The Stolen Seed

Alpha Zaire's POV

"Don’t worry, Alpha Gideon. I promise your daughter will be well taken care of, and the date for the wedding will remain unchanged. You know I prefer things lavish," I assured my soon-to-be father-in-law over the phone.

Veda was acting like a baby again. I only had myself to blame because I pampered her far too much since our engagement, but I understood her underlying fears. I was a one-woman man, yet I constantly found myself pursued by females from all over the continent. It made Veda insecure. She insisted on moving into my quarters right after the ring slipped onto her finger, but I preferred doing things the right way. I refused her early cohabitation. How could I have known my adherence to tradition would result in this endless whining?

"Alright, Alpha Zaire. I believe you. But can you assure her yourself?" Gideon asked, his voice crackling through the receiver.

I bit back a sigh. I did not want to. I already spoke to Veda ten minutes ago. She kept circling the same paranoid topics, acting as if I planned to abandon her.

Countless she-wolves lusted after my title, but I chose Veda. She was a good woman, loyal and sweet. I loved her as my own wolf did. Yet, a shadow of guilt crept into my mind. Marrying Veda was not just a matter of the heart; it was cold strategy. This union would crown me the Alpha of the largest territory in North America. Our packs would merge under my rule. Business always came first. My pack, the Shadow Fang, was already a dominant force. Before my father returned from abroad, I needed to prove how far our borders had expanded. This marriage was the final piece.

"I will have to call her later, Gideon. There are urgent things..."

As if the Moon Goddess herself provided an alibi, a frantic knock hammered against my heavy mahogany door.

"Come in," I spoke away from the receiver.

My Beta, Vance, pushed through the door. The air around him vibrated with raw panic. He did not bother with formalities.

"Alpha, we have a massive problem."

Vance was not prone to exaggeration. I made him my Beta because he once pulled me out of a lethal ambush. That rival was now an obituary, and Vance stood as my right hand. I trusted him with my life. If he claimed a situation was urgent, the ground was likely falling out beneath our feet.

"Alpha Gideon, I must apologize. I have to call you back," I said, disconnecting the line. I felt a brief flash of relief escaping Veda’s childish demands, but one look at Vance’s ashen face killed my good mood.

"What is the problem?" I asked, annoyance brewing in my tone.

Vance swallowed hard. "Your semen. It has been used on someone else."

My muscles locked. The office plunged into suffocating silence. I stared at him, forcing my brain to process the words. The good mood evaporated, replaced by a simmering heat in my chest. Titan, my wolf, scratched at the surface of my mind, his massive claws eager to tear control away from me. I saw terror in Vance’s eyes as my Alpha aura leaked into the room, heavy and oppressive.

The existence of my semen in the medical lab was a closely guarded secret. It was an elder decree, a measure put in place due to brutal betrayals in our history. If my Beta or a rogue faction ever succeeded in assassinating me, that genetic material would be used to breed my rightful heir. It was the method my father used to secure his title after my grandfather was murdered.

It was never meant to be touched while I was still breathing. It certainly was not meant to be used weeks before my wedding.

Veda was the only one who made me happy. She made outrageous demands, laying bare her insecurities, but I bought her expensive gifts to soothe those wounds. I did not plan for an heir to grow in a stranger's womb.

"Who is this person you are talking about?" The voice tearing out of my throat was deeper, layered with Titan’s lethal resonance. The beast spoke through me. The temperature in the office plummeted.

Titan was a killing machine. We both knew the gravity of this violation. Our heir, our blood, was planted inside a random female.

"That is what I was trying to find out," Vance rushed out, taking a subtle step back. "But the medical staff... they are too terrified to say the name. I suggest you extract the details yourself."

My blood hit a boiling point.

*That female should not draw another breath,* Titan roared in my mind, pacing furiously.

I shut him down immediately. *No. That means killing our own blood.*

Titan paused, his primal rage faltering against the ironclad truth. Whatever stranger carried that seed was currently holding my destined heir. We could not harm the pup.

I shoved past Vance. I bolted out of my office and broke into a sprint down the sweeping corridors of the packhouse. Staff members caught sight of my thunderous expression and plastered themselves against the walls, too petrified to offer a greeting. I heard the frantic thud of Vance’s boots chasing after me, but my focus remained laser-locked on the medical wing.

