Five months later…

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The smell of blueberry pancakes turned Jane’s sensitive stomach, and she took a deep breath, holding it until she thought she’d conquered her nausea. She released it slowly, praying her body would behave long enough for her to eat something. In truth, just about everything made her feel sick these days—everything except for fresh lemonade, orange juice, and anything else remotely citrusy. Hell, she’d even started eating limes like they were apples.

Being pregnant sucked. She was always hungry. Of course, everything made her want to puke. Not just food either. The way everyone around the breakfast table looked at her made her want to worship the porcelain god, too.

She’d returned months ago, her dreams of a diploma and a normal life destroyed by a pink plus sign. Then it’d gotten even worse because the entire pack knew of her pregnancy. Not because of some big announcement either. Nope, they all smelled the furry bun in the oven.

They all gawked at her—the alpha’s daughter who’d thought she was too good for pack life now running home with her tail between her legs and a stranger’s pup in her belly. Of course, no one said that, but the sideways glances and snarky whispers made their thoughts pretty obvious.

The humiliation had almost led her to run away again… but that wasn’t an option. Shifter babies couldn’t control their shift until they hit puberty, which made finding daycare nearly impossible. So, she’d stayed and endured their pointed sniffs, telling her without words they could scent her shame.

Fuck them. The truth of the matter was that she wasn’t ashamed. Not of her pup, anyway. If she had to endure their disdain, so be it. No one would ever make her regret her choice, and once the baby came, no one had better make her child feel like an outcast. She’d see to that by tooth and claw, if necessary.

Tooth. And. Claw.

“Aren’t you going to eat your pancakes, dear?” Her mother’s worried voice broke through Jane’s thoughts.

“They’re, uh…” She swallowed hard and fought not to smell the noxious sweetness of the berries.

Her mother’s eyes narrowed slightly, gaze darting between the pancakes and Jane. Jane didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what her mother was thinking.

You have to eat. You’re eating for two now, sweetheart.

But Ginger Coleman didn’t dare say the words aloud. Not in front of her husband, anyway.

Lance Coleman—Jane’s dad and pack alpha—glanced at his wife but didn’t say a word. He wasn’t about to comment on Jane or her eating habits—just as he hadn’t for months now. He spoke to his daughter only when absolutely necessary.

Which was basically never since he spent most of his time holed up with his enforcers and advisers discussing important pack business while pretending Jane didn’t exist. Jane and the bastard pup in her belly. Their disapproval stung. She couldn’t deny that, but she would endure it for the sake of her child.

Jane cleared her throat before she spoke again. “I’m not hungry. I’m just going to have some orange juice, I think.”

The others sitting around the table glanced her way and then returned to their own conversation as if she didn’t exist. Their feigned disinterest didn’t banish the tension her presence caused. They treated her like a landmine ready to detonate—avoiding her at all costs and barely acknowledging her existence. If they did, their alpha might be the one to explode, and everyone knew it was just a matter of time. He’d been more and more on edge since she’d moved home.

“You really ought to eat,” her mother whispered while she tied her burnished red hair into a knot at the base of her neck. “Just a few bites. For me.”

And the baby. Something else her mother didn’t say aloud.

Jane sighed and cut into her food as the men pressed on with their conversation.

“He was killed on the border between Coleman and Warren lands.” Urgency filled Ian’s tone, the younger wolf hurrying to explain more about recent pack happenings.

The determination made sense. They discussed the recent mauling death of Ian’s father, after all. Ian’s dad, Peter, had been her father’s trusted beta for years. Now that he was gone, Ian had recently stepped into his place.

Though, for the life of her, Jane couldn’t figure out why.

At least twenty men in the pack had more experience and were more dominant than Ian. Of course, her judgment was probably clouded by the fact that she hated the boy she’d grown up with. Besides, her father probably tapped Ian out of respect for his deceased beta.

“I know where he was found,” her father’s gruff voice commanded the room.

