Chapter 3
The pack hall felt like a tomb as I stumbled through the doorway, Marcus's steadying hand the only thing keeping me upright. The black spots in my vision were spreading, and my wolf's whimpers had become a constant ache in my chest.
Trevor stood at the front of the room, his commanding presence drawing every eye except mine. I couldn't focus on his words—something about pack loyalty and maintaining traditions—because waves of nausea were crashing over me with increasing intensity.
Then the cramping started.
Sharp, vicious pain tore through my abdomen, and I doubled over with a gasp that echoed through the suddenly quiet hall. My hand flew to my belly, where something was terribly, horribly wrong.
"No," I whispered, but I could feel it happening. The life inside me, already weakened by months of poisoning, was slipping away.
Desperation clawed at my throat as I reached out through our mate bond, the connection I'd always believed was weak because of my own inadequacy. For the first time in six years, I opened myself completely to Trevor, letting my pain and terror flood across the link between us.
*Help me,* I pleaded through the bond. *Something's wrong with the baby—*
The rejection hit me like a physical blow. Trevor's revulsion crashed into my mind, so violent and absolute that I cried out. But worse than his disgust was the deliberate way he severed our connection, slamming mental walls between us with such force that I felt something inside me shatter.
Not just the bond. Something deeper. Something that had been barely holding me together.
I collapsed to my knees as agony ripped through me—not just physical, but the spiritual devastation of being rejected by my mate when I needed him most. Around me, voices rose in alarm, but they seemed distant and distorted.
Then different hands touched my shoulders, and warmth flooded through me.
The pain didn't disappear, but suddenly I could breathe again. The healing energy flowing into me was unlike anything I'd ever experienced—not the clinical efficiency of pack healers, but something wild and ancient that called to the broken pieces of my wolf.
"I've got you," a low voice murmured near my ear. "You're safe now."
I looked up through tears to see the mysterious warrior—Finn—kneeling beside me. His hands glowed with soft golden light as his Alpha energy surrounded me like a protective shield. Up close, his scent was even more familiar, carrying notes of childhood summers and laughter I'd almost forgotten.
"The baby," I gasped.
"I know." His voice was gentle but firm. "Let me help you."
Somehow, he managed to get me to my feet and away from the crowd, supporting my weight as we moved toward a private room off the main hall. Behind us, I could hear Trevor's voice cutting through the chaos, probably spinning some story about hysterical Omegas and pregnancy complications.
Finn settled me onto a couch, his healing aura never wavering. "My name is Finnegan Jones," he said quietly, watching my face for recognition. "We knew each other once, before the attack that changed everything."
The name hit me like lightning. Finnegan. My childhood friend, the boy who'd promised to always protect me, who'd been there the night the rogues attacked and everything fell apart.
"Finn?" My voice cracked. "But you died. They said—"
"They said what Trevor wanted them to say." His jaw tightened, and for a moment, his carefully controlled facade slipped to reveal years of contained fury. "I've been here for five years, Mia. Watching. Waiting. Gathering evidence."
As his healing energy continued to flow through me, I felt my wolf stirring with more strength than she'd shown in months. The poison in my system was being burned away by his Alpha power, and with it, the fog that had clouded my mind for so long.
"Evidence of what?"
"Trevor orchestrated the rogue attack six years ago." Finnegan's hands were steady as he helped me sit up straighter. "He needed a way to separate us, to position himself as your savior when you were most vulnerable. Everything that's happened since—the weak bond, the poisoning, the way he's systematically destroyed your connection to your wolf—it's all been planned."
The truth settled over me like ice water. Not just the betrayal I'd discovered in the hospital, but something far more devastating. My entire life for the past six years had been built on a lie so elaborate it staggered me.
"How do you know all this?"
Finnegan reached into his jacket and pulled out a small device—a recording device, I realized. "Because I've been documenting everything. Every conversation, every scheme." His eyes met mine, and in them I saw the same boy who'd once promised to keep me safe. "Including Brielle's confession about the silver, and Trevor's admission about the artificial insemination."
My breath caught. "You heard that?"
"I hear everything that happens in this pack." His voice was grim. "Mia, there's something else. Your bloodline—you're not just any Omega. Your grandmother was an Alpha, and that strength has been suppressed by the false bond. With Trevor's connection severed, your wolf is finally free to remember what she truly is."
As if summoned by his words, I felt a surge of power unlike anything I'd experienced before. My wolf raised her head for the first time in years, and her howl echoed not with pain, but with the promise of retribution.