Pregnant and Cast Aside: He Begs Me to Return

As the fated mate of Loki Whalen, Alpha of the Darkshadow pack, I once believed I would be his only Luna for life.

Today, that lie shatters.

On the pack's registry, my name has been crossed out as Loki's mate. In its place is Maya Hemmings, his true love, whom he claimed had left the pack years ago.

The truth is cruel.

In that instant, the excruciating pain of a bond rejection tears through my soul. That's when I finally understand that my weakness from the past year isn't from the heartache of failing to conceive, but the aftermath of our severed mate bond.

Loki needs my powerful bloodline to bear him an heir and solve the plague, the Blight, that's spreading through the pack.

What he doesn't know is that the healer told me yesterday that I'm carrying the twin pups he's always dreamed of.

Since his love is a lie, I have no reason to stay.

Now, I will leave and take his true heirs with me.

In the Wolf Council chambers, the First Elder, Adolphe Osouf, had just spoken when an excruciating pain ripped through the depths of my soul.

The bone-deep agony of rejection tore me out of a year-long numbness. It finally struck me that the calming herbal tea Loki Whalen had brewed for me wasn't meant to soothe my mind at all. It was a magic potion meant to dull the tearing of my soul.

I began to shake all over, struggling to accept the truth.

Just then, a familiar telepathic voice sounded in my mind. It was Loki's.

"Serafina, I've returned from the borders and brought you the finest gem from the northern lands. Once I wrap up a small matter, I return to the pack house to be with you."

Still clinging to a thread of hope, I went to the border gates to confront him, but I'd never imagined the confrontation to turn into a harsh blade of truth stabbing through my heart.

In the distance, a wolf stepped onto the pack grounds.

Loki stood tall and imposing with the black armor outlining his powerful frame. He was carefully holding the she-wolf beside him, and his eyes overflowed with gentleness that once only belonged to me.

That she-wolf was Maya Hemmings, his first love. Her belly was visibly swollen.

My heart felt as if it was being crushed, and I was shuddering all over.

We'd met and fallen in love eight years ago, but the eight years of love and happiness turned out to be nothing more than just an act.

After returning to the empty pack house, I took out a pregnancy stone glowing with twin blood-red halos, along with a hospital's report.

The Moon Goddess surely had a cruel sense of humor.

Yesterday, the healer told me that I was expecting twin pups, who'd inherit the power of my bloodline. I'd planned to surprise Loki on our mating anniversary, but who could have guessed he already had a new