Chapter 3

My pleas dissolved into shattered whimpers as he brutally crushed my trembling hand beneath his boot—

This hand, once cradled and cherished in his palms, Cassian Valen had once meticulously cared for it, even fretting over a cup of tea being too hot for my touch.

Now, he ground my finger bones with cruel relish, all because of Lorelei‘s provocation.

"Still won't confess?!" Cassian Valen's roar made the corridor lights flicker precariously, "Did some wild male mark you so thoroughly you've forsaken wolf pride?!"

Lorelei Marispera suddenly twined her hand around Cassian Valen's arm, feigning conciliation: "Cassian Valen brother~" Yet when she glanced down at me, her pupils narrowed to mocking slits. "Perhaps we've misunderstood? My sister here just craves a pup so desperately, after all..." Her wolf tail suggestively swept over Cassian Valen's groin.

The next moment, his fist, wielding the full force of an Alpha, slammed into my swollen abdomen.

I curled into a ball, shielding my stomach with my tail.

Brother Li, the Beta, stood excitedly nearby, his incomplete canines grinding and tail lashing rapidly: "Alpha, shall I activate the maternity ward lockdown?" His hand already hovered over the electronic lock.

Two Pack Omegas in nursing caps attempted to approach, but Cassian Valen suddenly threw back his head in a bone-splitting howl, shattering the corridor's end window: "Begone!" His tail rose like a banner, "This is a matter of clan purification!"

In this hospital under his name, his will was law.

As warm amniotic fluid mixed with blood gushed from beneath me, Lorelei Marispera dramatically leaped back, covering her nose: "Blood! She's miscarrying!" She feigned distress, burrowing into Cassian Valen's embrace, "Cassian... the child might already be..."

Cassian Valen finally halted his assault, lighting a cigarette. "Pass the word,whoever helps her preserve the pregnancy will face exile from the pack."

He elegantly looped his arm around Lorelei Marispera's waist, "Let's go to the airport."

As my consciousness faded, I heard him book two first-class tickets to the North for the northern lights—the very place we had honeymooned five years prior.

Just as oblivion claimed me, the corridor's end echoed with heel-clicks. A lean shadow materialized against the backlight, carrying the scent of cedarwood, "Seraphina Veyra?!"