Claimed by My Bestie's Alpha Daddy novel Chapter 221

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Amelia

The first thing heard after Simon cleared me for public release wasn’t congratulations or relief. It was a rumor that traveled faster than any official update. The leak had already spread across the capital, carving its way through headlines and private messages before I even sat up.

It was everywhere now, crossing every feed in the kingdom with a kind of inevitability that made it impossible to ignore.

Someone had exposed the scan. Enough of it had surfaced to trigger panic and speculation. People reacted without context, bending the story into whatever shape best suited their fear or agenda.

Some claimed I was carrying the heir to a new hybrid monarchy, a symbol of rewritten power. Others described me as an unstable biological gamble, a vessel for something too dangerous to predict.

I scrolled past it all, news threads, video clips, long opinion pieces. No one seemed interested in how it felt to be the one lying in a clinic bed, still sore from battle, carrying a future I hadn’t even had time to imagine. They wanted a metaphor. I was still learning how to be a person again.

When I entered the council chamber, the air felt wrong before I even looked up. The seating had been adjusted.Fewer members than usual were present, and the ones who had shown up looked stiff in their postures.

The council had already convened several times without me. Nathan walked beside me, straight-backed and watchful. Richard stayed close on my other side, and his hand rested low on my back, grounding me without asking for attention. He wasn’t putting on a show. He was holding me up.

A handful of council members stood when we entered. A few inclined their heads, offering just enough courtesy to avoid confrontation. Most remained seated, their faces neutral but focused. It was the kind of attention that didn’t come from respect, but from wariness. I had seen that look before, in every institution that didn’t know where to place me.

Richard didn’t give them the chance to shape the tone. ” Before anything else happens, I have something to say.”

No one interrupted. They knew better.

“Amelia and I are engaged. She’s pregnant. The child is ours. If anyone in this room thinks they can spin that into strategy, if anyone even considers using it to gain leverage or stir fear, I will make sure you’re held accountable, no matter your title.”

He didn’t shout. His voice was steady and low, but every person in that room heard the weight of it.

Nathan stepped forward, his tone clipped but focused.”The leak came from three council-level terminals. We’re investigating now. Until someone takes responsibility, we’re treating this as sabotage.”

I moved past both of them, straightening my spine. “You didn’t expect to see me here. I don’t come from one of your families. I wasn’t groomed to speak your language or live by your rules. But I’ve survived everything you tried to ignore. I walked through the Dominion’s grip and made it – out with people beside me. And now I’m carrying a child who belongs to this kingdom, whether you’ve made space for that yet or not.”

One of the older councilors, a wolf with close-cropped gray hair and a deep frown, leaned forward. “No one here is denying your experiences. But this… situation isn’t covered in any of our precedents.”

“You don’t need precedent,” I said, not raising my voice, just holding it firm. “You need perspective. When I was thirteen and wolfless, no system protected me. There were no emergency protocols, no oversight, no plan. You let me slip through every gap, and when I showed up again, stronger, you didn’t ask how I survived. You just started measuring how much I might disrupt things. And now, when I’m standing here with a life I built, you want to debate whether it fits your definitions. I didn’t wait for permission then. I’m not waiting now.”