Chapter 26 Knox
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Knox
I sat through another mind-numbing council meeting, pretending to care about patrol schedules and territory disputes while my wolf paced restlessly inside me.
Budget concerns, supply chain issues, which pack member’s fence was three inches over the property line, the usual bureaucratic bullshit that made me want to claw my eyes out.
Today was different though. Today, once all this routine garbage was done, I was finally going to announce Lina and the twins. No more hiding. No more secrets. Just the truth laid bare for the pack leadership to deal with.
My wolf practically vibrated with anticipation.
After years of keeping our mate hidden, we were ready to claim what was ours publicly.
Not everyone would be thrilled, but if their concerns about my strength and lack of an heir were genuine, this would put those worries to rest. Especially when they saw how strong my family was.
“The eastern patrol reports no further rogue activity since this week’s incident,” Hunt droned on from his seat to my right. As my gamma, he took security seriously, which I appreciated most days. Today I just wanted him to shut up so we could move on.
“Good. Double the patrols anyway. I don’t want any surprises.
” I shuffled through the papers in front of me, not really seeing them.
How did one announce surprise children and a human mate to a bunch of traditionalist wolves?
‘Hey everyone, remember that time I said I’d never take a mate? Funny story...’
Cole caught my eye from across the table, raising an eyebrow at my obvious distraction.
As my beta, he knew me well enough to sense when my mind was elsewhere.
I’d have to tell him and Hunt the truth after this.
They deserved to know why their Alpha had been acting like a lovesick pup for the past week.
“If there’s no other business, there’s something I’d like to tell y-” I started to stand, ready to drop my bombshell and deal with the fallout.
“Actually, Alpha, there is one more matter.” Alderic’s voice cut through my momentum like a blade. The older council member rarely spoke unless he had an agenda, and the calculating look in his eyes made my stomach drop. “My daughter has something important to share.”
No. No fucking way.
Mary rose from her seat at the far end of the table, and I noticed the theatrical way her hand went to her still-flat stomach. The gesture was so perfectly timed, so deliberately visible, that I knew exactly what was coming before she opened her lying mouth.
She wouldn’t. Not after what she’d done to Lina. Not after I’d specifically told her to stay away from my family. I was still fighting the urge to rip her throat out for daring to touch my mate, for calling my children mongrels. Only Lina’s words about no more violence had kept Mary breathing.
So what the fuck was she doing now?
“I’m pregnant,” Mary announced to the room, her voice carrying just the right amount of shy excitement. “With the Alpha’s heir.”
The words hit like a sledgehammer to the gut. Around me, the room exploded in congratulations and shocked exclamations. Council members who’d been half-asleep moments before suddenly came alive, voices overlapping in their excitement.
“An heir!”
“Finally!”
“This is wonderful news!”
Noah, Cole, and Hunt turned to stare at me with identical expressions of disbelief.
Noah’s face had gone pale, his hands gripping the table so hard I heard the wood creak.
Cole looked sick, his normally tan complexion taking on a greenish tinge.
I hoped they knew the truth, but I hadn’t talked to anyone about Lina and how fucking miserable my life had been, so I wasn’t even sure they knew I wasn’t truly the father.
Fuck. This was a lie, but how could I say that here, now, without it looking like I was abandoning my pregnant. .. whatever Mary was supposed to be?
“This is wonderful news!” Alderic boomed over the chaos, standing to clasp his daughter’s hands.
The pride on his face made me sick. Either he was in on this manipulation or Mary had played him too.
“An heir! The pack has waited so long for this blessing. The wedding should be moved up immediately, of course. Can’t have the future Alpha born out of wedlock. ”
More agreement from around the table. Traditional wolves with traditional values eating up this traditional bullshit.
My mind raced through options, each worse than the last. If I denied it publicly, called her a liar in front of the council, she’d retaliate.
She knew about Lina and the twins. Had already proven she’d use that knowledge when she’d shown up at Noah’s house.
I couldn’t risk them. Not when I’d just gotten them back. Not when Lina was finally starting to soften toward me, even if she’d run from our kiss like the closet was on fire.
“Congratulations, Alpha!”
“When’s the wedding?”
“How far along?”
The questions came from all directions while I sat frozen, trying to find a way out of this trap that didn’t end with my real family exposed and vulnerable. Mary watched me with sweet, innocent eyes that didn’t match the victorious smirk playing at the corners of her mouth.
