Chapter 1

At our family dinner, I happily announced that I was pregnant.

My mother, Linda, immediately turned to my mate, Alpha Ethan, and suggested,

"Ethan, how about I find you an Omega? She can make you breakfast and take care of your sexual needs while Emily is pregnant!"

Ethan almost choked on his drink. He was a traditional, old-fashioned man.

His mother had always taught him that a werewolf must never betray his mate.

I slammed my fork down in anger.

"Mom, are you out of your mind?!"

Linda glared at me.

"I'm not joking. When I was pregnant, your father cheated on me with an Omega. Why should Ethan be any different?"

Ethan looked like he was sitting on a bed of nails. He nervously wiped the sweat from his forehead and grabbed my hand.

"Linda, please don't test me. I swear I will never do anything to hurt Emily!"

Linda’s smile stiffened.

Pure jealousy flashed in her eyes.

"Oh, Ethan, you sweet boy. Emily did you dirty a long time ago. Why are you being so loyal to her?"

My eyes widened. I couldn't believe my ears.

"Mom, what are you talking about?! I've never done anything to betray Ethan!"

Linda smirked. She cleared her throat, looking like she had been waiting for this moment.

"When Emily was in high school, she wouldn't come home after school for weeks. She was out late with a boy. I caught them together multiple times, walking and laughing."

"Fooling around with guys at eighteen—what does that tell you? It means she wasn't a virgin when you met her. Who knows how many men have touched her."

Linda let out a contemptuous snort.

Her face was twisted with utter disgust.

I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms.

Even as the sharp sting of blood rising to the skin registered, I barely felt the physical pain.

The flood of traumatic memories was already suffocating me.

Growing up, Linda’s favorite phrase was always: "If I didn't have it, why should you?"

When I hit puberty early and asked for a bra, she snapped, "I didn't have a bra at your age. Why should you get one? Just wrap yourself in a rag."

She never gave me a single penny of allowance.

So, I had to secretly work a part-time job after school to make my own money.

One day, a boy from our pack, Kevin Miller, ran into me at my job. We ended up walking back to the pack territory together because we were heading the same way.

Linda saw us. She immediately started spreading rumors around the pack that I was sleeping around.

After that, whenever I was seen with any boy, she would tell everyone we were hooking up.

From then on, the pack boys avoided me like the plague.

I had no friends. Even my favorite teachers started looking at me with disgust.

Eventually, I left the pack for college.

I got a great job and started making good money.

Linda actually apologized for what she did back then.

She claimed she was just terrified that I would ruin my future with early romance.

I thought she had finally changed. But here she was, bringing up the past and dragging my name through the mud in front of my mate!

Ethan stared Linda like she was completely insane.

"Linda, whether that's true or not, it's in the past."

"I don't care about her past. I only care about our future."

"Emily and I are happy. Don't worry, I will never betray her."

Ethan squeezed my hand tighter.

His warmth seeped into my cold, trembling fingers.

Most of the anger in my chest began to melt away.

Ever since I got together with Ethan, Linda had constantly dropped hints that I didn't deserve a good man.

She used to set me up on awful blind dates.

A homeless man with a severe limp, a jobless ex-con, a middle-aged man who had been divorced three times...

Linda always said that since she couldn't land a good man, I didn't deserve one either.

But Ethan had held my hand through it all.

Ethan’s devotion only made Linda angrier.

No matter what lies she threw at him, Ethan stood by me.

She shifted her glare back to me.

"Emily, how many months along are you?"

I answered cautiously, "Almost four months."

Linda let out a smug laugh of relief.

"Four months. Ah, you're about to get stretch marks then."

"Finally, Emily, you're going to get stretch marks too. When I was pregnant with you, my belly was ruined with them, and your father got disgusted and cheated. Once your body is ruined, Ethan will do the exact same thing..."