Chapter 2

Leo soon followed the pack doctor to another office to review ultrasound images.

Grace, using the excuse of needing the restroom, emerged from the ward.

After they disappeared down the corridor, she walked straight up to me, her pitiful facade instantly vanishing.

"Amelia, you don't need to hide anymore. Did you enjoy the show?"

Grace crossed her arms and looked down at me with the arrogance of a victor.

I stared at her expressionlessly, saying nothing.

My silence seemed to infuriate her. She suddenly snatched the follow-up report from my hand.

"What a useless Luna!"

Grace glanced at the report and laughed mockingly.

"I knew it! An Omega like you, picked up by Leo from some rogue pack, doesn't deserve to carry noble Alpha blood! You'll never bear an heir in this lifetime!"

She spoke while flaunting her pregnant belly with exaggerated caresses.

"See this? This is Leo's true offspring. Every night he whispers in my ear about how much he loves me, how much he's looking forward to this pup's birth. And you? You're just a Luna in title only!"

"Shut up."

I glared at her coldly, my wolf beginning to stir from her provocation.

My claws itched to tear her apart.

"What? Did I touch a nerve?"

Grace's mocking smile grew wider.

"Amelia, if you know what's good for you, get out of the Pack now. Stop clinging to the Luna position and embarrassing yourself. You barren-"

Smack!

I'd had enough. I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face.

The crisp sound echoed through the corridor. Grace's head snapped to the side, her cheek instantly swelling red.

"How dare you hit me, you lowly she-wolf?!"

Grace shrieked. Then her eyes rolled cunningly, and she deliberately staggered backward, slamming herself against the wall behind her with a piercing scream.

Blood immediately began flowing from her forehead.

"Ah! My head... my belly... help!"

Almost instantly, a powerful and violent Alpha pressure swept through the entire corridor.

Leo charged over like an enraged beast, shoving me aside. His large hand clamped around my throat, slamming me hard against the wall.

"Amelia! Have you lost your fucking mind?!" Leo's eyes blazed red as he roared at me, his voice deafening. "You dared to hurt Grace and my pup?!"

He choked me until I could barely breathe. My back slammed hard against the wall, the pain making me gasp.

Grace lay on the floor, clutching her belly, crying pitifully.

"Leo, don't blame Amelia... I just told her about my pregnancy. I thought she'd be happy for you, but she probably thought of her own inability to conceive and lost control for a moment. I'm fine, as long as our pup is safe..."

The more she spoke this way, the more Leo's fury blazed.

Before I could react, Leo grabbed my shoulder and hurled me against the wall.

My spine hit the concrete floor hard, sharp pain radiating through my battered body.

I gasped, tasting blood, my wolf whimpering from the impact.

The Alpha command struck me like a hammer.

"Kneel and apologize to Grace immediately! Otherwise, I'll reject you in front of everyone today and strip you of your Luna status!"

I looked up at him in shock, blood slowly trickling from my split lip.

Before I could speak, Grace let out a pitiful whimper.

"Leo, please don't punish the Luna. It's all my fault. As long as my pup survives, it doesn't matter if she beats me to death to make herself feel better."

Tears streamed down her face.

Leo's face contorted with rage as he glared at me viciously.

"Amelia, I command you to kneel and apologize to Grace," he ordered. "Then you will beg her forgiveness for attacking her and my pup."

I struggled to breathe, looking at this man I'd loved for years, finding him utterly foreign and repulsive.

"Leo..." I gritted my teeth, enduring the sharp pain in my neck, and said slowly. "I. Will. Never. Apologize."

Leo froze, apparently not expecting me, who had always been so submissive, to resist like this.

Tears burst forth, streaming down my cheeks as my entire body trembled with rage and heartbreak.

Seeing my tears, for a split second, remorse flashed across his face, and his tone softened slightly.

"Amelia, listen... just do as I say. Apologize properly, and I'll consider letting this go. As the pack's Luna, how could you attack a pregnant she-wolf? You've tarnished the pack's honor."

I wrenched myself free from his grip.

"If you want to officially reject me, you can do it anytime."

I straightened my disheveled clothes, my eyes coldly sweeping over Grace and her fake fragility.

Without another glance at them, I turned and strode out of the hospital.