The rain hammered mercilessly against the roof of the servant quarters, as if the sky itself was raging with the same fury that lived inside Blackthorn Manor. Julia sat hunched on her narrow cot, her knees pulled to her chest, breath shallow.
Her body had felt strange for days—fluttery, dizzy, heavy in ways she couldn't name. But today… today something was different. Elara, her wolf, paced urgently beneath her skin.
Something grows within us, Elara murmured.
Julia pressed a trembling hand to her abdomen.No. It can't be…
A sharp knock at the door jolted her.
The guard's voice barked, "Alpha wants you in his study. Now."
Julia wiped her damp cheeks, forced her shoulders straight, and followed.
But her heart beat a frantic rhythm. Not from fear of Alan this time… but from the revelation that hovered just at the edge of certainty.
The Alpha's Study
The door creaked open, revealing Alan behind his massive oak desk. The glow of the fireplace threw shadows across his sharp features, hardening his jaw, sharpening his eyes.
He didn't look angry.
He looked… restless.
"Close the door," he said without looking up.
Julia obeyed silently.
Alan's pen scratched once more across a document before he finally lifted his gaze to her. His amber eyes scanned her from head to toe — not with desire, not with gentleness — but with something that looked dangerously like concern hidden beneath layers of Alpha pride.
"You're pale," he muttered. "And you're shaking."
"I'm fine," Julia said softly.
That was a lie, and they both knew it.
Alan stood abruptly. "Come here."
She didn't move.
It was the first real refusal she had ever dared.
Alan's wolf jolted violently through the mate bond, pressing against her defenses, demanding obedience.
"Julia," he warned, voice low.
"I'm tired," she whispered. "That's all."
He approached slowly, step by controlled step, as if closing in on something fragile and unpredictable. When he reached her, he raised a hand cautiously — almost nervously — and touched her forehead.
Her skin burned.
"You're feverish," he murmured, brows knitting. "You should have told me."
Julia's breath caught."You wouldn't have cared."
His jaw flexed painfully, as though the words physically hit him. The bond trembled with the force of his reaction — a crack of guilt, a stab of something softer that Alan instantly tried to bury.
He stepped back, regaining his cold composure."I will send the pack doctor."
"No."
The word slipped out before she could stop it.
Alan blinked. "No?"
Julia lowered her gaze. "I don't need a doctor."
Elara stirred within her again. Not yet. We cannot let him know.
Alan's expression hardened. "I am the Alpha. You don't get to refuse my orders."
Her fingers curled. Her heart pounded.
And then—
A wave of dizziness slammed into her. She stumbled forward.
Alan reacted instantly, catching her before she could collapse. His arms were firm, steady, far too warm. For a heartbeat, their chests pressed together, the shaky rhythm of her breathing echoing against his steady one.
A pulse of heat shot through the bond.
Alan inhaled sharply.
"Sit," he said, guiding her to the chair near the fireplace. "I'll call the doctor. That's final."
Julia closed her eyes. "Please… don't."
The raw plead in her voice froze him.
Slowly, cautiously, he crouched in front of her. "Julia… what's happening?"
She looked away.
Because she didn't know how to say it.
Not out loud.Not to him.
Not yet.
Elara's Warning
As the fire crackled, Julia curled her fingers around the armrest, struggling for breath.
Elara… what do I do?
Her wolf's answer was firm.We protect what is ours. And he must not know. Not now, when he is unstable… unpredictable.
Julia swallowed hard.
She could feel it now — the faintest spark of life stirring inside her. So delicate it was almost impossible to sense… and yet her wolf recognized it instantly.
A pup.
Alan's pup.
The realization wrapped her in equal parts fear and sorrow.
She did not even want this child — not with the man who destroyed her clan, imprisoned her parents, and crushed her spirit. But the tiny heartbeat inside her was innocent. Pure.
We will protect it, Elara vowed.
Julia nodded internally.Yes. No matter what.
The Confrontation
Alan rose suddenly, pacing. He rubbed his temple, his breathing uneven.
"You've been avoiding food," he muttered."You're shaking.""You can barely stand.""And you… you look at me differently these days."
He turned to her sharply.
"Are you hiding something?"
Julia's breath hitched.
Alan stepped closer, eyes narrowing. "Tell me."
His power pressed against her, the Alpha command on the edge of his tongue.
But something in her snapped.
"I said I'm fine, Alan."
He froze.
Julia had never said his name like that — not with fire in her voice, not with iron under the words.
Alan's wolf recoiled, shocked.
Then growled.
"You are mine," he said softly, dangerously. "I have the right to know what's happening to you."
Julia lifted her chin, eyes blazing. "You lost that right when you tried to break me."
The silence that followed cut the air like a blade.
For a moment, Alan said nothing. His chest rose and fell sharply, emotions colliding in his gaze — guilt, anger, confusion, and something that looked painfully close to regret.
He stepped back.As if her words hit him harder than any physical blow.
"I… didn't—"He stopped, jaw trembling."I didn't mean to—"
Julia looked away. "Intent doesn't erase the damage."
Alan swallowed hard."For the first time… I don't know how to handle you."
"Good," Julia whispered. "Because I'm done being handled."
The Bond Reacts
Their emotions clashed so violently that the mate bond sparked like lightning between them. Alan hissed under his breath, clutching the side of the desk for balance.
"Stop… pushing me away," he said through clenched teeth. "It makes the bond unstable."
Julia stood slowly."And your cruelty didn't?"
He flinched. "Julia—"
But she didn't let him finish.She walked past him, hand pressed subtly to her abdomen, guarding the fragile life growing inside her.
This was no longer about him.
It was about her survival.
And the survival of the tiny heartbeat that did not ask to be part of this cruel world.
A Silent Decision
As Julia reached the door, Alan's voice broke behind her.
"Where are you going?"
She didn't turn."To rest."
"You're not dismissing me," he growled.
But Julia opened the door anyway.
"I'm not dismissing you, Alan," she murmured. "I'm choosing myself."
The door clicked shut between them.
Alan stood frozen in his study, breathing hard, his wolf thrashing inside him in panic.
Something was changing.
He could feel it slipping through his fingers—her obedience,her fear,her dependence…
Her.
And the bond screamed in warning.
But in her small servant cot, Julia curled her hand around her stomach and whispered her first promise to the child she hadn't wanted, but suddenly felt compelled to protect:
"I will keep you safe… even from your father."