Chosen To Be The Alpha's Surrogate

**I Penelope I**

The scent of frying bacon wafts through the tiny apartment, making my stomach rumble and my mouth water. I lean against the doorframe, watching as Malachi moves around the kitchenette with surprising grace for such a large man. *He looks good like this. So...at ease.*

It's as though he belongs here, in this cramped space, with me.

*With us.*

The thought sends a sharp, bittersweet pang through me. As much as I want to pretend, to lose myself in this fragile illusion of normalcy, I know it can't last. Sooner or later, Malachi will take our child, and I'll be left with nothing but a gaping hole where my heart is.

*Alone. Again.*

I know once he leaves and takes our child with him, he'll find someone who he deems fit to be our baby's mother. Someone who understands his world in a way that I don't. In a way that I probably never will, and I don't know if I can blame him.

Still, the idea of him with someone else, some faceless woman who can give him everything I can't, makes my chest tighten with an ugly feeling I don't want to examine too closely. *Jealousy.*

*Longing.*

*The pain of wanting something I know I can never have.*

I'm not stupid. I know I'm just a means to an end for him, a convenient incubator for his heir. He's made it clear that he intends to take our baby, to raise him in a world I don't know.

*A world where I don't belong. Where I'll never be good enough. Where I'll never be strong enough to protect what's mine.*

Shaking off the dark thoughts, I step into the kitchen, clearing my throat. Malachi glances up from the stove, his lips quirking in a small smile that does funny things to my insides, even as I try to quash the feeling.

"Hey," he says, his voice a low rumble that seems to vibrate through my bones. "Hungry?"

"Starving," I admit, rubbing a hand over my belly. "This kid of yours is a bottomless pit."

His smile widens, his eyes dropping to my stomach with a look that's equal parts wonder and possessiveness. "He's going to be a handful, that's for sure."

*He. Our son.*

It doesn't feel real, this tiny life we've created. This impossible, miraculous thing that's both a part of me and a part of him.

*A part of us.*

I swallow hard, my throat suddenly tight. "Yeah, well, he's got a lot of growing to do. Gotta build those muscles to keep up with his badass dad, right?"

Malachi's gaze snaps to mine, something raw and fierce flaring in those icy gray eyes of his. For a moment, he merely stares at me, his face unreadable. Then he's turning back to the stove, his shoulders tense beneath his black t-shirt. "Right," he says, his tone carefully neutral. "Can't have my son being the runt of the pack."

*The pack.*

The words send a chill down my spine, a reminder of the vast gulf between our worlds.

*He's not just Malachi. He's something else.*

And our child... our sweet, innocent baby... is destined to follow in his footsteps. To inherit a legacy I know nothing about.

I don't want that for him.

But what choice do I have? Malachi's made it clear that he intends to claim his son, to raise him as his own. And as much as it kills me, as much as it feels like ripping out my own heart... *I'm not strong enough to stop him. I'm only human.*

The thought makes me feel small, helpless in a way I've never been before. All my life, I've had to be strong. I've had to fight and claw for every scrap of happiness, every ounce of control. But now? Now I just feel like a child, lost and afraid in the face of something so much bigger than myself.

*I don't want to be strong anymore. I just want...*

"Penny?" Malachi's voice cuts through my spiraling thoughts, concern threading through his tone. "You okay?"

I blink, realizing that I've been staring into space like a zombie. "Yeah," I say quickly, forcing a smile. "Just lost in thought, I guess."

He studies me for a long moment, his gaze piercing, like he can see straight through my flimsy facade. But he doesn't press. Instead, he nods and turns back to the bacon sizzling in the pan. "I had a Luna...a mate once," he says abruptly, his voice low and rough. "A long time ago."

I go still, my heart stuttering in my chest.

*A Luna?*

...

*A wife.*

"What happened?" I ask quietly, not sure I want to know the answer.

Malachi's shoulders hunch, his hands gripping the spatula like it's a lifeline. "She left me. She wanted a child, and I...I couldn't give her one."

*What..?*

Tears sting my eyes, my heart aching for the man in front of me. It's different when I know, know exactly how he feels.

*That's why he wants this baby so badly...*

...

*This is fate. It has to be. This can't be a coincidence.*

"I'm sorry," I whisper, my fingers itching to reach out, to offer comfort. But I clench them into fists at my sides, not daring to cross that line. "I'm sorry she hurt you like that."

He shakes his head, a bitter smile twisting his lips. "It was a long time ago. Ancient history."

