Chapter 4

The sunset smeared a bloody orange across the treetops when Ariana's phone buzzed on the nightstand. The name on the screen made her heart lurch: it was the fertility clinic.

"Hello?" she answered, fighting to keep her voice steady.

"Miss Ariana, this is Dr. Miller. I'm sorry to call at this hour, but a serious administrative complication has come up." The doctor's voice sounded strained, almost frightened. "We've detected a system error during your procedure. The sample used does not belong to the human catalog you selected."

Ariana felt the air drain from her lungs. She sat on the edge of the bed, pressing the phone hard against her ear.

"What do you mean? Whose sample is it?"

"There was a profile mix-up due to a database failure. You received a donation from an Alpha — specifically, from a pure-blood lineage." The doctor paused heavily. "Given the genetic potency of this type of specimen, conception was almost certainly immediate. Alpha pups don't wait; their nature is to claim the womb at once. It's nearly certain that you're already pregnant, Ariana."

The world seemed to spin. Ariana recalled the crushing fatigue, the nausea, and the way little Ethan had sniffed her. Everything clicked into a terrifying pattern.

"You promised me a normal life," she whispered, tears burning her eyes. "You told me it would be a human!"

"We're deeply sorry. We're prepared to offer you compensation, but you should know that an Alpha's biological trace is permanent."

A soft knock at the door made her jump.

"Miss Ariana, Mr. Blackwood is on the line for the video call." Martha's voice from the hallway was perfectly composed.

"I have to go," she told the doctor urgently. She shoved the phone into her pocket, wiped her tears with a quick swipe, and checked herself in the mirror. Her face was pale, but her eyes gleamed with a new intensity — a spark of life that wasn't entirely her own.

She walked toward Martha's office, feeling every step weigh a ton. When she entered, the large wall screen was already on. And filling it was the image of a man.

Alexander Blackwood was more imposing than any photograph could suggest. Dark hair perfectly swept back, a square jaw, and eyes so dark they looked like pools of obsidian. He sat in a sleek office somewhere in Europe, wearing a tailored suit that amplified his commanding presence.

"Good evening, Miss Ariana." His voice was deep, a baritone that rumbled through her chest like distant thunder. "Martha has given me excellent reports about your first day."

Ariana forced a smile, hiding the tremor in her hands behind her back.

"Good evening, Mr. Blackwood. It's an honor to work for your family. Ethan is a wonderful boy."

Alexander studied her through the camera. His gaze wasn't that of an ordinary employer — it was that of a predator surveying his territory. He leaned forward, eyes narrowing, and for a moment Ariana feared he could see through the thousands of kilometers between them.

"I'm told you have a natural instinct with my son," Alexander said, his voice dropping a shade lower. "Ethan doesn't usually accept strangers so easily. There's something about you that seems to have calmed him."

"I'm just trying to give him the attention he needs, sir," she replied, feeling a pulse of warmth in her belly — right where the doctor had said life was already growing.

"We'll see if that calm holds when I return." Alexander let a sepulchral silence hang for several seconds, his gaze never leaving hers. "Take good care of what belongs to me, Ariana. I'll be back in a week, and I expect to find everything in order."

The screen went black. Ariana stood alone in the office, trembling. The Alpha wasn't just her boss — he was, without either of them knowing it, the father of the baby she carried inside her. The panic from the clinic's call and the intensity of Alexander's gaze tangled in her chest, leaving her with a single certainty: her quiet life had died tonight, and the war for the pup had just begun.