Married to the alpha, marked by another

Chapter 5

Drew’s pov

Before anyone could stop me, I fell to my knees next to her. She was small, but even when she fell, she looked defiant.

The gasps of the council members around us faded into static as I focused on the weak pulse under my fingers.

I shook her shoulder and said, "Sarah," in a low, sharp voice. "Take a breath. "See me?"Her eyelids fluttered. She opened her lips. A shallow breath. I felt relief, but it was short-lived.

"What happened?" I yelled at the guard closest to me. "Alpha... she just fell. She didn't yell. "Without warning." I stood up, holding her gently, even though my muscles were telling me not to.

My wolf surged, impatient and angry. Sensing Danger and being alert. Stay safe. "Bring her to my chambers," I said. Now!

All the doors were open. I am the only one who touches her. Elara's voice slithered through the air. "Drew-" I didn't pay attention to her. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to.

It wasn't a choice to ignore her anymore; it was a matter of life and death. I carefully put Sarah's body against my chest, feeling her heart beating under my hand, and marched down the hall.

She moved and whispered in my ear. "Alpha?" "Shh," I whispered, my teeth clenched. "You're safe.""Just stay with me." Her little hand moved against my chest.

I didn't move or flinch. I let her do it. If she needed to, she could touch me. We got to my room. I fell onto the couch and gently lay her down, with her head resting on the soft fabric.

"Call the doctor," I yelled at a guard who had followed me. "And step back." Now. A few minutes later, doctor Ken came. He was a thin, gray-haired man who never wasted words.

He knelt to feel her pulse and listen to her breathing. I clenched my jaw as he whispered something."Alpha, she's... pregnant."

Everything came to a halt. My brain stopped working, and my wolf growled low, telling me to be careful and protect myself.

"What?" I yelled, my voice hard and impossible to ignore. He said "Pregnant" again, calmly but clearly. "Weeks along."

She passed out from being tired and a little dehydrated. Nothing bad has happened yet. But it's a touchy situation. I didn't even know I had moved until my hand tightened around the edge of the couch.

Weeks?

Not hours. Not yesterday. Not something that happened in my house. Weeks meant a long time ago. It meant history she hadn't shared. A past that no one had thought of. A variable I couldn't control.

"Do you know?" I asked in a sharp voice, never taking my eyes off her face. Sarah frowned, her brows knitting in confusion.

"Know... what?" "Did you know you were pregnant before now?" I made it clear, with a clipped, deliberate voice.

Silence. That was enough of an answer. "No," she finally said, in a softer voice. "I had a feeling something was off." But I had no idea.

I looked at her closely then. The tiredness wasn't just physical. The calmness of someone who is used to being ready for what might happen.

She wasn't pretending. She was very good at lying if she was.

The doctor cleared his throat."Alpha, she still needs to rest. A lot of rest. Stress is bad for her health. "I know," I said in a cold voice. I stood up straight and stepped back just enough to make room.

I told Sarah, "You will rest," and my tone made it clear that there was no room for debate. "You will eat." You will get better. That is not an option. She opened and closed her lips. She nodded once.

Okay. She knew how to follow orders. I went to the doctor. "You'll make a plan. Not obvious. I don't want to guess. "Yes, Alpha."

"And you," I said, looking back at Sarah, "will not leave the palace without my permission." Her chin went up."Am I being held?" I said flatly, "You are being protected."

"This is my pack." My area. And I won't let things get out of hand because people keep secrets they don't know how to deal with.

Her eyes flashed, but not with fear. With Defiance. "I didn't ask for this," she said softly."Yes," I said. "But it's going to happen anyway."I turned a little and gave the doctor a quick nod to say no. He bowed and left without saying anything.

The door closed and the room seemed smaller. I said calmly, but dangerously, "You and my mother have a lot to explain."

Sarah got stiff. "Your mom?" "Yes," I said. "Because nothing like this happens in Silvermoon without her fingerprints being close by." Her hands curled up into the fabric under her. "I don't get it-" "You will," I said."Very soon."

I moved closer to the window, forcing myself to keep my distance until my instincts took over. The pull was there; I had felt it since she stepped over the threshold. A calm, constant awareness.

Her presence was felt differently. Like a wrong note that I couldn't ignore. And now this. I let out a slow breath. I said, "You are under my protection," without turning around. "That doesn't mean trust." It doesn't mean to forgive. And it doesn't mean that you can't be hurt.

When she answered, her voice was steady. "Then what does it mean?" I looked back at her. It means that you are more important than you should be. I said, "It means that no one can touch you until I know exactly who you are, where you came from, and what you brought into my pack."

No one asks you questions. Her eyes looked for mine, and something that couldn't be read passed between us." Does that include you?" she asked in a low voice.

The question surprised me, not because it was bold, but because it was so clear. She didn't want comfort. She wanted to know what her limits were.

I didn't answer right away. I should have turned it off. I should have told her that I was Alpha, not a shelter or a savior. Being close didn't mean being safe. Instead, I watched as her fingers curled into the fabric below her, holding the tension there as if she thought the ground would fall out from under her at any moment.

She was ready. Always ready. "I am not part of the threat," I finally said. "But that doesn't mean I'm not biased."She pressed her lips together.

"That doesn't make me feel better." "It's true," I said. "You'll see that I don't have much else to offer." She nodded once, as if she were putting that away. Not flinching, not begging. Just getting used to it. That, more than anything else, made me uneasy.

I turned all the way around and crossed the space I had put between us. The signs were clearer up close: the faint bruises on her neck that she tried to hide and the way her shoulders stayed tight even when she was resting, as if her body didn't trust stillness.

Her smell hung in the air, soft but strong. Not too much. Just... here. Pulling at instincts I had worked hard to learn. "Who else knows about the pregnancy?" I asked. She stopped breathing. Only you, and of course the doctor.

"Nobody else" "Not the father?" The word tasted bad in my mouth. She looked away

That was enough of an answer.