Alpha Nathan Pov.

I rubbed my face with both hands. Okay, she had won this round. I wanted her desperately.

In a matter of seconds, I had torn off all my clothes and climbed onto the bed, trapping her underneath me.

"So," I said teasingly, my voice deep and husky, "you're not my mate?"

She blushed beautifully and nodded with a gorgeous smile. "That's right."

I raised my eyebrows. "And you're not my Luna?"

She nodded again.

I leaned down to her neck where I had marked her the night before and bit down again, refreshing my claim on her. She squirmed beneath me, moaning and asking for release from my teeth.

When I pulled back, I looked directly into her eyes. "Well, that settles it. You're mine now, and every time you forget that, I'll make sure to remind you."

I paused dramatically, grinning widely.

"Remind me how?" she whispered.

I flipped her over so she was lying across my lap and gave her ass a gentle but firm smack. "By marking you again," I said, then slipped one finger between her ass cheeks, "and by disciplining you when you're naughty."

She made a small sound of discomfort – she was still a virgin in that way, and her body was incredibly tight.

"That hurts," she said softly.

I immediately stopped what I was doing and instead leaned down to kiss her ass cheeks and run my tongue up her spine. "I'm so fucking in love with you, Isabella," I said in the most sincere voice I could manage. "I want you more than I've ever wanted anything. But I need you to know that you're not here just for sex."

Her next words completely shocked me.

"I want to get pregnant," she said suddenly, her voice filled with determination.

My heart nearly stopped beating. For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

"What did you say?" I asked, certain I had misheard her.

She looked directly at me, her eyes serious and unwavering. "I said I want to carry your child. I don't care if you never officially accept me as your mate or your Luna. I'm scared that you might decide to throw me out of your life someday, but I want to have something of yours. Part of me wants to keep fighting for you, and having your baby would give me a reason to stay strong."

I helped her sit up and pulled her into the tightest hug of my life, holding her against my chest without saying a word. Our hearts were beating so fast and so hard that I was sure she could feel mine just as clearly as I could feel hers.

Just as I was about to respond to her incredible declaration, we heard small fists pounding on the door.

Isabella pulled back and looked toward the sound. "Someone's at the door."

"Who is it?" I called out, annoyed at the interruption. No one was supposed to come to this floor, and if it was Lily, she was going to face serious consequences.

"Give me back my Isabella!" came a small, indignant voice from the other side of the door. "I want to play with her!"

Both Isabella and I burst into laughter. It was James, Mila's little boy.

"Give me back my Isabella?" I repeated, grinning at her. "Sorry, kid, but she's mine and only mine."

We could hear James's footsteps as he ran away, probably going to tell his mother that the mean Alpha had stolen his playmate.

"Poor little guy," Isabella said, but she was still smiling. "He probably thinks you're hurting me when he hears me screaming."

"Well," I said, pulling her back down onto the bed, "I am planning to make you scream. Just not in the way he's imagining."

And for the next several hours, I showed Isabella exactly how much she meant to me. Not as a sex toy or a breeding machine, but as my mate, my love, my everything.

Isabella was mine, and I was never letting her go.

…...

Mila's POV

Yeah, I was there in the courtyard watching my brother Nathan confessing and finally admitting his love for Isabella in front of everyone, and I have to say, I was absolutely thrilled that he finally did it. I had been waiting for this moment for what felt like forever.

"It's about damn time," I whispered to myself as I watched Nathan carry Isabella away like some kind of romantic hero from a fairy tale.

I honestly had no idea when Nathan and Isabella had first met, or if Isabella was truly his destined mate, or what exactly had been going on between them behind closed doors. But what I did know for certain was that Isabella was a thousand times better for my brother than Lily could ever be.

I had seen the way Nathan's eyes lit up when Isabella was around. I had noticed how he seemed more alive, more like his old self whenever she was in the room. With Lily, he always looked tired, stressed, like he was carrying some invisible burden that was slowly crushing him.

"Nathan deserves to be happy," I said to one of the servants who was standing nearby, still gaping at the scene that had just unfolded. "He's been miserable for too long."

The servant, an older woman named Clara, nodded enthusiastically. "That Luna of his has been nothing but trouble since day one, if you ask me. Always causing drama, always making demands."

