Claimed as the Alpha's Second Luna

Chapter 6 A More Dangerous Secret

Alexander's POV:

I nodded, turned around, and strode away without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Leon was frantically roaring at me to turn back, to go see her, to seize the treasure the Moon Goddess had bestowed upon us!

But I didn't stop, striving to maintain my usual pace until I reached a place where no one was around.

Only then did I stop, lean heavily against the wall, and close my eyes in agony.

"Leon," I warned in a low voice, "Be quiet!"

For the first time, Leon snapped back at me so fiercely. "She's ours! You felt it! You know that was a gift from the Moon Goddess, and yet you dare to ignore her!"

"I already have a mate," I said coldly, as if trying to convince him, or perhaps more to convince myself. "I have Elena. I made a promise to her just this morning, and I will never betray her!"

Leon finally fell silent.

But I knew he wasn't convinced.

It was only because I'd issued an absolute command, and he dared not disobey me.

I strode out the front door, gazing at the dazzling, bright morning sunlight. Remembering the countless tasks awaiting me in the domain, I took a deep breath and forced myself to push the memory of that corridor and that maid deep into my heart.

Yet for the entire morning, Leon paced restlessly inside me.

But I used my reason to force him down, and held out until noon before returning to that house.

Annie's POV:

Chloe pushed the moonstone toward me, her expression more serious than I'd ever seen before. "The moonstone senses the new life growing in your womb. Annie, though the glow is faint, you have indeed just become pregnant."

Pregnant? How could that be?

It had only been ten days since that night in South Spring! But Chloe was the best healer; if she said the moonstone could detect conception immediately, then there was absolutely no way she could be wrong.

My mind went blank for a split second, and then a chill crept up my spine.

If Elena found out about this before Jack was completely safe, this unborn child would become her new way to control me.

"Annie," Chloe called softly. Seeing that I didn't react, she walked straight up to me, crossed her arms, and looked down at me. "Speak. Who is the father?"

I opened my mouth, but my throat felt locked. I couldn't make a sound.

Alexander's name was on the tip of my tongue, but I didn't dare utter a single word.

Chloe stared at me for a long moment, then sighed in exasperation: "So, you've been secretly seeing someone behind my back all this time? We've known each other for so long, and you've been hiding something like this from me?"

"It's not like that, Chloe. I haven't."

"Then who?"

She frowned, thinking, then her eyes lit up and she leaned forward. "Wait. Is it Jasper?"

"Jasper?" I blinked.

"Elena's brother. The pack Beta." Chloe looked pleased with herself.

"I noticed a long time ago that the way he looks at you is off! Every time he finishes training Jack, he always finds an excuse to help you with the heavy lifting; every time he walks past your cabin, he stops to glance at you; and take that gathering the other day, when a wolf almost ran into you, he was the first one to rush over and shield you!"

The more she talked, the more she felt that was exactly the case. "To be honest, even though Jasper is a Beta, he's strong and dependable, and he's always looked out for you and Jack. If the child is his, I wouldn't be surprised at all."

"Chloe," I cut in. "It's really not him."

"No?"

"He just feels sorry for me. He looks after Jack because Jack is one of the pups he trains. When he helps me, he's just being kind."

Chloe clearly didn't buy it. "A Beta goes out of his way for a woman like that and you think it's just sympathy?"

"You're reading too much into it."

She looked at me in silence for a long while, then finally dropped it.

Chloe's amusement vanished. She pulled a chair closer and took both my hands.

"Under pack law, every pup must have a registered father. If a she-wolf gets pregnant without a mate, and no one claims the child..."

She paused. Her gaze was unreadable.

"The Council won't allow that child to be born."

My whole body went rigid, and fear spread through my heart.

Chloe tightened her grip on my hands. "So you need to find the father and get him to claim the baby. Fast. Once you start showing, there's no hiding it."

I sat there, ears ringing.

Her voice faded beneath the rush of my thoughts. I would tell Elena, demand Jack's return, and reveal the father's identity to no one else.

By the time I left the healer's cabin, I was carrying a jar of herbal salve and a few packets of pregnancy-safe herbs. One thought followed me the whole way.

