POV Eva
My father's study has never felt smaller.
Guards flank me on either side, their grips bruising on my arms as they force me to stand before his desk. The door slams shut behind us with the finality of a coffin lid.
My father doesn't sit. He paces like a caged predator, his wolf bleeding through in flashes of ice-white eyes, in the barely controlled violence of his movements.
"Twelve generations." His voice starts quiet, trembling with rage. "Twelve generations of Aldridge honor. Twelve generations of sacred bloodline, of alliances built through sacrifice and discipline and control."
He whirls to face me.
"And you destroyed it all in one night. One pathetic, whoring night."
"Father, please let me explain."
"Explain what?"
He advances on me, and I flinch back despite myself.
"Explain how you spread your legs for strangers like a common brothel girl? Explain how you carried another wolf's bastard while parading yourself before honorable princes?"
"It wasn't like that!"
"You're a disgrace." The word lands like a slap. "A whore. The ruination of everything our family has built. Your mother would be ashamed to call you daughter."
The mention of my mother cuts deeper than anything else. I feel the wound open, fresh and bleeding.
"Don't." My voice shakes. "Don't use her against me."
"Why not? She died giving birth to you—died believing she was bringing an heir worthy of our bloodline into the world."
His laugh is cruel, hollow. "If she could see what you've become, she'd wish she'd never carried you at all."
The tears come despite my best efforts to stop them. "Father…"
"But that's not the worst of it, is it?" He stops pacing, something new and terrible entering his expression. "Prince Khalil was very thorough in his revelations. He told me about more than just your pregnancy."
My blood turns to ice.
"He told me about your feelings." The word drips with contempt. "For the bodyguard. For the low-ranking wolf who's been sniffing around you since childhood."
"That's not…"
"I saw confirmation in your face tonight." He steps closer, close enough that I can see the veins pulsing at his temple. "The moment everything collapsed, your eyes found him. Not the princes. Not your family. Him."
"Father, please."
"Did you let him touch you too?" His voice drops to something deadly. "Did you let that common-blooded wolf defile the princess he was sworn to protect?"
I can't answer. Can't lie. The silence damns me completely.
My father's expression hardens into stone.
"Pack law is absolute." He turns to the guards. "Seize the bodyguard Dominic Vasquez. He is to be held for public punishment."
"No!" The scream tears from my throat. "Father, no! He didn't… I was the one who..!"
"Anyone of lower status who desecrates a member of the royal bloodline faces flogging at minimum." His ice-white eyes meet mine without mercy. "Execution at worst."
"You can't do this!" I lunge forward, but the guards hold me fast. "Punish me. I'm the one who started it. I went to him. I—"
"Your punishment will be decided in time." He waves dismissively. "Confine her to her chambers until I determine what's to be done with her."
"Father, please!" I'm sobbing now, fighting against the guards' grip. "I'll do anything. I'll marry Soren tonight. I'll announce whatever you want. Just don't hurt Dominic. Please, please don't hurt him."
"You should have thought of that before you let him rut you like an animal." He turns his back on me. "Take her away."
"FATHER!"
The guards drag me toward the door, my screams echoing off the walls. I fight them with everything I have—kicking, clawing, desperate to break free. But they're stronger, and my father won't even look at me.
The door swings open.
Khalil stands in the threshold.
The guards pause, uncertain. Khalil's amber eyes sweep over the scene, my tear-streaked face, my struggling body, my father's rigid back, and something satisfied curves his lips.
"Alpha King." He bows respectfully. "I came to offer my condolences on this... unfortunate situation."
"Prince Khalil." My father's voice warms slightly. "Your honesty tonight showed true integrity. The Aldridge pack is grateful."
"I only did what honor demanded."
Khalil's gaze slides to me, and the gentle prince I once trusted has vanished completely. In his place is something cold and vicious. "Though I confess, I'm disappointed. I had such hopes for Eva."
"As did we all." My father sighs. "Take her to her chambers. I need time to think."
Khalil steps aside to let the guards pass, but as I'm dragged through the doorway, he falls into step beside us.
"Wait." He holds up a hand. "If I might have a moment alone with the princess? To express my... sympathies."
The guards hesitate, looking to my father.
"Very well." My father waves permission. "Be brief."
The guards release me, stepping back to give us privacy in the corridor. The moment they're out of earshot, Khalil's mask falls away entirely.
"Such a fall from grace." His voice drips with cruel satisfaction. "The proud princess, reduced to a litter-bearer for common wolves."
"Fuck you." The words come out raw, savage.
"Such language." He steps closer, and I retreat until my back hits the wall. "Tell me, did you enjoy it? Spreading your legs for strangers? For your bodyguard?"
His lip curls. "I touched something so many others had already claimed. It's... disgusting, really."
Fear transforms into fury, burning through me like wildfire.
"You're pathetic." I spit the words at him. "You couldn't handle being rejected, so you destroyed my entire life. Is that supposed to make you feel like a man?"
"Watch your tongue!"
"I would rather become the litter of a hundred wolves than allow you to lay a finger on me again."
"At least they were honest about what they wanted. You hid behind gentleness while planning to destroy me the entire time."
Khalil's composure snaps.
He moves faster than I can react, hand closing around my throat, pinning me against the wall. His amber eyes blaze with fury.
"You need to learn respect." His grip tightens. "Perhaps I should teach you."
I claw at his hand, unable to breathe, unable to scream.
Then a fist connects with Khalil's jaw.
The blow sends him staggering sideways, releasing me. I collapse against the wall, gasping for air, and look up to see Soren standing between us like a wall of ice.
"Leave." His voice is winter itself. "Now."
Khalil straightens, nursing his jaw, eyes blazing with hatred. "This isn't over, Kjelland."
"It is for tonight." Soren doesn't move. "Unless you'd like me to finish what I started."
For a moment, violence hangs in the air. Then Khalil retreats, shooting me one last venomous glare.
"This isn't over," he repeats, and disappears down the corridor.
In the brief silence that follows, Soren turns to me. His pale eyes hold something unexpected—tenderness, concern, protectiveness.
"Hold on." His voice drops low, urgent. "Matteo and I will find a way out of this."
"Dominic. They're going to…"
"We'll handle it." His hand cups my cheek briefly—the first gentle touch he's ever given me. "You carry my child. I won't let you or the pup be destroyed. I swear it."
Footsteps approach. The guards returning.
Soren steps back, his expression becoming neutral ice once more. But his eyes hold mine for one last moment—a promise made in silence.
Then the guards take my arms, and I'm dragged toward my chambers.
Alone.
Imprisoned.
Terrified for Dominic.
And clinging to Soren's promise like a lifeline in the dark.