Chapter 445
Four hundred and forty seven
Emma POV
I couldn’t eat or sleep. I just sat on my couch while the rest of my family moved around me like shadows.
Anita sat on one side of me, her hand resting on my knee. Isabella was on my other side, occasionally offering me a glass of water or food I didn’t want. Wesley kept making call after call.
The words I had heard moments ago kept repeating in my head.
Less than a ten percent chance of survival.
It was a statistical way of telling me that Alexander was going to die. 1
The doctors were doing everything they could, but decades of Meridian corruption were wrapped around his heart. They had explained that it had been planted in him when he was a child and had grown with him. Whoever did it knew his spirit was too strong to break easily, so they planted a slow killer inside his chest. Even if he survived exile and came back to claim his birthright, he wouldn’t live to enjoy it.
It was so deeply cruel.
Through more digging, we had learned the full truth about his family line. Alexander’s mother was Alpha Edward’s first wife, which made Alexander the legitimate heir to the throne. Years later, Edward took a second wife, Zachary’s mother, who might have been a honeypot designed to ruin Alpha Edward and his family. They had framed Alexander and sent him into the brutal cold as a rogue. Now, even if his name was cleared in front of every Alpha in the region, he might not live to enjoy his innocence.
Under pack law, when a legitimate Alpha heir is wrongly exiled and stripped of his birthright, the surrounding Alphas owe massive restitution. They would have to answer for their neglect and offer blood debt or financial compensation, unless Alexander chose to forgive them.
But none of that mattered if his heart stopped beating before the trial ended.
My family was trying to be gentle, but I could hear the unspoken truth in every look they gave me. They wanted me to brace myself and prepare for the worst.
“Emma,” Wesley said, breaking my spiral. “The formal trial is going forward on Monday. It will happen with or without Alexander present p>
My stomach turned. “I want to be in the hospital. I want to be right next to him until then p>
“Emma, because it’s Meridian corruption, Dr. Harry is being extremely cautious. Direct physical contact with him right now could put you and the baby at risk p>
The word *baby* snapped the sanity that was holding me together.
All the choked-back panic and fake strength I had been wearing shattered in a second. A raw scream tore out of my throat before I could stop it. I buried my face in my hands, my body shaking with sobs.
“Emma, hey, I’ve got you,” Isabella said instantly, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
Anita pulled me against her chest and held my head as I wept. She was crying with me. “Let it out, Emma. Just let it out p>
I cried until my chest hurt.
The thought of bringing a child into this world while Alexander lay dying was a nightmare I couldn’t swallow.
1/4
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+15 Bignus
After ten minutes of breathless crying, I wiped my face with the back of my sleeve and forced my breathing to
ready. I looked up at Wesley.
“IfI can’t stay in the room, can his family at least be near the building?” I asked, my voice raspy. “His sister and beta especially. I know rogues aren’t allowed inside main pack settlements, but they deserve to be close to him p>
Wesley looked hesitant. “Rogues entering this territory require high-level clearance. It’s not in my personal jurisdiction, but I can speak to Alpha Kieran and see if we can get an emergency waiver for his immediate family p>
“Please,” I whispered. “And I’m attending that trial p>
“Emma, are you sure?” Wesley asked gently. “You don’t have to put yourself through that stress in your state p>
“Stop treating me like I’m broken,” I said, looking him dead in the eye. “Being pregnant doesn’t make me useless/ I am going to be in that courtroom p>
Wesley’s phone began to vibrate in his hand. He saw the caller ID and declined the call.
“Who was that?” Isabella asked, watching him.
“Charlie,” Wesley said, walking toward the side table to grab a document. “I don’t have the energy for his defense of Zachary right now p>
Isabella’s phone buzzed on the table. She glanced at the screen and frowned. “It’s Charlie again p>
“Don’t pick it up,” Wesley said without turning around. “We’re busy p>
“Wesley, he just called you twice, and now he’s ringing my line,” Isabella insisted, answering the call before Wesley could stop her. She put it on speaker. “Hi, Charlie p>
“Is Wesley with you?” Charlie’s voice came through the speaker, stripped of the arrogant composure he’d shown recently. “Tell him to answer his damn phone p>
“I’m right here, Charlie,” Wesley said, stepping back over, his tone cold. “What do you want p>
“Something messed up is happening at Zachary’s estate,” Charlie blurted out. “I’m outside right now. I already sent for backup, but you need to know this p>
“What are you talking about p>
“Zachary has someone locked in his house. It’s his first wife, Veronica. They’ve been keeping her captive, and his other wife just went in there and beat her. I heard the whole thing from the hallway p>
Anita gasped loudly, her hand flying to her mouth. “Haley’s sister!” she shouted toward the phone. “Haley told me her sister Veronica has been missing for months! Her family thought she was dead or had run off! That’s why her parents were trying to push Haley into a marriage deal. Veronica vanished p>
Charlie sounded rattled. “I went over to talk to Zachary about the trial, heard screaming, and hid. His wife, Mina, was beating Veronica right in front of him, and Zachary looked completely out of it. It looked like he was under heavy dominion p>
Wesley frowned. “Are you sure about that p>
“I’m not making excuses for the guy,” Charlie said quickly. “But he was obeying Mina like a puppet. It looked like the exact same mind-control stuff your dad and mine dealt with when Meridian women targeted them. They break their victims’ minds so they can’t fight back. I’m hidden near the edge of his property. It’s dark out here, but I’m keeping watch. I’m with Zachary and Veronica’s son p>
2/4
“Why p>
We was crying on the stairs when I walked in. He won’t let go of my hand. It’s obvious they’ve been terrorizing him too. I’m holding onto him until security arrives p>
“Stay hidden, Charlie. Do not try to storm that house alone. If Zachary’s wife is using active Meridian dominion, she is dangerous. I’m calling the council right now to dispatch enforcement, and I’m notifying Veronica’s family.
The room fell silent when the call ended.
I sat back against the couch, my mind reeling. Charlie, who had stubbornly defended Zachary for weeks and hated Alexander, had just handed us the strongest piece of evidence yet.
Zachary hadn’t just framed Alexander. He was keeping his own wife hostage, abusing his child, and operating under the thumb of a Meridian woman who controlled his mind.
“Veronica’s parents are an Alpha family,” Wesley said as he pulled up his contacts. “When they find out their daughter is locked in that estate and being abused, they will bring the full force of their lineage to that courtroom
11
The web was finally unraveling. The lies were falling apart piece by piece, right in front of us. Yet I had no idea if Alexander would live long enough to hear it.
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