Chapter 5 The Beginning Of Scandals

• BRAHAM’S POV
• “Millie-Rose…”
• I heard myself murmur her name as I stirred from unconsciousness. My voice was hoarse, cracked, like I’d clawed it out of a dream I didn’t want to leave.
• I touched her side of the bed and she wasn’t there, the feeling of emptiness filled me with fear and I immediately opened my eyes to see she really wasn’t there.
• Then it hit me.
• She was gone.
• First things first, I was a fucking idiot.
• I blinked once. Twice. The bed beside me was cold. Empty.
• A deep, soul-cringing humiliation festered in my chest. My stomach turned. My skin itched with regret. Rage.
• What the hell had I done?
• Why did I bring her to a hotel?
• Why did I make love to her like a man possessed…like I was drunk on her, desperate for her?
• Oh, that’s right. Because I was.
• Drunk as shit. Out of my goddamn mind.
• But booze wasn’t the only reason. No, that’d be too convenient.
• I wanted her.
• She wasn’t just a warm body to fuck and forget. She was a storm I had willingly walked into… no raincoat, no armor.
• The sex wasn’t empty. It was… blistering. Addictive. We didn’t just connect; we combusted. Her moans still echoed in my ears like a fucking curse. The scratch marks on my back were still fresh… physical proof that it wasn’t some fever dream.
• And now, she was gone.
• I sat up abruptly, my heart thundering. Her scent had vanished from the room. No perfume. No lipstick stains on the glass. No hair on the pillow. Just… nothing.
• Like she had never existed.
• Maybe she was in the bathroom.
• I pushed off the sheets and strode across the suite, flinging the bathroom door open and froze.
• Empty. Cold. Clean. Not a single sign of her presence.
• My jaw clenched.
• “Vorn,” my wolf whined inside me.
• He felt it too. The loss. The confusion. The insult.
• No.
• She left.
• No note. No goodbye. Just vanished.
• I grabbed the hotel’s landline and jabbed the call button.
• “Good morning, Alpha Braham. How may I help you?” chirped the receptionist.
• Her cheery tone made me want to punch something.
• “The girl,” I growled. “Did anyone see her leave?”
• “Which girl, Sir?”
• “The one I checked in with,” I snapped, my patience running thin.
• “Oh! You mean the slut from last night?”
• I Snapped.
• The growl that tore out of my throat was instant, primal.
• “She’s not a slut,” I said through clenched teeth. “And yes. That girl. Millie-Rose.”
• “I didn’t see her, Sir,” she said, clearly unbothered. “But I’ll ask around. If anyone saw her leave, I’ll let you know.”
• I slammed the receiver down and ran a hand through my hair, breathing hard.
• A fucking mess. That’s what I was.
• I stumbled into the bathroom, turned the shower knob to cold, and stood beneath the freezing spray.
• The water hit me like knives. Sharp. Unforgiving.
• I welcomed the sting.
• Because beneath it, I could still feel her. Her fingers on my chest, her legs wrapped around me, the way she whispered my name like it was a goddamn prayer.
• Why did she leave?
• Why sneak out before dawn like some guilty mistress?
• If it was just sex, she should’ve said so. If it meant nothing, she could’ve made that clear.
• But no. She kissed me like she needed me. Touched me like I was the only man she’d ever wanted.
• So why disappear?
• Unless…
• She regretted it.
• The thought hit harder than I expected.
• Regret.
• Did she look at me afterward and hate herself?
• Was I just another mistake in her life?
• Fuck.
• I stepped out of the shower, dripping and raw, and stared at my reflection in the mirror.
• I didn’t recognize the man staring back at me.
• Was this what I’d become in less than twenty-four hours? That desperate? That broken?
• But no matter what she thought, one truth remained:
• She was pregnant. With my child.
• Which meant she was mine, whether she liked it or not.
• And she sure as hell wasn’t going to vanish into thin air.
• I dressed quickly and called my Beta.
• Renan picked up on the second ring. “Yo. What’s up?” His usual carefree tone came.
• “You. Down here. Now. Ten minutes. Bring backup.”
• A pause.
• “What happened?” he asked, voice sharpening.
• “I’ll explain when you get here.”
• I hung up.
• No time for explanations.
• No time for shame.
• Just action.
• I poured myself a shot from last night’s tequila bottle. The burn grounded me.
• Women.
• The one goddamn thing I could never control.
• First Jasmine… sweet, pure, my chosen Luna in the absence of a fated mate. She turned out to be a snake, sleeping with my rival, feeding him information about my pack’s weaknesses. I exiled her without a second thought.
• But the void she left never closed.
• After that, I turned to logic.
• If fate wouldn’t give me a mate, I’d create my own destiny.
• Surrogacy made sense. Cold. Clinical. Safe.
• But that didn’t go as planned either.
• The hospital back home failed me. The women got clingy. Obsessed. Even the so-called nurses.
• So, I crossed the country, came here to the human cities where anyone would barely recognize me. I asked for a werewolf surrogate. Strong. Quiet. Efficient.
• So how the fuck did my seed end up inside an innocent girl without her consent?
• A human?
• Someone was going to pay for this.
• The intercom buzzed.
• “She left, Sir,” the receptionist said. “A staff member saw her slip out around dawn. She ran. Looking upset.”
• My heart did something strange.
• Tightened.
• Twisted.
• Cracked.
• “Did she… steal anything?” the receptionist asked cautiously.
• Yeah. My sanity. My peace of mind.
• “No,” I muttered, and dropped the line.
• My hand curled around the shot glass.
• Crack.
• It shattered in my fist.
• Blood dripped down my fingers.
• “Shit!” Renan cursed, suddenly beside me. “Easy, man.”
• I hadn’t even heard him come in.
• “What the hell happened?” he asked, stepping around the broken glass.
• “I need you to find someone.”
• “Let me guess. Millie-Rose?”
• I whipped around. “How do you know that name?”
• He smirked. “The Receptionist. She talks too much. Said you brought in Millie-Rose Harvey. Big-deal human actress, apparently.”
• I blinked. What?
• That was Millie-Rose Harvey?
• The famous actress with a spotless record I heard of once or twice?
• No scandals. No men. No public drama.
• And now… pregnant. With my child?
• My mouth went dry.
• She wasn’t just running from me. She was running from everything. Her career. Her reputation. The life she’d built.
• “And she’s trending right now,” Renan added, handing me his phone.
• The screen was already open to a blog headline.
• “Millie-Rose Harvey Caught In Love Triangle Scandal… Cheating? Pregnant?!”
• Countless numbers of comments. Photos. Theories.
• People were tearing her apart.
• “She left in a rush, probably trying to avoid the media circus,” Renan said.
• I clenched my jaw.
• “She’s carrying my child,” I said quietly. “Find her. Today.”