Jane stared at her father through the curtain of her eyelashes. He hadn’t glanced in her direction since she’d come home, so she felt safe in appraising him again. In her youth, Lance Coleman had seemed larger than life. All muscle and sinew and claws and fangs, standing twenty feet tall and roaring with a voice that could be heard around the world. He ruled with a furry iron fist, but he was fair, so his pack trusted and respected him.

Either her memory was faulty, or her father had… shrunk. Because she didn’t see a twenty-foot-tall wolf any longer.

Looking at her father, it seemed like nothing could hold back the hands of time. And those hands could be real bitches. Lance looked as if they’d slapped him around quite a bit since Jane had returned. His normally dark blond hair was now mostly grey. Hell, even his skin had a greyish cast. His once massive muscles had seemingly shriveled.

The stress is killing him, Jane thought as she sipped her OJ. No, I’m killing him.

“The Warren pack killed my father.” Ian’s tone transformed from urgent to incensed. “I say we take our revenge.”

The pack’s enforcers, all meaty brutes who weren’t shy about getting physical in the line of duty, grumbled their disagreement. They obviously weren’t in favor of Ian’s idea. Lance didn’t so much as glance their way, his focus on Ian’s pale, pinched face.

Icy blue eyes sparkling, Ian clearly saw he had Lance on the hook. The hair on the back of Jane’s neck stood on end at how easily he seemed to be manipulating her father. Scooching his chair closer to his alpha, Ian leaned in while he spoke.

“Nobody else but the Warrens had the means or the motive. Everyone in the Coleman pack loved my father, including you. You think it’s a coincidence they get a new alpha and my father winds up dead? This Warren alpha is trying to prove his strength to his pack and to us. We need to show him we won’t stand for it.”

“What do you have in mind?” Lance growled, obviously buying into Ian’s theory.

“An ambush.”

Ginger gasped and Jane’s stomach lurched, and it had nothing to do with the baby growing inside her. Ian shot them both a dirty look and then turned his attention back to her father. He appeared far less shocked than he should have. In fact, he looked almost… eager.

“We have that stupid summit with the new alpha and the National Circle later,” Ian continued. “It would be a simple thing for a team to hide in the woods until the Warrens arrive. Then we avenge my father’s murder!”

“Hmm…” Lance mused, his expression turning thoughtful as he actually considered the insane proposition.

A disturbing light shone in Ian’s eyes as he smiled at Lance. Jane wanted to smack that grotesque smirk off his face, but even the daughter of the alpha didn’t dare attack the pack’s beta. Such an act of aggression was grounds for immediate expulsion from the pack, and Jane couldn’t risk her unborn child’s future like that. But her mother stepped forward, unafraid to defy her alpha’s advisor.

“Lance,” Ginger said in soothing tones, “you need to keep your word to the National Circle. You agreed to a peaceful meeting of the packs.”

“I know what I said,” Lance snapped, “but that was before Peter was murdered on the edge of Warren lands!”

Ginger flinched and said nothing. That was so unlike her normally confident and self-possessed mother. It was also out of character for her father to disrespect his mate. Something was going on between them, but Jane was the last person either would confide in. Her mother wouldn’t want to burden Jane with their problems, and her father pretty much hated her these days.

“I’ll just start cleaning up,” Ginger mumbled. Then she grabbed Jane’s untouched food and carried it to the kitchen.

“I need to speak with my enforcers. The study, gentlemen.” It wasn’t a request. With the creak of his chair, Lance straightened—though he still appeared to be slightly stooped—and disappeared from the room. His grim-faced enforcers followed on his heels.

Which left Jane alone.

With Ian.

Just looking at him made her inner wolf snarl and snap, straining against its leash. They’d known each other since childhood—they’d both been pack royalty—but that didn’t mean she liked him. As far as Jane recalled, he was a whiny, sniveling bully who hid behind the pack’s enforcers to avoid retaliation. The fact her father selected him as his new beta baffled her.

