Chapter 4

ELENA

Standing before the mirror, I held the neckline of my dress to my chest, eyes trailing slowly down the reflection of my plump body. I cupped my belly gently with both hands, silently measuring whether the fabric would betray the truth I've been carrying for twenty-eight weeks.

It would. Of course it would.

There was no concealing it anymore.

Though my body remained slender, the swell of my belly had finally become visible by the fourth week of my sixth month. I’d once imagined this moment would be a joyous milestone. It was his child, after all -Emmet’s. From the instant I’d discovered the life growing inside me, I had loved it with a fervor that frightened me. And foolishly, I had hoped that Emmet might begin to love me too- for making him a father soon.

But nothing had changed.

He no longer struck me with the cruelty of before, yet neither did he show me warmth. His coldness remained, intact and precise. Even now, when I met him outside his chambers dressed for the feast in the same green fabric that my dress was made from, his expression remained unreadable. He offered me his arm just as he always did in public; and I accepted it with a practiced grace.

Months passed and I still longed for him to want me. Even a flicker of affection. Even if it had to be coaxed from him with the birth of his heir. But he hadn’t softened -not with time, not with pregnancy, not with anything that I did. I just couldn't figure what he wanted in me.

Still, I hoped. Perhaps, when the child is born...

We descended the stairs to the grand hall of the packhouse where Alpha Otto’s feast awaited. As our feet touched the last step, I felt dozens of eyes sweep over us -perhaps envying the image we made, or pitying the reality behind it. My stomach coiled tighter when I spotted Stephanie seated across the table, smiling far too sweetly.

I settled quietly into my seat, pretending to follow the light conversation around me. But my eyes flicked to her often. I watched the way she glanced at Emmet -how their gazes met and lingered too long. Not again. My skin crawled at the thought of her plotting, whispering, seducing him away. But no one else seemed to notice. Perhaps I was the only one who ever truly saw her for who she was.

"Ah, my daughter-in-law glows more each day," Otto’s voice rang, cutting through my thoughts.

I startled slightly and turned to meet the alpha’s gaze, offering a shy smile. I guess he had been too busy munching and drinking to say this since. With him, the complements were endless.

His empty glass signaled me to rise, and I moved gracefully to refill it.

He raised his voice to the room. "Soon, I’ll have a grandchild from her."

A hush, then murmurs of surprise and approval rippled through the guests.

"That’s wonderful news!" Stephanie's father Domininc Excalire said with a gleam in his eye.

"She doesn’t even look pregnant," a woman added.

"Oh, I knew the moment she walked in," a kind elder woman chimed in.

I basked in their gentle tones, grateful for the brief warmth, my smile an evidence. When I glanced towards Emmet, I found him already staring at me. Quietly.

He looked away quickly, and my cheeks flushed.

"Congratulations, Elena," Stephanie offered in that measured voice of hers. "I'm happy for you both and for the royal family."

Before I could reply, Emmet's voice cuts through the air. "Thank you," he said curtly.

The unease returned, settling in my bones. I barely tasted the rest of the feast. When Emmet finally rose, I followed his lead, bowing in farewell as we turned to leave. Just before we left the table elder Marcus called.

"Elena, dear," he said, holding out a bottle wrapped in fine cloth. "A gift for you and your husband."

I accepted it with both hands and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Elder Marcus."

Emmet gave a quiet nod and thanked him as well.

Once we returned to the packhouse, a heavy silence cloaked us. I trailed behind him, watching his tall figure melt into the dimness of the hall. At his room, I placed the wine gently on the table near the lamp and stepped back.

I stood a lot of paces from him and watched his blurred figure where he sat in his sofa, tugging at his boots.

"Is there anything else you need me to do?" I asked quietly, hands folded in front of me.

"No."

I turned around.

But just as I reached the door, his voice broke the silence behind me. "Stop."

I froze.

And listened to his footsteps -soft against the rug. Too soft. I took a deep gulp, my eyes roaming from left to right unsure what to expect.

"Turn around and face me."

His tone stirred memories -of our first night in this room, when I’d learned what kind of mate he truly was. Brutal, resentful, lustful... But now, as I turned slowly to meet his gaze, something in his eyes looked... different. Unreadable, but softer. Those eyes... They could hypnotize...

The sound of keys dropping to the floor broke the spell. I turned towards it and instinctively bent down to pick them up, one hand bracing my belly. But Emmet moved at the same time, our hands nearly colliding.

"Hey..." he said, catching my arm gently. "...I’ll get it."

He picked up the keys, but didn’t let go of me. Our eyes met. I glanced down at his hand still wrapped around my arm, and only then did he seem to realize he was holding me. He withdrew slowly.

"You don’t always have to do everything," he muttered. I could feel his eyes on me. He knew I was surprised. He turned his back on me and walked towards the rack to put away his boots. "You could hurt yourself."

