A woman in a baby pink summer dress reveled in the festivities of a party her mate threw to reveal the gender of their upcoming pup.

"Alright, alright!" Nathan Gayle called for attention, raising his hand. "It's time to unveil the pup's gender," he announced, inciting cheers and joyful howls from the attendees.

He picked up a black balloon placed in the corner of the room, grinning broadly as he approached his mate, Ethlyn Smith Gayle.

Meanwhile, the crowd playfully debated the balloon's contents. Ethlyn's sister handed her a needle to pop the balloon, and its color would determine the gender.

"So, what's your guess? Pink or blue inside?" Ethlyn's mother inquired.

"Pink!"

"Blue!"

"Blue."

"Pink!"

"It's definitely a girl."

"No, it's a boy! The future Alpha of the pack!"

Guests attempted to guess the gender based on Ethlyn's baby bump size and her mood swings over the past months.

"Ready, love?" Nathan asked, his smile unwavering. Ethlyn nodded excitedly. "This is our future."

"I know," Ethlyn replied, bursting the balloon with the needle. However, as the balloon burst, she furrowed her brow at the unexpected flurry of paper cuttings that emerged.

Amidst the confused silence, Ethlyn picked up a paper to read it. As she read aloud the derogatory words like 'Cheat,' 'Betrayer,' 'Hate You,' 'Slut,' and 'Whore,' the crowd fell silent.

Was this a new way to reveal gender? Were the words 'boy' or 'girl' written on the paper slips instead of colors? Speculation buzzed among the guests.

Ethlyn knelt to examine the slips of paper, her confusion evident. "Nathan, what's all this?"

Nathan's tone shifted from excitement to anger. "You don't know?" he retorted, his displeasure palpable.

"I don't understand," Ethlyn said, hoping it was some kind of prank. "What's going on?"

Sensing the wind carrying the paper slips, others began to read the hurtful words as well.

"Ethlyn, clueless as ever," Nathan mocked, observing Ethlyn's actions. "Let's bring in the pack doctor to unveil your true self in front of our friends and family," he sneered, treating her actions like a low, deceitful act.

"Luna Ethlyn," the pack doctor addressed her, though his tone brimmed with anger rather than respect, perplexing Ethlyn. Born and raised in the same pack, she was familiar with everyone, including the pack doctor, but she had never seen him direct such disdain her way.

"The pup in your womb isn't Alpha Nathan's."

"What?" Ethlyn questioned in shock, mirroring the stunned expressions of others around her.

"Yes, Luna Ethlyn. I've run multiple tests on Alpha Nathan, and the truth is, he's sterile," the doctor's revelation left everyone gasping.

"That's... that's impossible," Ethlyn denied vehemently. How could this be? She was carrying Nathan's pup. It defied reason for Nathan to be sterile.

"Anticipated denial, Ethlyn. Were you not expecting me to uncover your betrayal?" Nathan interrupted.

"No, Nath..."

"Silence!" Nathan growled. "Your mother serves as the head nurse at the pack hospital. Let's hear her perspective," he added with a sneer. Ethlyn looked at her mother, only to be met with a glare. Now, she understood why her mother's demeanor had shifted over the past weeks.

"Mom?" Ethlyn turned to her, still praying it was a baseless lie.

"Sadly, Ethlyn, it's true," her mother responded, shame shadowing her features as she spoke about her daughter's actions.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ethlyn's father asked her mother, leaving Ethlyn feeling as if the ground had been yanked from beneath her feet. Unprepared for what was unfolding, she struggled to comprehend the reality.

To her, it felt like a nightmarish distortion, and she yearned to wake up from it.

"Natha..." Ethlyn tried to reach Nathan, but he pushed her away.

"Don't touch me, you whore!"

"Watch your tone, Alpha Nathan," Christian, Ethlyn's father, growled at his Alpha. Tears welled in Ethlyn's eyes as she heard that word coming from Nathan's mouth.

"And mind your voice, Christian." Nathan retorted, addressing Ethlyn's father by name, shocking everyone present. "Remember, you're addressing your Alpha."

"I won't let anyone disrespect my daughter," Christian growled, unyielding in his stance.

"I'm disrespecting her?" Nathan challenged. "If revealing the truth is deemed disrespectful, then your daughter has engaged in disgraceful behavior."

"Ask her who she slept with and whose pup she carries," Nathan demanded.

"It's yours, Na..." Ethlyn's words were interrupted as Nathan angrily slapped her, causing her to fall and cry out in pain.

"Ahh!" she cried, feeling a searing pain in her abdomen.

"How dare you?" Christian, her father, lunged at Nathan, unable to bear seeing his daughter in pain. His control snapped.

" Chris, No!! Daddy… Noo!! Dadd…" Ethlyn, her mother, and her sister screamed in horror as Christian shifted into his midnight-black and grey wolf, attacking Nathan without giving him a chance to defend himself. Christian might have succeeded in ending Nathan, but his security intervened before he could do so.

Wolfsbane was injected into Christian to quell his wolf, and as he reverted to human form—naked—Nathan ordered, "Put him in a cell and bind him with silver chains."

"Nathan, please! Spare my dad," Ethlyn pleaded, clutching his leg as she remained on the ground, wracked with pain.

Nathan kicked her away. "I, Nathan Gayle, Alpha of the Wind Winder Pack, reject you, Ethlyn Smith, as my mate and Luna of this pack," he declared, his gaze filled with revulsion as he looked down at her.

"Nathan, there must be a misunderstanding. Please, don't decide in haste," Ethlyn tried to convince her mate cum her best friend; they had been together since childhood, despite their age difference of four years, and then got marked two months back after the news of her pregnancy. She was about to say more, but then she saw the pack's Beta dragging her father's unconscious body toward her, a silver handcuff encircling his wrist.

"Accept the rejection and depart, Ethlyn, before Nathan takes further drastic measures against you or the pup," Nathan's mother said in concern. The former Luna, who had treated Ethlyn like her own daughter, had never envisioned Ethlyn stooping so low.

"Mom, please believe me! This is..."