MATED TO THE SECRET ALPHA-Chapter 253: It Shouldn’t Exist

Both Kira and Reana froze. Stunned.

"Child?" They chorused. Both looked down at Reana’s flat stomach.

Kira slowly glanced up to her face. "Luna... is it true?" Her voice was hoarse, almost inaudible.

Reana’s lips parted and closed in disbelief. She wanted to deny it, but her breath caught in her tightened throat, lungs refusing to expand.

"Say something, Luna. Are you pregnant?"

Meanwhile, Shadow One who’d been watching over Reana, widened his eyes in horror.

’No, no, this cannot be happening!’ with that, he vanished.

Vaurenox glanced at the spot – in the void that Shadow One had been – and grinned, wide and wicked, like a serpent who had just discovered a crack in heaven’s gate.

"My, my," he said, stepping back slowly, clapping his hands once, mockingly. "What a disaster your Little Chaos will bring."

Reana’s knees weakened. Her hand hovered once more over her stomach, fingers trembling.

She had suspected something was changing inside her body. She concluded it might have been because she was emotionally unstable after Ryder’s disappearance.

Never did she for once think she was pregnant.

Kira stepped closer, face pale, lips parted in a mix of awe and terror. "Luna, please. Tell me he’s lying..."

There was already too much tension in the pack, between the Black Moon Pack and Dark Snow Pack. Throw the news of Luna’s pregnancy into the midst and you either douse the flames of vengeance or ignite an inferno of fury.

There was no way the Dark Snow Pack would accept Reana’s child —not with Tamara parading herself as the rightful Luna of the Dark Snow Pack. And the Black Moon Pack members are angry at Reana at the moment, believing she was the reason for the troubles in the pack.

Reana could barely shake her head. Her voice was a fragile whisper. "I don’t know. I didn’t feel—"

But she stopped. Because now she did.

Now that the words had been said aloud.

Now that Vaurenox’s poison had ripped the truth from the shadows of her body.

She felt it.

The spark of pregnancy.

The impossibly small flicker of life rooted deep inside her, tucked beneath ribs and blood.

Kira covered her mouth. "Moon above..."

Vaurenox laughed softly, the sound like shattering glass wrapped in velvet. "Ah. So you didn’t know. Delightful."

"Why are you telling me this?" Reana whispered, her voice cracking. "Why now?"

"Because time is not on your side," he replied, his eyes narrowing. "And because I do not want to win this game by brute force. No, no... that’s far too dull. I want you to choose me."

Her spine stiffened. "Never."

She didn’t trust this so-called demon deity. When has demons ever meant well for anyone?

Vaurenox sighed, "Then your mate’s soul will vanish forever, and your child will be rejected by both packs. Is that what you want, Luna?"

The corridor turned silent, like the world had paused.

"No, Luna, he’s bluffing. He’s lying." Kira’s hands trembled. "Ryder is already dead. The pack will always support you, you can’t listen to him!"

Suddenly, Kira was yanked off her feet by an invisible force and slammed into the wall with a crack. She groaned and passed out.

"Kira!" Reana screamed, lunging forward, but before she could reach Kira, her legs suddenly left the floor—she was pinned mid-air, her body suspended, limbs outstretched as if crucified by wind.

"I loathe interruptions," he murmured, now standing directly before her. "You don’t understand, do you?"

"What are you doing?! Put me down!"

"Not until you learn to listen."

Reana stopped struggling. "What do you want?"

"The same thing you want," he replied, setting her down.

Vaurenox didn’t move a muscle, yet he was able to do as he wished.

Reana’s claws retracted. "Where is Ryder?"

"Living a perfect life with YOU," Vaurenox purred.

Before Reana could question him again, the cold stone walls around them shimmered, then lit up with a pulsing red glow, like molten veins cracking through granite.

An image bled across the surface.

Ryder.

He lay in a sun-drenched field of lavender, shirtless, laughing. Beside him was Reana, glowing, beaming, and extremely beautiful with a flower crown on her head.

Reana’s heart stopped.

"No..." she breathed, watching her own face. Smiling. Radiant. Content. "That’s not me," she mumbled. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"You’re right, that’s not you," Vaurenox replied. "However, that person is using your face to suspend your mate in a limbo. The longer he stays there, the harder it would be to reach him. Once he loses to the illusion, he ceases to exist."

Reana panicked. "How do I break the illusion? How do I reach him?!"

Vaurenox tilted his head, the grin never leaving his face. "Ah, there’s the desperation I was waiting for. It makes your soul shine brighter. Almost... sweet enough to devour."

"Answer me!" she barked, claws flashing out again, eyes wild with fury. "Tell me how to save him!"

"Simple," he replied, voice like poisoned silk. "You enter the illusion yourself."

Her breath caught. "Enter it?"

"You must go into the limbo. Tear down the dream. Remind him who he is—who you are. But there is a price, of course."

She narrowed her eyes. "Of course there is. Demons never give anything for free."

"Ah, clever little Luna. That’s why I like you." He stepped closer, lowering his voice like he was telling her a bedtime story. "If you enter the illusion, you risk forgetting who you are. The more you interact with it, the more it seeps into you. If you forget... then you stay trapped."

Reana’s blood ran cold.

"You mean I could lose myself in the illusion too?"

"Indeed," he said, smiling like it was the sweetest tragedy. "You and your dear mate could laugh together in that field of lavender for eternity... while your real bodies wither away. Your child never born. Your name, erased."

Reana’s hand slowly moved back to her stomach, protective instinct overriding fear. "And if I refuse?"

"Then Ryder fades. Forever. And eventually, your child will be claimed by someone far worse than me. Trust me, little Luna, there are others watching. Waiting."

"You’re a monster," she whispered.

Vaurenox chuckled darkly. "That I am. But I’m the monster you need."

Silence stretched, thick and suffocating.

"Why are you helping me?" Reana finally asked. The so-called demon god wouldn’t come down here just to help her. The werewolves are not under his jurisdiction.

"Who said I’m helping you?" Vaurenox’s smile twisted, sharp and gleaming like the edge of a ceremonial dagger. "You assume too much, Luna."

Reana’s brows furrowed. "Then what is this? What do you gain from all of this—playing puppet master in a war that isn’t yours?"

He gave a slow, serpentine blink, the molten glow of his eyes flickering like firelight. "Oh? Who says?" He chuckled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. "You see, your mate and I have unfinished business. And then, you dared to carry something that should not exist."

Reana frowned. He’d been saying some weird stuff she didn’t understand. "What do you mean my child shouldn’t exist?"