3. Made His Choice

My lungs burned as my feet pounded against the familiar pavement of my childhood street.

Running had always been my escape, and with new life growing inside me, I felt a surge of energy I couldn't quite explain. It was strong. So strong.   

If this was what Alphas had running in their blood their whole lives, no wonder they were always so intense. 

I slowed to a jog near the old oak tree where Selena and I took photos before Mine and Cast's wedding. She'd been my maid of honor. 

The betrayal stung.

"Lila!" A voice called out behind me.

I turned to see Selena approaching, her face flushed like she'd been crying. 

"What do you want?" I asked, trying to keep my composure. And my distance. The urge to slap her was overwhelming. 

So damn overwhelming.

"We need to talk," she said, thankfully stopping a few feet away.

"I have nothing to say to you," I growled. Wow, I never growl. Definitely the Alpha blood.

"Please, just hear me out."

I hesitated, then crossed my arms over my chest. "Fine. Spit it out."

Selena took a deep breath. "I know you're hurt and have every right to be. But there's more you need to know."

"More lies? More secrets? More bullshit?" I shot back, feeling an almost uncontrollable anger increase within me. 

Being pregnant with an Alpha's kid was going to be so difficult.

"It's not like that," she insisted. "Cast and I... we've been together for years."

 I struggled to breathe. "Years?"

She nodded, looking down at her feet. "We love each other, Lila. We were together before he discovered you."

I laughed bitterly. "You love each other? And what was I? Just some obstacle in your perfect little romance?"

"It's complicated," she said quietly. "You're his fated mate. He needed you."

"Needed me for what? To play house while you two had your fun?"

"Only a child from his fated mate can guarantee the Alpha genes. Fate just... it just sucks sometimes."

I shook my head as I started to cry. "How stupid was I to think you were my friend. You were my maid of honor while fucking my husband."

"No," she said quickly. "It's more complicated than that."

"No, it's exactly that," I muttered, wiping away a stray tear. "I don't know why I should believe a word you say."

Selena pulled out her phone. "You should see these."

She handed it to me with the messages already open. Castor's texts to Selena stretched on for years.

"You know you're the only one I want, Selena. " 

"Lila's like… practice. And not even good practice. "

"She has no idea how to please a man. Whenever we're together, she acts like she's afraid to touch me. I barely feel a thing."

I scrolled down quickly from one horrible message to the next.

"Had to sleep with her last night."

 "I don't know how I'm supposed to get off with her under me all still like a dead fish. She's all tiny and fragile, like a little girl trying to play grown-up."

"I practically have to force her to act like a wife. No passion at all. A real Luna has fire, confidence, strength. They aren't scared of their own damn shadow."

'Honestly, it's pathetic. She doesn't know what a real man wants." 

The bile rose in my throat as I kept scrolling.

"I'm only with her to get the heir I need," he'd written repeatedly in a hundred different ways. "Once I have an alpha child, you'll be the one by my side. The real Luna. The mother."

And she had always responded rather cheerfully how excited she was to be a mother.

 To my child. Mine. 

My vision blurred as I handled her phone back. 

"I thought you deserved to know. I've been telling him to tell you forever. Now that it is out in the open, I just wanted you to know you have nothing to worry about. I will be the best mother to the baby. I'll make sure they have everything they..." 

I looked up as anger and pain burned in my chest and my stomach. "Get away from me. Now."

She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off again. "Now, Selena. Before I do something we'll both regret."

She nodded slowly and started backing away. She turned and walked off, leaving me alone with the shattered pieces of my life.

Shattered pieces that she helped create.

That afternoon, I still couldn't shake the restless energy. Desperate to settle down, I decided a trip to my favorite coffee shop might do the trick.

It didn't.

As I entered, the aroma of coffee did little to soothe my nerves or stomach. I'd pushed off the nausea for most of the day until the pungent smell assaulted my nose. Then, another scent. 

Castor. 

He sat at a table near the front door and looked up as I walked in. 

He hated coffee. He was only here to mess with me.

"I'm not doing this," I said, turning to leave.

"Wait, please," he called out as he stood up. "Just give me a minute."

Against my better judgment, I stopped and faced him. "You have one minute."

He gestured to the seat across from him.

 I remained standing.

"Fine," he sighed. "I'm sorry, Lila. For everything."

I scoffed. "Sorry doesn't even begin to cover it."

"I know I've hurt you, but we can work through this," he continued, reaching out toward me.

"Don't touch me. Touch Selena. When she cornered me this morning, she clarified that it's been happening for years."

"Damn, no. Selena shouldn't have talked to you."

"If you love each other so much, then you should have just been a man and rejected me to start with! Why turn me into the bad guy? You somehow made me, your fated mate, the other woman here! I never wanted that."

"It's complicated," he muttered.

"Complicated?" I repeated in disbelief. "You've been cheating on me for years, using me to get an heir, and I'm the complication?"

"You don't understand," he growled, then quickly looked around to ensure no one noticed.

"Then enlighten me, Castor. Do you love me? Really love me?"

He remained silent.

"Answer me!" I demanded, raising my voice on purpose to see if he would care about others hearing me.

People in the cafe began to glance our way, but I didn't care. Let them see. Let them hear. Let him be uncomfortable with it.

"It's not that simple," he finally said after intimidating everyone enough to make them look away.

"It's a yes or no question," I shot back. "Do you love me?"

More silence.

I laughed bitterly. "That's all I needed to know."

As I turned to leave, he grabbed my arm, pulling me back. "You're not walking away from this. From me."

"Watch me,"

"I'm not letting you go," he muttered. "You are pregnant with my child. You're my fated mate, Lila. That ensures it is Alpha. Once born, I will get custody immediately. You know, a pup can't be without a father. So you want a divorce? Fine. But not before you give me my child."

I stared at him. "You can't be serious."

"I've never been more serious," he replied.

Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall. "You're unbelievable."

"This is how it has to be," he insisted.

"No, Castor. This is over," I said, backing away. "I'm done being your pawn."

Castor crossed his arms. "You're not leaving with my child. Divorce me if you want, but the baby stays, and so do you until it is born. My child will be born under my care and raised under my roof. We're werewolves, Lila. You know what that means. A pup needs a father, not a mother. You can leave and be nothing, but the baby stays."

Castor didn't want me. He wanted this child, his precious heir with alpha blood. I'd fulfilled my purpose, just as Mrs. Roman had always hinted. 

Now, I was disposable.

"You think you gave me everything?" I took a step back. "All you gave me was pain and endless unachievable expectations. Now that I've 'done my job,' you're ready to throw me away. You don't deserve this baby, Castor. A real father loves, protects, sacrifices. You don't understand any of that."

He scoffed. "You think you can raise an alpha on your own? You wouldn't last a day without me. Ungrateful as ever."

"Maybe I wouldn't last, but I'd rather face the world alone than stay under your control. This baby will be raised by someone who loves it and cares, not by someone who only sees a baby immediately born with responsibilities."

I turned and left the cafe, ignoring his calls behind me. 

I knew what I had to do. It was time to take control of my life, for me and the little life growing inside me. A little life that deserved better than a broken mother and a cheating father. 

I couldn't stop their Dad from being a cheating asshole, but I could do something to unbreak their mother.

I needed a lawyer. I had to protect myself and my baby. No matter the consequences, no matter the bullshit Cast tried to pull, this baby was mine.