Chapter 4

A laugh cut through the silence. Not from Riley.

Harrison's Beta leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, shaking his head. "Riley, you've been away too long. Vera's got you fooled." He smiled, all teeth. "She's a rogue. You really think she could manage Pack finances? Harrison and the Pack have always been strong. We just hit a rough patch. Anyone could've sat at that desk and shuffled papers."

Riley's nostrils flared. "Then why hasn't anyone—"

"As for Vera," the Beta talked over her, "she used the excuse of 'helping' to stick her nose into everything. Probably lined her own pockets while she was at it."

Riley whipped around to face Harrison. "Look at her." She gestured at me, head to toe. "I saw Sasha this morning. Dripping in jewelry. Now look at your wife." Her voice dropped. "Have you bought Vera a single thing in over a year of marriage?"

The Beta scoffed. "Sasha is the daughter of an Alpha. She was born noble. Don't compare her to—"

I laughed.

It came out quiet and sharp, almost a breath. Everyone turned to me.

I picked up the stack of expense reports from my desk. Flipped past the supply costs to the second page and held it up where the light hit the numbers.

"Is this her money?" I asked.

Sasha's jewelry purchases. Listed in neat columns. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, a ruby pendant. The total at the bottom was more than I'd earn in three sleepless nights of balancing his books.

When Harrison and I first married, things had been so tight we couldn't even afford wedding rings. I'd told him it didn't matter. I'd held his hand across the kitchen table and said the bond was enough.

I hadn't asked for jewelry. I hadn't asked for anything. And now Sasha's bracelet alone cost more than I'd saved in a year.

The room went quiet. The Beta's smirk slid off his face. Riley folded her arms and said nothing. She didn't need to.

Killian spoke for the first time since entering. "The woman who saved your books." His voice was quiet. Unhurried. "And this is how you treat her."

It landed harder than anything Riley had said.

Harrison's composure cracked for half a second. He cleared his throat, then turned on the Beta. "You shouldn't have spoken about Vera that way. That was out of line."

The Beta's mouth opened. Harrison's eyes flashed a warning. The Beta shut his mouth and lowered his head.

Harrison faced me. His voice changed. Softer now. Careful. "I've been too focused on the Pack's growth. I made some rash decisions and didn't consider your feelings." He paused. "I'll make sure you receive a share of the war spoils. Go rest, Vera."

My chest loosened a fraction. I hated how quickly it happened.

I gathered the reports and stood. As I passed through the door, the back of my neck prickled. Killian's gaze. Still on me, steady and unblinking, all the way down the corridor until I turned the corner.

---

"Please tell me you didn't just fall for that." Riley matched my pace, her bag bouncing against her hip.

"I'm going to talk to him tonight," I said. "Properly. If he and Sasha genuinely care about each other, I'll step aside."

Riley stopped walking. I stopped too.

She studied my face for a long moment. Then her shoulders dropped. "You mean it this time."

"I mean it."

"Okay," she said. Quiet. Almost gentle. "That's something."

---

That evening I put on a clean sweater and jeans. Something that felt more like me than the blue dress or the work trousers. I ran a comb through my hair. Washed my face. Looked at my reflection and tried to see someone who could walk away from a mate bond with her head up.

I crossed the compound to Harrison's quarters, rehearsing what I'd say.

Calm. Clear. I'd ask for the truth and accept whatever came back.

The door was ajar. I raised my hand to knock.

Sasha's voice stopped me cold.

"Why weren't you more firm?" She sounded petulant. Accusing. "You were supposed to finalize the rejection. And the divorce. What happened?"

My hand hung in the air. I didn't move.

Harrison answered. Low. Warm. "Killian was there. He's our most important potential ally. I couldn't look like the bad guy in front of him."

The warmth in his voice hit me harder than the words.

I'd lived with this man for over a year. He spoke to me in clipped instructions and cold corrections. The accounts are off again, Vera. The shipment was late, Vera. I'm going out; don't wait up. On his best days, I got polite indifference — a nod across the dinner table, a door held open without eye contact.

But to Sasha, his voice went soft. Patient. Like she was something precious he was afraid to break.

He had never once sounded like that with me. Not even in the beginning, when he still left wildflowers on my pillow.

I pressed my back flat against the wall beside the door. My eyes stung, but I couldn't make myself walk away.

"I actually learned something today," Harrison said. "Vera's body has recovered. She can get pregnant."

My breath stopped.

How did he know? I'd tried to tell him last night and he'd cut me off before I could finish the sentence.

"So?" Sasha's voice was cautious. "What does that have to do with us?"

"I want her to carry our child."

The floor shifted under my feet.

"Think about it," Harrison continued, his voice as smooth and reasonable as a contract negotiation. "You're the Selene-Blade. Pregnancy would weaken your body, take you off the front lines for months. But Vera is already here. No wolf. No combat role." A pause. "She's useful for this."

Useful.

For this.

I had been his bookkeeper. His housekeeper. His wife in name and nothing more. And now I was a womb. Something to carry his child and throw away.

The pregnancy news I'd clutched against my stomach at the feast, the news I'd carried like a gift across a crowded hall. He wanted it. Just not from me. Not for me.

Something shifted behind my ribs. Not the shattering I'd felt at the feast, not the numb cold from the corridor. This was quieter. A door clicking shut inside my chest. Locked.

I straightened my back. Wiped my eyes with the heel of my hand.

And pushed the door open.