I just wished genuine happiness for my brother. But I also knew that things were about to get very complicated very quickly. I had been keeping a huge secret for weeks now, and I realized that the time was finally coming when I would have to reveal what I knew.

You see, I had been waiting way too long after I heard Lily and Ethan's secret conversation in the stables. I had recorded everything they said, every detail of their twisted plan. But I had been holding back, hoping that Nathan would figure out the truth by himself first.

"I wanted to give him more time," I muttered, watching as the crowd in the courtyard slowly began to disperse. "I hoped Nathan would discover their deception on his own."

But clearly, that wasn't going to happen. Nathan was too trusting, too loyal to see the betrayal that was happening right under his nose.

I looked around and spotted James, who was tugging on my skirt with his little hands.

"Mommy," he said, looking confused and a little scared, "why was Uncle Nathan shouting? And why did he take Isabella away?"

I knelt down to his level and smoothed his dark hair. "Uncle Nathan is just very happy, baby. He's not angry or upset."

"But he looked angry when he was yelling at those guards."

"Sometimes grown-ups yell when they're feeling lots of different emotions at once," I explained. "Nathan loves Isabella very much, and he wanted everyone to know."

James nodded solemnly, though I could tell he didn't completely understand. "Can I still play with Isabella?"

"Of course you can, sweetheart. But maybe not right now. Uncle Nathan and Isabella need some time alone to talk."

What I really needed was for James to help me with something very important. I had a feeling that Lily and Ethan were going to make their next move very soon, and I wanted to be ready for them.

"James," I said, taking his small hands in mine, "I need you to do something very special for me, okay?"

His eyes lit up with excitement. "What kind of special thing?"

"I need you to be my little spy. Can you do that?"

James giggled and nodded eagerly. "Like in the adventure books?"

"Exactly like in the adventure books. I need you to follow Uncle Nathan and Isabella, but stay hidden, okay? Just watch where they go and come tell me if anything interesting happens."

"What about the bad people? Should I watch them too?"

I was amazed by how perceptive my five-year-old son was. "Which bad people, baby?"

"The lady with the mean voice and the man with the scary eyes."

James was talking about Lily and Ethan, of course. Even a child could sense that something was wrong with those two.

"Yes," I said carefully. "If you see them doing anything strange, you come find me right away, okay? But be very careful and stay hidden."

James saluted me like a little soldier. "Yes, Captain Mommy!"

I watched him scamper off toward the castle, following the path Nathan had taken with Isabella. Meanwhile, I positioned myself where I could observe Lily and Ethan without being seen.

My instincts were telling me to stay in place and wait. Something big was about to happen, and I needed to be ready to document it.

Just as I predicted, Lily came storming out of the courtyard like a raging bull. She didn't make a huge scene in front of everyone, but her eyes were absolutely blazing with fury. I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.

"That little bitch," I heard her mutter as she passed by me. "I'll show her what happens when someone tries to steal what's mine."

I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. Lily was acting like Nathan was some kind of possession that could be stolen, rather than a person with his own free will who had finally found his true mate.

I followed at a safe distance as Lily stormed up the main staircase toward her room. She was moving so fast and so angrily that she nearly knocked over a servant carrying a tray of dishes.

"Watch where you're going, you stupid girl!" Lily snapped at the poor servant.

"Sorry, Your Highness," the servant mumbled, looking terrified.

I felt disgusted by Lily's behavior. A true Luna would never treat the pack members with such cruelty and disrespect.

When Lily reached her floor, I continued up to my own room, which was conveniently located right next to Nathan and Lily's master bedroom. I locked my door behind me and prepared to wait.

Most people didn't know about the secret passages that ran throughout this castle. Nathan had never fully trusted Lily, which was why he had never told her about them. That lack of trust had been his subconscious mind trying to protect him, even when he couldn't consciously understand why.

There was a small hidden door, almost like a pet door, that connected each room to the next through the shared bathroom spaces. It was built into the wall and completely invisible unless you knew exactly where to look. All I had to do was crawl on my hands and knees to get through.

I had been using these passages for weeks to spy on Lily and Ethan, gathering evidence of their treachery.

About thirty minutes after Lily had gone into her room, I heard a soft knock on her door. I knew that Nathan was busy with Isabella on the third floor and that they probably wouldn't be leaving each other's side for hours.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who was sure about that. Lily and her secret lover were counting on Nathan being thoroughly distracted.