Chapter 11: The First Night Home - Part 2
1978 Words
The next hour was a blur.
Security swept the penthouse. Twice.
Two new guards were posted outside her door.
Darius was on the phone the entire time. Low growls in a language Lena didn’t understand. Pack language.
She tried to sleep. Couldn’t.
At 2 AM there was another knock.
Darius again. This time he had a file.
“Eat this,” he said, and tossed a protein bar on the bed. “You need calories.”
“I’m not—”
“Eat.” That Alpha tone.
She ate.
He opened the file. Photos. Documents. A list of names.
“These are the three families that would lose the most if my heir is half-human,” he said. “The Varks. The Dren. The Morozovs.”
Lena scanned the names. Rich. Old. Powerful. “Which one sent the text?”
“Don’t know yet.” He rubbed his eyes. He looked exhausted. “But it won’t happen again. Starting tomorrow, you don’t leave this floor without me.”
“That’s house arrest.”
“That’s protection.”
“That’s the same thing!”
Darius slammed the file shut. “You want to end up in a ditch, Lena? Because that’s what happened to the last human who got pregnant by an Alpha. 40 years ago. Body was never found.”
The room went dead silent.
Lena’s throat closed. “You never told me that.”
“You didn’t ask.” He stood. “Get some sleep. I’ll be in the next room. If you need anything, yell.”
He was at the door when she said it.
“Why do you care?”
He didn’t turn around.
“Because the contract says I have to.”
The door closed.
---
Lena cried. Quietly. Into her pillow so the guards wouldn’t hear.
The contract. Always the contract.
She must’ve dozed off because the next thing she knew, sunlight was coming through the glass walls and someone was touching her forehead.
Cool hand. Big hand.
“Fever’s down,” a woman’s voice said. The doctor. “Contractions have stopped. Baby’s heartbeat is perfect.”
Lena opened her eyes. The doctor was packing her bag. Darius stood by the window, back to the room. Still in the same clothes from last night.
“Can she move around?” Darius asked without turning.
“Yes. But no stress. No stairs. Lots of water.” The doctor looked at Lena. “And no more warehouse visits, young lady.”
Lena nodded, embarrassed.
When the doctor left, Darius finally turned.
He looked worse in the daylight. Dark circles. 5 o’clock shadow.
“Breakfast is in 20,” he said. “I’ll be downstairs.”
“Okay.”
He walked to the door. Paused.
“Lena.”
“Yeah?”
“I had the number traced.” His voice was flat. “It was a burner. Bought with cash. But the camera outside the store caught someone.”
Lena’s heart dropped. “Who?”
Darius’s eyes met hers. Cold. Furious.
“One of my Beta’s cousins. Family.”
He didn’t say anything else. Just left.
Lena sat there, the ginger tea from last night still cold on the nightstand.
Family.
The threat was coming from inside the pack.
And the Alpha who was supposed to protect her...
was starting to look like the only person she could trust.
Breakfast was on the terrace.
Wolfe Tower, 80 floors up. The whole of the city spread out below like it belonged to him.
Which, technically, it did.
Darius was already there when Lena walked out.
White shirt, sleeves rolled up. No tie. Coffee in one hand, tablet in the other.
He looked like he hadn’t slept.
Two plates. One with eggs, toast, fruit. The other empty.
“Sit,” he said without looking up.
Lena sat. The chair across from him felt like a mile away.
For 5 minutes the only sound was the city below and the clink of her fork.
“You look better,” he said finally. Still not looking at her. “Color’s back.”
“I feel better.” She poked at her eggs. “The doctor said—”
“I read the report.” He set the tablet down. “No more surprises, Lena. If something’s wrong, you tell me. Immediately.”
It wasn’t a request.
“Okay.”
Another silence.
Then his phone buzzed. He picked it up. Read one line. His face went completely blank.
That was worse than anger.
“What is it?” Lena asked.
Darius set the phone down. Slowly. “That was Beta. They found my cousin. Jace.”
Lena’s stomach dropped. “And?”
“And he admitted to sending the text.” Darius leaned back in his chair. “Said he was ‘protecting the pack’s future.’ Said a human shouldn’t carry Wolfe blood.”
Lena put her fork down. She suddenly wasn’t hungry. “What are you going to do to him?”
Darius met her eyes. “Pack law says exile. Or death.”
The word hit her like ice water.
“You can’t—”
“I can.” He cut her off. “I’m Alpha. I make the law.”
“Then don’t.” The words came out too fast. “Darius, please. He’s family. Just... banish him. Don’t kill him. Not over me. Not over a text.”
Darius stared at her. For a long time.
“You’re defending the man who threatened your child.”
“I’m defending the idea that we don’t have to be monsters.” Lena’s voice shook. “Isn’t that why you hate the other families? Because they do this?”
Something flickered in his eyes.