I stood frozen. It was the first time in all these months that he had acknowledged my condition with anything resembling care. Something subtle shifted in the air between us. The silence became heavy.

"I don’t need anything," he said almost sounding... nervous? He was heading back towards me. "You can leave if you want."

"I... don’t want to," I heard myself mumble before I could stop it. He paused in his track glancing at me. I bit my lips, my eyes flickering as he reached me, eyes catching mine.

His hand reached up, brushing my braided hair away from my collarbone and guiding it down over my shoulder.

All I did was blink -slow, uncertain -as our eyes locked. His gaze held mine, and the longer I looked, the harder it became to look away. The enchantment in his eyes was immense and I could see in them something unfamiliar. Something I hadn’t dared to seek in a long time.

For months now, even as we lived under the same roof, slept in the same bed, and wore the title of a couple, he’d made no secret of what he truly saw me as -a slave to be broken, a servant bound to his will, and a body to claim whenever the need struck him.

And when it was over -when he had taken what he wanted, he would cast me aside. Order me out like I was filth. Like he'd just realized he hadn’t been with his mate, but a wretched, unwanted thing.

But tonight… tonight felt different.

His touch was soft, reverent, and for the first time in our shared bed, he wasn’t rough or dismissive. He kissed me like I mattered. He touched, caressed every part of me like I was his.

I felt a newfound strength rise within me, a quiet, trembling pride. felt sacred. I had never felt that with him before. Not once.

He didn’t send me away afterward.

Him asleep beside me was the strangest thing; foreign, almost dreamlike. But there was a calm in it too, something that settled over my chest like warmth I hadn’t known I missed.

I found myself smiling as I pulled the blanket over my body, eyes fluttering closed to the sound of his steady breath.

Maybe our nights would stay like this -A beginning of something new. Comforting.

I was wrong....

* * *

The crash of the door got me bolting upright. A tall silhouette stood in the doorway, haloed in light from the corridor.

Instantly, I looked to the bed beside me. Empty.

Emmet?

He stepped into the room, his shoulders heaving, fists clenched so tight I could hear the crack of his knuckles even from across the room. I could feel the atmosphere change around me.

"Em.... Sire?" I called, voice trembling.

He stormed towards me, face twisted in rage.

"How dare you?" he growled, his voice gripping me to the bones.

"What... what’s the matter?"

"Did you think we wouldn’t find out?" His voice thundered.

I flinched. "I don’t..."

"Shut up!" he roared, grabbing my wrist and yanking me off the bed. I cried out as I hit the floor, clutching the blanket around me.

As he dragged me through the halls. I shielded my stomach with a protective hand and held the blanket around me with the other. My wailing down the grand staircase didn't even make him stop once.

When we reached the grand hall, he flung me forward. I landed hard, the blanket slipping, exposing skin I didn’t have the strength to cover. I knelt in the fabric, protecting my belly as I looked up into the judgmental stares of the court members.

Faces from the feast night before now regarded me with suspicion and disgust. Whispers swelled. Only one person was absent from this court and that was the alpha himself.

Emmet paced behind me, eyes burning, jaw clenched when my eyes fell on him.

"What’s going on?" I whispered, my brows knitted in puzzlement.

He stepped forward and asked. "Why did you do it?"

"I... I don’t understand..."

"Why did you poison my father?"

The floor dropped from under me. I swayed.

“Poison?” The word barely left my lips. Was this a nightmare? A setup? My mind scrambled for an explanation, but all I found was darkness and silence and judging gazes.

"What...?"

"My father is dead," he said, voice raw with fury, cracking under the weight of grief. "You... poisoned his drink."

"No..." I shook my head as I watched his eyes. "I don’t know what you're talking about..." My head shakes with terror. "I didn't do it."

"You thought we wouldn't find out?!" Elder Marcus spat and I crawled near Emmet, looking up to a mixture of rage and pain.

"You have to believe me..." My voice broke between the words. My fingers trembled, cold and useless against the panic rising high inside me.

"I didn’t do it..." The heat in my throat burned like lava melting back each word I wanted to speak.

"Please..." I gasped, tears clouding my vision.

"Believe you?" Emmet barked, his voice gaining a renewed strength. "Maybe... after you explain why the same poison which was discovered to have killed the alpha was found in your possession."

My mouth fell open and I returned to Emmet's gaze for more explanation. But he didn't need to say anything further. I turned in time to see Stephanie stepping forward, holding a small vial.

"We found this under your bed," she said smoothly, handing it to Emmet.

I stared at her in horror, speechless, heart sinking. I looked at the bottle, then at Stephanie’s calm, triumphant face -My chest hammered with words that I wanted to say, the truth I wanted to proof but didn't know how to -and something in me shattered.

The way Stephanie held it, the calm satisfaction on her face it was all too clear;

Another set up!!