For a short time, she’d thought maybe he’d changed while she was away at school, but it only took one sleazy come-on to strip her of that notion. Despite the fact his relatively slight build and pale features—including his creepy white-blond hair—held no attraction for her, Ian was relentless in his pursuit of her. It didn’t matter that she’d rebuffed his advances for years, the man was persistent.

Now, being alone with him set all her alarm bells clanging.

Clearing her throat, Jane fought to think of an excuse to leave the dining room, but Ian beat her to the punch.

“You know what I don’t get?” He stood slowly while his gaze dropped to her baby bump.

A great many things, she desperately wanted to say. Instead, she trained her eyes on her empty juice glass and waited for the inevitable follow-up.

“I don’t understand why you won’t reveal the name of the baby-daddy. You haven’t told your mother or father. Or me.” He took two casual steps toward her and then cocked his head questioningly.

The list of answers was limitless, but off the top of her head she could think of a few:

—Beta or not, you’re a weak, worthless asshole.

—It’s none of your business.

—I only know his first name.

But she kept her mouth shut. In truth, part of her wondered if she should be grateful to Ian. After all, he was the only person who’d had the balls to ask about the father of her child since she’d come back home. The problem was that he didn’t care out of concern for her. He just wanted to satiate his own twisted curiosity. Unfortunately, Jane knew from experience he wouldn’t accept any of her answers. Especially the one about him being a weak, worthless asshole.

He took another step toward her, his face shifting into a conspiratorial smile. “There’s still time to get rid of it, you know. You could claim you miscarried. Imagine your father’s relief! I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Jane’s gaze snapped up to his and her upper lip curled in a snarl. One hand dropped to her belly while the other clenched her glass until it cracked. She wondered how hard it would be to clean up the blood if she smashed the glass and cut his throat with one of the sharp shards. Of course, that would mean banishment—if not death. She wouldn’t allow her baby to become an orphan.

“I’m not getting rid of my pup,” she seethed through clenched teeth as she shot daggers from her eyes.

Why, oh, why couldn’t looks kill?

Ian shrugged and edged closer. “You really should consider it. I’d happily take you as my mate, but not while you’re pregnant with a bastard pup. How would it look for the future alpha to raise some other wolf’s spawn?”

“Future—” Jane balked and then bit back the fresh wave of outrage as she shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, but… hard pass.”

A muscle in his jaw flexed at her rudeness, but she didn’t care. How dare he think he’d be made alpha. Ever!

“Everyone’s whispering behind your back that it’ll be a runt, you know,” he sneered, advancing until he stood mere inches from her. “They assume since you won’t say who the father is, he must be weak.”

She knew he was trying to intimidate her with his size and closeness, but she wasn’t about to back down. He might have been slightly stronger than her, but Jane had the power of a mother protecting her child. He’d never survive, and she almost welcomed the chance to prove it.

“They can whisper all they like,” Jane spat, giving him a hard look to make sure her next words would pierce that shriveled husk he called a heart. “An alpha’s daughter would never choose a weak wolf.”

Ian growled his displeasure and his eyes clouded with anger at the implied insult. If she hadn’t been so royally pissed off, she would have laughed at him. Tightening her grip on her belly, she bared her teeth, but before either could make the first move, a footstep creaked in the doorway. Ian jumped away in surprise and plastered an innocent smile on his face.

Her father stood in the doorway, staring at Ian. Jane couldn’t read his expression, but her heart hoped he was seeing his new beta with fresh eyes.

Her heart hoped wrong.

After a beat, all he said was, “Time to leave for the meeting.”

Before he could walk out of the room, Jane called after him. “Can I come?”

It was impulsive and reckless, and she didn’t really know why she asked. Except she did. She had to at least try to keep him from following Ian’s advice and plunging them all into war.

He stopped in his tracks, but his gaze didn’t even flick over in her direction. That was nothing new, but then he did something she never expected.

He agreed.