Chapter 141 I JUST CAN'T PROVE IT BUT ENJOY THE SPOTLIGHT
Chapter 141 I JUST CAN'T PROVE IT BUT ENJOY THE SPOTLIGHT
CHAPTER 141
I JUST CAN'T PROVE IT BUT ENJOY THE SPOTLIGHT
SELINA
The pack burst into open discussion the moment the last word left my mouth.
Voices rose from every side of the club area. Chairs scraped back. Several men near the bar stood up at once. My heart slammed harder against my ribs. Sweat gathered along my spine under the weight of so many eyes.
A thick-shouldered biker near the front pointed straight at me. His voice carried over the others. “Dorian could be right. How can you stand here and claim you are pregnant by the Alpha? That does not make sense.”
Another woman closer to the kitchen doorway shook her head hard. “She probably hit her head on something. What kind of announcement is this? You do not just walk into the middle of the room and drop something like that.”
A younger pack member near the pool table laughed once, short and sharp. “If the Alpha wanted a child with her he would have said so himself. This smells wrong.”
More voices piled on at once.
One man near the bar folded his arms and spoke loud enough for the whole room to hear. “She has always chased Dorian. This is just the next desperate step.”
Another woman further back raised her voice.
“The timing is too perfect. The Council is pressing for a Luna and suddenly she is pregnant by the Alpha? Convenient.”
A third man simply shook his head and repeated the same line twice. “Dorian would never be that careless. Never.”
Each comment landed like a separate strike. My stomach twisted tighter with every one. Panic sat cold and heavy under my ribs, but I kept the smile fixed on my face and did not move.
Not everyone spoke against me.
A group near the far wall, the ones who had been loudest about the Luna question for weeks, began talking among themselves in clearer tones.
One older woman raised her voice so the whole room could hear. “If she is telling the truth then this solves the Council’s demand. We get a Luna from our own pack instead of bringing in a woman from outside.”
A man beside her nodded hard. “Better one of ours than a stranger who does not know our ways. If the child is the Alpha’s then the matter is settled.”
Another voice joined them. “We have waited long enough for stability. This could be the answer.”
The split in the room was clear. My pulse stayed high. I could feel the heat in my cheeks and the dampness of my palms.
Elder Harkin pushed up from his seat in the middle of the crowd. The noise dropped a fraction as people noticed him standing. His voice came steady and loud enough to reach every corner.
“This pregnancy is a gift of stability for the pack. It is a miracle from the Moon Goddess. The Alpha must accept it. He must not try to deny what the Goddess has given.”
Relief flooded through me so fast my knees felt weak for a second. I locked them in place. Some of the same people who had defended Dorian moments earlier began nodding and murmuring agreement with the elder. The shift was small but real. I held onto it.
Dorian appeared in the doorway a moment later.
The room quieted further when people saw him. His face was set hard. Anger radiated from the way he held his shoulders and the tight line of his mouth. He walked straight toward me. The crowd parted without being asked.
His voice came low and sharp. “Why did you make a public announcement?”
I let the tears I had been holding rise to the surface. My lower lip trembled on purpose. “I could not help it. You called your own child a bastard and refused to take responsibility for what you put inside me.”
Elder Harkin stepped closer. His tone stayed firm. “This is wrong, Alpha. Why would you deny it when she is pregnant by you?”
I watched Dorian’s jaw flex. The anger stayed clear in his eyes, but I could see the corner he was in. The pack was listening to every word. He could not simply dismiss me now without looking worse.
He kept his gaze on me. “I still stand by my words. I demand a formal healer’s examination to determine paternity.”
I nodded at once. My voice stayed even though my heart continued its hard rhythm. “I am tired now. I will come for the examination with Elder Cass tomorrow.”
I turned and walked out before anyone could add more. The moment I was in the corridor the false calm cracked. My hands shook. I pressed them against my sides and kept walking until I reached my room.
Julia stood as soon as I entered. I closed the door and leaned against it for a second.
“It is fine,” I told her. My voice sounded thinner than I wanted. “What are the next steps?”
She did not waste time. “Last step is to see Maeve.”
We left the pack house through the quieter side path and made the journey to the hut. The walk felt longer under the weight of what I had just done. My mind kept replaying the faces in the club area and the way Dorian had looked at me.
Maeve opened the door before we knocked. We went inside. The familiar smell of burning herbs filled the small space.
Julia did not waste time. She kept her voice steady and clear. “Selina is pregnant. She told the pack today that the child belongs to Dorian. He is demanding a healer’s examination for paternity. We need the result to stay useful for us.”
Maeve looked from Julia to me. Her expression did not change. “Go on.”
Julia continued. “We need something that will make the healer’s read inconclusive. Something temporary. If the pack sees an unclear result while Selina stands by her claim, most of them will side with her. That is the leverage we need.”
I stayed quiet, my hands pressed together in front of me. The glass vials on the shelf caught the low light.
Maeve studied both of us for a long moment. Then she moved to the shelf, selected a small vial of dark liquid, and placed it in my hand. The glass felt cool against my palm.
“This compound will temporarily alter what a healer’s reading can detect,” she said. “Use it before the examination. It will not last more than a day.”
Julia nodded once. “That is enough.”
We thanked her and left.
The following morning I went to Elder Cass for the examination.
The compound had already been taken. My stomach still felt unsettled from it. Elder Cass completed the checks in her usual careful manner. When she finished she stated the result clearly.
The examination returned inconclusive on paternity.
I did not wait for the news to travel on its own. Elder Harkin and I both spoke publicly within the hour.
I kept my voice steady while the pack listened. “I am old enough to know who impregnated me. If I say it is the Alpha, then it is the Alpha. His continued denial only proves he is the father of this child.”
Elder Harkin raised his voice so the gathering pack members could hear him clearly. “The examination did not deny the claim. It simply could not confirm it either way. Selina is old enough to know who fathered her child. If she says the father is the Alpha, then we take her at her word. His continued refusal only makes the truth clearer.”
A woman near the front spoke up immediately.
“He is right. Why would she name the Alpha if it was someone else? She would gain nothing by lying about that.”
A man beside her nodded hard. “The Council wants a Luna. This child gives us one from our own pack. That is better than bringing in a stranger.”
Another voice joined from the left side of the group.
“The Alpha needs to stop denying it. The longer he fights, the worse it looks.”
Elder Harkin continued without raising his volume.
“The Moon Goddess does not hand out gifts by accident. This pregnancy is stability for the pack. The Alpha must accept responsibility.”
Several more people murmured agreement. The shift in the room was clear and growing.
Dorian was boxed in. By the end of the day he had no clean way to remove me. He allowed me to remain in the pack house.
That evening he found me alone in the corridor outside my room.
He stepped close enough that only I could hear him. His voice came quiet and cold.
“I know I am not the father of this child. I cannot prove it yet. Continue enjoying the spotlight for the meantime. When I do prove it, I am going to take joy in punishing you.”