My pregnant mate

CHAPTER2

Mira's pov

The voice I once shared every heartbeat with, the one that used to calm me in my worst moments, roar inside me when I was wronged, and guide me through every storm, had gone silent. I didn’t even know when she stopped speaking exactly. But now, thinking back... it was the day I got married to Kade. That silence wasn’t just my wolf shutting me out. It was her way of mourning and of warning. And I was too love-struck, too blind, and too desperate to listen.

Her voice came as a whisper, a breeze brushing through my soul. “Do you want me to kill him? Or should I start with her?” I froze.

Tears stung my eyes not just because she spoke, but because someone finally shared in my pain. The world had been so loud, yet I had been so alone. And now... now she was back. My wolf. My only friend.

Her anger wasn’t wild this time. It wasn’t the fierce, guttural rage I knew so well. No, this time... she sounded tired. Sad. Even in the way she asked about revenge, there was something soft. Something is broken.

“I’ve missed you,” I whispered. I clutched my belly without thinking. “Please don’t ever go silent on me again. Even if we disagree. I need you. I need someone.”

Then she said something that made my breath catch. “Mira, your body’s changing. You didn’t notice because you’ve been drowning in pain, but you’re pregnant. And this time... this time you passed the third moon.” I blinked, stunned. I had never carried this long before. All my past pregnancies ended around the third moon. This one stayed. My hand flew to my stomach. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Because I should have known, if not copied my mind with thought.

“I’m pregnant,” I whispered in disbelief, and a strange warmth spread through me. Life. Something pure inside me. A part of me, and regardless of who the father was, a part of my survival. My wolf reminded me gently, “This is yours. Not Kade’s. Not anyone else’s.” I nodded. “Thank you for telling me. That’s why I need you. I need someone to remind me who I am.”

But even in that joy, I felt shame crawl back in. I thought maybe if I told Kade, it would make a difference. Maybe this time, he’d see me. Maybe this child would open his eyes and heart. My wolf growled at me, irritated. “Here we go again. You’re not happy because you’re pregnant. You’re happy because you think this baby will make Kade love you again. And that’s another heartbreak waiting to happen for both of us.”

I ignored her. I still had hope, foolish as it was. When I told Kade, he looked stunned and then thrilled. But not because he loved me. Not because he saw me. He was just happy that his bloodline would grow. That his pups would be many. He threw a grand party for me and Ravena. Called it the celebration of the heirs of the Crystal Red Pack.

That night, everything shattered. I was in my room preparing for the evening when I asked one of the maids for tea. My throat was dry, and I wanted something warm to calm the nerves in my stomach. I drank it without a second thought. That’s all I remember before the world turned dark. When I opened my eyes again, it was Kade standing over me, shouting, and a man, one of the palace guards, completely naked, lying beside me.

I shot up in horror. “What is this?! What’s going on?!” I cried, but Kade’s face was full of rage. “So it was a common guard that got you pregnant?” he spat. “You just wanted attention? You thought lying with a dog would make you Luna again?” I was frozen. Nothing made sense. I’d never seen the man beside me before in my life.

That’s when I saw her. Ravena. Smiling at the corner of the room, smug and victorious. “I told you she was unfaithful,” she said smoothly. “But you didn’t believe me.” I wanted to scream. I tried to explain. I pleaded with Kade, told him I’d been drugged, and told him to search the maid and test the tea, but none of it mattered. He had made up his mind. He ordered both me and the guard imprisoned until he decided what to do with us.

Back in the cold prison cell, my wolf whispered urgently. “Did I not tell you not to tell anyone about the baby, even Kade, until you give birth? Tell Kade you want to leave for a year. Say you need time to mourn your parents. Say anything, just get out of here with that child alive.” But you hesitated. Now this “Kade will believe me,” I insisted. “He knows me. He loves me.” My wolf’s silence said it all. She was disappointed, maybe even heartbroken herself.

Since my parents were killed by rogues, my life has spiraled from one pain into another. I had lost everything: my family, my place, and my name. And now, I was about to lose my child too. The trial was swift. They brought me and the guard before the council. I stood firm, my hands trembling as I declared I had never known the man before. I told them I was drugged. I begged for the Moon Goddess to be called to judge the truth.

But the guard smiled and looked me straight in the eyes. “We’ve been lovers for months,” he said. “She begged me to give her a pup to reclaim her title.” My breath left my lungs. My knees gave out. “Liar,” I whispered, but no one believed me. Ravena had manipulated everything. She even arranged for a fake seer, someone claiming to speak for the Moon Goddess, to say the child in my womb wasn’t Kade’s.

Kade’s eyes went hollow. “Then what should we do with her?” he asked coldly. Ravena stepped forward and whispered sweetly, “Take her to the royal summit at Moonstone. Present her as a servant to the Alpha king to seek favor in his eye. Today is your first time appearing as the alpha of the Crystal Red Pack. This will please him.” I stared at her in disbelief. She had planned every step. She wanted me humiliated. She wanted me erased.

Kade agreed without hesitation. No goodbye. No thought. Just an order to the guards. On the day of the royal summit, the same day my parents had been killed, I was dragged to Moonstone in chains. I was made to sit behind Kade like a slave. When the meeting ended, he stood before the court and asked the Alpha King to receive a gift. That gift was me.

They brought me forward, bruised, shackled, and pregnant. The king looked me over once, then turned his face in disgust. “She’s no gift,” he said. “Anyone who wants her may take her.” And just like that, I became a thing for trade. A disgrace. No one stepped forward. No one claimed me. I stood there in front of alphas, betas, warriors, and elders, with tears in my eyes and my soul breaking apart.

Whispers filled the air. “She’s carrying a bastard.” “She used to be Luna of Crystal Red Pack.” “What can we do with a pregnant slave?” I wished the ground would open and swallow me whole. I closed my eyes and clenched my fists. I was done crying. If the world wouldn’t save me, I would survive it on my own. I swore in that moment that if I lived, I would bring them all to ruin: Kade, Ravena, the guard, even the ones who stood by and watched.

And just as I prepared for the worst, I heard a voice from the back of the hall. Calm. Strong. Unfamiliar.

“I will take her.”