Won’t Let You Ruin His Life

CHAPTER 2

Avery’s POV

My back hit the cold wall, and my hands instinctively went to my stomach. My heart thudded like it was going to come out of my mouth.

Ethan stopped in front of me and lifted his hands. For a single heartbeat, I thought he was going to strike. He looked at me—really looked at me. The golden flash in his eyes dimmed, and those soft grey eyes I’d always known stared back.

His hands rested on either side of my head as he pinned me.

“I’ll take that slap as a mistake,” he whispered. “And if you want us—” He left the words hanging and turned around. “Go to your room. We’ll talk about this later.”

I stood there, staring at his back. What did he mean, go to your room?

He said that like I was a child.

Like we were discussing the weather over lemon tea.

Like I hadn’t just found out he got another woman pregnant.

My mouth opened, but nothing came out. The sheer nerve of him—acting as if he could just sweep this aside and dismiss me because I was a lowly omega who had overstepped.

“Ethan, you can’t just let her go.” Liliana moved into my path, blocking the door. “How dare you raise a hand against the future Alpha?” She growled, turning her glare on me. “I should have the guards take your head for that.”

A small, embarrassing sniffle escaped me. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand.

“Your future Luna wants to take my head, Ethan,” I said, voice cracking. “Permission to keep it? I kind of need it to find my room. You did tell me to go.”

“You—” Liliana lifted her palm.

“Let her be, Lily.” Ethan interrupted.

I didn’t wait. I turned and walked away before either of them could say another word.

I ran down the eastern corridor towards the servants’ quarters. The moment I pushed open the door, my eyes landed on Keviana, the wooden wolf doll. She sat on the small dresser, nodding her head side to side. Nobody could convince me otherwise—the Goddess had sent her to mock me.

I grabbed the wolf doll and flung her out of the small window.

The second she left my hand, I regretted it. Ethan had given her to me three solstices ago. I stood there and watched her hit the ground and break into a hundred pieces.

Just like everything else.

I sank onto the cot and pulled out the only thing I had left of my family—the pendant. The words “traitor’s daughter” still echoed in my head. He had never called me that before. Whenever anyone dared, he made sure they regretted it.

I clutched the pendant to my chest. A sudden shiver ran through me.

“Why am I so cold?” I whispered, pulling the worn sheet around my shoulders.

I don’t know how long I lay there with the pendant pressed so hard against my chest that it hurt. The cold wouldn’t leave. It had settled into my bones like it planned to stay.

A knock on the door made me flinch.

I shoved the pendant under the pillow, wiped my face with the sheet, and forced my voice steady.

“Come in.”

The door opened.

For one stupid second, I thought it was Ethan. Maybe he had actually meant it when he said we would talk later. Maybe he had come to take the words back.

Then she walked in.

Luna Vivian.

My heart stuttered. For the six years I’d lived in this pack, she had never once stepped into the servants’ quarters. Certainly never into my room. I stood up too fast. The room swayed.

She looked around like the walls themselves offended her. Her silk gown dragged across the dirty floor as she stepped further inside. Her eyes moved over my face, down my body, then back up again.

“Let’s get this over with,” she said quietly.

I kept my head down out of habit.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the news,” she continued.

“What news, Luna?” My voice came out thinner.

She gave a small, stylish wave of her gloved hand. “The coronation. Ethan and Liliana. Their pup.” She watched me carefully. “Your face says you’ve already heard.”

Of course I had. Ethan had said it to my face. But why would the Luna come all the way down here just to repeat it?

I gripped the sides of my gown. “I don’t understand what that has to do with me. I’m nothing but—”

“Drop the act.” Her voice sharpened. “Do you think I’m a fool? I know what has been going on between you and my son. I simply chose to look the other way.”

The words landed harder than I expected. I swallowed.

She continued, almost conversational. “There’s a time for everything. My son is young. Men are allowed to make mistakes. They’re allowed to play around so they can learn. But when responsibility calls, childish attachments have to end.”

*Play around.*

So that’s all I had been. A mistake he was now correcting before his coronation.

She turned her head toward the small window, then looked back at me. Her jaw was tight.

“I will not let you ruin his life. The late Alpha and I built this pack with blood and sacrifice. I will not watch a traitor’s daughter drag it down.”

Something hot and bitter rose in my throat. I forced it down.

Her gaze dropped to my stomach.

“You’re with child. The healer sent word to me before you left the infirmary.”

The air left my lungs in one soft rush. The room tilted. My hands went to my stomach before I could stop them, and I took a step back.

Callum. Of course. The healer’s loyalty had never belonged to someone like me.

Vivian’s voice stayed calm, almost kind, which made it worse.

“You may be a traitor’s daughter, but you still carry Alpha blood.”

She circled me, eyes still on my stomach.

“And you are Ethan’s fated mate. That combination will give us a strong heir.”

My hands went tighter around my belly.

“So this is what is going to happen. You will carry the child. You will give birth when the time comes. You will tell Ethan nothing.”

She leaned in, her perfume sickeningly sweet.

“Once the baby is born and taken, you will receive a cottage at the southern docks and enough provisions to live quietly.”

I stared at her.

She was talking about my child like it already belonged to the pack. Like I was just the vessel.

“No.”

The word left me.

Vivian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“You don’t get to decide that,” I said, my voice shaking but clear. “This is my child. Not the pack’s. Not Ethan’s. Mine.”

“Watch your tone.”

“Or what?” I let out a short, bitter laugh. “You’ll call me a traitor’s daughter again? You’ve all been doing that for years.” I pressed my hands harder against my stomach. “You don’t get to take this from me too.”

Vivian’s expression cooled into something dangerous.

“You will do as you’re told,” she said quietly. “The only reason you’re still breathing is because I gave you that life. I can take it back whenever I want.”

I held her gaze even though my hands were trembling.

“Then take it,” I whispered. “But you still don’t get my child.”

For a moment, none of us spoke.

Then Vivian smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes.

“Brave words from an omega.” She walked to the door and paused with her hand on the frame. “You have until the coronation to remember your place. After that, the cottage is still on the table… if you behave. If you don’t, no one will even remember you existed.”

The door clicked shut.

I sat down slowly on the edge of the cot. My hands were still quivering over my stomach.

She knew.

She knew about the baby.

And she had just made it very clear that even this child was not mine to keep.

I stared at the closed door for a long time. The cold finally sank all the way in.

I had already lost Ethan.

Now they wanted to take the only thing I had left.

I pressed my forehead to my knees and closed my eyes.

I wasn’t going to let them.

If I had to escape from the Sunset Pack to keep it, then I would.