"All I had to do was slip wolfsbane extract into her meals to trigger early labour," James said, almost amused. "It would terminate the pregnancy naturally. Then I would tell her her body rejected the pup. She would cry, I would comfort her, and life would go on."
My mind flashed back to each miscarriage. The pain. The blood. The white rooms in the pack clinic that I had come to hate.
After each loss, Mia would show up at the pack clinic with broth. "I made this specially for you," she would say, her eyes full of fake tears. "I know how much you're hurting. I'm here for you, sis."
She would stay the night, sleeping in the chair beside my bed, holding my hand whenever I woke up crying in pain.
James would be there too, stroking my hair, whispering, "We'll try again. We'll have our pup. I promise."
I had believed them both.
My hands shook violently. I bit down harder on my palm to keep from screaming, my wolf clawing at my mind for vengeance.
They had poisoned me four times with wolfsbane.
"Are you really going to break the mate bond when my womb is cured?" Mia asked, her voice dripping with false concern.
"Of course," James said casually. "Once the healer confirms the wolf essence treatments worked, I don't need to keep her around anymore."
He paused, and I heard the smirk in his tone. "Then you and I can finally be together publicly. Become bonded forever."
Mia's voice was breathy. "What about the pack and my family? What will they say?"
James laughed coldly. "Your family that favours you over their own blood daughter? Please. They'll side with us. Her mother already told me she thinks Olivia is an embarrassment to the bloodline."
The words cut through me like silver knives, because it was the truth.
"Olivia already signed her five percent pack shares over to me years ago without realizing it," James continued. "She'll walk away with nothing. She has no friends, no pack support. After I break the bond, she'll have nothing and no one. She'll probably end up as some pathetic rogue."
Mia furrowed her eyebrows. "How do you plan on doing that? The pack loves her."
James chuckled coldly. "Next week, we'll throw a huge pack gathering to announce your pregnancy to everyone important—the pack’s business partners, your family, the Alpha Council, and other ally alphas."