I Escaped After My Alpha Betrayed Me and Our Son

The storm raged outside, lightning splitting the sky as I stumbled through the darkened corridors of the Pack House clinic. My body screamed in protest with each step, still raw from the hours of labor I'd endured just hours ago. Blood seeped through the makeshift pad between my legs, a reminder of my body's sacrifice, but I couldn't stop now.

Not when Maddox needed me.

"C'mon, Josephine," I whispered to myself, clutching the small cooler against my chest. Inside were the precious stem cells from our son's umbilical cord—the only cure for Maddox's silver toxicity. The only reason I'd abandoned my admission to the Royal Lycan Academy. The only reason I'd endured nine months of pregnancy while caring for a dying rogue.

Wren. My beautiful boy. He was worth every sacrifice.

Another contraction seized my abdomen, and I leaned against the wall, breathing through the pain. The storm howled outside, rattling the windows of the clinic. Perfect timing. No one would hear me tonight.

"Just a little further," I murmured, forcing myself forward.

The clinic was eerily quiet. Most of the pack members had evacuated to the main house for the storm, leaving only the night shift staff who were probably huddled in the break room. Good. I didn't need witnesses.

I'd been told Maddox was being kept in a private room near the Alpha's office—a courtesy extended to him despite his rogue status because of our connection. The corridors seemed endless as I made my way through the darkness, guided only by occasional flashes of lightning through the windows.

Finally, I reached the heavy oak door of the Alpha's office. Strange. Why would Maddox be here instead of in a medical room?

I approached slowly, the cooler clutched tightly against my chest. Then I heard it—not the weak, pained wheezing I'd grown accustomed to over the past months, but laughter. Rich, booming laughter that echoed through the hallway.

"Did you see her face when she brought the pup?" The voice was unmistakable—Maddox's voice, strong and commanding, nothing like the weak whispers he'd used with me for months.

I froze, my hand hovering inches from the door.

"To think she actually believed you were dying," another male voice responded—Marcus, the Beta.

"Masterpiece of deception," Maddox said, his voice dropping into that Alpha tone that made my knees weak—a tone he'd never used around me. "She gave up everything—her admission to the Academy, her independence, her pride—all to save a man who didn't need saving."

My breath caught in my throat. The cooler suddenly felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

"The question is," Maddox continued, "did she do it because she loves my wolf, or because she loves what my position can give her?"

"Either way," a female voice chimed in—Emmy Burns, I realized with a jolt, "you've got her exactly where you want her. Pregnant with your heir, completely dependent on you."

"And now that I have the stem cells," Maddox said, "I can finally drop this charade. Though