Chapter 4 CHAPTER FOUR

“Claus, what do you mean? You know me too well, how could you say such a thing…” My voice broke off.

Not just my voice, everything inside me shattered.

After all these years, after everything we’ve been through, he could still think I would stoop so low… that I would let another man, one who isn’t my mate, touch me.

Yes, I’d been careless with Silva but it never went that far.

Claus sprang up from the throne, pacing across the room. His cloak swept the floor as his fingers pressed against his temples, massaging them.

“For fifteen years, Ellie,” he thundered, “I’ve known I couldn’t father a child and now you stand here telling me otherwise?” His eyes burned with fury, molten and wild.

“For goodness’ sake, Claus… six years…” I swallowed the lump in my throat, fighting tears. “…Since we got married, you never told me any of this.” My lips parted in disbelief.

“Is that why you cheated, Ellie? You couldn’t wait to bring a bastard into this palace and claim it as mine?”

Before I could blink, he was in front of me. My body jerked as his hand closed around my throat. A strangled cry escaped my lips, my fingers clawing at his wrist.

“Cla—Claus, s-stop it… you’re hurting me!” My face tightened as I struggled to draw air into my lungs.

“Tell me, Ellie! Tell me who the father of that child is!” He shook me violently, back and forth.

Tears blurred my vision, burning my eyes as my chest screamed for air. When I looked into his face, his eyes were cold—colder than I had ever seen.

If I didn’t act now, Claus might actually snap my neck.

I dug my nails into his skin, pressing hard enough to make him flinch. “Claus..stop it! I’m carrying your child! You’re hurting both of us!”

“You’re carrying no child of...”

Before he could finish, the heavy courtroom doors burst open and slammed against the wall. Claus turned sharply.

His trusted adviser, Lord Fredrick, strode into the room, his face pale with urgency. But when he saw what was happening, he froze, his lips parted, yet no words came out.

Embarrassment flickered across Claus’s face. His grip on me loosened, and I collapsed to the cold floor, gasping for air.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I coughed, choking on saliva, my fingers rubbing at the sore spot on my neck.

“Alpha Sylvia…” Lord Fredrick stammered, startled. Everyone knew Sylvia to be the brutal one, but even she had never witnessed this. “...Alpha Claus… Your Majesty.” He swallowed hard when his gaze fell on the crown. His eyes darted briefly to me, trembling on the floor, but he dared not speak.

“What brings you here, Lord Fredrick?” Claus demanded, his voice hard, his body shifting to block me from view.

“Your Majesty, I bring a report from the royal physician.” He pulled out an envelope from beneath his cloak. “It’s the result of your fertility test.”

The courtroom stilled. Even the air seemed to stop moving.

Claus tore open the envelope in one swift motion. His eyes scanned the page—and froze.

The color drained from his face. His lips parted, but no sound came out.

“Claus? What’s going on? You… you did a fertility test behind my back?” My voice trembled.

I pushed myself off the floor, my knees weak as those of a newborn foal, but I managed to reach him. When my fingers brushed his hand, he recoiled.

His hands shook as he clutched the paper tighter. “It says… I…” His throat bobbed as he swallowed, eyes flicking up to meet mine. “The experiment was successful. I’m… capable of fathering a child.”

The words hung in the air—raw, heavy, and deafening.

A weight lifted from my chest, but only just.

Tears spilled freely down my cheeks. “Just so you know, Claus… I would never cheat on you. Thank the Moon Goddess you finally see the truth.”

For the first time, Claus’s cold composure cracked. Regret flickered in his eyes, replacing fury with something far more painful—realization.

But the damage was done. I looked at him, my mate, the man I trusted with my soul and saw not the one who once promised me the world, but the one who had just shattered mine.

“Ellie, love, I’m sorry. Let’s talk about this.” He reached for me, but I stepped back.

My voice trembled, but I stood firm. “Don’t touch me, Claus. You called me a liar… and you called our unborn child a bastard.”

The courtroom was silent, only Claus’s heavy breathing filled the space.

I turned away and ran, fleeing the courtroom as tears fell like silent confessions onto the marble floor.