"I'd like to meet the Elder in the parlor. Tell him I have important news regarding a new life that I need to discuss with him."
Back at the mansion, I told Herman this with a blank expression. Then, under the watchful eyes of the wolf guards, I walked into the only place where I could be alone—the bathroom.
I turned on the shower. Water thundered down. Under its cover, I released all pain I'd bottled up over the past year. I sobbed uncontrollably.
Elias wanted a divorce. His mind was made up. Nothing I said would change it. So what could I do?
Begging? Pleading? Groveling for scraps of his pity?
None of that would work. I had spent a year failing to melt his heart or earn his trust. Another year, or ten, wouldn't make a difference.
And I was exhausted. I didn't want to be Serenity Vernal anymore.
Maybe it was time to let go. Even if it meant carrying the false label of a traitor, I could still go back to being Serenity Keller.
After I'd cried myself out, I felt somewhat better—whether or not it helped, at least I'd released some of the emotions I'd been holding in. I turned off the shower and touched my bare stomach, trying to sense the tiny life inside me.
I had to plan for myself and for this child.
This baby was innocent. He shouldn't have to bear hatred and grudges that weren't his. He deserved to enter the world blessed and wanted. Not even Elias could be allowed to hurt him.
But what could I do?
My wet hair brought waves of coolness to my head, clearing my thoughts.
I had been a full-time housewife for too long. I was just an Omega with a weak bloodline, whose only skills were cooking and making coffee. I had always depended on the Vernal pack. Even now that I had something I desperately wanted to protect, I had no power to do it.
That left me with only one option.
When the idea occurred to me, a fierce reluctance gripped my heart. Novella keened mournfully inside me.
I stepped out of the bathroom. Outside, the sky had grown dark. Lizzie waited by the door and handed me a dry towel. "Luna, Mr. Alfred has arrived."
"I know." I dried my hair slowly.
For the first time, I felt completely calm as I went to meet him.
In the parlor, Alfred stood by the window with his back to me. When I entered, he turned. His sharp gaze swept over me, and his brow furrowed—probably finding me unworthy of the Vernal name once again.
Before, that look would have hurt. Now, I didn't care at all.
"What's this 'important news regarding a new life'?" he asked impatiently. "If you're here to cry about Elias and beg me to bring him back, don't bother."
So he knew Elias hadn't been home in ages.
But none of them cared.
I took a deep breath and shook my head. "That's not why I'm here. I've come to make a deal with you."
Alfred raised an eyebrow. "A deal? What makes an Omega under suspicion of treason think she can negotiate with me?"
"Because I'm pregnant."
Crack.
The parlor fell silent. Firewood popped in the hearth. Alfred's expression shifted from contempt to shock, then to elation. He strode toward me. "What did you say? Say that again!"
"I'm carrying Elias's child. Three weeks along." I met his eyes directly. "Dr. Charles can confirm it."