“You cannot be pregnant,” I said carefully, pitching my voice to cut through the celebration. “We need to discuss this privately.”
The room went quiet at my less-than-enthusiastic response. Mary’s eyes widened in perfectly feigned hurt.
“Knox?” Her voice trembled just right. “I know this is sudden, but I thought you’d be happy...”
“Private discussion. Now.” I stood, using my Alpha authority to end the meeting. “Council dismissed.”
They filed out reluctantly, shooting confused glances between Mary and me. Only my inner circle lingered - Noah, Cole, and Hunt - until I gave them a look that sent them out too. Noah’s expression promised murder, and I couldn’t blame him.
I cornered Mary in the meeting room, my control hanging by a thread. The sweet act dropped from her face instantly.
“Surprise,” she said with a vicious smile. “Did you like my timing? Right when you were about to make some announcement. What were you going to share, Knox? Something about that little family you’ve been hiding?”
“You’re not pregnant with my child,” I snarled. “We’ve never slept together.”
“True.” She shrugged, completely unbothered by my anger. “But I am pregnant, and the pack believes it’s yours. That’s all that matters really.”
“Does it matter? The important thing is what happens now.” She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Here’s what happens now. You marry me, you claim this child as your heir, and I conveniently forget all about your human whore and her mongrel spawn hiding at Noah’s house.”
My vision went red. The wolf surged forward, ready to tear out her throat for daring to speak about my family that way again. Only years of Alpha training kept me from shifting right there in the meeting room.
“You go near them again-”
“What will you do? Hurt a pregnant woman? The mother of the pack’s future heir?” She laughed, the sound grating against my ears. “I told her about our date, you know. Told her how well it went, how the pack adores us together. She seemed quite upset.”
“People will smell this isn’t my child,” I said desperately, grasping for any way out. “Wolves can’t hide paternity. The scent will give you away.”
“Not if you keep the baby close, claim it properly.” Her smile turned cruel. “Scent can be masked with proximity. Hold the child enough, scent mark it as yours, and who’s going to question their Alpha? Especially when the alternative is admitting you fathered bastards with a human.”
“They’re not bastards,” I growled.
“Aren’t they? Born out of wedlock to an unmarked human?
That’s literally the definition.” She tilted her head, studying me.
“Choose, Alpha. Me and this child, or watch your real family become targets. The pack won’t accept human mongrels, especially when they have a legitimate heir to compare them to. ”
“Boss?” Cole’s voice interrupted before I could respond. “Everything okay here?”
“Cole,” I stepped back from Mary, my hands shaking with the effort not to strangle her. She smoothed her dress, the sweet mask sliding back into place.
“We were just discussing baby names. I’m thinking traditional family names,” she simpered at Cole, one hand on her still-flat stomach. “Marcus for a boy, after Knox’s father. Won’t he be thrilled?”
The threat in her words wasn’t subtle. My parents would be here soon, and they’d expect their son to do right by the woman carrying their grandchild.
Never mind that it wasn’t actually their grandchild.
Never mind that their real grandchildren were living in Noah’s house, hidden away like shameful secrets.
Mary walked away with a satisfied smirk, her heels clicking against the floor in victory. I wanted to chase after her, to make her take it back, to force the truth from her lips. But Cole was watching, and I had bigger problems now.
Cole waited until she was gone, then grabbed my arm. “My house. Now. Hunt’s probably wrestling Noah to keep him from committing murder.”
At Cole’s house, Noah was indeed pacing like a caged animal while Hunt blocked the door. The moment I entered, Noah exploded.
“Pregnant? You got that bitch pregnant?!” His voice shook with rage. “What the fuck were you thinking? After everything she’s done? After she attacked-”
“What, dude?” I stared at him in shock. “You know I haven’t touched her. And you know why.”
The reminder seemed to snap Noah out of his rage spiral. His face went from furious to confused. “But she said...”
“She’s lying.” I collapsed onto Cole’s couch, exhaustion hitting me. “Haven’t touched anyone since…”
The room went still. Cole and Hunt exchanged glances while Noah stopped mid-pace.
“Since who?” Cole asked carefully, though his tone suggested he already knew. They all knew, though. They’d been in that hotel, had heard and smelled everything that morning. So they knew I had a mate somewhere, they just didn’t know what happened between us.
