The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate (Jason and Laila) by Caroline Above Story novel Chapter 6

Jason POV

Mom's face went completely white. Dad's expression turned thunderous.

And Brittany...

Brittany looked like someone had just told her the world was ending.

"Childbirth?" Her voice came out as barely a whisper.

Marcus nodded grimly. "The timing aligns perfectly with when she left the pack, Alpha. Right down to the week."

The implications crashed over me in waves.

Laila was pregnant with my child when she ran away.

My mind was complete chaos, but I forced myself to think rationally.

If she'd been pregnant that day I brought Brittany back...

She was carrying my child, and I told her I was just curious what it would feel like to sleep with a human.

The guilt felt like it was going to crush me.

No wonder she ran away from me.

Dad's voice cut through the memory like a whip. "How could this even happen, Jason?"

His tone was accusatory, but underneath I could hear the fear. The political calculation was already spinning in his mind.

Under the pack law, children born outside marked mating would be considered illegitimate. The child was doomed to be a bastard with no claim to pack protection.

Vulnerable in ways that made my chest tight with protective rage.

"If this gets out," Father continued, his voice deadly quiet, "if other packs discover you once had a bastard child wandering around... Even if Laila and the child are both dead..."

"I understand the implications," I said harshly. "It could challenge my right to rule."

Rival packs would smell weakness and circle like vultures.

The child would become a target. A weapon to be used against me.

That's when the crash of breaking glass shattered the moment completely.

Every head at our table snapped toward the sound. Pack instincts kicked in sharp and immediate.

We'd been discussing sensitive information. Pack secrets that could destroy us if they fell into the wrong hands.

A woman crouched beside a nearby table, hands shaking violently as she tried to collect shards of broken ceramic from the floor.

The same woman who'd been watching us all evening. The one who'd reacted so strangely when I'd called her Laila.

Her shoulders were rigid with tension, her movements frantic and desperate.

Something about her posture triggered every alarm bell in my head.

Like prey trying to escape a predator, but trapped with nowhere to run.

Her friend appeared beside her, tugging at her arm with urgent insistence. "We should go," the friend said. "Now. We need to leave now."

They were both backing toward the exit, moving like they couldn't get out fast enough.

Like their lives depended on escape.

But it was too late.

I was already on my feet, moving toward her with the focused intensity of a hunter who'd finally spotted his prey.

"Excuse me," I said, my voice carrying just enough Alpha command to make her freeze completely.

She looked up at me with wide brown eyes that seemed far too familiar.

"Have we met before? Why do I feel like you know me?" I asked, my voice sharp with suspicion and something else I didn't want to name.

Laila POV

"Have we met before? Why do I feel like you know me?"

I felt myself tense up at Jason's question. His green eyes searched my face with an intensity that made my stomach clench.

I forced myself to stay calm. To breathe normally even though my heart was racing like a trapped bird.

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