The Sinclair mansion had never felt colder. Months had passed since I returned, my belly now round with the twins growing inside me, but the man I once loved still refused to acknowledge my existence.

Noah didn’t care. Not about me. Not about our pups. He wanted me gone.

I watched from the grand staircase as he walked through the halls, talking with his pack members, issuing orders, acting like I wasn’t even there. His cold indifference cut deeper than any words ever could. I remembered how he once held me, how his eyes used to soften when he spoke about having children. How he once swore that he’d cherish me forever.

Now, those memories meant nothing to him. He had no recollection of me, no attachment.

The only reason I was still here was because of the twins. And even then, he had made it clear—I was nothing more than a vessel. The moment I gave birth, I would be cast aside.

A bitter laugh threatened to escape my lips. How cruel fate was.

Caroline, on the other hand, made sure my life was hell. She took every chance to humiliate me, treating me like a lowly servant instead of the future mother of the Alpha’s heirs.

“Clean this up,” she ordered one morning, pointing to a spilled cup of tea on the floor.

I ignored her, taking my seat at the dining table.

“Did you not hear me?” Her voice was sickeningly sweet, but her eyes burned with anger.

I finally looked at her, unbothered. “You seem to have forgotten your place, Caroline.”

Her expression twisted. “Excuse me?”

I leaned forward, resting my hand on my belly. “I am the mother of the future Alpha. You, on the other hand, are just a placeholder.”

The dining hall fell silent. Even the elders who once sided with Caroline exchanged hesitant glances. They knew I was right. Caroline held no real power. She was only standing beside Noah because of the spell she had placed on him.

Caroline’s face turned red with rage.

I smiled. “Don’t worry. If Noah ever remembers me, you won’t even have a place in his heart anymore.”

Her hand twitched at her side, itching to slap me, but she couldn’t. Not in front of everyone.

But I knew she wouldn’t let this go. That night, she made her move.

I was walking down the hall when I heard her footsteps behind me. I turned just in time to see her lose her balance at the top of the staircase.

She screamed as she tumbled down.

The entire mansion seemed to shake with the impact. Gasps echoed through the halls. Servants rushed to her side as she lay there, sobbing, clutching her stomach like she was in immense pain.

The moment I saw her smirk, I knew. She set me up.

“She… she pushed me,” Caroline choked out, her voice weak and trembling.

The murmurs around me grew louder.

“Liar,” I snapped, taking a step forward, but before I could defend myself, a terrifying growl filled the room.

Noah.

His presence was suffocating as he marched toward me, his golden eyes ablaze with fury.

“How dare you,” he seethed, his hands clenched at his sides. “You would harm her while carrying my pups?”

I lifted my chin, forcing myself to meet his glare. “I didn’t push her.”

His nostrils flared, his aura pressing down on me like a storm ready to consume everything in its path.

I could see it in his eyes. He didn’t believe me. He wouldn’t believe me. His hand shot up, and for a split second, I thought he would strike me.

But then a strong hand gripped his wrist, stopping him mid-motion.

The entire hall fell silent. I turned, my breath caught in my throat.

Hendery.

He stood between us, his expression calm but dangerous. His uniform, adorned with the insignia of the Sinclair pack’s highest-ranking warriors, glistened under the dim lights.

I froze. No… this wasn’t possible.

Hendery, a rogue, now stood as the General Sentinel of the Sinclair pack.

Noah’s fury shifted to him. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

Hendery smirked. “Your new General Sentinel.”

Whispers erupted around us. I saw the confusion in Noah’s eyes, the tension in his jaw as he tried to make sense of it.

Hendery had infiltrated the Skyler pack.

But why? I watched him carefully, searching for answers, but his gaze remained unreadable.

That night, as the pack settled down and the chaos of the day faded, I confronted him in the corridors.

“You planned this,” I accused, my voice barely above a whisper. “You wanted to get close to the pack. But why?”

Hendery simply leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “You needed help.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re hiding something.”

He chuckled. “Aren’t we all?”

I hated that I couldn’t read him, that I couldn’t tell if he was truly on my side or if he had his own hidden motives.

But for now, I had bigger things to worry about.

Like breaking the spell that kept Noah from remembering me.

As I turned away, I caught sight of someone in the shadows.

Noah stood at the end of the hall, watching me.

His face was unreadable, but for a brief moment, something flickered in his eyes. Something that wasn’t anger.

Something familiar. And then, as quickly as it came, it was gone.

