THE ALPHA'S FORBIDDEN REPLACEMENT, MY MEMORY FOR HIS MERCY.

Claire's POV Tonight was supposed to be perfect. My husband had promised. Kael said he would announce it tonight, he was finally going to announce the good news to everyone. I would finally belong. My eyes roamed around the crowd, searching for him. My gaze finally landed on him, he was standing tall and composed besides the ceremonial platform. I could not help but notice something different about him. He looked extremely serious, maybe even too serious for something as simple as announcing my pregnancy to the entire pack. I placed my hands protectively over my stomach, my fingers trembling as I struggled to remain calm. My heart raced faster than normal. I tried to convince myself that nothing would go wrong but it was hard to succomb to the thought. My mind began to imagine the worse. Kael stepped forward, the chattering noise faded, silence slowly engulfed the air. “Tonight,” Kael began, his voice hoarse and commanding. "We celebrate the strength of this pack.” A few murmurs of approval echoed from the crowd. "Tonight, I correct a mistake." My face went blank . A mistake? I furrowed my brows in confusion and my expression matched that of everyone else. No one understood what Kael was talking about. Then all of a sudden, his gaze shifted to me, causing my breath to seize. “I reject you, Claire.” For a moment, I could not hear anything or feel anything. Just those words, echoing, repeating and slowly breaking me apart. “A wolf without a scent is nothing but a parasite to my pack.” Kael continued. Loud gasps erupted, but they sounded faint, like I was slowly drowning in them. “No…” I managed to say but my voice came out as a low trembling whisper. "Kael… wh-at are you say-ing?” I stuttered, my gaze remained fixated on him. “I have never seen you as my mate,” he said coldly. “And I never will.” His words cut deep, too deep that I could feel the tears welling in my eyes. "No, that is not true." The words escaped from my lips. I could feel panic rising. "Y-ou pro-mised." "I promised you nothing!" Kael's voice became cold and harsh. Tears blurred my vision. “Then what about our baby?" A small cry escaped from my lips. Kael said nothing so I saw it as an avenue to press further. “I am pregnant!” I said, louder now. “Your heir, Kael. You said you would tell everyone." I assumed mentioning the pregnancy would make Kael rethink his sudden actions but instead, it made him more furious. “Guards!” His next action took me off guard and even before I could plead, I felt hands grab me firmly. I hastily struggled to pull away from their grip. “Kael, you have to listen to me!” I cried, fighting against the guards. "You can not just do this to me! To us! What about the child?" Tears rolled down my cheeks, everything was happening too fast and it was hard for me to grasp all of it. I tried to channel my supernatural strength in order to break free from the grip of the guards' but something even worse happened. Blinding lights flashed in my face. My body froze as if something inside my head snapped. “No, no, no, no” I clutched my temple. I knew my powers were beginning to fluctuate. My vision blurred. Just like that, memories slipped, fast and uncontrollably. The faces, voices, moments, all slowly fading. The only thing I could hear was Kael's cold and merciless voice. “Pathetic, even your power is defective.” The last thing I saw was Kael turning his back on me before I slowly succumbed to the darkness, shutting my eyes close. When I eventually snapped my eyes open, I found myself curled on the ground, drenched in rain and my body trembling uncontrollably. My head banged and my thoughts felt… incomplete. I blinked slowly, staring up at the dark sky. Why was I here? I tried to remember but nothing came. Only a dull pain in my chest. I carefully pushed myself up slightly, wincing at the sharp pain from my head. Something was wrong. I could feel it. I had used my power and whenever I did, I lost a chunk of my memory. What memory did I possibly lose this time and why was I not in the pack house? My hand drifted slowly to my stomach. The last thing I remember is telling Kael about the pregnancy. Without wasting anymore time, I decided to head back to the pack house, to inform Kael about my lost memory. I halted in my steps in front of the guards at the front gate of the pack house. “Let me in,” I said, my voice weak but firm. The guards didn’t move. “You are no longer welcome here.” My brows furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about? I am the Luna--” The guards gazed at each other and choked out a hysteric laughter before one of them finally said. "You were rejected.” What? Rejected? Kael would never do that to me! "Move.” I snapped at them. Surprisingly, they refused to. Their faces stoic, lacking emotions. I wanted to press further but I suddenly heard footsteps draw closer. Fortunately, it was Kael. He walked past the guards, taking his stance right before me. Shockingly, he was not alone. A woman stood beside him, holding his hand. “What… is this?” My voice trembled. Kael turned to me, his expression cold. "I thought I made myself clear.” “Clear about what?” I raised my voice. Everything was beginning to scare me. “Kael, what is going on?!” “I rejected you." “You just do not remember because of that weird ability of yours." My face fell and my heart beat rose. “No…” I whispered, shaking my head. “That is n-ot, no, you would never--” “I did.” “But I am pregnant." My tone was still laced with confusion “Your child--" “I do not care, Claire." “You..." my voice was breaking. “You have to be lying…” “I do not want you." He said. “And I do not want whatever you are carrying.” “Take her away,” he ordered. Fighting was not an option, that would cost me another memory. All i did was plead to Kael with tears in my eyes but he turned a deaf ear, I was dragged away and left behind at the outskirts of the city. Alone. I stumbled forward, my legs became weak. I wrapped my arms around myself.. So I had become a pregnant omega? Rejected and abandoned. There was no way I would survive. The thought settled in slowly. Tears blurred my vision as I stepped toward the road. Perhaps ending everything was the only way out of this. The sound of an engine roared in the distance, growing louder and faster. My heart raced wildly and my hands trembled as I moved them to my stomach. “I am sorry…” I whispered an apology to the unborn child inside of me. The headlights came into view. Blinding. Rushing toward me. I took one more shaky breath... And stepped forward.