Alpha Mendoza

Chapter 8

Alessia:

When I woke again, the world felt slower, muffled, like sound moving through water.

The panic had settled into a dull ache in my chest, and the sedative left a faint heaviness in my limbs. But my hand moved to my stomach automatically.

Still here.

Still safe.

Sage nuzzled softly inside me.

We’re okay. Just breathe. The doctor is nice, she managed to keep us safe. The baby too.

A quiet knock sounded before the door opened.

It wasn’t Alexander.

It was… her.

Seraphina Frost.

Tall. Beautiful. Elegant. Dressed in a pristine winter-white coat with fur trim and diamonds at her throat. Her blond hair was curled to perfection, her posture so rigid she might as well have been carved from ice.

I had seen her once by his side. He had resented her at the time, though everyone knew that they were ‘together’, he refused to comment about it or even accept her in public as his Luna.

She looked me over like she was inspecting a piece of cheap furniture someone had dragged into her palace.

“So,” she said, stepping inside without waiting for permission, “you’re awake. I thought that Grace was going to make you sleep until you gave birth to the thing you’re carrying.”

I forced myself to sit up straighter. “I am. To what do I owe the honor of your visit? Pretty sure you didn’t come to check on me.”

She didn’t smile.

She didn’t even blink.

“As a guest of the Blue Moon Pack, you’ll be assigned a room. Not here, obviously. You’ll need to be relocated to the maternity wing, close to the lower terrace.” She said, and I raised an eyebrow at him. “And I would suggest, that as a guest, you behave like one. Breaking the room, yelling at the Alpha, even being rude to me… not a good combination for a guest.”

I kept my eyes on hers, studying her expression, and she gave me a cold smile.

Her lips curved slightly, like she was pleased with my reaction.

“You’ll follow the rules, of course. No wandering without permission. No contact with pack soldiers. No interference in Alpha business. You will have assigned maids to ensure that everything you need is tended to. You will be resting as much as you can, the last thing we need is for you to act like a child.” She folded her arms. “And no acting as if you belong here. It is only a matter of time before you leave.”

I stared at her. “I didn’t ask to belong.”

She stepped closer, heels tapping sharply on the tile.

“You may be carrying the Alpha’s child,” she said, voice low and cold, “but do not mistake biology for position. I am the woman at his side. I am the one he’s meant to be with. He chose me a long time ago. You, however,” Her gaze flicked to my stomach, then back to my eyes. “…are simply a temporary inconvenience.”

Sage hissed.

Say the word and I’ll bite her. I will not hesitate.

I inhaled slowly. “If you have a problem with me being here, speak to your Alpha. He’s the one who brought me. I fought him to leave, and I was more than willing to lose everything that would relate me to him. He was the one who dragged me here, and is still the one keeping me.”

Seraphina’s mouth twitched, half outrage, half disbelief.

“Oh, you have guts,” she said with a brittle laugh. “I’ll give you that. But don’t get comfortable. The second that thing…” she waved dismissively at my belly “…is born, you’re gone. And I believe that you know that this baby belongs to the Alpha. Even your breathing would be under our control.”

I kept my expression calm, but something sharp twisted inside me.

“You mean his control?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “As far as I am concerned, you are not carrying his mark. Had you been it might have been a different situation.”

She wasn’t just threatened.

She was terrified.

And then she said the wrong thing.

“You are not to depend on that fetus to protect you. Without it, you’re nothing here. Actually, even with it. Your sole purpose here is to grow that child, and to grow it healthy.”

I tilted my head. “If I’m nothing here, tell me something, Seraphina.”

She stiffened. “What?”

“If you meant so much to Alexander…” I let the silence stretch. “…why was he so keen about me not losing the baby? Trust me, I was seconds away from ending things. It is him who chose this path. And let’s say, he chose sentiment, he chose to protect what was his by nature… why did he spend Christmas Eve with me instead of you?”

Her face.

Her face.

Red.

Then white.

Then an alarming shade of murder.

“You little…” she choked, breath sputtering in rage.

Sage purred. Hit the nerve. Perfect. Now, all I have to do is bite. And we are done with the b***h.

Seraphina spun toward the door so fast her hair whipped across her shoulder.

“You won’t win,” she snapped. “I don’t care what he did that night. I am his woman. And you…” she jabbed a finger at me “…are a problem to be removed. For now, I will let you live long enough to give birth to that child. And the second that happens, even the rogues would feel pity for your case. As you might know, no one is going to accept a woman who not only cheated on her fiancé, another Alpha… but she did it with his enemy.”

My heart raced against my chest, and for one long second, I would have snapped her neck and ended her here and now. But she stormed out, slamming the door so hard the frame rattled before I could.

I exhaled shakily, slumping back against the pillows. “She is one f*****g bitch.”

Sage hummed. She’s threatened. Which means she sees the truth. And she is afraid of it.

“I don’t want to be involved in this,” I whispered.

Too late, Sage said softly. You’re already in the middle of it. There is no going back now…