The wind howled through the trees, rattling the glass of the Alpha's estate as if the very earth could sense the impending disaster. Ravenna Devereaux sat at the edge of the grand bed she once found comfort in, her fingers pressed against the flat plane of her stomach.
She was late.
The kind of late that sent ice slicing through her veins, turning her blood to something thick and unmovable. The kind of late that couldn't be explained away by stress, or exhaustion, or the brutal schedule that came with being the Luna of the Crescent Hollow Pack.
Her breath stilled.
She already knew.
The nausea in the mornings. The way her body felt heavier, slower, not from battle or training but something else. Something growing inside of her.
Something that did not belong to her mate.
Her lungs burned as she exhaled sharply, pressing her palm harder against her stomach, as if she could crush the truth beneath her own skin.
Killian will kill me.
The thought came, sharp and unbidden. A whisper of fear wrapped in steel.
She was the Luna. His mate. His property. She had spent years bending under the weight of the title, standing by his side even when his love felt like an afterthought. Even when his touch lacked warmth. Even when she lay in this very bed and pretended not to notice the scent of other women on his skin.
She had stayed. Because that's what a mate did.
Because rejection was worse than resentment.
But now?
Her fingers trembled as she gripped the silk sheets beneath her. This—this was unforgivable.
A soft knock on the door barely registered before the handle turned. A familiar scent drifted in, warm and steady, like childhood summers and whispered promises long since broken.
Tobias.
Her body tensed. He shouldn't be here.
"We need to talk," he murmured, voice rough, as if he already knew.
Ravenna forced herself to meet his gaze, the dark brown depths filled with something like concern, guilt—maybe even love.
Tobias had always been the safe place she never should have run to.
The mistake that now grew inside of her.
"I'm pregnant," she said flatly.
The words felt foreign, impossible, like they belonged to someone else entirely.
Tobias exhaled, a slow and measured thing, but she saw the flicker of panic behind his eyes. "It's mine." Not a question. A realization.
Ravenna nodded, her throat too tight to form words.
The silence that followed was deafening.
They both knew what this meant.
For her.
For him.
For the entire pack.
Tobias ran a hand down his face, inhaling sharply before stepping closer. "Ravenna, you have to tell him before someone else does."
She almost laughed. Tell him? Tell Alpha Killian Greyson, her mate, the man who saw betrayal as blood debt, that his Luna carried another man's child?
She wouldn't live long enough to see another sunrise.
"He'll kill me," she whispered, the truth a raw wound in her throat.
Tobias' jaw tightened. "Then run."
A shudder rolled through her.
Run.
She had never run from anything in her life.
Not from the battles that left scars on her skin.
Not from the years spent by Killian's side, waiting, hoping that one day he'd truly see her.
Not from the night she made the worst mistake of her life—letting the walls around her heart crumble in Tobias' arms, seeking comfort she never should have taken.
But this?
This wasn't something she could fight.
A sharp knock rattled the door, sending a jolt of ice through her spine.
Her mate's scent hit her like a storm. Killian.
Tobias tensed, stepping back even as his expression remained composed. Too composed. If Killian saw him here, it would be the end of him.
Ravenna swallowed down the terror clawing at her throat, forcing her spine straight. "Go," she mouthed.
Tobias hesitated. His eyes met hers—something unspoken, something desperate—but then he was gone, slipping through the shadows just as the door swung open.
Killian stepped inside, his towering frame filling the space, his presence sucking all the air from the room. He was beautiful in the kind of way that made people forget the blade behind the smile—tall, lean muscle, with sharp features and eyes the color of a winter sky.
Eyes that did not hold love for her.
He studied her, the intensity in his gaze setting her skin ablaze. "You're pale," he murmured, voice deceptively soft. "Something you want to tell me, Luna?"
The title felt like a noose.
Ravenna swallowed. Lie. Lie, lie, lie.
But her stomach twisted. The scent of him—the mate bond that still tied them together—sickened her.
She was carrying another man's child.
And he would know.
The truth was a storm building, a tidal wave of destruction poised to end everything.
Ravenna had mere seconds to decide.
Lie.
Or watch her world burn.