Chapter 1

“If she doesn't get pregnant, I shall humiliate her and then drive her out of my pack. I don't care if she's my mate. She's pretty useless to me without giving me an heir.”

“But, Alpha, you've been giving her pills which are slowly killing her womb.”

“That's the whole point.”

I overheard this heart-wrenching conversation when I ran excitedly to announce to my mate, Alpha Dimitri, that I was over two months pregnant.

I froze at the door as Dimitri made it clear he had been poisoning me, so he could drive me out. My heart was filled with crushing pain. Tears formed in my eyes as I heard the last part of the dialogue:

“My first love is a jealous lover. If terminating Andrea will make Vera comfortable and agree to marry me, I'll waste no time doing that.”

“But Andrea has loved you for six years! When you were dying, she gave up one of her kidneys to save your life.”

“So what? Why would a powerful Alpha like me be seen around an incomplete woman?”

These last words had barely left his mouth when my weight suddenly pushed the door in and I fell into the private office.

“What a pleasant surprise!” Dimitri bellowed, rushing to gently guide me towards a couch. “You're shivering, Andrea. What did I tell you about getting yourself cold? Here's my jacket.”

I was at the brink of bitter tears as Dimitri, as he had always done, hid his true color behind that romantic lover act. If I hadn't overheard that conversation, I would have fallen for his lies once again. My heart and my wolf would have melted under his gentle gestures and soft touches.

His beta excused himself. “I shall get going, Alpha.”

Dimitri scratched his hair. “Yes, remember to keep our dialogue secret. Those rogues are vicious.”

The beta nodded slyly and then he noticed a slip of paper on the floor. The instant he picked it up, I screamed and jumped off the couch.

Grabbing the pregnancy test from his hand, I squeezed the paper into a ball and held it under the jacket. My panic level skyrocketed. Dimitri must not know about my pregnancy! At least not yet.

The beta laughed uneasily. “That's weird.” Then left.

Playing the doting and understanding mate, Dimitri didn't ask me about the paper I hid.

But as the weeks progressed, my stomach kept getting bigger. My gowns couldn't hide it any longer.

And of course Dimitri noticed it. So when one morning, he decided to make me tea himself, I began to tremble.

He sat close to me in the bed, urging me to take the tea. When I told him I had no appetite, his smile disappeared and he left without a word.

My blood ran cold. Why was Alpha Dimitri so bent on rendering me barren and driving me away?

“Why are you such a devil, Dimitri?” I muttered.

My horror increased when I checked the secret compartment I had hidden the pregnancy test and found it empty.

Things got even worse. Dimitri told me he was going for an Alphas' conference in another city. But going through Vera's socials later that day, I saw pictures of her in lingerie. She was sitting on Dimitri's laps, her body moulded into him. In the last slide, she pressed her lips to his.

I suppressed the pain that coursed through me. I phoned Dimitri and asked how the conference was going. “Don't disturb me right now, you know how intense these meetings can be. Is there anything you need?”

From the background, I could hear a muffled female voice, who sounded like she had something in her mouth.

The phone fell from my hand and I clutched at my waist. A searing pain tore through me. My water had broken.

A maid rushed in when I screamed. I was rushed to the hospital. There, I gave birth to a boy. I told the doctor not to call Dimitri yet. I was filled with fear as I imagined what would happen if Dimitri set eyes on my baby.

I was discharged three days later. The same day Dimitri returned from the “conference”.

To my horror, he didn't come alone. When I went to welcome him, I saw Vera clinging by his side, her dress mere strips of fabric that barely covered her body.

“What is she doing here?” I whispered to Dimitri, my heart beat doubling.

He offered me a winning smile. “She decided to move into our pack, and since getting a decent apartment is pretty difficult, I figured she could stay here with us.”

“Here?” I almost screamed. “I have a free duplex a few miles from here. She can stay there for—”

Dimitri's eyes flashed in anger. “Don't be so heartless, Andrea!”

“I can leave if she doesn't want me around her,” Vera moaned.

“Don't be too kind, Vera. There are hundreds of rooms here, why is Andrea making a big deal out of it?”

Then my baby's cry rang out, making Dimitri's eyes go wide in horror. “What the hell was that?” he barked, and I could see unease in his eyes.

“My child.”

“You have a child? Who's the father?”

I could barely hear my own thoughts over my heartbeat. I was about to give a response when Dimitri, overwhelmed by wrath, grabbed me by the neck.

“How dare you give birth to a baby without telling me? How… how dare you?” he stammered as rage tore through his words.

He wheeled around and ran upstairs. With tears streaming down, I ran after him.

But Vera suddenly grabbed my wrist. “And where do you think you're going, Andrea?”

Chapter 2

“Are you insane? Let me go!” I screamed but her grip only got tighter. Her face was set like the devil's.

“Of course I'll let you go now, but this would be the last chance you get from me. I have come to stay, Andrea. Let that sink in.”

