VELARA’S POV

Six weeks. That’s all it took for my entire world to unravel.

One night. One reckless, blurry night that I barely remembered. I had been brought up to defend everything I believed in, and that was all it took to destroy it.

As soon as my body began to fail me, I knew something was amiss. For days, I had been feeling strange. Not simply weary or cranky, but a profound, lasting malaise that refused to leave. I dismissed it at first.After all, werewolves rarely got sick. We were supposed to be strong, immune to common illnesses. But this? This was something different.

I didn't feel a knot of dread in my gut until I missed my period. I remained silent, though. I hoped it would pass, that it was just stress or exhaustion. I kept quiet until I could no longer hide it. My father had finally lost patience with my excuses and dragged me to see the pack doctor.

Moondale City is home to four packs. Our pack is the second-largest, well-respected, and tightly knit. I was the eldest of my father's two daughters and was therefore the heir apparent. I used to be, anyway.

As I waited for the doctor to return, I sat rigidly on the examination table, trying to relax while my heart raced. The antiseptic space seemed oppressive. My father paced in the corner, w ith his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw tightened in exasperation.

The tension in the room increased when Dr. Stone eventually entered. He had a protective look on his face and a clipboard in one hand.

He avoided looking at either of us as he cleared his throat. "Your daughter is pregnant, Alpha."

Like a chilly slap, the words struck me. Everything inside me went still, as if time had frozen.

Pregnant.

No. I had only ever had sex once, and I couldn't even recall it well. I believed I could forget my error because I had been intoxicated and in a daze.But now? Now it had come back to haunt me in the worst way imaginable.

I felt my heart plummet to my stomach. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.

“No. That’s not possible,” my father said sharply, standing upright as if the doctor had just insulted him.

“She hasn’t met her mate. She can’t be pregnant.”

The doctor remained composed, but the weight of his words remained heavy in the room. “I tested the sample twice, Alpha. The results are the same.”

My father turned to face me, his eyes full of anger and incredulity. He appeared to be unable to identify the female seated in front of him. When he spoke, his tone was icy.“Do it again. This test is wrong. My daughter isn’t like that.”

I shrank into the chair, unable to hold his gaze. The shame burned through me like wildfire. At this age, nearly legal, I had broken the one sacred rule every she-wolf was taught since childhood: remain pure until you find your mate. I had failed. And now I was going to pay the price.

The pack could forgive many things, but not this. A she-wolf who became pregnant without her mate was considered a disgrace. They called them "rogue whores", the lowest title a woman could bear. Worse than a traitor. And my father had just uttered those same vile words under his breath, refusing to believe I could fall so far.

The term stung like a slap to my face. Rogue whore. That label would follow me forever.

“She’s not like those women,” he snapped again, voice rising. “She was raised better. She knows what’s expected of her.”

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My lungs were tightening, the weight of his judgment pressing down on me. The worst part? I used to think the same way. I had seen those women on the fringes of our territory, struggling to survive without the support of a pack. I had judged them. Whispered about their choices. Looked down on them as if I were above them.

And now I was going to become one of them.

Our city was different from others. We didn’t banish she-wolves who broke the rules. We didn’t throw them into the wilderness to go mad and feral like other packs did. Instead, we made them rogues cast out of pack life but allowed to exist within neutral zones. No access to resources, no protection, no home. Just survival on the outskirts.

I used to pity them. Now, I understood their pain intimately.

The fear clawed at my throat, rising like bile. I wasn’t just going to lose my place in the pack, I was going to lose everything. My future. My family’s respect. My title. My safety.

Tears burned at the corners of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not here. Not in front of him.

“Alpha, I understand this is difficult, but the results are conclusive,” Dr. Stone said gently, trying to calm the rising storm. “She’s pregnant. We need to start discussing next steps for her health and safety.”

My father didn’t respond. He turned his back on me, silence roaring louder than any scream. It was worse than anger. It was rejection.

I had become something he didn’t recognize. Something he couldn’t forgive.

A disgrace.

I felt the chill seeping into my bones as I sat there shaking. As I struggled to keep myself together, my fingers balled into fists in my lap. I wanted to scream, to run, to go back in time, to undo that one awful night with all my heart.

But it was too late.

My future was shattered. Gone are the dreams my father had for me. The road I had proudly traveled my entire life was collapsing under my feet.

It was replaced by a new reality that I never thought I would have to deal with. I wasn't prepared to have a child. I wasn't prepared to be by myself. I wasn't prepared to act erratically.

But now, I had no choice.