The Alpha's Exiled Mate Chapter 237

Freya’s POV

I shook my head, unable to reconcile this with what I knew. "That's impossible. Thorne told me he never... he said he only ever saw you as a childhood friend. He couldn't have fathered your child."

Kaelin's expression shifted from smug satisfaction to pure rage in an instant. "Thorne told you that?" she hissed, her face contorting with fury. "He actually discussed our relationship with you? You two must have been closer than I thought!" She leaned down, her face inches from mine. "Tell me, Freya, have you fucked him yet? Have you?"

Kaelin's question hung in the air between us, her eyes gleaming with a feverish light that made my wolf bristle beneath my skin. Had I slept with Thorne? The accusation in her voice was unmistakable.

I remained silent, stubbornly refusing to give her the satisfaction of an answer. The small cabin felt suffocating, the scent of her anger and something else—jealousy, perhaps—filling the space between us.

"Answer me!" she demanded, her voice rising. The partial shift had transformed her face into something barely recognizable—her eyes flashing gold, teeth elongating into points. "He doesn't like me, he never did," she continued, her voice breaking slightly. "He likes you, doesn't he?"

My throat felt dry, words coming out stiff and awkward. "No," I said finally. "He doesn't like me either."

Kaelin stared at me for a long moment, then threw her head back and laughed—a hollow, bitter sound that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My wolf whined nervously inside me.

"You're lying!" she said, her laughter abruptly cutting off. "Even if he likes you, what does it matter? In the end, I'll be his Luna, not you, you pathetic exile."

She began pacing around me, her designer boots clicking against the wooden floor. The silver chains around my wrists and ankles burned with each small movement I made, a constant reminder of my captivity.

"I might as well tell you the truth," Kaelin said suddenly, stopping in front of me. "It's not like you're going to leave this place alive anyway."

My heart thudded painfully against my ribs. Was she really planning to kill me? Even for an Alpha's mate, killing another wolf was a capital offense.

"You were right that day," she continued, her voice dropping to almost a whisper. "You smelled it correctly. I was pregnant."

The confirmation shouldn't have surprised me—I knew what I'd smelled—but hearing her admit it still felt like a punch to the gut.

"When I spoke to you alone, I didn't use the scent-masking perfume," Kaelin revealed, a cruel smile playing at her lips. "I deliberately let you smell my pregnancy. I deliberately lied and told you the baby was Thorne's."

I stared at her, trying to process what she was saying. "But—"

"But Thorne has never touched me!" she finished triumphantly, her eyes glittering with malice. "Are you satisfied now?"

The revelation hit me like a physical blow. All this time, I'd believed that Thorne and Kaelin had been intimate. Finding out it was a lie—that she had been carrying another wolf's cub while claiming to be Thorne's mate—left me reeling.

I looked up at her, shocked. "You're going to be this pack's Luna. How could you... be with someone else?"

Kaelin's face contorted with rage. She stepped forward, grinding the heel of her boot onto my hand. Pain shot up my arm as I felt something crack. The pendant I'd been clutching fell from my grasp, clattering to the floor.

"Don't you dare judge me!" she snarled. "You're the one who's been sleeping around! After you came back from exile, how many men have been circling you? Thorne, Jasper, even that doctor..." Her face twisted with disgust. "It's revolting. I may not deserve to be Luna, but do you really think you do?"

I tried to reach for my pendant, but Kaelin kicked it away with her foot. The small silver crescent skittered across the floor, coming to rest beneath a dusty chair.

"You have no right to speak of honor," she continued, her voice thick with hatred. "You, who attacked a pregnant she-wolf. You, who tried to steal another wolf's mate."

"I never—" I began, but Kaelin cut me off.

"Don't lie to me!" she shouted. "I saw the way you looked at him, even back then. The way you followed him around like a lovesick pup, thinking no one noticed." She leaned down, her face inches from mine. "But I noticed. I always noticed."

The door to the cabin opened suddenly, and Derek, the Beta wolf from earlier, stepped inside. His massive frame filled the doorway, momentarily blocking the dim light from outside. He bent down and picked up my fallen pendant, examining it with mild curiosity before pocketing it.

"You're getting worked up again," he observed, watching Kaelin with a wary expression. "Is your Moon Phase Syndrome acting up?"

Kaelin straightened, visibly trying to control her breathing. The wild look in her eyes didn't entirely fade, but she took a step back from me.

"We need to go," Derek continued, glancing at his watch. "Your Alpha has a nose sharper than any wolf I've known, especially when it comes to Riley family scent. If he's tracking her, we don't want to be here when he finds this place."

At the mention of Thorne searching for me, I felt a flicker of hope. Would he really come looking for me? After everything that had happened between us, would he still care enough to track me down?

Kaelin shot me a venomous look, her partially shifted features making her appear more predator than woman. "Fine," she said, her voice tight. "Let's take her to the next location."

Derek nodded, moving toward me with the intention of lifting me from the floor. I instinctively flinched away, my wolf rising closer to the surface despite the silver's suppression. He paused, eyeing me with something that might have been respect.

"Even chained with moon silver, you've still got fight in you," he remarked. "Most wolves would be whimpering by now."

I said nothing, conserving my strength. If there was to be any chance of escape, I needed to stay alert and seize any opportunity that presented itself.

As Derek bent to pick me up, I caught a glimpse of something outside the window—a flash of movement in the trees surrounding the cabin. My heart leapt. Was it Thorne? Had he found me already?

Derek must have noticed my sudden attention because he turned sharply toward the window. "We need to move. Now."