With my whole body screaming in horror, I pulled from her clutch and ran upstairs. There I saw Dimitri glaring down at the baby. His expression was unreadable.

I realized with pain that this was his biggest nightmare. He didn't want me to have a child just so he could drive me from his pack and bring in another woman.

I clutched my hands together and begged him not to hurt my child. “Please, Dimitri, take my life instead.”

“Who says I was going to hurt it yet?” he asked nonchalantly and mysteriously left the room.

The air was filled with a cloud of tension as I stared at my baby. The room’s atmosphere was so intense I almost passed out. Sobbing, I realized that my baby didn't know he wasn't welcome by his father.

Dimitri's actions got worse by the day. With Vera, they smoked the life out of me.

Vera came to my room one day and asked why I hadn't made dinner.

“Dinner? There are chefs for that. Besides, I'm nursing a child!”

I tried to keep my voice calm but Vera's insolence was growing each day.

The next day I overheard her complaining loudly to Dimitri. “She can't just sit around while the poor maids do her work for her! She's the so-called Luna of this pack, why does she act like a goddess just because she's got a child?”

Dimitri tried to keep things controlled. “I shall, um, talk to her. Hey, you look so tense.”

I would cry all night as I heard my mate making love to another woman just next to my bedroom, their moans unrestrained and shameless.

I once begged Dimitri to at least take the baby in his arms, so the child would have the warmth of a father.

But as long as Vera was nearby, he would come up with an excuse. Mercilessly, he threw all we had built at Vera's feet so she trample upon them.

Before my eyes, I saw the years I had spent loving Dimitri crashing down. He had never loved me. I realized why he always wanted me to dye my hair red before we made love. Vera was a redhead! He was only aroused if he imagined me to be her.

I returned home one day to find my bedroom door sealed up. Asking a maid, she told me Vera had locked it up.

A shiver ran down my spine. “What? Did she say why?”

The maid lowered her head. “She says the child makes a lot of noise. She has already moved your things to the… one of the Omega cribs.”

I exploded in rage. “And where's my baby?”

The maid's face fell again. “A wet nurse was hired to —”

A wet nurse!

Unable to take it any longer, a cry of shock quivered through my mouth. With trembling hands, I reached for my phone to call Dimitri.

Luckily he answered on the third ring. “What is it?”

I flinched at the impatience and coldness in his voice. The moisture dried from my tongue, so I stammered:

“Vera's moved my things to the crib. Are you aware of that?”

Uncontrolled, the tears flowed from my eyes. The insult was glaring and painful.

“What's wrong with you?” Dimitri snapped. “Didn't you know how much noise that thing makes all night?”

His words felt like a hot iron running through my heart. He referred to his child as “That thing”.

How could everything be falling apart for me and the only man who could stop it, harbored deep hatred for me and his own child?

“Dimitri, please save me. I can't take this anymore,” I whimpered, my heart breaking.

“You make it look like anyone's forcing you to stay around. I've been so nice to you that you forget how ruthless I can be.”

He ended the call. He didn't bother to hide it anymore that he needed me to leave.

The passageway door opened and Vera barged in. Behind her were three guards, ready to attack me there and then.

“Are you fucking questioning my decision, you loser?” she asked.

I locked eyes with her, my fingers twitching in rage. “If my child gets hurt, you'll regret the day you were born.”

My burst of boldness was aroused by the need to protect my baby against these devils.

“You're such a loser,” Vera sneered. “I actually thought you could counter my decision. Now get out of here before I lock you up!”

There was no need to fight a lost battle. Walking to the crib, I was sweating and shaking from the shame and pain. Dimitri's words breathed hot within me, his deep hatred eating me up like a plague.

The crib was made for the lowliest Omegas. It was where slaves and palace underground servants were packed.

“You thought you could escape your root because the Alpha called you mate?” someone shouted, hurling rotten tomatoes at me.

“You're back to where you started off, fool!”

I was supposed to be the Luna, feared and respected second to the Alpha, yet due to my mate's public disrespect for me, I was reduced to rags.

Silently, I found the room where the wet nurse sat, my baby in her arms. Seeing my baby's innocent face, I broke down again. I couldn't give him the life he deserved. My mate's lover had taken control and my mate was solidly behind her.

That night, I wiped my tears and vowed to leave Dimitri's pack for good. And not just leave, I would make them suffer the way I did.

First, I sold all my shares in Dimitri's companies, which I had bought under a different name.

The next morning, I bathed and fed my baby, assigned him to a private child nanny and left for the airport.

I was signing some papers, when panic-stricken notifications buzzed into my phone. It was from the company group chat.

“One of our major investors suddenly pulled out his shares last night!” “Our stocks are crashing!” “We need to trace him and strike an urgent deal or we're out of the market in the matter of days.”

Smirking in triumph, I collected my flight documents, confirmed the date — two weeks’ time — and returned to pick my baby.

But when I got down from the car, I suddenly froze. My heartbeat doubled and my blood ran cold.