He stood. Walked to the edge of the terrace. Hands in his pockets. Back to her.
“Fine,” he said. “Exile. He leaves the city by tonight. If he ever comes back, he dies. That’s my final offer.”
Lena exhaled. She didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.” He turned. “You just made my job 10 times harder. Now the other families will think I’m weak.”
“Or that you’re merciful.”
“Mercy gets Alphas killed.”
---
They finished breakfast in silence.
When Darius’s phone buzzed again, he didn’t answer it.
“We have a problem,” he said instead.
Lena tensed. “What kind of problem?”
“The text wasn’t the only leak.” He pulled up a photo on his tablet and turned it to her.
It was her. Leaving the hospital last night. One hand on her stomach.
The headline under it: *MYSTERY WOMAN SEEN WITH ALPHA WOLFE. PREGNANT?*
It had 200k shares already.
Lena felt sick. “How—”
“Paparazzi. Someone in the hospital sold the photos.” Darius swiped. More photos. Her at the warehouse. Her getting into his car. “By noon every pack in the country will know. By tonight, every news site.”
Lena stood up too fast. The room spun. “I need— I need to call my mom—”
“Sit down.” Darius was beside her in one second. Hand on her arm, steadying her. “Breathe. You’re not alone in this.”
“I’m not your problem to fix!” She pulled away. “This was supposed to be a contract! Nine months and I disappear! Now my face is everywhere!”
“I know.” His voice was low. “And I’m sorry.”
She froze. “What?”
“I said I’m sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair. “For dragging you into this. For the contract. For not protecting you better.”
Lena didn’t know what to do with that. So she did nothing.
Darius sighed. “Pack meeting is in 2 hours. I have to go. The Elders are demanding to see you.”
“What? No.”
“Yes.” He stepped closer. “They want to verify the pregnancy. Verify you’re not a threat.”
Lena crossed her arms. “And if I say no?”
“Then they’ll assume you’re hiding something. And they’ll take you by force.”
The threat hung in the air.
Lena hated that she believed him.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked quietly.
Darius’s expression softened. Just a fraction. “Come with me. Stand next to me. Don’t talk unless I tell you to. And let me handle the rest.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s everything.”
---
Two hours later they were in the Wolfe Tower conference room.
20 of the oldest, richest, most dangerous wolves in the country.
All staring at Lena like she was dirt on their shoe.
Darius stood at the head of the table. Lena behind him and to the left. Exactly where he told her to stand.
“Elder Morozov,” Darius began. “As you can see, the heir is viable. 8 weeks. Healthy.”
“Half-human,” Elder Vark spat. “An abomination.”
Darius didn’t even blink. “An heir. My heir. Which makes him next in line for Alpha.”
The room erupted.
“Silence!” Darius roared. His eyes flashed gold. Alpha power rolled through the room and everyone shut up.
“When I die, he takes the pack,” Darius said. “Unless you’d prefer the Dren family takes over? Because they’ve been calling me daily.”
No one spoke.
“Good.” Darius looked at Lena. “This is Lena Carter. The mother of my child. She is under my protection. Anyone who touches her answers to me.”
He paused. Let it sink in.
“Meeting adjourned.”
---
Back in the elevator, Lena collapsed against the wall.
Her legs were shaking.
“You did good,” Darius said.
“I thought they were going to kill me.”
“They thought about it.” He pressed the button for the 80th floor. “That’s why you need to stay close.”
The elevator doors opened to the penthouse.
Darius didn’t go to his room. He went to hers.
And he started moving things.
“What are you doing?” Lena asked.
“You’re moving rooms,” he said, carrying her suitcase. “To my room.”
“What? Why?”
“Because my room has a panic room. And 3 exits. And I can hear if anyone tries to get in.” He set the suitcase down. “For protection.”
Lena stared at him. “You want me to sleep in your bed?”
“I want you to sleep alive.” He met her eyes. “There are two beds. Don’t get ideas, Carter. This is about security.”
Right. Security.
Lena looked at the ultrasound still in her hand. Then at Darius. Tired. Furious. Terrified for her.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay. For protection.”
Darius nodded once. Like he’d won a battle.
“Good. Get some rest. I’ll be on the couch.”
He turned to leave.
“Darius?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For... not killing your cousin. For today.”
He didn’t answer. Just closed the door behind him.
Lena sat on the edge of the huge bed. His bed. It smelled like cedar and winter and him.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown number. Again.
**[He can’t protect you forever. The pack will never accept a mongrel.]**
Lena deleted it.
Then she laid down, one hand on her stomach, and for the first time since this started...
she didn’t feel completely alone.
Down the hall, Darius poured himself a drink he wouldn’t drink.
And stared at the door to his room.
Where the woman carrying his heir was sleeping.
Mine to protect, he thought.
Contract or not.
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