I slammed the double doors of the lab open. The heavy metal crashed against the walls, echoing like a gunshot. A cluster of doctors stood huddled in the center of the room. The sheer dread pooling in their eyes told me everything I needed to know. They parted like the red sea, stumbling over their own feet to get out of my path.

I zeroed in on Doctor Cade, the head of the facility.

I crossed the room in two strides. My hand shot out, grabbing Cade by the throat. I slammed him back, pinning him hard against the sterile tiles. My grip tightened, cutting off his airway. I felt my claws pricking through the pads of my fingers, ready to slice into his flesh for jeopardizing my lineage. If I let Titan take the wheel for a fraction of a second, Cade’s head would roll across the floor.

"Who did you inseminate with my material?" I snarled, my face inches from his. Cade’s feet dangled off the ground, kicking weakly at the air. "I want it back. No woman except Veda is permitted to bear a child with my DNA. Do you have any concept of what this means for my pack?"

Rage burned through my veins like battery acid.

"A... Alpha..." Cade choked out, his eyes bulging as his hands clawed uselessly at my forearm. He needed air to give me a name. I forced my fingers to loosen just enough to let a thin stream of oxygen reach his lungs.

"Speak," I commanded.

The terror radiating from the medical staff was thick enough to taste. Cade swallowed a dry sob.

"It's... Luna Freya."

My grip vanished. Cade dropped like a stone, hitting the linoleum with a heavy thud. I did not spare him a second glance. My brain stalled, the name echoing in my skull, stripping away the blinding fury and replacing it with icy shock.

Cade scrambled backward on his hands and knees. He gasped for air, his chest heaving, his face slick with cold sweat.

"What did you just say?" My voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.

I expected a random rogue. I expected an ambitious pack slut I could buy off with cash the moment she delivered the infant. I did not expect a ruling Luna.

Freya was a name known across the territories. She was powerful, respectable, and commanded one of the largest packs on the eastern seaboard. I could not comprehend why a female of her status would resort to anonymous lab donations when she could summon any prime Alpha to her bed with a snap of her fingers.

Except me, of course. I was taken.

I searched my memory, trying to attach a clear face to Luna Freya's title, but came up empty. Our paths never crossed. Alphas maintained exhaustive dossiers on rival leaders. During summit meetings, her name always surfaced as a force to be reckoned with. She was the sole female leader of her magnitude. Yet, I knew nothing of her personal life. I never entertained pack gossip. I had no idea what happened to her mate or why she sat alone on her throne. My ignorance suddenly felt like a massive strategic blind spot.

"Alpha," Cade croaked, rubbing his bruised neck. "Luna Freya has been desperate for a child. According to her pack physician, she suffered numerous heartbreaks and gave up on the concept of taking a mate altogether."

Cade spoke quickly, hoping the explanation would stop me from ripping his throat out. The other lab technicians pressed themselves into the corners of the room, putting as much distance between us as physically possible. I understood their fear. Titan was known to lose his temper over personal matters, unleashing catastrophic damage.

It was exactly why Veda was my chosen match. Around her, Titan behaved. Her destined mate rejected her the day she turned eighteen, leaving her vulnerable and available. I capitalized on that fortune. I spoiled her so she would never regret our union or yearn for the fool who cast her aside.

"All she required was an heir," Cade continued, his voice shaking. I remained silent, a statue of calculating ice. "She paid four donors for the procedure. We were running parallel experiments... there was a mix-up in the storage sequencing."

My mind raced, charting a new course through this disaster. Luna Freya might hold a crown, but she was still a female. And right now, she was an incubator for my bloodline. She carried a piece of my empire. That meant she would submit to my rules, play by my terms, and dance to my tune, just like anyone else who stood in my territory.

"Arrange a meeting with her," I ordered, my tone devoid of rage, replaced by lethal authority. I could surrender many things in this life, but never my blood. Never my heir. Handing over my child was the equivalent of handing over the Shadow Fang pack itself.

Doctor Cade fumbled in his coat pocket. He yanked out his mobile device, his trembling thumbs moving to dial a contact. Before he could press the call button, the screen lit up. A sharp ringtone pierced the tense silence of the lab.

I stared at the screen, sensing an immediate shift in the game. Cade looked up at me, panic and distress flooding his features all over again. I caught the scent of desperation in the air.

"Speaker," I demanded.