My pregnant mate

CHAPTER4

Mira’s POV

The voice cut through the crowd like a sudden storm slicing through still air. “I will take her.”

The murmurs swelled instantly. The voices that had hurled hatred at me seconds ago turned like a tide—sudden, sharp, and louder. I blinked through the blur of humiliation and tears, wondering, Who? Who could possibly draw more hatred than me right now? Who was the crowd reacting to?

And then… I smelled it.

Something sweet. No, not just sweet but divine, comforting, and powerful. A scent I had never known, but somehow my soul craved it.

My wolf stirred instantly.

That scent wasn't just pleasant. It pulled at my soul, at the broken pieces of me that had been scattered ever since Kade’s rejection. It wrapped around me like a cocoon, warm and soft, but with a fierceness underneath. My heart thudded erratically, and for a moment I thought I was hallucinating. I said to myself, Was it Kade?

But no, this wasn't his scent. I had never smelled this before. Not even once during our short-lived bond. Not even when we were mates. Kade’s presence had always felt like a weight, like a chain I was forced to carry. But this? This scent was air freedom and hope. And it was coming closer.

I could barely keep my eyes open. My body was failing, my baby inside growing weaker with me, and all I heard was my wolf whispering:

Don’t give up. Not yet. We’re so close. He’s here. He?

I couldn’t make sense of anything, and the world tilted, then I collapsed into darkness; I fainted. But I didn’t stay down.

Because the moment his arms wrapped around me, I woke up with a gasp.

His scent is stronger now. It flooded me. My heartbeat steadied in his hold like it had finally found rhythm again. My breathing evened out. For the first time in moons, I felt…safe. My wolf purred.

Mira… she whispered, her voice breathless. Mira, is this our mate?

I was dizzy with disbelief. The Moon Goddess wouldn’t do this, not after all this pain. Not after Kade. Was this a punishment? Or mercy? But then it happened.

A voice echoed in my mind. A mind link, soft and gentle. but a little confused, but steady.

"You’re safe now," the stranger said in my head. "I’ve got you. I’ll get you out of here. Away from these wicked wolves."

I froze. My heart raced.

I had never been able to mind-link with Kade, not even once when we were bonded. My link had always been strong with my parents and with my pack, but not with Kade, never him. But this stranger, this man I had never seen, his voice came through like he belonged inside me.

My wolf whimpered joyfully.

He’s the one, the real one. Not the lie the goddess tried to give us before, and for the first time I saw my wolf excited about someone who my wolf thought could be my mate. With Kade it was different, and I did not see this side of my wolf.

The man was confused. I could feel it but determined and protective. He cradled me like I mattered. Like I wasn’t filth.

The Alpha King’s voice rose in anger. He tried to stop the stranger. “You cannot take her! She is a traitor! A w***e! She was rejected and is now mine to condemn—”

But the stranger didn’t flinch.

He stepped forward, his voice ringing out with an authority that silenced the court.

“You offered her to anyone who would take her. They all rejected her. I claim her. She’s mine now.”

Gasps rippled through the crowd. I felt them more than I heard them. Kade’s glare was scorching. Ravena looked like she had swallowed poison.

But the Alpha King… paused.

He looked at the stranger, something like uncertainty flickering in his eyes. Then he stepped back, lips pressed into a thin, furious line.

The crowd erupted in low murmurs, disbelief thick in the air. I was taken.

Lifted up by the arms that still made my body relax even in pain. I didn’t resist. I couldn’t.

My wolf was near tears. We found him… In our worst moment, we found him. But who was he? Why did he feel like salvation?

He took me far from the castle, from the shame and filth that had become my life. When we arrived at his home deep in the woods, away from royal eyes, I tried to stay awake. Tried to remember his face. His eyes. But my strength was waning, and I slipped into unconsciousness once again.

The scent lingered, though. It stayed with me, threading through my dreams.

I woke the next morning with sunlight pouring through the window. The air was clean, with no hatred and no whispers. Just birds, the rustle of leaves, and silence, and the scent. Still there.

I sat up slowly. My belly ached, my limbs were sore, but something inside me was different. A little stronger. Maybe it was the calm. Maybe it was him.

I climbed out of the bed and looked around. The cabin was simple but warm. Strong wooden walls. A fireplace. A small woven rug near the edge of the bed. A set of folded clothes sat beside me, fresh and clean.

I changed into them and stepped outside, carefully walking barefoot across the soft ground. The place was beautiful.

Greenery surrounded the cabin. Trees towered above like ancient guardians. The earth under my feet felt alive.

I walked toward the edge of the garden area, wanting to stretch my legs, and then I heard it.

Then a voice, soft and familiar.

“Mira?”

My breath hitched at that voice, and I think I have heard it somewhere, and it is a voice I think I have heard almost my whole life.

It wasn’t the stranger; it was a woman.

A voice from my past, gentle and loving. One I never thought I’d hear again.

I turned around slowly, my heart thudding harder with each beat.

And standing at the doorway of another small cottage nearby was a woman, eyes filled with tears.

“Is that really you, Mira?” she whispered. My wolf froze. She knows us.

I staggered a step forward, lips parting, but no words came out. The scent from her stirred something old in me.

Something buried.

Then I turned and couldn't imagine who I was seeing, so I staggered back. My legs buckled.

Because in that moment, my wolf whispered something terrifying:

Mira… she’s blood. She’s your family.