“You mixed up the sperm? Are you kidding me? A hospital with a reputation like yours make a mistake this unforgivable?”

Isla Spencer’s voice ricocheted off the walls of the sterile office. Her wolf prowled just beneath her skin, fury rolling off her in waves so thick the human doctor cowered as if she might devour him whole.

“I—I am so sorry, Miss Spencer.” The small, frightened man pressed himself further into the corner. “We… We don't fully understand how this happened yet. But we deeply regret your loss. The hospital is prepared to offer you two million dollars in compensation, and we will refund every penny you’ve paid for the treatment.”

“You think this is about money?” Isla grabbed him by the collar. Her wolf, Serena, bared its teeth in her mind. “Coel is lying in a hospital bed, unconscious. That sperm was the Reese family’s last chance to carry on their bloodline. You destroyed our hope.”

The doctor’s eyes went wide when he finally registered the name. Alpha Coel Reese. His face was drained of color. He’d assumed Isla was just an Omega—someone the hospital could pay off, bury the scandal, and move on. But an Alpha? That changed everything.

“I—I truly am sorry,” he stammered. “We’ll do whatever we can to make this right—”

“Make it right?” She shoved him back. “How exactly do you plan to do that?”

Her eyes burned. The past months had been a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from.

Months ago, her fiancé Coel had walked into an ambush with rogues—trying to surprise her, of all things. He’d barely survived. Now he lay motionless in a hospital bed, and the doctors had already started whispering about “slim chances” and “preparing for the worst.” Before Isla could even process her grief, Coel’s parents had come to her with their request: use the sperm Coel had frozen years ago, they’d begged her. Give the Reeses one last heir.

She couldn’t say no. Even though she’d never imagined having children this way.

For months, she’d split herself in two—spending her days at Coel’s bedside, holding his cold hand, talking to a face that wouldn’t answer, and spending her nights and every spare hour at the clinic, turning herself into a machine. The endless blood draws. The brutal hormone shots that left her bruised and aching. The cold speculums, the sharp probes, the sickening feeling of being handled like livestock instead of a woman.

She’d swallowed every humiliation, told herself a thousand times that it would all be worth it.

And then—miraculously—she’d gotten pregnant.

She hadn’t even had time to feel happy about it before they told her the truth. Wrong sperm. She was carrying a stranger’s child.

The betrayal cut so deep she couldn’t breathe. She grabbed the syringe off the doctor’s tray. The man flinched, convinced she was about to stab him, but Isla only pointed it at his face.

“Schedule me for an abortion. Now. Get this baby out of me.”

The doctor didn’t have time to answer.

The door slammed open—kicked so hard the frame splintered—and a voice cut through the room like a blade.

“That baby is my heir.”

Isla spun around.

The man who filled the doorway was enormous. Broad shoulders, powerful jaw, eyes so dark and intent they seemed to drink the light from the room. The air itself thickened around him, pressing down on her lungs. And worse—worse—her proud, fierce wolf Serena lowered her head without being told. Submitted. Instinctively.

This was an Alpha. And not just any Alpha. One whose rank dwarfed Coel’s entirely.

The stranger’s gaze locked onto her, unblinking. “Terminate that pregnancy, and I will burn this hospital to the ground.”

His voice was calm. That was what made it terrifying.

Isla felt it before she understood it—a current racing down her spine, pooling hot and restless in her belly. Her pulse stuttered. And Serena—traitor—whined low in her throat. A sound of surrender.

‘Get it together, Serena.’

The wolf rolled lazily inside her. ‘If you ask me, this one makes Coel look like chopped liver. I wouldn’t mind rolling over for him at all’.

‘Shut up. I am not betraying Coel.’

Serena yawned, ‘I never understood what you saw in that dullard anyway.’

Isla clamped down on her wolf and forced herself to look at the stranger. Really look. Dark hair, cut close at the sides. A scar feathering across his knuckles. The kind of face that belonged on wanted posters or ancient statues—all sharp angles and barely leashed violence.

Fine. He was gorgeous. That changed nothing. She was engaged to Coel. She would not carry another man’s child.

