The Alpha Who Threw Me Away for a Fake Pregnancy Chapter 10

The Alpha Who Threw Me Away for a Fake Pregnancy Chapter 10: Shattered Illusions

“Aria…?”

The name scraped out of his throat, raw and disbelieving.

I reached up and hooked my fingers under the heavy ruby mesh.

“Does the name burn your tongue, Alpha Hale?” I asked.

One sharp pull snapped the golden threads securing the fabric to my hair.

I tossed the veil aside. It sailed through the air and collided with a towering crystal champagne display.

Glass shattered. Champagne exploded outward, raining down on the polished marble. The sharp crash echoed across the silent ballroom.

“Did you think a few jewels would hide the blood you threw away?” I asked.

Caleb’s jaw worked. He stared at my uncovered face, his chest heaving.

“You…” he stammered. “You are the Royal heir?”

“I am the King’s daughter.” I stepped directly into his space. “I am the lifeblood of the rivers you dried up.”

He shook his head frantically. “No. That is impossible. You were a barren Omega. The elders confirmed it. The pack doctor tested you!”

“The elders are fools who follow a blind Alpha. And your doctor only saw what my aura allowed him to see.”

I gripped the iron scepter. The metal hummed, channeling the raw authority of my true form.

“Kneel, Caleb.”

I didn’t shout. I layered the command with pureblood frequency, forcing the vibration straight into his bones.

“I govern the Southern Pines!” he shouted, his voice cracking. He planted his feet wider, fighting the pressure. “I bow only to the King!”

“I speak for the crown.” I narrowed my eyes. “Kneel.”

I unleashed the full weight of my Lycan aura. The invisible force slammed into him like a freight train.

Caleb’s knees struck the marble floor with a sickening crack.

A collective gasp erupted from the hundreds of Lycans watching from the shadows.

Lord Vane’s voice cut through the murmurs. “He rejected the Princess? The fool signed his own death warrant.”

Caleb stared up at me from the floor. His pupils shrank to tiny black pinpricks. Absolute, unadulterated terror radiated from his skin, replacing his cheap cologne with the sour stench of panic.

My fingers tightened around the scepter. A twisted, sick pleasure bloomed in my chest.

For five years, he had made me feel small. For five years, I scrubbed his floors and accepted his pity. Now, he was an insect trapped under my shoe.

“Aria, we were mates,” Caleb pleaded, his voice dropping to a desperate whisper. “Five years. You loved me.”

“I loved an illusion,” I replied. “Just like the one you brought to my court today.”

“I can fix this,” he insisted. “Come back to the territory. I will reinstate you as Luna.”

I laughed. The sound bounced off the marble pillars, cold and hollow.

“Reinstate me?” I asked. “You want to offer a Queen a wooden chair in a dying forest?”

“We belong together! The Moon Goddess paired us!”

“The Moon Goddess gave you a test,” Kael interrupted, his voice like grinding stone. “And you failed.”

“Keep your guard out of this!” Caleb snarled at me. “This is between a mate and his Alpha!”

“I have no Alpha,” I stated. “And you have no mate.”

“You came here begging for gold to fix your ruined soil,” I added softly.

“Aria, please,” Caleb choked out, his hands flat on the cold stone. “The pack will starve. Our people need you.”

“Your people.” I corrected. “You severed my tie to them when you handed my keys to a stray.”

“I made a mistake!”

“You made a choice.”

A high-pitched whimper broke the tension.

Sienna curled into a tight ball near Caleb’s boots. She clutched her swollen stomach, her face buried in her knees.

“Caleb, make her stop,” she cried. “My baby. The pressure is hurting my baby!”

I turned my head. My gaze locked onto her pale pink dress.

“Your baby,” I repeated.

I raised a hand. A terrified waiter immediately rushed forward, offering a silver tray. The glasses clinked together, betraying his trembling hands.

I picked up a crystal goblet filled with dark red wine.

Sienna scrambled backward, her palms slipping on the polished floor. “Stay away from me!”

I stepped over Caleb’s kneeling legs and stood over her.

“You stood on my porch and called me sister,” I said, staring down at her protruding belly.

“I didn’t know!” Sienna shrieked, tears streaming down her face.

“You claimed my blood was cursed. You told the entire council I was unfit to carry an Alpha’s heir.”

“You are!” Sienna spat, a flash of venom breaking through her fear. “Caleb chose me! I gave him what you couldn’t!”

“He chose a lie.”

I tilted the goblet.

“What are you doing?” Caleb yelled, trying to rise.

Kael’s boot slammed into Caleb’s shoulder, pinning him back to the floor. “Stay down, cur.”

“Don’t touch her!” Caleb roared. “She is carrying the future of the Hale pack!”

“Let’s test the strength of your future,” I whispered.

I tipped the glass further. The crimson liquid spilled over the rim.

It splashed directly onto the center of Sienna’s pale pink dress.

She screamed as the cold wine soaked through the expensive fabric.

“Stop!” Caleb thrashed against Kael’s hold. “You’re insane!”

I watched the red stain spread. My knuckles turned stark white against the crystal stem. The sick joy inside me intensified, burning hotter with every drop that hit her.

I emptied the entire glass.

The wine saturated the dress, plastering the thin silk tightly against her skin.

Sienna sobbed, covering her stomach with her hands. She curled inward, trying to hide herself from the glaring spotlight.

“Move your hands,” I commanded.

“No!”

“Move them.” I pushed a spike of pureblood dominance directly into her mind.

Her arms jerked outward, pinned to her sides by my invisible command.

“Look at her, Caleb,” I said.

Caleb lifted his head, his face twisted in agony. “You are a monster!”

“Look at the mother of your child.”

Caleb blinked, his eyes focusing on the soaked fabric.

The wet silk clung perfectly to Sienna’s form. The heavy liquid weighed down the material, pulling it taut across her torso.

Something was wrong with the shape.

The smooth, natural curve of a pregnant belly vanished.

Instead, a harsh, unnatural ridge appeared just beneath her ribs.

Caleb froze. The insult died on his lips.

Through the drenched, translucent pink silk, the thick, artificial edge of a strap-on silicone pad was clearly visible.