'No, I can't tell anyone who the child's father is.'

Clutching the herbal remedy Chloe had slipped into my hand, I walked out of the healer's cabin in a daze.

Elena arranged all of this! I should go find Elena. Maybe once she got what she wanted, she'd take pity on me and let me see Jack, so this nightmare could finally end.

I cut through the central square, avoided the patrol warriors, and took the path through the bushes toward Elena's residence.

Elena lived in a two-story villa surrounded by a rose garden.

Alexander usually stayed in the main house, but Elena found it too noisy there, so she spent most of her time in this villa.

As soon as I stepped onto the garden's stone path, I saw that the villa's front door was ajar.

I could faintly hear the sound of an argument coming from inside.

Elena's, and a man's.

I stopped outside, hand raised to knock.

Then I heard Jasper's voice.

"Sister, I did what you asked."

It was Jasper! That usually gentle and refined Beta, who always spoke in a measured tone, Jack's instructor.

But right now, his voice was tinged with suppressed anger.

"You told me to pursue the Silver Moon Pack's princess. I did. You told me to act interested in her in front of everyone. I did that too. But I did everything you asked."

His voice rose.

"Why are you breaking our deal?"

Silence inside. A few seconds passed.

Then Elena's voice came, light, as if she were discussing something trivial. "What deal?"

"You said," Jasper's voice shook, "you said that if I helped you secure the alliance with Silver Moon, you'd give me a chance. You knew I had feelings for Annie."

I gasped sharply, clamped my hand over my mouth, and stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Jasper… to me?

Elena's voice dripped with mockery. "Jasper, wake up."

"I'm more awake than anyone," Jasper said. "Annie is kind and hardworking. She raised Jack on her own and never once complained. She's better than any she-wolf I've ever met."

"She's a wolfless woman," Elena cut him off, her tone turning to ice.

"She has no wolf. No fighting ability. No family. Nothing. Her status in this pack is lower than a servant's. Jasper, you're the Beta of the Ironclaw Pack. Your mate should at least be someone worthy of standing beside you."

"I don't care about that. I haven't forgotten. But I'm not giving up on Annie."

"You will."

Elena's tone was laced with a ruthless, murderous intent. "If you keep insisting on this, I can't guarantee I'll spare her life once she gives birth."

"A wolfless woman who knows too many secrets has no right to live! When the time comes, I'll just make up some excuse, an illness, an accident… After all, who would care if a worthless person like her lived or died?"

Outside the door, I clamped my hand tightly over my mouth, my legs trembling uncontrollably.

She's going to kill me!

Once I give birth to the child in my womb, she'll kill me!

Overwhelmed by terror, I stepped backward, but my heel slammed into a flowerpot on the porch.

"Crash—"

The sharp c***k of shattering porcelain instantly shattered the dead silence.

The arguing inside the room came to an abrupt halt. The next second, the door was yanked open.

Elena stood in the doorway.

For a split second, a flicker of panic, as if she'd been caught off guard, flashed in her eyes, but it vanished in an instant.

"Annie," she said in a voice so gentle it sent chills down my spine, "Come here. Let me explain. It's not what you think."

I shook my head frantically and backed away. Explain? I would never believe a single word she said again!

Seeing that I wasn't falling for it, Elena's expression turned icy.

Her gaze told me she would never let me off the hook!

I spun around in terror, trying to run away, but suddenly collided with a chest as hard as iron.

It was Alexander.

Alexander stepped past Elena and came to stand beside me. His deep, authoritative voice rang out above my head: "What's going on, Annie?"

Elena froze, a flash of fear crossing her face.

If I were to spill everything right now in front of the Alpha, the aphrodisiac, the tampered dinner, and her plot to force me to conceive an heir…

Everything she'd planned would come crashing down!

But just as I was about to speak, Elena beat me to it.

"Annie, I was just about to talk to you. Your son is doing so well at boot camp. Jack is the pride of our pack now. Do you want to see the photos the drill sergeant just sent?"

I immediately froze, afraid to make a single move.

She was blatantly warning me right in front of the Alpha, my son's life depended on what I said next.