He Killed Our Pup: The Alpha's Ultimate Regret

My husband locked me in a glass cage in the center of the ballroom, announcing to the elite of the pack that my father was dead. While his assistant, Debra, draped herself over him, Austen turned the thermostat down until industrial coolant pumped into my prison. I was eight months pregnant with his heir, begging for mercy, but he only raised a champagne glass to his new "Nolan Pack." To prove my submission, he ordered warriors to douse me in ice water laced with silver and wolfsbane. The chemicals burned my skin, but the cold killed my unborn son. As I lay in a pool of frozen red blood, watching the life fade from my womb, Austen finally panicked—not for me, but for his reputation. My father, the Supreme Alpha, wasn't dead. He tore the doors off their hinges to save me, but it was too late for the baby. Waking up in the hospital, empty and broken, I listened to Austen beg not for forgiveness, but for a cover-up to save the stock price. "We can just make another one," he said, dismissing my dead son like a broken toy. That was the moment the weak, loving wife died. I stood up, my eyes glowing with the ancient silver light of the White Wolf. I didn't just divorce him. I used the Alpha Voice to sever our bond, stripping him of his rank, his sanity, and his name. Now, I am the Queen of the Winter Moon Pack. Chapter 1 Isolde POV: The heat wasn't just in the room; it was inside my marrow. It felt like I was being cooked from the inside out. My skin was slick, my dress clinging to me like a second, suffocating skin. Pregnancy in the third trimester is a marathon for any woman, but carrying a werewolf pup turns your body into a blast furnace. My metabolism was running at redline to fuel the rapid growth of the life inside me. But this... this was torture. I reached for the thermostat on the wall of the Alpha's office, my fingers trembling. The digital display read eighty degrees. "Please," I whispered to the empty air, dialing it down to sixty-five. "Just a little coolness. Just for the baby." "Oh, Luna Isolde, are you touching that again?" The voice was cloying, like cheap syrup. I turned to see Debra, my husband's personal assistant, leaning against the doorframe. She was a Beta-lower in rank, theoretically-but she walked around this office as if she owned the very air we breathed. She was wrapped in a cashmere shawl, shivering theatrically. "It is freezing in here, Luna," Debra complained, hugging herself. "My human side is so frail. You know I get sick so easily. Unlike you... with your strong, royal blood." Her eyes mocked me. She knew exactly what she was doing. "Debra, I am pregnant," I said, trying to keep my voice steady, though my wolf was pacing anxiously in the back of my mind. "The pup needs a regulated temperature. I feel like I'm going to pass out." She smirked, walking over and turning the dial back up to eighty. "And I feel like I'm going to catch pneumonia. Surely the future Alpha needs a healthy assistant more than a pampered wife needs air conditioning?" Before I could snap back, the heavy oak door swung open. Austen walked in. The scent hit me first-expensive cologne, stale coffee, and the underlying musk of a male wolf. But there was no spark. There never was. When we first met, I didn't get the lightning strike, the scent of rain and home that the legends promised for Fated Mates. I chose him. I chose Austen Nolan because he was hardworking, and I thought my love could bridge the gap of destiny. I was a fool. "What is going on here?" Austen growled. He didn't look at me. His eyes went straight to Debra, who immediately shrank back, making herself look small and pathetic. "Alpha," Debra whimpered, her voice trembling perfectly. "I was just trying to work on the merger files, but Luna Isolde keeps freezing the room. She knows how weak my constitution is. She... she used her rank to order me away." Lies. "Austen, that's not true," I stepped forward, hand on my swollen belly. "I'm overheating. The doctor said-" "Enough!" Austen turned on me. His face was twisted in a snarl. "Always you, Izzy. Always your needs, your comfort. Do you ever think about the Pack? Debra works twelve hours a day to help me run your father's company, and you bully her over a thermostat?" "I am incubating your heir," I snapped, the heat making me bold. Austen's eyes flashed a dark, warning amber. The air in the room suddenly grew heavy, pressing down on my shoulders like a physical weight. Alpha's Command. Even though he wasn't a born Alpha, my father had granted him temporary authority. He was using that sacred weight against me. "Submit," he said, his voice layered with a growl that vibrated in my bones. My knees buckled. It wasn't a choice. My wolf, instinctively protecting the pup, forced my body to lower to reduce the threat. I fell into the leather chair, gasping for breath. "Austen, please," I wheezed, fighting the crushing pressure. "The baby..." Seeing me cowed seemed to satisfy something ugly inside him. The pressure lifted instantly. He walked over, his expression shifting from rage to a smooth, terrifying mask of concern. He placed a hand on my shoulder, but I felt no warmth. No electric spark. Just the cold weight of a stranger. "I'm doing this for us, Izzy," he whispered, leaning down. "For the Pack. You need to stop being so selfish. Debra is essential." I tried to reach out to him through the Mind-Link, the telepathic bond that connects all pack members. Austen, please, I'm scared. Something feels wrong. I hit a wall. A cold, gray wall of mental static. He was blocking me. Again. "We have the celebration tonight," Austen said aloud, straightening his tie. "Go get ready. And leave the thermostat alone." He turned his back to me. Over his shoulder, I saw Debra. She wasn't shivering anymore. She was looking at me, and the corner of her mouth quirked up in a victorious, chilling smile. My Inner Wolf let out a low, mournful whine. Run, she whispered. Run. But I couldn't run. I was heavy with the future of the Blackwell Pack. And I had nowhere to go.