Chapter 4

LYNEXIA

My numb fingers tremble as I clutch the pregnancy test strip in my shaking hand. The bathroom mirrors reflect my disheveled self—dark circles under my eyes, my hair sticking out because I haven't washed it in days, and exhaustion in my eyes.

The nausea, my aversion for the morning lights, the insatiable hunger, the bone-deep exhaustion—. I'm no child and I know what these symptoms are pointing at. I understand the changes happening to me but I desperately wish it isn't true.

I turn the tap, letting the sound fill the silence around me.

My shaky hand lifts the test strip to eye level.

Two lines.

Two stark lines stare back at me, confirming my suspicion.

A strangled gasp leaves my mouth and my hands fly to my belly. "No...no..." I whisper and shake my head to deny the truth right in front of me.

I can't be pregnant. Not with everything happening.

My mind swirls to what happened four nights ago.

My hands wrapped around myself in a desperate attempt to hold back myself from shattering from what I knew was coming. When Gavin, Dimitri's beta came to summon me with heaviness in his eyes, I already knew what was going to go down. I could already guess what our conversation would be about.

But I dared to hold onto a sliver of hope. Maybe, just maybe, my intuition was wrong this time. Maybe today would not be the day my worst fear came to pass. But hope couldn't divert the inevitable.

I tried to not look at Dimitri as I walked into the conference room where important events of the pack happened so that when he delivered what he had for me, it wouldn't hurt me so much.

The Elders of the pack were present and they didn't hide their disdainful eyes as I walked further into the room.

I stopped right in the middle while they surrounded me like predators with their sneers.

"You called for me." I mustered the courage to look at Dimitri. His blue eyes held no warmth and it stung so much.

"Lynexia. You are hereby removed as the wife of the Alpha of the shadow pack. The Elders council no longer deems you worthy of the position." He stated with no hint of remorse and every single word delivered a brutal blow to my chest.

A lone tear trickled down my cheeks. I knew this day was coming so why did it hurt so much?

"My final grace to you as your Alpha is you can remain in the pack for as long as you wish." His voice was curt and cynical and it ripped through my skin, cutting through my bones. I had braced myself for this day. I had anticipated it. It was bound to come.

But it didn't reduce the blow of the pain and despair. It didn't also stop the tears that spilled from my eyes.

I didn't dare question it. I accepted my fate. They decided to spare my life but I knew it was going to be a miserable one for the rest of my godforsaken life.

Back to the presence, the sound of the running tap fills my ear. I crouch down as tears cascade down my cheeks.

My trembling hand cradles my stomach.

No one will believe the child within me belongs to Dimitri. Not even Dimitri will believe me. They will say it is the child of the Barbarians. They will scorn and spit at my child and my unborn baby will forever pay for the sin it knows nothing about just like I'm paying for a sin that has nothing to do with me.

Panic claws my throat. I have to protect my child even if it means risking my life.

Suddenly a thought settles in my mind. Run. Run far away from the pack and never look back. That is the only way to protect my unborn child.

With a newfound will to live, I stand to my feet. The floor makes a sound beneath my frantic steps as I rush to the bedroom.

The only time I can leave is when Dimitri isn't around. In the morning, I hear that there is a meeting with a neighboring pack and Dimitri needs to be there. If I leave now, no one will question me. Besides everyone wants me gone and the only one keeping me here is Dimitri.

The only thing that matters to me is the survival of my baby as my hands tear through my wardrobe and I start throwing my clothes into a travel bag

I shove only small clothes into my backpack. Carrying too much may slow me down so I don't. With trembling hands, I pull an overflowing jacket over my head then I slip out of the room.

To escape the pack totally, I deduce a plan to set the body of a dead person of the same stature as me on fire. It wasn't an easy task but I got it done.

Then I flee to the human world. Wolves like to refer to humans as mortals out of pure arrogance. Wolves have a slower aging rate that allows them to live up to four hundred years.

The human doesn't know about the Isles of Kairos but we know about them. It is very rare for wolves to seek the human world because they consider humans to be inferior to them.

It shows how Wolves who can't shift are treated.

A wolfless person is treated like a second-class citizen, they are mostly the bitches of the pack, the butt joke, and a dumb ground for everyone. They are even treated worse than an omega which is the lowest rank, though most of them are mostly omegas.

So no one will think I will escape to the human world when they start looking for me. I highly doubt anyone will look for me. Everyone wants me gone.