Page 58 of Betrayed Knocked-Up Mate

"You're insane," I breathe, unable to help myself. The zip tie parts another fraction.

His laugh holds genuine amusement. "That's exactly what Sophia—Marcus's mother—said, right before I opened her throat. Right before I made him watch as his family's legacy bled out across imported marble floors." He leans closer, inhaling deeply. "You even smell like her, you know. That same taint ofcivilizationbeneath shifter blood. But you carry something far more precious, don't you? The next generation of Hillmarton weakness, growing beneath your heart."

My wolf snarls at the threat to our child, but I keep my voice steady. "If Marcus is so weak, why haven't you killed him yet? Why play these games?"

"Games?" Kane's eyes flash gold. "This isn't a game, my dear. This is a cleansing. A purging of corrupt blood from our species. Marcus's parents were just the start—now I'll end their line completely. No more diplomatic missions, no more human cooperation, no more dilution of what makes us strong. The other traitors will follow. None will be spared. It’s the most humane way to do this—prune the weak and rotten, and the tree grows back healthier.”

A crackle of static makes us both freeze.

Through the white noise, from a radio perched on a nearby table, I catch Elena's voice, sharp with command, though I can’t make out what she’s saying.

I raise my voice. “Elena! They’re on your frequency, you’retapped—”

Kane's expression darkens as he springs for the radio, flicking it off. Elena’s voice and the static end abruptly.

He backhands me hard across the mouth. I’m proud of myself for hardly flinching, keeping my eyes cold, sharp, and alert even as my face burns.

“Stay,” he warns, and retreats to the door.

The moment he leaves, I redouble my efforts on the restraint. The zip tie finally snaps, my wrists bleeding but free. Five years of running taught me more than escape techniques—it taught me to read rooms, to spot improvised weapons, and to think three steps ahead of anyone hunting me.

For once, it feels like it might have been worth it.

The lamp on the side table is heavy crystal, expensive like everything else in this monument to Kane's twisted ideology. It shatters satisfyingly against the wall, leaving me with a jagged weapon that catches the light like teeth.

My other hand presses against my stomach, feeling for the tiny spark of life that changes everything. Marcus's child.Ourchild. Everything Kane wants to destroy, everything he thinks weakens us, growing strong beneath my heart.

Through the walls, I hear the distant sound of fighting. Marcus is coming—I know it like I know my own heartbeat.

But this time, I won't wait to be rescued. This time, I have something worth fighting for.

The crystal shard feels right in my hand as I move toward the door, letting my wolf rise closer to the surface. Five years ago, I ran from love because Marcus pushed me away. Now I understand why—understand the weight he carried, the choices he made, the desperate need to protect that drove him to break both our hearts.

But I'm not running anymore.

Kane thought he could use my pregnancy as a weapon against us. Thought he could destroy Marcus's bloodline, erase his parents' legacy of cooperation and hope. Figured he could break us with the very thing that makes us strongest.

He has no idea what a mother wolf will do to protect her child.

The door opens silently as I press my ear against it, listening for movement in the hallway. Footsteps echo from multiple directions—guards moving with military precision, responding to whatever havoc Marcus and the teams are wreaking outside. Through the broken window, I smell woodsmoke and cordite, hear the sharp retort of gunfire moving closer.

My time is now.

The crystal shard catches dying sunlight as I adjust my grip, feeling my wolf rise with protective fury. They think pregnancy makes me vulnerable. They're about to learn how wrong they are.

I bare my teeth in something that isn't quite a smile and move into the hallway like smoke, like shadow, like everything Kane fears we might become. Let them come. Let them see what love, legacy, and the promise of a future can do.

I'm done being afraid.

Chapter 26 - Marcus

Kane’s compound's walls loom ahead like the gates of hell, all sleek modern lines hiding ancient evil. Blood drips from my claws as I stalk forward, each step measured, deliberate.

The guards I've left broken behind me are just the beginning.

Elena's voice crackles through my earpiece: "Security systems disabled in three... two... one…"

The perimeter lights die, plunging the courtyard into darkness, perfect for a wolf's eyes. Through the shadows, I catch the panicked movements of Kane's people as their communications splutter into static—Byron's work, turning their own radio frequencies into weapons against them.

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