“My uterus. My choice.” She lifted her chin. “You can’t force me to have your baby. And you clearly don’t need the money—find someone else to play incubator for you. I’m done here.”

The man opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, footsteps pounded down the hallway behind him, and a voice called out—breathless, almost panicked—

“Alpha Logan…” The hospital director came panting through the doorway. “Alpha Logan—we weren't expecting you. Please forgive the inadequate reception.”

Logan didn't so much as glance at him. He walked straight toward Isla.

With each step he took, the heat between her thighs climbed higher. She pressed her legs together—a useless reflex. Logan caught her chin before she could look away.

“You're the first woman who's ever dared to defy me.” His gaze cut through her like broken glass. “Do you honestly believe the Vale family lacks the means to keep this child if I decide to?”

The moment Isla recognized his name, the air hit her like a physical blow.

Alpha Logan Vale.

The most powerful Alpha in the world. Born into the oldest, most untouchable bloodline in wolfkind. A billionaire who could buy a small country without noticing the expense. And the subject of a hundred whispered rumors—women who'd thrown themselves at him, none who'd ever touched his heart.

“I'm… I'm already engaged, sir.” She hated the stammer in her voice. “I won't carry another man's child.”

“Your fiancé.” Logan's smile didn't reach his eyes. He flicked a check onto the table.

“Do you think I care? I want the child in your belly. Nothing else. Two billion dollars. Carry the baby to term, and we're done.”

His arrogance scraped against every nerve she had. She knew better than to challenge an Alpha like him. She opened her mouth anyway.

“You think money buys everything? Even you, Alpha Logan, don't get to take away my right to choose.”

Logan released her chin with a soft, almost amused sound. He made a small gesture, and his Beta stepped forward—silent, efficient, sliding a folder onto the desk.

The Beta spoke, his tone cool and clinical.

"Isla Spencer. An unwanted Omega daughter from a minor family. Graduate of Ashworth University. Decent grades, but your wolf aptitude rating is… limited."

He paused, letting the word settle.

And that mediocrity is precisely what makes your body vulnerable. The fact that your Omega physiology has accepted Alpha sperm and successfully implanted it is nothing short of a miracle."

"Forcing a termination at this stage would carry extreme risks. The most likely outcome?”

“Permanent loss of fertility.”

“You would never carry another child.”The Beta closed the folder, “Miss Spencer, I suggest you think very carefully."

“That's complete garbage.” Isla's hands shook with fury. “You fabricated this. You just want to use me as an incubator.”

Logan moved.

Not fast—not visibly. But suddenly he was there, close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off his body, close enough that she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes. He didn't touch her. He didn't need to. The weight of his presence pressed against her ribs like a physical hand.

“Watch your tone, Omega.” His voice dropped low, almost gentle—which somehow made it worse. “The fact that I'm willing to let you carry my heir is already more mercy than most would show you.”

Before she could fire back, her phone shattered the silence—loud, insistent. She grabbed it. The screen read Natalie Reese. Coel's mother. She answered without thinking.

“Come quickly, Isla! Coel is awake!”

The joy hit her like a wave. For the first time in months, a real smile broke across her face. “I'm on my way.”

She turned toward the door.

Logan caught her arm and pressed her back against the wall in one fluid motion. His forearm braced beside her head. Not quite touching. Not quite not touching.

“You really have no regard for me at all, do you?”

“My fiancé is awake.” Her voice came out steadier than she felt. “Please. Let me go see him.”

Logan studied her face—the genuine desperation there, the way her pulse hammered in her throat. Whatever he saw, it made him step back. He pulled a card from his pocket and pressed it into her palm.

“Three days. Think carefully.” He held her eyes. “If you don't give me the answer I want, I'll come collect my child myself.”

Isla gave a short, sharp nod and ran.

*

She finally stopped just outside of Coel's ward, flattening her hair with trembling fingers, trying to compose herself.

And then she heard the voice through the gap.

“I never wanted Isla.” It's Coel. “She's just an Omega. She never matches me.”