Chapter 23 23

Chapter 23 23
"I wish men treated us like humans," my mother whispered sadly, pulling me out of my dark thoughts. "Sometimes, in this pack, we are only seen as vessels."

"I am sorry, Mom," I said, my voice thick with shame.

"It is not your fault, son," my mother said, reaching out, resting her frail hand over mine. "It is the elders. That bunch of old men likes to control women like this. They wrap it up in tradition, but it is just control. All the pressure is on little Odette to give you an heir right now."

She squeezed my hand tight, her blue eyes intense.

"You have no idea how bad you feel when every month you get your period, and everyone makes you feel terrible about it," my mother said, her voice shaking with old grief. "The maids whisper. The elders glare. You feel like it is completely your fault for not being able to conceive. You feel useless."

I swallowed hard. Last night, Odette had surrendered her body to me like a robot. She was terrified of failing. She was terrified of the pack. And I had yelled at her.

"I will say this, Kael, and I want you to listen to me," my mother said firmly. "If you are so desperate for a baby to secure your position... just go for IVF.  Yes, In Vitro Fertilization. Do it in a clinic. Do not put that sweet girl through the hell that I went through. Do not force her to be a breeding machine."

"Okay," I whispered. I could barely speak over the lump in my throat.

"Good," my mother smiled softly, leaning back against her pillows, clearly exhausted from the long speech. "Bring Odette next time with you. I heard she danced beautifully. I would love to see her dance someday."

"I will, Mom," I promised.

I didn't say anything else to my mother. I just sat quietly while she ate her soup, my mind racing with a million different thoughts. When she finally fell asleep, I left the medical wing.

I didn't want to go back to the penthouse yet. I needed to talk to someone. I walked across the pack grounds to the main administrative building and pushed open the door to the Beta's office.

Lucas was sitting behind his desk, reviewing patrol reports. He looked up when I walked in.

"Alpha," Lucas nodded. "Did you find the Luna last night?"

"I found her," I said shortly, falling into the leather chair opposite his desk. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "Lucas. We need to talk to the pack doctors. We need to look into IVF."

Lucas dropped his pen. He stared at me for a long, silent moment. Slowly, a highly amused, disbelieving smirk spread across his face.

"IVF?" Lucas asked, raising an eyebrow. "So... you hate sex now?"

"What?" I growled, glaring at him. "This is not a joke, Lucas."

"I'm not joking!" Lucas laughed, holding his hands up in defense. "I am just trying to understand the logic here, Kael. You are asking to get your wife pregnant through IVF. Meaning, you don't want to have sex with her."

"I didn't say that," I snapped, my jaw clenching.

"You kind of did," Lucas pointed out. "Look, man. You got rid of your mistresses. You formally banished Zara and the others because you said you only wanted your mate. And now, you are closing off sex with your wife by doing it in a clinic? You are gonna live a long, miserable and lonely life, Alpha."

"You don't understand," I said, running a hand roughly through my hair. "My mother told me about the fertility drugs. I saw Odette last night, Lucas. She looked completely broken. She just surrendered to Elder’s will. If I touch her right now, knowing she is only doing it because the elders demand it, I will break her entirely. I want to spare her that hell."

Lucas’s smirk faded. He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I get it, Kael. You're trying to be a protector. But avoiding her bed isn't going to fix her broken heart. Especially not today."

I frowned. "What do you mean, especially not today?"

Lucas picked up his digital tablet from the desk. He tapped the screen a few times and then slid the tablet across the polished wood toward me.

"Anyway, did you hear the news?" Lucas asked quietly.

"What news?" I asked, looking down at the screen.

It was a social media post from the Mist Rain pack. The picture showed a large, lavish party. In the center of the photo stood Serena, the Alpha's daughter—the woman I was originally supposed to marry. She was wearing a red dress and a diamond ring.

And standing right behind her, kissing her cheek with a wide, arrogant smile, was a Beta male.

"Your ex-fiancée is married to your wife's ex-boyfriend," Lucas explained softly. "They made it official last night. The whole island pack is celebrating."

I stared at the picture, my blood turning to ice.

Serena and Josh.

Suddenly, the events of last night flashed through my mind like a movie playing at double speed. I remembered Odette wandering out into the dark city barefoot. I remembered finding her sitting in the freezing rain by the lake, her eyes red and swollen from sobbing violently. 

A dark bitter fire ignited in the pit of my stomach.

"Is this why Odette was crying?" I asked. 

Lucas hesitated. "Kael..."

"Answer me!" I snapped, my inner wolf pacing furiously against the bars of his cage. "Did she see this picture last night?"

"The timeline matches," Lucas admitted. "The post went up about twenty minutes before Beatrice said the Luna ran out of the penthouse. She likely saw it on her phone."

I gripped the edges of the tablet so hard the glass screen groaned in protest.

I had thought she was crying because she was terrified of me. I thought she was broken because of the pressure of the elders and the ovulation cycle. I had spent all morning hating myself for being a cruel monster who scared his wife.

But looking at the smiling face of the Beta in the picture, a completely different, agonizingly painful realization hit me.

She wasn't crying because of me. She was crying because of him.

The truth was right here in front of my face. She ran out into the freezing rain because the boy she actually loved was marrying her sister.

"She still feels for that island boy," I muttered, my voice tight with a sickening mixture of rage and jealousy.

"You don't know that for sure, Kael," Lucas tried to reason. 

"She loves him," I growled, tossing the tablet back onto the desk. "She is stuck here with a scarred rogue she finds repulsive, while the man she actually wants is living happily ever after with her sister."

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