The spell still held him.

But for how much longer?

Pain tore through me, sharp and unrelenting. I barely had time to process what was happening before the world around me blurred. The contractions came in waves, each one stronger than the last, stealing my breath and leaving me weak.

I was giving birth.

The realization sent fear and exhilaration coursing through me all at once. I clutched my stomach as another contraction hit, my knees nearly buckling from the intensity. The Sinclair pack’s sentinels didn’t hesitate. They rushed me into a car, driving recklessly through the dark roads to get me to the Sinclair pack hospital.

This was it. The moment I had been waiting for.

The twins were coming.

I barely registered the chaos around me as doctors and nurses swarmed the room, shouting orders and preparing for the delivery. Sweat beaded down my forehead as pain wracked my body, but I held on. I had to. My babies were coming into this world, and they needed me.

"You're doing great," one of the nurses encouraged, but her words barely registered.

My vision blurred as another contraction ripped through me, and all I could do was push.

Minutes felt like hours. The pain, the exhaustion, the unbearable pressure—it all built into something almost unbearable. But then, a sharp cry pierced the air. Then another.

My heart clenched as I heard them for the first time.

My babies.

Tears blurred my vision as I turned my head, desperate to see them. A nurse handed me the first baby, and as soon as I held them against my chest, an overwhelming sense of love washed over me. They were so small, so perfect.

I barely had a second to take it all in before another set of arms reached forward.

Noah.

I froze as he took one of the babies from my grasp, holding them with an expression I couldn't read. For a second, just a second, I saw something flicker in his eyes. Something almost familiar.

But then it was gone.

"This changes nothing," he said coldly. "They're mine. The heirs of the Sinclair pack."

My blood ran cold. It was happening.

The deal. The moment I had feared since the beginning.

Noah looked at me as if I were nothing, as if the life we once had together had never existed. He held his child in his arms, but his gaze carried no warmth for me.

I reached out, desperation clawing at my chest. "Please, Noah. Let me stay. Let me be with them."

"You knew the terms," he said. "You give birth, and then you're gone."

Tears burned in my eyes. "They're my children too. You can’t just take them from me."

He barely flinched. "I can. And I will."

A choked sob slipped past my lips. My body was weak, my heart shattered. I had thought that maybe, just maybe, seeing the twins would make him remember. That something inside him would wake up and see me.

But I was wrong. Noah turned away, cradling the child in his arms. And then Caroline stepped in. Her smirk was cruel, victorious.

"Don’t worry," she said sweetly. "I'll take good care of them."

Something inside me snapped.

"You can't even have children of your own," I shot back, my voice trembling with rage. "You think that makes you a mother?"

Her face twisted in fury. Noah didn’t react. He didn't even look at me.

Instead, he nodded toward the sentinels. "Take her away."

I barely had a second to react before strong hands grabbed me, dragging me from the hospital bed. My body was still weak, but I struggled, screaming, pleading.

"Don't do this," I begged. "Please, Noah. Have mercy on me!"

But he didn't stop them.

I thought this was the worst of it.

But then Noah's voice rang through the air.

"Kill her."

My entire body went numb.

Kill me?

My breathing turned shallow as I turned my head, my heart pounding.

I swallowed, my throat dry. "Hendery—"

"I suggest you keep quiet," he muttered.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. Noah had ordered my death.

Tears blurred my vision.

"Please, Noah. Don’t take my baby from me!"

But he didn’t stop them.

As I was hauled from the hospital bed, Caroline stepped forward, her smirk cruel. She tilted her head, feigning sympathy. "Oh, Audrey. You should have known better. You were never meant to stay."

Something inside me snapped.

Before I could think, my hand lashed out, striking Caroline across the face. The sharp sound echoed in the room.

Caroline gasped, staggering back as if I had shattered her entire world. She clutched her cheek like I had inflicted a mortal wound. "Noah!" she whimpered, her voice trembling. "She—she hit me!"

I barely had time to react before Noah moved.

Fury blazed in his eyes. Before I could step away, pain exploded through my stomach. A cold, sharp agony.

I gasped, my breath hitching as I looked down.

Noah stabbed me.

The room swayed. My knees buckled, but I couldn’t look away from him. His hand trembled around the hilt of the blade, his chest rising and falling in ragged breaths.

His expression shifted—anger fading, replaced by something else. Horror. Regret.

And then, in a voice so low I almost didn’t hear it, he murmured, "Pumpkin?"