Betrayed and Claimed by the Lycan King Chapter 181

EZRA'S POV

"You are what?" I stared at Evanthe, certain I had misheard her.

She stood in the middle of my office, practically glowing with satisfaction, her blue eyes sparkling with triumph. "Pregnant." Her voice was clear and deliberate as she delivered the word that hit me like a physical blow. "And you're the one responsible for the pregnancy."

My gaze shot to Orion, who stood by the door looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here. His face was a mask of discomfort, eyes fixed on some invisible point on the floor.

"I had no idea," he mumbled, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

My mind raced through calculations and memories. "No, I'm not! It's been a while since I touched you. It's been two months!"

Evanthe's smile never faltered. "But we did have sex two months ago."

The memory crashed into me with brutal clarity. That night I'd been drinking heavily and trying to drown out thoughts of my first mate. I distinctly remembered being too drunk to use protection—a careless mistake I hadn't made in years.

"Fuck!" I ran a hand through my hair, my brain finally processing what this meant. There was a chance that I could be the father of the child she was carrying.

My office suddenly felt too small, the air too thin. Prime was restless inside me, growling with unease. The beast in me sensed danger, but there was nowhere to run from this particular threat.

Orion cleared his throat and took a tentative step toward the door. "I should probably—"

"No. Stay." My command came out sharper than intended, but I needed a witness. Someone else in the room besides Evanthe and her smug certainty.

I forced myself to breathe deeply, to think past the panic threatening to overwhelm me. "I want a test carried out by my own doctor."

"By all means," Evanthe agreed readily, her confidence unshaken. She smoothed her designer dress over her still-flat stomach with a possessive gesture that made my skin crawl.

*God, I'm finished!* The thought screamed through my mind as I gestured for them to follow me out of the office.

---

In the car, silence hung heavy as Orion made the necessary calls to arrange for my private doctor to meet us at the hospital. Evanthe sat beside me in the back seat, radiating satisfaction, while I stared out the window at the city lights blurring past.

At the hospital's VIP wing, Evanthe was quickly ushered into an examination room, leaving Orion and me in a private waiting area. The moment the door closed behind her, I began pacing the length of the room.

"Orion, I can't calm down." I ran both hands through my hair, tugging at the roots. "Do you know the gravity of the problem I'm about to face right now?"

He leaned against the wall, his expression grim. "I have an idea."

"Isolde will not take it lightly." I continued pacing, unable to stay still. "This could be the end of everything. Not just my relationship with her, but potentially a massive scandal for Silver Moon." I stopped abruptly and turned to face him. "And if the child Evanthe is carrying is truly mine and it happens to be a male child, it means she'll be the one to bear my heir, not Isolde. Do you understand what that means?"

Orion nodded slowly. "I understand that it's a messed up situation."

"Messed up doesn't begin to cover it." I wanted to punch the wall, to howl in frustration. Prime was already doing that inside me, his rage and anxiety mirroring my own. "I finally found my second chance mate, and now this happens."

The irony wasn't lost on me. After years of meaningless encounters following my first mate's death, the one time I slipped up before finding Isolde might cost me everything.

---

When the doctor finally called us into his office, I felt like I was walking to my execution. One look at his face told me everything I needed to know before he even spoke.

"Mr. Silverwood, I can confirm that Ms. Hawthorne is indeed pregnant, approximately eight weeks along."

I nearly collapsed into the chair across from his desk, the strength suddenly gone from my legs. Eight weeks. The timeline matched perfectly with that night.

I walked out of the office in a daze, barely registering my surroundings. Behind me, I heard Orion speaking quietly but firmly to the doctor about confidentiality, his tone carrying a subtle threat about what would happen if this information leaked.

Outside the hospital, Evanthe stood waiting, her face alight with triumph. She looked like she'd won the lottery—which, in her mind, she probably had.

"We have to keep this between us for now," I said, my voice sounding hollow even to my own ears.

Her expression immediately darkened. "Why would I do that? I want everyone to know that I'm pregnant with the Alpha's child."

Something inside me snapped. I stepped closer to her, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Go ahead and spread the news, see what will happen to you."

Her eyes widened slightly, the first hint of uncertainty crossing her features.

"Don't you forget for a single second that I'm the Lycan King and nothing is impossible for me to do." I leaned closer, making sure she understood the gravity of my words. "Nothing."

She swallowed hard, her earlier confidence visibly shaken. "Fine! I won't say a word about it to anyone!"

I stepped back, trying to regain my composure. This wasn't over—not by a long shot—but at least I'd bought myself some time to figure out how to handle this disaster.

"So when am I moving in with you?" Evanthe asked, quickly recovering her boldness.

My brain short-circuited at the question. "You're not moving in with me." The words came out automatically, my inner voice screaming: I'd die before putting her under the same roof as Isolde.

"Why not?" She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. "So, you'd let an ordinary girlfriend move in with you, but not the woman carrying your child? Your heir?"

Pregnancy had made her even more confident, more arrogant. She stood taller, her eyes shining with the light of victory, already seeing herself installed as the mother of my heir, perhaps even as my Luna.

"Take her home," I instructed Orion, unable to deal with her for another second.

"I'm not going back to my father's house," Evanthe protested.

"Alright. Only for tonight," she finally conceded, but her parting look told me this was just a temporary retreat. She batted her eyelashes at me as Orion led her to the car, a gesture that once might have worked on me but now only increased my disgust.

As they drove away, I stood alone outside the hospital, exhaustion washing over me in waves.

My relationship with Isolde will be ruined the moment this news reaches her ears.

The thought of losing her—my second chance at a mate bond, something I never thought possible—made my chest ache with a pain I hadn't felt since losing my first mate.