The Alpha Who Threw Me Away for a Fake Pregnancy Chapter 08

The Alpha Who Threw Me Away for a Fake Pregnancy Chapter 08: The Royal Gala

“Stand perfectly still,” Kael ordered.

I kept my chin level, staring through the carved stone balustrade. “I haven’t moved.”

He knelt behind me. His knuckles brushed my ankle as he arranged the heavy silk train of my crimson gown. The fabric pooled around my feet like a fresh kill.

“The King wants the entrance flawless,” he murmured.

“The King wants a spectacle.”

I adjusted the ruby-encrusted veil covering the lower half of my face. The sheer red mesh obscured my features but left my vision perfectly clear.

“The veil is too heavy,” I complained.

“It stays on,” Kael said, rising to his feet. “The court needs a mystery before they get a ruler.”

“It scratches my jaw.”

“Endure it.”

Below us, the grand hall hummed with hundreds of purebloods. The elite of the Lycan world mingled under massive crystal chandeliers. Women wore spun gold and diamonds. Men wore tailored velvet and military sashes.

“Do you see him?” Kael asked.

He stepped up right behind me. The heat of his chest radiated through the thin silk covering my spine. His scent—sharp fir needles and raw, dark liquor—wrapped around me. It sharpened my focus, wiping away the ambient noise of the crowd.

“By the eastern pillar,” I answered.

Caleb stood near the hors d’oeuvres station. His black suit looked faded, entirely out of place among the glittering royal court.

“He looks smaller,” I noted.

“Desperation shrinks a man,” Kael replied.

I watched Caleb intercept an older Alpha wearing a heavily decorated sash.

“Lord Vane,” Caleb said, his voice carrying faintly up to the balcony. “An honor. I represent the Hale pack.”

Vane stopped. He looked Caleb up and down. “Do I know you?”

“Caleb Hale. I govern the southern border pines.”

“Ah. The dead zone.” Vane sneered. “I heard your rivers turned to dust yesterday.”

“A temporary drought,” Caleb insisted, offering a strained smile. “I submitted a petition regarding our recent agricultural challenges. I am here to secure a royal grant.”

Vane turned his back completely. “Speak to a clerk. The crown does not fund weak soil.”

“My pack is strong!”

Vane glanced over his shoulder. “Then why do you smell like panic, Hale?”

Caleb flushed deep red. Five years ago, seeing him dismissed like that would have sent me rushing to his side. I would have offered soft words to soothe his wounded pride.

Now? My pulse remained perfectly steady. My lungs expanded and contracted without a single flutter of anxiety.

Watching the man I used to bow to, my chest stayed hollow and quiet.

“You aren’t blinking,” Kael noted. His jaw brushed the edge of my veil.

“I am memorizing his failure,” I whispered.

Sienna clung to Caleb’s arm. She wore a pale pink dress that strained over her swollen stomach. She rubbed the bump constantly, looking around the room with wide, nervous eyes.

“She plays the fragile mother well,” I remarked.

“The potion requires a daily dose,” Kael said. “My operatives intercepted her latest supply shipment this morning.”

“So she is running out.”

“She has exactly twenty-four hours before the illusion collapses and her stomach flattens.”

I smiled beneath the rubies. “Perfect timing.”

Caleb grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. He downed it in one gulp.

“Gentlemen, if I could just have a moment—” Caleb tried to approach another group.

A towering Alpha with scarred cheeks stepped into his path. “Move aside, border rat. You’re blocking the wine.”

Caleb wiped his mouth. He grabbed Sienna’s elbow and dragged her toward the shadows near the wall.

“Caleb, you’re hurting me,” Sienna whined, her voice shrill enough to reach the second floor.

“Shut up and smile,” he snapped at her. “We need a royal sponsor, or we lose the territory by next week.”

“You promised me we’d be royalty here!”

“I promised you a crown when I thought this court respected strength! They don’t even look at me!”

Sienna yanked her arm back. She rubbed her wrist, her eyes tearing up. “Aria never had to deal with this.”

Caleb froze. “Do not say her name.”

“It’s true! When she was here, the crops grew. The rivers flowed. The elders respected you.”

“She was a barren curse!” Caleb hissed, his fists trembling.

“Then why did everything die the second she left?” Sienna cried.

I tilted my head. “Trouble in paradise.”

“The illusion cracks,” Kael murmured.

“She knows it’s her fault,” I said. “She knows the potion is fading, and she is terrified he will blame her.”

“He will blame everyone but himself.”

I leaned back slightly, testing the solid wall of Kael’s chest. “You are standing very close, Commander.”

“I am guarding your flank, Your Highness.”

“I don’t need a guard.”

“You need an anchor. The scepter’s magic is still fresh in your veins.”

He was right. The iron wolf head gripped in my right hand pulsed with ancestral energy. It demanded release. It demanded submission from every lesser wolf in the room.

“He still thinks he is strong,” Kael observed, looking down at Caleb.

“He thinks his title makes him an Alpha,” I corrected. “He doesn’t understand that power comes from the blood, not the position.”

Kael shifted his weight. His chest pressed firmly against my shoulder blades. The contact poured a current of raw energy through my shoulder blades.

“Are you ready to show him real power?” Kael asked.

“I want him to kneel,” I answered. “I want him to beg.”

“He will.”

A heavy brass gong echoed through the massive space.

The chatter below died instantly. Hundreds of Lycans turned their attention toward the grand staircase.

“It’s time,” Kael said. He stepped back, severing the warmth between us.

I squared my shoulders. I tightened my grip on the iron scepter. The metal hummed against my palm, eager and alive.

Every crystal chandelier in the grand hall abruptly went completely black.

A collective gasp ripped through the crowd.

Total darkness swallowed the room for one heartbeat.

Then, a blinding white spotlight slashed through the shadows. It shot straight up, illuminating the second-floor balcony.

It locked directly onto me.