The facility I had placed my child in was in disarray. The steel doors were ripped off and on the floor were bloodstains. I reeled back, panic striking me.

Bloodstains?

Where was my child?

Chapter 3

I began to scream like a lunatic, grabbing at random people on the streets.

“Where's my baby? What the hell happened here?”

But instead of answering, they turned up their noses in disgust and pushed back at me.

“Isn't she the Luna who was sent from her Mate's penthouse to the slaves’ crib?”

I swirled around, in search of who said that, but I was soon drowned by similar voices which fired at me. I covered my ears and eyes as these words lashed at me.

Before I knew what was happening, I was slapped across the face. “How dare you speak to us like that? You who are lower than a slave?”

The warm trickle of blood down my nose did little to curb the pain that breathed down my neck. I was gasping for breath just as their cameras flashed in my face.

I didn't know what to focus on: this unexpected attack, or my baby's whereabouts. My heart suffered terribly as I tried to process what I should do.

I raised my eyes, staring into the mean faces of the people I was supposed to lord over.

“I just want to know what happened here,” I whimpered, pointing at the dilapidated ruins. “My child was here. I…”

“The same child the Alpha rejected?” someone countered, breaking into laughter.

Another said, “I think he made an Instagram video that you're a whore, he doesn't know how you got pregnant.”

My lips hung apart as these searing words were layered on me. Then there was a sudden hush.

The crowd moved apart in an instant, forming an aisle in the center. Then I caught his unmistakable scent, even before I saw him.

Alpha Dimitri.

I was attacked by mixed feelings. I didn't know what to feel — anger, relief, fear. What did you do to my child? I wanted to ask him.

I read his face and to my surprise, he had a comely smile. And when he seemed to “notice” the crowd, his face turned sore.

“Did they hurt you?” he asked even after seeing the blood and bruises on my face. The subtle mockery in his voice was barely hidden.

He didn't stretch his hand to me, only stood at a convenient distance, as though he couldn't risk being seen close to me.

“Did they hurt me?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes.

The tiny smirk on his face disappeared for a moment as he saw the deep pain stemming from my soul.

“Come, let me get you out of here,” he mumbled.

“Dimitri, I am looking for my child!” I finally exploded, tears rolling down my eyes. “I… I left him here and…”

The words choked me as I stared into Dimitri's expressionless face. He was fighting not to laugh.

He took one glance at the ruined building, squinted his eyes a bit and sighed. “He was in there? Oh. Come let's get you home, my dear. There are better things to talk about.”

My emotions exploded. I jumped to my feet, my wolf uncorking. My talons shot out, but he sidestepped and caught me. Several guards came from nowhere and held me against his car.

“What did you do to my child?” I wailed. “You monster! You devil, where's my baby?”

“I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. You must be going crazy, my love. But I still love you,” Dimitri said.

He had a sweet smile on his face, meant to paint him as the indulgent lover, but only me knew his true evil color.

I was bound with fetters behind my back and bundled into the car like I was a criminal. I kept shouting to Dimitri about my lost child while he

amused himself by taking a picture with the excited pack passers-by, assuring them he'd keep leading them right, “and eliminating the bad eggs amongst us.”

I shut my eyes as everything came pressing down on me. My position was so uncomfortable I had multiple muscle cramps, but the guards pressed hard on me.

Dimitri entered the driver's seat, turned and said, “You lost a child, not a life. I'd appreciate it if you stopped making a big deal out of it.”

“A big deal about my baby, Dimitri?” I yelled, my heart tearing apart. “Are you that heartless? Your own child and—”

Duct tape was slapped to my mouth and the car drove off. I'd never imagined that my mate would be heartless enough to treat me like a criminal. Being partly an introvert, the embarrassment burnt me more than I imagined.

A weak flicker of hope flashed through my mind when we arrived at the pack house. Maybe my baby was still alive. Perhaps…

“Get the fuck down,” Dimitri said through his teeth as he tore off the tape and fetters. Away from the public cameras, Dimitri was once more a monster.

By himself he dragged me by the hair into the large hall where the board of directors sat, their faces tense.

Dimitri threw me at their feet and said: “Last night, a huge amount of money was stolen from the stocks of my companies. It was traced to you. Where did you keep the money, you thief?”

I sneered. “I sold my shares in your damn companies!”

The directors broke into laughter. Sniding comments flickered about.

Dimitri glared at me. “Over a hundred million dollars? From you alone? Are you stupid? Or you think we are? How the hell did you steal such an amount of money?”

I lowered my head, clenching my fists as rage tore through me. After doing away with my child, this monster had the guts to ask me about his shares? This was why he came to fetch me by himself.

Slowly I stood. But Dimitri had another brutal surprise for me.

Vera walked in with my baby in her arms, a bitter smile on her face.

Dimitri touched my shoulder. “Return the money you stole or…” — a nod towards my child — “you know what I mean.”