I could have sworn I saw a smirk flash across her lips, but it vanished before I could be sure.

I turned to Vaughn, who was still silent, his head bowed as if he couldn't bear to look at me.

"Is this true, Vaughn?" My voice trembled. "You're going to abandon our child to save hers?"

"I'm sorry, Elara," he whispered, his voice hoarse.

The tears came again. "Is her child so important that you would cast ours aside?"

Vaughn hesitated, and the pause sliced through our mate bond like a silver blade.

"You don't understand the Council of Elders," he murmured, his voice low and heavy as he finally met my gaze.

"The Council would never tolerate a pup conceived with a descendant of our sworn enemy. They've made it clear they'll only accept this child as mine if I have no other heirs. I can't acknowledge our child right now—at least, not until after Rosalie's is born." He looked at me as if he were defending a noble cause, as if every word was justified.

But the logic was laughable.

Vaughn was right about one thing: no one on the West Coast dared to defy him. He was the Alpha of the Black Moon Pack, with business enterprises spanning the continent.

Although my adoptive family, the Thorne Pack, held some renown, we were nothing compared to him.

That was why, when my adoptive parents discovered he was my fated mate, they all but pushed me into the bonding ceremony.

Vaughn, always cold and imperious, had only ever shown his softer side to me. But today, I saw him do the same for Rosalie.

He reached for me again, his arms open. "Don't worry. I won't leave our pup without a name. Trust me, please? As soon as Rosalie's pup is born, I'll set things right."

After the ceremony, Vaughn insisted on driving me back to the pack house. Rosalie was all too eager to follow, claiming she was thrilled not to be the only pregnant wolf. I saw right through her act.

She was trying far too hard to play the concerned friend.

Vaughn returned with a bouquet of moonblossoms, their cloying fragrance meant to soothe me.

I kept my expression blank, though my stomach twisted. Something was hidden behind Rosalie's overly bright smile.

Rosalie slid into the back seat, her hand instinctively brushing Vaughn’s arm. "I was thinking... maybe we could stop and pick out some pup blankets after dinner. I haven't found the right ones yet."

"You don't mind, do you, Elara?" she turned to me, a clear challenge in her eyes. "I'm all alone now. Vaughn is the only Alpha I can rely on."

It was absurd. My mate and Rosalie looked more like a couple than we did.

"Are you mad at me, Elara?" Rosalie asked, blinking her wide, innocent eyes, which flashed with something far from pure. "You can come with us, if you'd like."

"No, thank you. I've already prepared everything for my pup." I refused to play her game.

When Vaughn handed me the bouquet, a sharp, familiar scent hit me.

Wolfsbane.

Had he forgotten my pregnancy made me sensitive to it? Or had he simply forgotten it was Rosalie’s favorite?

Elara's POV

"I can't take these."

As if the thought had just occurred to him, Vaughn’s expression shifted. "Oh, right. I forgot. You're sensitive to it, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry, Elara," Rosalie glanced at me. "I've been craving this scent ever since I got pregnant." She gave a slight shrug. "But if you don't like it, we can always throw it away. I guess."

Vaughn hesitated, looking at me, clearly unsure of what to do. "Well, why don't we let Rosalie keep them, since she likes the scent? I'll get you something else."

I glanced between them. Vaughn's casual dismissal felt like a slap, and Rosalie's feigned concern only made me feel more exposed.

I said nothing. My silence was its own answer. Would he stand by me? Would he remember this was poison to me and our pup?

But as the seconds ticked by, Vaughn's gaze flickered between me and Rosalie, his face a mask of indecision.

My patience shattered. Without another word, I turned and strode toward my room, carving a warding rune into the door with a flick of my finger.

Vaughn's voice cut through the air behind me, laced with annoyance, not concern. "Elara, don't be dramatic. We have bigger problems."

I didn't bother to respond. Instead, I activated the rune, tossing one last sentence over my shoulder before sealing the door.

"Have fun, you two."

Then I slammed the door, locking him and his "good intentions" out. My hands clenched at my sides, my heart pounding—not just from anger, but from a deeper, uglier betrayal.

Vaughn didn't force his way in. He didn't even try.

That should have told me everything.

I was his mate—his pregnant mate—but ever since he’d decided to protect Rosalie's pup, my pup and I had become an inconvenience.

This pup was once my hope, my dream, after so many years of waiting.

Now? It felt like a terrible mistake.

If I'd known our child would be born into a pack where its own Alpha cared more for another's pup, I never would have conceived.

Vaughn returned to my door later that night, his brow furrowed.

Through the wood, he launched into his grand, noble explanation. "Elara, don't be mad at me, okay?"

According to him, Rosalie had approached him in tears, her eyes red and swollen. She’d told him the Council of Elders was going to execute her child according to pack law.

He had no choice but to comfort her. They had grown up together. She was his adopted sister, their parents close friends.

She confessed that if the Elders discovered she was carrying the pup of a rival pack member, they would force her to terminate the pregnancy. She wanted to keep her pup.

Vaughn couldn't let that happen, so he agreed to claim he was the father, at least for now. Apparently, when Rosalie's parents heard the news, they weren't angry at all.

After all, the supposed father was Alpha Vaughn Blackwood. Who wouldn't want a pup from his line?

"Elara, I really need you to trust me on this."

He paused for a long moment. "This is our duty as leaders of the pack. If I don't help her, Rosalie's pup will be executed the moment her parents find out."

"So?" I cut him off. "So you've decided our child will be born a shadow? Without a name, without honor, living in the darkness of that 'cursed' child?"