Chapter 163 He Chooses Eira

Eira and Lila watched Luna Margaret pace outside the diner with her phone pressed to her ear. Across the table, Isabella kept going on about the money like a broken record.

"Are either of you even listening to me?" Isabella snapped.

"Nope," Lila said, not looking up. "And nobody’s making me."

Isabella snatched the flight itineraries off the table. "Unbelievable."

Eira ignored them. Her eyes stayed on Luna Margaret.

Her mother’s expression shifted from calm to stunned, then tense. She kept glancing back at their table as she listened, her brow drawing tighter by the second.

Something had happened.

Eira felt it in her gut.

When Luna Margaret finally came back, her voice was short and tense. "We’ll deal with the evidence later. Something came up. Isabella, we’re leaving."

"What? But the money..."

Luna Margaret grabbed her daughter by the arm and pulled her toward the door before she could finish.

Lila blinked after them. "She’s walking away from the money? Just like that?"

Eira was already on her feet. "We’re following them."

"Already on it." Lila opened her rideshare app and requested a car. The moment Luna Margaret’s SUV pulled away, Lila gave the driver the address.

As they merged into traffic, Lila frowned at the road ahead. "I don’t get it. Luna Margaret wants that money back more than she wants oxygen. What could possibly be more important?"

Eira narrowed her eyes. That was exactly what bothered her.

Luna Margaret Hale treated money like most wolves treated territory. Whatever had pulled her away from the evidence had to be serious.

The rideshare followed Luna Margaret’s SUV to the edge of Hale Pack territory. Before they crossed the boundary, Eira told the driver to pull over.

There was no point following the Hales onto their own land. Their border patrols would spot them before they got close enough to learn anything useful.

"Take us back," Eira said.

Lila looked disappointed. Then her expression brightened. "What if I put a few people on the Hales? Just keep tabs on the family."

Eira nodded. "Do it."

Lila pulled out her phone and started sending texts. "I’ll have updates before they know they’re being watched."

--

Inside the Hale estate, Isabella pulled free the moment the door shut.

"I thought we were working with Eira. Why did you bail on her? And what was with the secret-agent routine?"

Luna Margaret’s palms were slick with sweat. She ignored the question.

"Call your father. Tell him to come home. Now."

Isabella’s stomach dropped. "Is the Pack in trouble?"

"It will be if you don’t make that call. Move."

Alpha Sebastian and Alpha Roger arrived within the hour, both looking grim.

Alpha Roger dropped into an armchair. "All right. What’s going on?"

Luna Margaret looked at Alpha Sebastian.

He pulled a folded medical report from his pocket and handed it to his father. His voice was low.

"Serena’s pregnant."

Alpha Sebastian hated himself for losing control.

He hated himself even more for not warning Serena afterward.

He could still explain the money to Eira. But a pup was different.

Alpha Roger closed his eyes.

Isabella recovered first. Her shock quickly turned into suspicion. "She gets pregnant the second we start coming after her for the money? That’s not suspicious at all."

"What money?" Alpha Roger asked.

Isabella went quiet. She had been told not to say anything.

Luna Margaret sighed. "Eira has been building a case against Serena. She wants to recover the money Sebastian spent on her during the affair. "

Alpha Sebastian’s eyes widened.

Alpha Roger’s frown deepened. "I thought Eira said she wanted nothing from this family."

"Nothing?" Luna Margaret scoffed. "Do you know how much Sebastian handed that woman? We’re just supposed to let hundreds of millions of dollars walk out the door?"

"So you joined forces with Eira to take Serena to court?" Alpha Roger asked.

"We’re not suing our own son. Relax." Luna Margaret rubbed her temple. "And it doesn’t matter now. Serena is pregnant. I didn’t send Eira the evidence."

Alpha Sebastian’s head snapped up. "What evidence?"

Luna Margaret said nothing.

He already knew. She had gone through his phone.

His jaw tightened. "Next time, talk to me before you go digging through my things."

"Don’t pin this on me." Luna Margaret pointed at him. "One minute you’re throwing money at Serena. The next, you’re chasing after Eira. No one in this house knows what you want anymore."

She stepped closer.

"So pick, Sebastian. Serena and her baby, or Eira?"

Then she turned to Alpha Roger. "I say we keep the pup. Even if Eira comes back, she can’t give this Pack an heir. What good is a Luna who can’t continue the bloodline?"

Alpha Roger hesitated. The Hale line could not end with him.

"Eira can have pups," Alpha Sebastian said sharply, his voice carrying the Alpha’s authority.

"Then why hasn’t she had one in four years?" Luna Margaret shot back. "And don’t blame yourself. If you were the problem, Serena wouldn’t be pregnant."

Alpha Sebastian opened his mouth, but no answer came.

Only he knew the truth. Eira had never conceived because he had never touched her. Not once. He had held himself back every time, convinced that Serena was his true mate.

But after Eira left, everything changed.

Without her in front of him, she filled his thoughts. Serena faded into the background while Eira became clearer, brighter, impossible to ignore. The bond he had rejected for four years finally forced its way to the surface.

"Eira is the only woman I will ever call my mate," Alpha Sebastian said. Every word was firm.

Luna Margaret’s voice rose. "And what about Serena’s baby?"

"Eira wants pups. She loves them." His voice faltered for the first time. "I never gave her the chance."

The room fell silent.

Alpha Roger stared at him. Then his face hardened with fury.

"You damned fool."

A pup would have tied Eira to the Hale Pack. She might never have left.

Her identity was already public now. If she had still been here, the Hale Pack could have claimed her as their Luna and enjoyed every advantage that came with her name.

But Alpha Sebastian had never given her a pup. He had kept her outside the Pack’s inner circle while Serena enjoyed its protection, money, and resources.

Alpha Roger’s expression darkened. "You had a healthy mate under your roof for four years and never even tried to secure the bloodline?"

Alpha Sebastian lowered his eyes. "I was a fool. That’s why I’m done being one."

He looked at his parents.

"Forget the money. Consider it Serena’s settlement."

Luna Margaret still looked uneasy. "You can let it go, but Eira won’t. "