My Abusive Family Forced Me To Marry A Stranger While Pregnant — Then My Aunt Revealed A Terrifying Secret

Part 1

I stared at the two pink lines on the plastic stick, my breath catching in my throat.

They say discovering you’re pregnant is supposed to be the most magical moment of your life.

I felt nothing but sheer terror.

I was a wolfless shifter, the lowest ranking member of our entire pack, living on the charity of my abusive relatives.

More importantly, I had never slept with anyone in my entire life.

I walked into the living room and set the test on the coffee table.

Uncle Craig’s face flushed a deep, violent red.

Aunt Heather sneered, her eyes raking over my trembling frame with absolute disgust.

They didn’t believe my protests of innocence.

Uncle Craig dragged me by my arm all the way to the council chambers to face judgment.

The heavy oak doors groaned as they swung open.

Whispers erupted from the council members as Uncle Craig shoved me to my knees.

My fate rested entirely in the hands of Alpha Tyler.

He was known as the golden Alpha, a man who secured alliances with cold, ruthless efficiency.

I fully expected banishment, a death sentence for a shifter who couldn’t even shift.

I kept my head bowed, my hands resting protectively over my still-flat stomach.

Alpha Tyler’s voice echoed through the massive room, demanding to know the name of the father.

I looked up, meeting his piercing blue eyes for the first time.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

I told him the truth, that there was no father, that I couldn’t explain how this had happened.

The council erupted into mocking laughter.

Uncle Craig demanded I be punished for bringing shame to his household.

Alpha Tyler slammed his fist onto the armrest of his throne.

Silence instantly fell over the room.

He declared that until the matter was investigated, I would come to work at his estate as a maid.

Moving into the Alpha’s mansion felt like stepping onto another planet.

The head housekeeper, Mrs. Davis, relegated me to the laundry room to keep my pregnant, wolfless self out of sight.

But I couldn’t escape Alpha Tyler.

He sought me out, his gaze following me with an intensity that made my skin burn.

I noticed things about him that no one else seemed to see.

He rubbed his temples constantly, his hands masked a persistent tremor, and dark circles bruised the skin under his eyes.

My own mother had died of bonding sickness after my father abandoned us.

I knew the symptoms of a severed mate bond when I saw them.

I found him collapsed in his study one afternoon, feverish and gasping for air.

I pressed a cool cloth to his forehead, my fingers brushing his burning skin.

He leaned into my touch, a ragged sigh escaping his lips.

His hand caught mine, his thumb tracing my knuckles with a reverence that stole the breath from my lungs.

We stared at each other, the air between us thick and heavy with unspoken tension.

The baby kicked against my stomach right at that moment.

Alpha Tyler’s eyes widened in wonder as he rested his palm against my belly.

A low rumble vibrated in his chest.

The heavy wooden door swung open before anything else could happen.

Brenda, the Alpha’s mother and former Luna, stepped into the room with her chin held high.

Her eyes locked onto us, cold and calculating.

She announced that her investigation was complete.

She stepped aside, revealing a bland-looking man I had never seen before.

She introduced him as Brian.

She claimed he was the man from a party six months ago, the one who got me drunk and fathered my child.

I stared at Brian, searching his face for any flicker of recognition.

There was absolutely nothing.

Brenda’s smile didn’t reach her eyes as she informed me the mating ceremony would take place in exactly two days.

I was sent back to my aunt’s peeling, cramped house to prepare.

I stood in front of the cracked mirror, the white ceremonial dress pulling tight across my growing belly.

Tears spilled down my cheeks, ruining the makeup Aunt Heather had just applied.

I was about to bind myself for life to a complete stranger.

I kept telling myself it was for the baby, to give my child a real family and a legitimate place in the pack.

I reached for the doorknob, forcing myself to accept my miserable fate.

Aunt Heather’s hand shot out, her grip tight around my wrist.

I turned to her, startled by the sheer panic swirling in her eyes.

She swallowed hard, her chest heaving with shallow breaths.

“You have to know,” she whispered, her voice trembling.

“That man is not the father of your baby.”