Chapter 4: Crumbling Courage
Fiona’s POV
The taxi pulled away, and I stood there on the curb, staring up at the building like it might swallow me whole.
Alpha Dorian’s apartment complex hadn’t changed-it was still the same clean brick facade with its wrought-iron balcony and glossy windows. But today, it loomed. The place used to feel warm to me, like a second den. Now it was a fortress, and I was an outsider trespassing.
I clutched my bag tighter, trying to stop the shaking in my hands. My wolf paced restlessly inside me, whining, uncertain. She didn’t want to be here either.
But I had to do this. For our pup. For me.
I walked in slowly, cach step echoing down the stairwell like the tick of a countdown. The smell of the building brought it all back-the way Dorian’s arms had once felt around me, the way he used to whisper my name like it meant something. Moon, I wanted to forget.
But I couldn’t.
By the time I reached the door, I could hear them laughing inside. Her laugh. My stomach turned.
I knocked, soft at first. Then again, louder, as the panic rose in my chest. My knuckles were pale against the wood.
The door opened, and there he was-Alpha Dorian. Still beautiful. Still cold. His eyes flicked over me, and I saw it: surprise, followed by a frost that settled on his face like winter had moved in behind his eyes.
I didn’t even get a word out before my gaze darted over his shoulder. There she was.
Cecilia.
Her face twisted the second she saw me. She stood slowly, hand protectively curled over her stomach.
No. No, no, no.
My eyes dropped to the swell beneath her palm, almost the same size as mine.
She was pregnant.
My heart cracked wide open. The betrayal hit me like a blade. She was carrying his pup too.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she barked, already snarling. Her voice was acid, and she was enjoying this. I could see it in the way her lips curled, the fire in her smug eyes.
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t. I just looked at her, then at Dorian. His jaw was tight, his scent unreadable.
“Fiona.” he said, stepping forward. “You shouldn’t have come.”
I tried to speak. The words came out shaky. “I just… I needed to talk. About the pup. About us.”
“There is no “us,” he snapped.
Just like that. Like we never mattered.
Behind him, I saw her parents. I hadn’t even realized they were there. Cecilia’s mother sat like a queen on a throne, looking at me like I’d dragged mud through her perfect little pack gathering.
Gods, this was a setup.
“You can’t just show up here and think you can mess things up,” Cecilia spat. “Dorian’s moved on. And you should too.”
Tears burned behind my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall. Not yet.
“I’m not here to mess anything up,” I said, my voice trembling. “The doctor said-”
“I don’t care what the doctor said,” Dorian cut in, voice cold. “It’s not my problem anymore. You need to deal with your own mess.”
My wolf whimpered inside me, wounded.
I took a shaky breath, tried to hold my ground, even though every word they flung at me hit like claws.
“You’ve got some nerve.” Cecilia sneered. “Showing up like a stray. You think your little sob story’s gonna change anything? Dorian never wanted you. He was just too nice to say it.”
I flinched. That one cut deep.
But I stood tall. “I’m not here to beg.” I said, though my voice betrayed me with a tremor. “He has a right to know–”
“To know what?” she snapped, stepping closer like a wolf circling prey. “That you can’t handle rejection? That you can’t face reality? Look at you. You’re pathetic.”
Cecilia’s mother finally rose from the couch. Her face twisted like she’d smelled something rotten.
“I never understood what Dorian saw in you,” she said, her voice sharp as broken glass. “You’re a gold-digging tramp. I told him from the beginning you were trouble. Now you’re here flaunting that bastard child like it means something. Disgusting.”
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My cheeks burned, and I felt the blood pounding in my ears.
“I’m not here to cause trouble,” I whispered.
But it didn’t matter.
Cecilia shoved me, hard. “You are the trouble,” she snapped. “You’re a leech. Do us a favor and crawl back into the gutter where you came from.”
I stumbled, barely catching myself on the arm of a chair. My wolf growled softly inside, but she was tired. We both were.
“Don’t you get it?” her mother hissed, and shoved me again. “You weren’t ever part of this family. You’re just trash he outgrew.”
Her hand slammed into my shoulder, and I slipped.
Everything slowed. My foot caught the carpet. The room tilted.
Then I fell.
My belly hit the hardwood with a sickening thud, and all the air left my lungs.
Pain flared, sharp and electric. My hands instinctively cradled my stomach. My heart screamed, my wolf howled inside me.