But I can see the pain in his eyes, the scars that still linger. And in that moment, I feel a kinship with him, a sense of shared brokenness that forms a knot at the edge of my throat. *We're not so different after all.*

Both of us are damaged, struggling to trust, to believe in the possibility of something good.

Malachi clears his throat, breaking the heavy silence. "Anyway, it taught me an important lesson. That love, *real* love, isn't about duty or obligation. It's about choice. About seeing someone, really seeing them, and deciding that they're worth fighting for."

My breath catches, a traitorous flicker of hope sparking in my chest.

*Could he mean...*

"Penelope," he says quietly, turning to face me fully. "I need you to understand something. My world...it's not like yours. It's dangerous."

I shiver, memories of glowing eyes in the dark and the coppery scent of blood flashing through my mind. "I know. I saw...that night in the alley...I saw what you did to those men."

He nods, his jaw tight. "That was just a glimpse, Penny. Just a taste of what I'm capable of. What our son will be capable of."

Fear and awe war in my chest, the weight of his words sinking into my bones.

*Our child...he's not human. He's something else, something powerful and terrifying.*

"What are you, exactly?" I whisper, my fingers curling into the hem of my shirt. "What...what is our baby?"

He sighs, his eyes closing briefly. "He's special. Unique. A blend of my bloodline and yours, of two worlds that were never meant to meet."

"But what does that *mean*?" I press, frustration and fear sharpening my tone. "You keep saying that, but you never explain. You never tell me the truth about what you are or what you can do."

He opens his eyes, the icy gray swirling with flecks of gold. "The less you know, the safer you'll be. There are things out there, Penny. Things that would hunt you, hurt you, just for being connected to me."

I swallow hard, my heart pounding in my throat. "I don't care. I need to know, Malachi. I need to understand what I'm dealing with."

He stares at me for a long moment, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "I'm a werewolf."

The words hang in the air between us, and at first, I merely blink, my mind struggling to process it. Then, I'm fighting the urge to laugh. "A werewolf?" I can't help it, snorting in a half-suppressed chuckle. "You're a werewolf?"

I throw my head back laughing, unable to contain my laughter. But as my laughter dies in my throat, I take in Malachi's expression. He's not smiling, not even a flicker of amusement in those piercing gray eyes. Instead, he looks...wounded. Vulnerable in a way I've never seen before.

*He's serious...*

"Malachi..." I whisper, my voice trembling. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. It's just...werewolves? They're not real."

He sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I know how it sounds, Penny. Like something out of a fucking fairy tale. It's what happens when the media desensitizes you to the idea that monsters are real. But I'm telling you the truth. I am a werewolf. And our son...he'll be one too."

I stare at him, my mind reeling. A part of me wants to deny it, to cling to the rational, logical world I've always known. But another part of me...a deeper, more primal part...knows he's telling the truth. It's the only thing that makes sense, the only explanation for the impossible things I've seen, the power I've felt thrumming beneath his skin.

*And the dreams I had in his house...*

...

*When I call him the Big Bad Wolf, I never thought he was actually a wolf...*

"Okay," I say slowly, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Okay, let's say I believe you. What does that mean? For you, for our baby?"

He's quiet for a long moment, his gaze distant. "It means...a lot of things. It means enhanced senses, strength, speed. The ability to shift to a wolf form. A heightened drive to protect, to defend what's ours."

His eyes meet mine, something fierce burning in them. "It means a connection to the wild, to the primal forces of nature. A place in a pack, a hierarchy as old as time."

I swallow hard, trying to wrap my mind around it all. "And you...you're what? The leader of this pack?"

A smile flickers at the corner of his mouth, there and gone in a heartbeat. "Something like that."

I nod, feeling like I'm in a daze. "And our son...he'll be like you? A...a born wolf?"

"Yes." His gaze drops to my belly, a mix of awe and longing and something fiercely protective flashing across his face. "He'll be strong and powerful in ways you can't imagine. And..." his voice trails off.

He eyes me for a moment, something lingering at the tip of his tongue. But then, he thinks better of it, and he sighs, averting his gaze away from me. "And that's enough for now."

I want to know more, want to push for him to tell me everything. But I know that I can only ask for so much at once. We're just barely starting to talk. If I push harder, I'm afraid I'll push too hard and he'll shut me out completely. So I hold my silence as I stand here, my mind reeling with the weight of the realization that my world will never be the same.