Chapter 2 THE LIE THAT FED THE BLOOD

"You will say it again."

The Alpha's brother did not sit. He stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed, his shadow long against the wall.

Naira lifted her head slowly.

"I have already said it."

"Say it again."

Her sister stood near the door, pale and silent.

Naira swallowed. "The child is yours."

The room felt smaller after those words.

"You expect me to believe that?" he asked.

"I do not expect," Naira replied. "I swear."

"You swore to me once before," he said coldly. "You swore you would wait."

Her eyes burned. "And you swore you would choose me."

Silence stretched.

"I chose duty," he said.

"And I chose survival."

He turned away from her. "You think this lie will save you?"

"It will save the child."

"That child will wear my name."

"Yes."

"And carry my shame."

"You gave me shame first," Naira said.

His jaw tightened.

"You want me to raise another man's blood?"

"I want you to raise a life," she answered. "You can hate me, but you cannot kill what is already growing."

Her sister stepped forward. "This will not end well."

"It already has," Naira said. "The pack believes him to be the father."

The brother looked at her sharply. "Who told them?"

"You did," Naira said. "When you denied me in public."

He laughed once, bitterly. "So now I must own your mistake?"

"You must own your past," she replied. "Just as I own mine."

Footsteps echoed outside. Voices. Whispers.

"They are talking," her sister said.

"They always talk," Naira replied.

Later that night, the council gathered.

The Alpha sat high on his seat. The Luna beside him, her eyes sharp. The brother stood below, tense and silent.

Naira was brought forward.

"Speak," the Alpha said.

Naira did not look at him. She looked at the brother.

"The child I carry belongs to your brother," she said.

Gasps filled the hall.

The Luna rose. "That is a lie."

Naira lifted her chin. "I swear on the moon."

The brother closed his eyes.

"You will accept it?" the Alpha asked him.

He hesitated.

"Yes," he said.

The word fell like stone.

"Then the matter is closed," the Alpha said.

But the pack did not close their mouths.

"You are disgusting."

The insult hit her from behind as she walked.

"First rejected, now shameless."

"She trapped him."

"She sold herself."

Naira kept walking.

Her sister walked beside her. "You are walking through fire."

"I know."

"Why did you not run?"

"Where would I go?"

"You could have hidden."

"I refuse to hide."

At home, her father waited.

"You should have stayed quiet," he said. "You should have gone to the forest."

"I chose truth."

"You chose noise."

"The child will live."

"The child will die anyway," he snapped. "Slowly."

Her sister cried. "Father-"

"She should have ended it," he continued. "No one would know."

Naira stood. "You will not speak of my child that way."

"You shame this house."

"I was shamed before I opened my mouth."

"You could have erased this."

"I will not erase blood."

"Then blood will erase you."

The brother came one night.

"Do not come again," Naira said.

"You forced this on me."

"You forced my fall."

"You are cruel."

"And you are a coward."

He looked at her stomach. "It will look like him."

"Or like me."

"I will not love it."

"I did not ask for love."

"What did you ask for?"

"Protection."

He said nothing.

Whispers grew.

"She walks like she is proud."

"She should crawl."

"She is cursed."

Naira kept walking.

Her sister said, "You are alone."

"I was always alone."

Her father shouted again one night.

"You doomed us."

"I saved myself."

"You broke our name."

"They broke it first."

"You will regret this."

"I already regret everything."

When the moon rose, Naira touched her stomach.

"Live," she whispered. "Even if they hate you."

And far away, the Alpha watched the forest.

The lie had taken root.

And the child would grow inside it.