Chapter 6 A Plan in Tatters

(Madilyn)

I keep my hand looped through Kaleb's arm, my nails digging slightly into his biceps. A physical anchor. A reminder. You are mine.

He's been like this for weeks now. Distant and irritable. The Mark on his skin is fading, its power over him blurring, and it's taking every ounce of my will to hold him, to keep him focused. To keep him mine.

The Conclave hall is buzzing. Alphas and their heirs, all posturing and scent-marking, a room full of predators pretending at politics. 

I plaster a serene, confident smile on my face, playing the part of the beloved, chosen Luna.

Kaleb is silent beside me, a dark, brooding statue. His gaze is fixed on the entrance.

"Waiting for someone, my love?" I purr, trying to draw him back.

He just grunts.

My stomach clenches. The Mark on my arm, hidden beneath my silk sleeve, feels cold. It used to burn with power. Now, it just itches vaguely.

Then the Silverwood pack makes their entrance.

Alpha Marcus strides in first, looking like he's ready to declare war. And behind him...

My breath catches. It's her.

She’s not the broken, weeping rat I last saw crumpled on the floor. She's dressed in the deep green and silver of her pack, her hair braided back, her chin high. She looks regal. She looks like the Alpha Heir she was born to be.

And she’s quite obviously pregnant. 

It's not a trick of the light. There’s a distinct, proud, visible swell to her stomach.

A cold, sharp terror, purer than any I’ve ever known, seizes my heart.

It’s impossible. That can’t be Kaleb’s heir in there. 

The rejection, amplified by the Mark’s power, should have scoured her womb clean for eternity. 

A rejected womb is a barren womb, everyone knows that. And this rejection was magically heightened.

Yet, there it is. A living, breathing, growing miracle that defies my power.

The moment Kaleb sees her, his entire body goes rigid. He doesn't growl. He doesn't move. He just stares. As if he can’t keep his eyes off her.

This is wrong. This is all wrong. 

He should be mine. Nothing should be able to get between us again.

Beside Charlie, holding her hand, is Rohan. 

He leans down, whispering something in her ear, and she gives him a small smile. He looks at her like she's the Goddess herself.

Rohan.

My panic solidifies into rage. He was part of this. 

This was our plan. Which seems to be working out just dandy for him, while I’m struggling to keep my hold over Kaleb. Why the hell didn’t he let me know the spawn survived?

I see him separate from Charlie, heading toward the back of the hall.

"I'll be right back, my love," I whisper to Kaleb, kissing his stone-cold cheek. He doesn't even blink.

I slip through the crowd, my movements quick and silent as I follow Rohan into the alcove leading to the restrooms. I grab his arm and drag him into the empty, opulent space, the door hissing shut behind us.

"What is happening?" I hiss. "You told me she’d come back to you, broken. You told me the plan was working!"

Rohan looks at me, his handsome face utterly disinterested. He slowly, deliberately, removes my hand from his arm.

"The plan did work, Madilyn," he says, his voice smooth. "She’s back. She's by my side. She's the future Alpha of my pack. And she's carrying... well." He smirks.

"That baby should be dead!" I shriek, my control snapping. "The rejection was supposed to destroy it! And Kaleb's Mark is fading! You said the ritual was stable!"

"It seems we underestimated her." He shrugs, turning to fix his cuff in the mirror. "Or maybe we overestimated you."

"We?" My blood runs cold. "We had an alliance. You wanted her. I wanted Kaleb. We were supposed to be partners-"

"Our alliance is over," he says, cutting me off. He turns, his hazel eyes flat and hard. "I have what I want. She's home. She's with me. She's safe."

"Safe? You call this safe? Kaleb is so busy staring at her face, he hasn’t noticed her belly yet, but when he does-"

"He won't touch her."

Rohan leans in, his charming mask gone, revealing the predator beneath.

"And neither will you. If you, or that puppet Alpha of yours, so much as look at her wrong, I will personally tear your pack apart. Stay away from her. Stay away from me. We're done."

He brushes past me and leaves.

I stand there, my hands trembling, my mind racing. He betrayed me. He used me to get her back, and now he's cut me loose. I'm all alone. The Mark is fading, the baby is alive, and Rohan is now my enemy.

I stumble out of the restroom, desperate to get back to Kaleb. Maybe I can convince him we should leave.

I round the corner and almost collide with her.

She’s leaning against the wall, her face pale and beaded with sweat. Her hand is pressed to her mouth, and she’s breathing loudly through her nose. 

Morning sickness.

My first instinct is to sneer. To say something cruel and watch her fall to pieces.

Before I can, she looks up, and when her eyes meet mine, it’s a struggle not to flinch.

They're not broken. They're not sad. They're as cold as the ice on the highest mountain peak.

"Don't," she says, her voice quiet, but carrying the unmistakable ring of Alpha command.

I freeze.

"Don't say a word," she continues, pushing herself off the wall, her hand sliding protectively over her stomach.

"Don't worry, Madilyn. I'm not using this child to win him back."

She takes a step toward me, and I’m the one who retreats. Intimidated by this new, steely Charlie.

"I don't want him," she says, her voice laced with a contempt that stings more than any slap.

"I’m going to raise this baby on my own. It will be a child of the Silverwood pack. It will have nothing to do with that monster you created. Now get out of my way."

She shoulders past me, leaving me gaping in her wake.

She's not a victim anymore. She's a Queen.

My panic is a living thing now, clawing at my throat. 

I spin around and rush back into the hall. I find Kaleb exactly where I left him, but he's not a statue anymore.

His eyes are locked on Charlie as she rejoins Rohan.

I grab his arm. "Kaleb. Kaleb, look at me."

"She's pregnant," he murmurs, his voice a low, stunned rumble.

"It's not yours," I say, my voice forceful. "The rejection would have killed it. She's been with Rohan, it must be his."

"She's pregnant."

"Kaleb!" I tug on his arm, trying to force him to look at me, to see me. "Don't look at her. Look at me. I am your mate. I am the one you chose."

"Stop it, Madilyn," he snaps, his voice low and dangerous. He wrenches his arm from my grip and my heart stops.

He turns his gaze right back to her. I watch the man I've sacrificed everything for, the man I bound to my will with forbidden magic. I watch him track her every move as she talks to her father, as Rohan places a protective hand on her back.

I watch his jaw clench. His hands curl into fists, tendons standing out sharp beneath his skin.

In that moment I know. The Mark isn't just fading. It's broken. And it’s horrifyingly, devastatingly clear.

His heart still belongs to the woman he should have discarded.