Submission is Not My Style novel Chapter 168

It’s been seven years since the night I brought Lior into the world–seven years since everything changed.

And now, here I stand again, before the ruins of a broken pack hall, blood drying on my hands, my pulse still racing from the rush of justice served… and from the secret I’ve been hiding.

The faint pulse in my belly reminds me with every breath that I’m not fighting alone.

I press my palm subtly against my abdomen beneath my cloak. It’s barely noticeable yet–only a month along- and this pregnancy feels different from when I carried Lior. Normal. Steady. No strange surges of power, just a quiet, growing warmth that makes me smile when no one is looking.

“Kali,” Jack’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “Are you with me?”

I blink, pulled back to the present. He watches me, concern flickering behind those storm–gray eyes. Dust and blood streak his skin–none of it his own–but somehow, even like this, he still manages to steal my breath.

“I’m fine,” I answer quickly, forcing a small smile. “Just tired.”

He studies me a beat longer than necessary, suspicion darkening his gaze, before finally nodding. “Let’s wrap up here. We move to the next pack before dawn. The warriors will handle what’s left.”

I fall into step beside him, our boots crunching through the shattered remnants of what was once an oppressive pack. Around us, the freed omegas cling to one another–crying, laughing, trembling–as they help rebuild the ruins of their freedom.

It should feel like victory, but guilt gnaws at me. Jack has no idea I’m carrying his child.

I hadn’t planned to keep it from him–at least, not forever. But after the last time… after how he treated me like fragile glass, forbidding me from leaving the palace, shadowing my every move until I nearly went insane–I couldn’t do it again.

I need this. I need to fight beside him. To prove that even as a mother, even as a queen, I am still a warrior.

And maybe a small part of me just wants to remind him I am not breakable.

Two days later.

The air reeks of sweat and fear. It clings to my skin like humidity after a storm, thick and oppressive. I pull my hood a little lower as I watch from the balcony of the half–lit hall, the Alpha below barking orders at a group of trembling omegas.

It takes everything in me not to rip his throat out right now.

Jack stands beside me, arms folded, jaw tight. His presence is a silent wall of power–steady, focused. He exudes calm command while my blood burns like wildfire.

“We wait for the signal as usual,” he murmurs.

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“I’ve waited long enough,” I hiss back, my voice low but sharp. “He just slapped a pregnant omega, Jack.”

Jack’s jaw ticks, and that’s how I know he’s just as furious. Still, he says nothing. We need proof–more than rage–to dismantle this pack from the inside, the same way we’ve done with the others.

I grip the railing to steady myself, but the wave of nausea hits again. My stomach tightens, and for a second, I think I might throw up right there. Goddess. Not now. I force my breathing to slow, masking the slight tremor in my hands.

Jack glances at me, “You okay?”

“Fine,” I lie smoothly. “Just hungry.”

His eyes narrow–he never buys my lies easily–but before he can press, the whistle of the signal cuts through the night. The warriors hidden around the hall burst in, their growls echoing through the stone chamber.

Chaos follows.

The Alpha roars, shifting halfway before Jack’s aura slams into the room like a thunderclap. Everyone freezes. I step forward, pulling my hood down. Gasps ripple through the crowd as recognition dawns.

“The Queen,” someone whispers.

“Alpha Kade,” I say coldly, descending the steps one at a time. “We’ve received multiple reports of abuse, forced bonds, and unlawful killings. Do you deny it?”

His eyes dart nervously between me and Jack. “Y–Your Majesty, I–these women are liars! They’re weak!”

I smile, but there’s no warmth in it. “Weak?” I motion toward a trembling omega with bruises on her face.” She’s stronger than you’ll ever be. She survived you.”

Kade stumbles back. Jack’s warriors drag him to his knees.

I circle him slowly, my hand resting protectively over my belly for just a second–an unconscious gesture I quickly disguise by crossing my arms. “You stripped these women of dignity. So now, I strip you of your title. You are no Alpha. You are nothing.”

His power drains from him like smoke blown away by the wind. He screams as the High Priest marks his rank

gone.

When we leave, the omegas kneel—not in fear, but in gratitude. It should feel like triumph, but my insides twist again–a reminder of the secret growing within me.

By the next week, we are at another pack–the Crescent Shadow Pack. And if I thought the last Alpha was cruel, this one is worse.

He stands at the center of the training field, barking orders while his Luna–a small, quiet woman with a healing mark on her cheek–bows her head beside him.

“She doesn’t even speak without his permission,” I murmur under my breath. “How does she survive this?”

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