THE ALPHA BROTHER'S MATE

THE UNYIELDING TRUTH

The air outside was crisp, biting at my damp skin as I sat on the rock, the cup shaking in my hands. The courtyard buzzed with betas hauling crates and sharpening blades, their movements tense under Marcus’s distant shouts. The mate bond tugged, a cruel reminder of his nearness, his rejection still raw.

Toren’s words, “You should check”, had cracked something open in me, a fear I couldn’t ignore. My cycle was late, I realized, counting back the weeks. It had been a month, maybe four weeks, since my last bleed. My breasts ached, tender in a way they never had before, and the exhaustion dragging at my limbs wasn’t just from scrubbing floors. The nausea, the dizziness, the vomiting, it all pointed to one terrifying possibility.

Could I be pregnant? The thought sent a shiver through me, a mix of dread and a strange, fleeting hope. Those nights with Marcus, his hands warm and urgent in the pines, his whispers of forever—they’d felt real. But he’d called me nothing, unfit, in front of the entire pack. If I carried his child, what would he do? Claim it as his heir, only to reject it as he had me? Or worse, take it from me to raise with a “worthy” luna? My grip tightened on the cup, water splashing onto the frost-dusted ground.

I pressed a hand to my belly, my breath hitching. The spark flickered again, faint but undeniable, like moonlight dancing across my skin. Was this power connected to whatever was happening inside me? My heart raced, the bond pulsing with Marcus’s presence, a torment I couldn’t escape.

“Teyana!” Lila’s voice cut through the courtyard, sharp and venomous. She strode toward me, her green silk gown catching the morning light. “Hiding out here, omega? The warriors’ boots need polishing. Get back to work.”

I stood, my legs unsteady, the nausea lingering. “I’m coming,” I said, my voice hoarse. Lila’s eyes narrowed, catching the tremble in my hands.

“Don’t think you can slack off,” she said, stepping closer. “Marcus won’t care if you faint. He’s too busy with real warriors, preparing for the Eclipse Pack’s raids.” She smirked, her gaze flicking to my stomach. “Or are you sick again? Pathetic.”

Her words stung, but they fueled the fear growing inside me. If I was pregnant, I couldn’t let her, or anyone suspect. Not yet. I forced myself to walk past her, back to the servants’ quarters, where a pile of mud-caked boots waited. As I knelt to scrub them, my hands shook, and another faint spark flickered, unnoticed in the dim light. The task was grueling, the leather stiff and heavy, but it gave me time to think. If I was carrying Marcus’s child, I couldn’t stay here, not with his cruelty, not with Lila’s taunts.The Obsidian Pack was my home, my prison.

A shadow fell across the boots. Mara stood there, her mousy hair tucked under a scarf, holding a tray of empty mugs. “Teyana,” she said softly, “you don’t look well. You should rest when Lila’s not around.”

“I can’t,” I said, my voice barely audible. “She’ll notice.” But her kindness warmed me, a small anchor in this sea of shame.

“You need to see someone…a healer, maybe.” She whispered, before shutting the door.

***

Three days had passed since Toren’s whispered warning, and my suspicion had hardened into a gnawing certainty. My nausea came every morning now, sharp and relentless, leaving me doubled over the slop bucket before dawn. My breasts were sore, my body heavy with a fatigue that no amount of sleep could ease. I’d counted the weeks again, my heart sinking—nearly five weeks since my last cycle. The truth was undeniable: I was pregnant with Marcus’s child.

I knelt in the corner of the quarters, scrubbing a pile of linens, my hands raw and trembling. The mate bond pulsed, a cruel tether to Marcus, who I hadn’t seen since the ceremony but felt everywhere—his voice barking orders in the courtyard, his scent lingering in the hall.

He’d rejected me, called me nothing, yet I carried his heir. The thought filled me with rage and fear. He didn’t deserve this child, not after humiliating me before the pack, not after casting me into this life of servitude. I pressed a hand to my stomach, a fierce resolve building. This baby was mine, and I’d protect it from him, no matter the cost.

That night, alone in the quarters, I sat on my pallet, my hands pressed to my belly. I closed my eyes, remembering my mother’s stories of omegas who carried alpha heirs, how some were exalted, others cast out. Marcus had already chosen my fate. I wouldn’t let him choose my child’s.

I stood, my heart pounding. I couldn’t stay here, scrubbing floors under Lila’s cruelty, risking Marcus discovering my secret. I had to run, to find a place where my child could be safe. But where? The forest beyond the compound was treacherous, crawling with rogues and Eclipse scouts. Yet staying meant a life of shame, my child at Marcus’s mercy.

I thought of Elyse, my mother’s friend in the Silverthorn Pack, across the riverlands. Her letters had spoken of a kinder pack, one that might shelter a runaway omega. It was a long journey, through forests thick with danger, but staying meant risking my child’s future. I’d been watching the guards, noting their patrols, hoarding scraps of bread and a tattered cloak. Tomorrow night, when the moon was darkest, I’d slip out, heading for Silverthorn and Elyse.

A creak at the door startled me. Kalia stood there, her eyes glinting with suspicion in the dim light. “Teyana,” she said, her voice low and sharp. “You broke a plate on your first day. Now the cloaks are fraying. And you’re shaking like a leaf. What’s going on with you?”

My breath caught, the spark flaring in my palm. I hid it behind my back, my pulse racing. “Nothing,” I said, but my voice wavered. Had she noticed my sickness, my trembling? Kalia’s smirk grew, her eyes narrowing as if piecing together a puzzle.

Before she could press further, a shout echoed from the courtyard—Marcus’s voice, sharp and commanding. “Double the patrols! No one leaves the compound!” My heart lurched, the mate bond pulling me toward him, but my resolve hardened. Kalia’s gaze lingered, her suspicion a heavy weight, but she turned and left, her boots clicking against the stone.

The spark in my palm pulsed, brighter, as if urging me to act.

Tomorrow, I’d run to Elyse, to safety, for my child. But with Kalia watching and Marcus’s orders tightening the compound, could I escape before my secret was exposed?