Chapter 8
993 Words
The next morning, the Silver Moon Pack buzzed like a kicked hive.
I wasn’t there to hear it, of course—curled up in my motel bed in a city three bus rides away, trying not to throw up from the smell of stale cigarette smoke embedded in the walls—but the whispers spread faster than wildfire through dry pine needles.
By breakfast, everyone knew Evelyn Harper was gone.
Lila arrived late to the dining hall, eyes puffy from crying half the night. She slid into a seat beside Dr. Elena Crowe, the pack healer, who immediately noticed her distress.
“What’s happened, child?” Elena asked quietly, passing her a mug of herbal tea.
Lila glanced around before leaning in. “Evie left. Last night. She couldn’t stay after… everything.”
Elena’s wise eyes softened with understanding—and sorrow. “The rejection broke her.”
“It broke him too,” Lila muttered. “But he’s too stubborn to admit it.”
Across the hall, Damon and Ryder watched Kai at the head table. He hadn’t touched his food. Again. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and he kept rubbing his chest like it physically hurt.
“He looks like he hasn’t slept in days,” Ryder whispered to Damon.
“He hasn’t,” Damon replied grimly. “I found him running the border at 3 a.m. Again. His wolf is going feral.”
Ryder shook his head. “Rejecting a fated mate… I’ve never seen it end well.”
At the warriors’ table, Victoria held court, laughing loudly with her brother Caleb and a cluster of elite guards. But her eyes kept darting to Kai.
“She’ll be Luna by next full moon,” one warrior said confidently. “Her father’s already planning the announcement.”
Another snorted. “If the Alpha doesn’t lose his mind first.”
Victoria overheard and shot him a venomous smile. “He’s just feeling the effects of a weak bond breaking. He’ll be fine once he’s with someone worthy.”
But even she didn’t sound completely convinced.
In the kitchens, the omegas who’d worked alongside me for years gathered in hushed clusters.
“Evelyn just vanished,” one said, wiping tears. “No note, no goodbye.”
“She was pregnant,” another whispered—the cook who’d noticed my nausea weeks ago. “I’d bet my best cast-iron on it.”
Gasps rippled through them.
“Alpha’s pup?”
“Who else? That night after the full moon run… everyone saw them disappear into the woods together.”
The gossip spread upward.
By midday, it reached the elders.
Elder Marcus summoned Kai to the council chamber—a stone room lined with ancient pack relics. The old wolf studied Kai with sharp eyes.
“The Harper girl has fled pack lands,” Marcus said without preamble. “This creates… complications.”
Kai stood rigid. “She’ll come back. She has nowhere else to go.”
Marcus arched a brow. “Do you want her to?”
Silence.
Kai’s jaw worked. “She’s pack. It’s my duty to protect her.”
“Duty,” Marcus repeated. “Not the mate bond?”
Kai’s eyes flashed wolf-gold for a split second. “The bond is severed.”
“Is it?” The elder leaned forward. “Because your wolf looks ready to tear out of your skin. And half the pack is whispering that the girl carries your heir.”
Kai went very still.
“What?”
Marcus sighed. “Omegas talk. Healers notice things. There are rumors she was with child before you rejected her.”
The color drained from Kai’s face.
He staggered back a step, hand pressing hard over his heart as if the elder had stabbed him.
“No,” he rasped. “She would’ve told me.”
“Would she?” Marcus asked gently. “After you publicly called her weak and unworthy in front of everyone she’s ever known?”
Kai’s breathing turned ragged.
Images flashed through his mind—that night three weeks ago. Evelyn beneath him in the moonlight, soft and trusting, whispering his name like he was her whole world. He hadn’t used protection. Neither of them had been thinking clearly, drunk on wine and the pull of an unrecognized bond.
Goddess.
A pup.
His pup.
And he’d driven her away.
“I have to find her,” he said hoarsely, already turning for the door.
Marcus’s voice stopped him. “If you chase her now, you admit weakness. The pack will question your judgment. Victoria’s family is pushing for an immediate engagement. They say it will stabilize things.”
Kai snarled, the sound echoing off stone walls. “I don’t care about Victoria’s family.”
“You should,” Marcus warned. “They control half our warriors. Pull their support, and we’re vulnerable to rogue attacks.”
Kai’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked.
For the first time in his life, being Alpha felt like a cage.
He stormed out without another word.
Outside, Victoria waited in the hallway, arms crossed.
“I heard,” she said coolly. “Rumors about a pup. Desperate lies from pathetic omegas who want to drag you down with her.”
Kai stared at her—really looked at her. The calculating gleam in her eyes. The way she’d always positioned herself at his side, whispering about power and alliances.
For years, he’d listened.
And in one moment of pride, he’d destroyed the only thing that truly mattered.
“Stay out of this, Victoria,” he said quietly.
Her smile faltered. “Kai—”
But he was already gone, striding toward the border with single-minded purpose.
He would find Evelyn.
He would beg if he had to.
And if the rumors were true—if she carried his child—he would spend the rest of his life making it right.
Even if she never forgave him.
- Writer
