Chapter 57: Bastard
[VIOLET POV]
"If I hear you blabbing about the child’s true parentage, I will have you killed. Is that clear?"
As soon as those words left my mouth, a loud clatter came from outside, causing me and Martin to immediately stiffen. My eyes widened.
Someone was at the door.
It didn’t take a genius to guess who it might be. There was only one person who would come at this time. I had made sure that the Alphas were busy today with their own tasks. They wouldn’t be able to spare time in the middle of such a busy morning to come check in on me, even if they wanted to.
Besides, the loud clatter told me that the eavesdropper was carrying something in their hands as they stood outside. That left just one possible person.
I cursed inwardly as Martin strode to the door. He unlocked it and yanked it open. However, there was no one outside.
"There’s no one out here," Martin said.
My eyebrows ticked with irritation.
"Yes," I hissed through gritted teeth. "Because they heard what they needed and ran off!"
My gaze quickly fell on a small tub that was on the floor. It had rolled over, stopping right by Martin’s foot. He bent down and scooped up the item before returning it to me. I swiped it off his hands, my eyes narrowing as it fell on the words written on the label.
I scoffed. My guess was correct.
"Is that the maid?" Martin asked, noticing my expression. I turned to look at him as though he were stupid. Sometimes, I honestly thought he was.
It was completely unfair that the Moon Goddess had assigned not one, not two, but three capable Alpha wolves to someone as useless as Briar Argyris. On the other hand, she had saddled me with an imbecile. I sometimes wondered if the Moon Goddess was blind for making such a decision.
However, fate thankfully favored me, even if the Goddess didn’t. In the end, all three of Briar’s fated mates were still mine. It didn’t matter if they were fated to each other or not when the Alphas obviously favored me over their own fated mate.
So much for a fated bond. Their hatred for Briar only further proved my theory that the fated bond was nothing more than a myth made up for children to encourage breeding.
"Are you seriously that much of a dunce, or are you acting as one?" I asked with a roll of my eyes. I held up the small tub of lotion. "Who else would fetch me the lotion, right after I asked for one?"
Martin pursed his lips in silence. Then, he finally said, "Should I go after her?"
"There’s no need," I said, scoffing. "There’s nothing she can do with that bit of information anyway. No one would believe her."
"Not even the Alphas?"
I glared at Martin. "Do you really think the Alphas would believe her after everything that has happened?" I snapped.
Martin kept quiet.
Exhaling, I said, "But I suppose that means that our baby must go, now that the secret is out. If the bastard is born and the kid looks unfortunately like you, then the Alphas may begin to suspect me."
Hearing my words, Martin frowned. "Our child isn’t a bastard―"
"I am the Luna," I reminded him. "My mates are the Alphas of this pack. Not you."
Martin clenched his hands into tight fists by his side. "But this is still our child," he said through gritted teeth, the rims of his eyes red. "You were my mate first―"
"Even if this child is safely born into this world, you will never be its father," I coldly said. "The father of my children can only be the Alphas of Shadowclaw."
I made my way to the door, stopping only right before stepping outside to turn back and glance at Martin.
"I hope I don’t need to remind you to keep our secret," I said. "After all, if the Alphas find out about our relationship, I will not be the first one to get in trouble."
***
[BRIAR POV]
I wasn’t really sure where I was running to. All I knew was that I couldn’t stay there. I needed to get out of there and find somewhere safe.
For a second, a thought flashed through my mind. Perhaps I could tell the Alphas the truth about Violet’s baby.
Now that her pregnancy was only in its early stages, perhaps they couldn’t make heads or tails of the baby’s scent yet. However, the further along she got, or perhaps after the baby was born, it would become obvious that the child was not theirs.
However, would any of them believe me? Cassian hated me, Rowan seemed indifferent, and Soren...
I huffed. He was the worst of them all. He didn’t even know what he wanted, and was so easily influenced by the people around him. I would have better luck telling Cassian about what I overheard than telling Soren.
Yet, I needed to face the truth― it was unlikely that any of the three Alphas would believe in a single word. They might punish me for attempting to tarnish Violet’s reputation instead. I wouldn’t be able to last until the baby was born.
"Where do you think you’re going?"
I stiffened, turning back instinctively. The second my eyes met with Violet’s, I felt a chill take over my entire body.
Violet wore a calm smile. She didn’t look a single bit like her secret had just been overheard and was on the verge of being exposed as a cheating fraud. Slowly, she sauntered over to where I was.
The closer she got, the further I backed away. Eventually, I stopped with a gasp when I felt my heels tilt backwards slightly. One look over my shoulder told me that I had reached the top of the stairs.
I clenched my jaw and turned back to look at Violet. She stood a mere foot in front of me, wearing a confident smile.
"I forgot the cream," I said, the lie instantly spilling from my lips. "I’ll just return to the infirmary―"
"No need," Violet said. She held up her hand, and in it was the small tub of lotion I had dropped on the floor right outside her room. "I seem to have found it myself."
I gulped.
"Now," she continued, "Why were you running?"
