Chapter 274 What was never hers
_Rowena’s POV_
Once I felt better, I went to the meeting with Alaric.
I sat beside him in the hall, my hand rested on my stomach, still not quite used to how much had changed in a single night.
The elders filed in one by one, their faces careful and unreadable, I could tell they were clearly expecting another conversation about wedding plans with Brielle.
They had no idea what was coming.
"Alpha King," the eldest elder said, taking his seat. "You called us here about the marriage preparations. We assumed—"
"You assumed correctly," Alaric said. "There is a marriage to discuss. But not the one you’re thinking of."
Confused glances passed between them. I kept my face calm, though my heart was pounding.
"Rowena is pregnant," Alaric said. "With my child. The child was conceived before any talk of Brielle’s pregnancy ever began."
That was a lie, but no one had to know.
For a moment, no one spoke. Then the room erupted, and to my surprise, it wasn’t with anger or suspicion. It was with something close to joy. A few of the elders actually smiled, real smiles, something I hadn’t seen from most of them in longer than I could remember.
"This is wonderful news," one of the older women said, pressing a hand to her chest. "An heir born of the true Luna. This is exactly what the pack needs."
I almost laughed at the difference, when Brielle’s pregnancy came up, everyone had already started discussing dates and arrangements like I wasn’t someone who mattered.
Now, hearing it was me, their whole energy shifted into something warmer, something that felt almost like relief.
"There’s something else you need to see," Alaric said, and his voice turned hard, cutting through the celebration. "Before we go any further."
He nodded to Gideon, who stepped forward with a folder and set it in the center of the table.
"Kyle’s confession," Alaric said. "Recorded and signed. He admits to fabricating Brielle’s pregnancy entirely. Forged medical records, false test results. Which simply means there was never a child."
The room went silent again in an instant, but this time it wasn’t joy but shock.
"He also admits," Alaric continued, "to orchestrating the poisoning of Rowena, and to the attack that left Ezekiel fighting for his life. All of it planned, all of it deliberate, and all of it made possible because this council pushed a marriage based on a lie without asking a single hard question."
The eldest elder’s face had gone pale. "We were told the medical proof was solid. We had no reason to doubt it."
"You had every reason," Alaric said. "I kept saying I didn’t remember doing anything, I never forget when I do anything with a woman. The only woman I have and will always be with me is Rowena. But you chose to entertain the idea of setting her aside for a fabricated pregnancy because it was politically convenient. You didn’t ask enough questions because you didn’t want to."
No one argued with him. I watched their faces change, one by one, as the realization of what they’d nearly done settled over them.
The eldest elder stood first. Then, slowly, one by one, every single elder in that room rose from their seats and knelt.
"Marchioness Rowena," the eldest said, his voice weak. "We owe you an apology we cannot properly give. We allowed suspicion and lies to cloud our judgment. We nearly cost you your place, your safety, and now we understand, nearly your life. We ask your forgiveness."
I sat there for a moment, looking at these people who had spent weeks whispering about replacing me, now kneeling with their heads bowed. Part of me wanted to feel satisfaction. Mostly I just felt tired.
"You can stand up," I said. "All of you."
They stood, slowly.
"I don’t need you on your knees," I said. "I need you to remember this. Next time someone brings you a convenient lie, ask harder questions. That’s the only apology that matters to me."
The eldest nodded, and something in his expression told me he understood exactly what I meant.
"Brielle and her family," Alaric said, turning the conversation forward. "They will be stripped of their titles, effective immediately. All of them are to be arrested on charges of conspiracy and treason against the crown."
"It will be done," Gideon said, already moving toward the door to give the order.
Brielle was brought in not long after, her wrists bound, two guards holding her arms. Her mother and father were behind her, both looking smaller than I remembered, stripped of whatever confidence had carried them through the last few weeks.
Brielle’s eyes found mine the moment she stepped into the room, and whatever composure she’d been holding onto shattered.
"This is your fault," she said, her voice breaking. "None of this would have happened if you’d just stepped aside. If you’d let me have what was mine."
"It was never yours," I glared at her.
"I would have been Luna. I would have had everything you have now." Her voice rose, desperate. "You took it. You always take everything."
"I didn’t take anything from you," I said, keeping my voice level even as she screamed. "You tried to take something that was never yours to take. There’s a difference, Brielle, even if you never understood it."
"I hate you!” she said, tears streaming down her face now. "I hate you so much!”
I looked at her, at the family behind her, at the guards waiting to lead them away, and I felt nothing close to triumph.
"The feeling is mutual. The life you wanted," I said, "was never going to be yours. Not through lies. Not through Kyle’s schemes. Not through anything but standing beside a man because he chose you, and you never had that. I’m sorry you spent so long chasing something that was never real."
She screamed something else as the guards pulled her toward the door, but I stopped listening. There was nothing left to say to her that would change anything, and I wasn’t interested in giving her more of my attention than she’d already stolen.
Alaric’s hand found mine beside our table once the room had cleared, his thumb moving gently over my knuckles.
"You didn’t have to be that composed," he said with a smile. "You could have said worse to her."
"I know," I shrugged. "But it wouldn’t have felt like anything. Watching her lose everything was enough."
He brought my hand up and pressed a kiss to it, it warmed my heart in ways I couldn’t explain.
“It’s all love,” Kyra sighed as she reached out to Alaric’s wolf.
But she was right, it was all love.