“Since Pine Valley, five years ago.” I ran my hands through my hair. “The one I told you never to mention, remember? Ring any bells? And I’d never disrespect her like that, especially not when she’s here and-”
“She’s here?” Hunt sat forward, suddenly intense. “Your mate is here in Ravenshollow?”
“With our four-year-old twins.” The confession felt like ripping off a bandage.
“Twins?” Cole’s voice climbed an octave. “You have cubs?”
“Yes. Twin pups I didn’t know about because I left her before she could tell me she was pregnant. Though I guess she couldn’t have known at the time,” I ran my hands through my hair. “And now they’re here, she hates me, and Mary knows about them.”
“Hold up.” Hunt stood, running his hands through his hair. “Let me get this straight. You have a mate-”
“Had. Pretty sure she wants me dead.”
“-a mate,” Hunt continued, “who you left five years ago-”
“Like an idiot.”
“-who had your babies-”
“Twins. A boy and a girl.”
“-twins, and she’s been raising them alone-”
“In Pine Valley, as a human single mom.”
“-and now she’s here because-”
“A rogue bit her. I had to claim her to save her life.”
“Holy shit.” Hunt sat back down heavily. “And how does Mary know?”
“She visited them at Noah’s house. She threatened them and called the kids mongrels to Lina’s face. They actually fought because of what Mary said about the twins.”
“That’s why you’ve been disappearing to Noah’s,” Cole said, understanding dawning. “You’ve been with your family.”
“Trying to. Lina wants nothing to do with me. Told me to stay away.” I laughed bitterly. “Not that I listened. I’ve been courting her like some lovesick teenager. Coffee, flowers, the works.”
“Is it working?” Hunt asked.
I thought about the closet, about the way she’d kissed me back before reality crashed in. “Maybe? No. I don’t know. Doesn’t matter now. Mary’s using this fake pregnancy to force my hand. If I deny it publicly, she’ll expose them to the entire pack.”
“So whose kid is it really?” Cole asked the practical question.
“No idea. But we need to find out fast, before this gets worse.”
“It can get worse?” Hunt muttered.
“My parents arrive soon,” I reminded them. “How’s that for worse?”
“Fuck.” Cole summarized everyone’s thoughts perfectly.
We sat in silence for a moment, the weight of the situation settling over us. My best friends, my inner circle, processing the fact that their Alpha had been hiding a mate and cubs while slowly going feral from the broken bond.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Hunt asked finally. “About her, about what happened?”
“Because I was ashamed.” The admission hurt to voice. “Because I called her a warm hole and left her there. Because I was convinced I’d get her killed if I claimed her. Because I’m a fucking coward who ruined the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“You’re an idiot,” Cole said bluntly. “But Mary’s the immediate problem. We need to figure out whose kid she’s carrying and expose her before she can do more damage.”
“I’ll handle Mary.” Noah spoke for the first time since his initial outburst. “I’ll try to gather information. Find out who the father really is.”
“Noah-”
“You protect your family, Knox.” He met my eyes, and for the first time in years, I saw my brother instead of just my pack member. Understanding passed between us. We both knew what it was like to lose someone important. “Your real family. Let me handle this bitch.”
“What about the council?” Hunt asked. “They’re expecting wedding plans now.”
“Stall,” Cole suggested. “Say you want to wait for your parents. Traditional blessing and all that shit. Buys us a week.”
“A week to find proof Mary’s lying while keeping Lina and the kids safe.” I scrubbed my face. “No pressure.”
“We’ve got your back,” Hunt said firmly. “All of us. Your secret’s safe.”
I looked around at my team, my brothers in all but blood, and felt some of the weight lift. I wasn’t alone in this. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank us yet,” Cole said. “We still have to deal with your parents. Good luck explaining why you’re not marrying the woman carrying your fake baby because you already have real babies with a human mate you abandoned.”
“When you put it like that, it sounds complicated.”
“It is complicated, you absolute moron.” But Noah was almost smiling. “Good thing we specialize in complicated.”
I thought about Lina, probably tucking the twins into bed at Noah’s house, still unaware of the shitstorm heading our way.
I wanted to fix this before she found out, before Mary’s lies could hurt her more.
She already had enough reasons to hate me.
I just had to keep my real family safe long enough to prove I loved her.