I didn’t care about pride anymore. Or Dorian. Or even Cecilia.
All I could think was: please, Moon Goddess, not the baby.
Pain tore through my stomach like claws raking from the inside. I gasped and curled around my bump, my knees barely holding me upright as I fought for breath. Tears blurred my vision-some from the pain, but most from the cruelty I’d just endured.
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe him.
Alpha Dorian just stood there, staring at me like I was nothing more than a stain on his floor. My mate. My fated mate. The one who once ran his fingers through my hair and told me I was his future.
Now he looked at me like I was dirt. Like I wasn’t even worth lifting a finger for.
Cecilia let out a sharp laugh that cut through the room like broken glass. “Look at you,” she sneered, “on the floor where you belong.”
She circled me like a predator, her voice loud and mocking. “Crawling like the stray mult you are. How many times do I have to tell you-you’re not wanted.”
My hands trembled as I tried to push myself upright, my arms weak, my core screaming with pain. The baby, Goddess, please let the baby be okay.
I had barely gotten to my knees when Cecilia’s foot rammed into my side.
The impact sent me crashing back down.
“You’re pathetic,” she hissed above me. “Dorian never wanted you. Not your pup. Not anything. You’re a damn mistake.”
I could taste blood in my mouth from the fall, but I still looked up- still hoping. Dorian didn’t move. Didn’t even flinch.
He just turned away.
“I told you to leave,” he said, without even looking at me. His voice was flat. Unbothered. “Don’t make me say it again.”
Cecilia’s mother stepped beside her daughter, arms crossed, her face twisted with disdain. “You should’ve known your place. Fiona,” she spat. “You’ll never be Luma. You’re barely even pack.“
I forced myself to breathe. To blink. To get up.
My bones ached, and my wolf whimpered inside me, furious and humiliated. I cradled my belly and bit back a sob.
No one helped me. Not one damn soul in that room moved.
And I realized then-I was done begging.
“You’ll regret this.”I rasped, my voice low but full of something new. Not desperation. Not pain.
Conviction.
“All of you will.”
I turned, dragging my body toward the door, my legs shaky, the pain in my stomach sharp and hot. Cecilia’s shrill laughter echoed behind me as I limped down the stairs. But I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t afford to.
I’d made a vow in that moment, silent and fierce.
They’d cast me aside like a rogue. Like a mistake.
They were going to learn just how wrong they were.
The sky had turned a soft, dusky gray by the time I made it to Chloe’s front porch. I was shaking. Bleeding inside. Not just physically-soul deep.
Chloe’s scent reached me first. Warm lavender, pine, and cinnamon. Comfort.
I opened the door and stepped inside. She was sprawled on her couch, surrounded by snacks, her laptop open with her latest binge playing on low volume.
The second she looked up, her eyes locked on my face, and she froze.
“Oh. My. God.” Her mouth dropped open, and I saw it-the split-second flash of that I told you so look.
Then her smile flickered.
And vanished.
I didn’t even get to sit down before it all came crashing out. My breath hitched, and the sob burst from me so violently, I startled us both. I dropped my bag and sank onto the nearest chair, hands pressed to my face as the tears streamed freely.
“I-I thought he’d…” I couldn’t even finish.
“Fiona,” Chloe whispered, already on her feet.
She was beside me in an instant, pulling me into her arms like a mother wolf shielding her pup. “Oh, honey… Moon above. What did they do to you?”
I couldn’t speak. I just clung to her and cried like my heart was breaking-because it was.
She rubbed my back, rocking me gently, murmuring soft things in my car that didn’t even register. Not really.
But her warmth, her scent, the feel of her arms around me-it grounded me. It reminded me I wasn’t entirely alone.
“I didn’t mean to laugh,” she said into my hair. “I was being an idiot. I’m so sorry. I should’ve gone with you. I should’ve never let you face them alone.”
I shook my head. “You were right,” I whispered, my voice raw. “You were right about all of it.”
She pulled back just enough to look at me, brushing the tears from my cheeks. “That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is you and your baby. We need to get you checked, make sure everything’s okay.”
I nodded slowly.
But deep down, something in me had shifted.
This wasn’t just heartbreak anymore.
It was war.
And I was done letting people walk all over me like I was some weak little she-wolf begging for scraps.
My pup deserved better.
And I was going to burn down the whole damn pack if that’s what it took to protect them.
