Cass’s POV

"I am ready," Honora said, her voice devoid of emotion.

"We haven't discussed payment," Lotus countered.

"As I’ve said, her mother paid in full long ago. That deal is sealed." Honora beckoned me toward the back room. "Lie down, exactly as I instructed."

I stripped to my bra, feeling the cool air on my skin as Colt helped me onto the table. Poppy stood guard, her presence a silent comfort.

"One question," I whispered. "If I have a child, is there a chance they’ll be born like me?"

Honora’s eyes darkened. "It is more than possible. It is a high probability."

I felt a cold weight settle in my gut, but before I could spiral, she pressed a finger to her lips. "Focus. Relax."

She worked with a silent, eerie grace, hovering her hands over my body without touching, chanting in a language that felt like jagged glass against my mind. When she applied the herbal concoction—a thick, gritty paste—to my abdomen and chest, a searing, acidic fire ignited inside me.

"Is this normal?" I gasped, the pain spiking into a migraine that throbbed behind my eyes.

"Yes," she wheezed through the chants.

When she finally handed me a flask, I drank without hesitation. The world tilted, then shattered.

Darkness. A cold, suffocating blizzard of nothingness.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart... Mommy won’t let them hurt you...”

The voice was a ghost, fading into the freezing void until I was ripped back into the light. The brightness of the pack infirmary stung my eyes like needles.

Colt was there, his hand gripping mine. But his touch didn't feel like a sanctuary; it felt like a silent accusation.

"You had a seizure," he said, his voice hard.

The doctor walked in, brisk and professional. "You’re lucky, Alpha. The medication we gave you to stabilize the seizure could have harmed the fetus, but the baby is strong."

The silence that followed was louder than any scream. I watched the blood drain from Colt’s face as he let go of my hand, his eyes shifting from concern to cold, simmering fury.

"You knew," he whispered. "The whole time."

"Colt, I—"

"I don't want to hear it," he cut me off, turning away. "I need space."

When he left, Honora entered, seemingly undisturbed by the wreckage of my relationship. "Lotus called me. I’m staying close. Your reaction to the ritual... it wasn't the magic. It was the child. You two are more connected than you know."

The next day, the infirmary felt like a prison. Colt stayed, but he was a ghost, hovering in the corner of my room, his silence a wall I couldn't climb.

When I was finally cleared to walk, I felt fragile. We walked to the dining room in a silence so thick it felt suffocating. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you never going to talk to me again?" I snapped.

Colt stopped, his eyes flashing with a pain that hit me harder than any physical blow. "Is this what you wanted? You didn't want me 'fussing' over you, remember?"

"I apologized!"

"An apology doesn't fix the fact that I found out you were carrying my child from a stranger in an infirmary," he said, his voice dangerously low. "I love you, Cass. But I am hurt. I thought we were partners. Would I have fought you? Yes. But I would have respected your choice. Now, I don't even know if you trust me."

He stepped closer, tilting my chin up so I was forced to meet his gaze. There was no warmth, only a profound, hollow exhaustion.

"I’m here," he said, the words heavy with the weight of the distance growing between us. "I will always be here for you. But don't expect me to be happy. Not for a long while."

He walked away, leaving me standing in the hall. My hand went to my stomach, protectively. I had secured my power, and I had protected the secret—but looking at the back of the man I loved, I realized I had no idea what it would cost to keep them both.