Alpha’s Regret After His Pregnant Luna Left novel Chapter 162

(Audrey’s POV)

I stood in the Shadowcrest pack’s living area, watching snowflakes tumble past the window. The territory den was warm but I felt only coldness as Mrs. Shadowcrest’s eyes bored into me, her expression a mask of cruel satisfaction.

“I wonder, Audrey Winter,” she said, her voice soft yet menacing, “did you think we hadn’t investigated your background thoroughly? Even events before you came to the Moonstone territory?”

A chill ran through me that had nothing to do with the snow outside. They knew. They knew about my claustrophobia, a terror I’d carried since puppyhood. That’s why they’d locked me in that storage room and deliberately cut the power.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, forcing strength into my voice despite the lingering tremors in my body.

Mrs. Shadowcrest circled me slowly, her expensive fur-trimmed robe swishing against the polished floor. “I think you should reconsider my daughter’s suggestion to leave the northern territories.”

“And what’s your reasoning this time?” I met her gaze directly.

She gestured dismissively toward the window. “Look at the situation. Your healing formula failed publicly at my daughter’s mate marking ceremony. Your reputation is ruined. Your healing practice is doomed.”

Her words were calculated to cut deep. Winter’s Remedy was everything I had worked for, my chance at independence after my mate bond severance.

“Why not go to the distant southern territories for a few years?” she continued, her tone mockingly reasonable. “I’ll cover the expenses in rare healing herbs. It would be the sensible choice.”

Something clicked in my mind. Arthur had suggested the same thing – sending me to distant territories. Was this a coordinated effort? Everyone seemed eager to get me as far away as possible.

“Before you leave, of course,” Mrs. Shadowcrest added, “you must publicly apologize on the pack forums, admitting that you deliberately caused Emma’s formula malfunction out of jealousy.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “I will not apologize for something I didn’t do.”

“Are you suggesting that the formula malfunction wasn’t your fault?” Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

I straightened my spine, my wolf gathering courage within me. “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”

Mrs. Shadowcrest’s face flushed with anger. “Are you implying that my daughter exposed herself intentionally just to frame you? How dare you!”

“That’s exactly what happened,” I replied calmly, reaching into my pocket. I withdrew a small shard of the formula container, holding it up for her to see. The edge was clean-cut, clearly showing it had been deliberately weakened with a silver tool.

Mrs. Shadowcrest’s eyes widened in shock. She snatched the piece from my hand, examining it with growing fury.

“Emma!” she called sharply. “Come down here right now!”

Emma appeared moments later, her expression shifting from triumphant to wary when she noticed the evidence in her mother’s hand.

“How did you get that?” she demanded, glaring at me.

“I grabbed it when I slapped you,” I explained simply. The truth was, in the chaos of that moment, I’d noticed something odd about the container’s break pattern and instinctively palmed a piece as evidence.

Emma’s face contorted with rage as she realized she’d been caught. “So what if I cut it myself?” she spat, dropping all pretense. “You deserved it after what you did!”

“And what exactly did I do?” I asked, genuinely curious what crimes she would invent.

Emma faltered, unable to articulate a specific offense. I turned to Mrs. Shadowcrest, believing the truth had been revealed.

“Now that we’ve established what really happened, may I leave?”

To my astonishment, Mrs. Shadowcrest’s expression softened as she turned to her daughter. “Emma, dear, have you lost your mind? Sacrificing your dignity just to frame her?”

Her tone wasn’t angry – it was gentle, even indulgent, as if Emma had committed some minor social faux pas rather than a deliberate public humiliation.

Emma immediately responded to her mother’s tone, pouting playfully. “Mom, I’m sorry! She wouldn’t budge, so I had no choice.”

I watched this performance with growing disbelief. They were acting as if I wasn’t even in the room, as if trapping me was perfectly reasonable.

“Go upstairs now,” Mrs. Shadowcrest said, patting her daughter’s cheek affectionately. “I’ll handle this.”

Mrs. Shadowcrest looked down at me, her expression softening slightly. “If I must say, you’ve done nothing wrong,” she admitted, her voice almost gentle.

For a moment, I thought I might have reached some human part of her.

“Your only mistake was being Arthur Moonstone’s ex-mate, which makes Emma wary of you.”

The cruelty of it stole my breath. I was being punished not for any action, but simply for who I had been.

“Then why treat me this way? Why force me to leave?” I asked through my tears.

Something in Mrs. Shadowcrest’s eyes changed when she spoke again. “Because I’m her mother,” she said, her voice softening at the mention of her daughter, though her eyes remained cold as she looked at me. “The only wolf in this world who will protect her unconditionally.”

Such touching words only made my tears flow more freely. A mother’s love – something I had lost so early in life that I barely remembered it. Here it was, twisted into something cruel, wielded as a weapon against me.

Mrs. Shadowcrest turned to the pack guards. “Make sure she stays kneeling. If she manages to stand, your pack status will be the price.”

The guards nodded grimly, taking positions around me.

The snow fell heavier now, soaking through my clothes, numbing my knees so thoroughly that even without their restraint, I couldn’t have risen. The cold penetrated to my bones, my wolf curling tight within me seeking warmth that wasn’t there.

I raised my head against the falling snow, blinking away the icy flakes that clung to my eyelashes. Movement in an upstairs window caught my attention.

Emma stood watching, her figure framed by golden light, warm and safe while I knelt in the freezing courtyard. Her expression was one of pure triumph as she gazed down at my humiliation.

She mouthed two words, clearly enough for me to read her lips even through the falling snow.

“Defeated you.”