those children aren’t mine. They aren’t ours. Find their real father and leave us alone.”

The finality in his voice shattered something inside me.

“Fine.”

The word came out hollow. “I’ll leave you alone. All of you.”

I turned and walked out of that office with what remained of my dignity, even as I felt their eyes burning into my back.

I didn’t let myself cry until I was back in my quarters, door locked, alone with the devastating truth:

I was going to have three Alpha babies and their fathers wanted nothing to do with any of us.

That night, I began researching how to leave the pack.