Chapter 29: Like A Dream

Selene’s POV

I got to Winterwood as fast as I could. I even arrived before the king and his army, and that was paramount ... because if I hadn’t, my head might have been the next thing on the chopping block.

"How did it go, Alpha?" I asked.

Lucian’s face was closed off, the kind of expression that made it clear he wasn’t interested in giving anyone his time or his answers.

"We were victorious," Kael said, filling the silence.

"Told you they were nothing for us." Tessa’s voice dripped with sarcasm, as if she needed the whole room to know she’d been right.

Lucian didn’t look like a man who’d just won. He looked like a man carrying something heavy ... guilt, maybe, or just the weight of what he was. A killer. That was what he was, what he’d always been. He killed for a living, so why he looked troubled after putting down a pack of rogue wolves was beyond me.

I didn’t go to him. He needed to be alone. Everyone dispersed to their rooms.

So did I.

I laid down and that’s when it hit me ... a wave of unease unlike anything I’d ever felt before. A sharp, twisting pain in my stomach. Sudden dizziness. Then the unmistakable urge to throw up.

I bolted to the toilet and barely made it. My body heaved with intense force, again and again, until I couldn’t even hold myself upright.

"Nurse! Nurse!" I called out, my voice cracking as the floor started spinning beneath me.

"It’s what you think it is, Selene." Nara’s voice surfaced in my head, calm as ever.

No. It couldn’t be. I took the precautions. I was careful. I was always careful. I kept telling myself that ... right until the floor rushed up to meet me and everything went dark.

I woke up in a hospital bed.

A doctor had his stethoscope pressed to my chest. A nurse was checking my pulse. Everything was too white, too bright, too quiet.

"Doctor, what’s wrong? Am I okay? It can’t be anything serious." The questions tumbled out of me one after the other, but the man refused to answer a single one.

"We’ve alerted the Alpha. He’s on his way," was all he kept saying.

Twenty minutes. That’s how long I lay there, my heart hammering in my chest, before Lucian finally walked through the door with Kael right behind him ... as always.

"Welcome, Alpha. We have news regarding Ms. Selene."

"What is it, doctor?" Lucian asked.

"She’s two weeks pregnant, Alpha."

My eyes snapped wide open.

It felt like a dream. Like someone had pulled the floor out from under me and I was just... floating. Someone come pinch me. Right now. Wake me up.

"Doctor, are you sure?" I asked, needing to hear it again.

"Yes, Ms. Selene. You’re pregnant. The symptoms you’ve been experiencing are consistent with early pregnancy, and the test result came back positive."

"So she’s carrying a little pup?" Lucian asked, and I caught it ... a faint smile trying to break through the surface of his face. He was fighting it, trying to keep it contained. But I saw it.

The doctor nodded.

"My king, she’ll need ultimate care and attention throughout the pregnancy, right up until she gives birth. That’s why you were called ... because you are responsible for this child."

I kept my eyes on Lucian. He moved closer to me.

"How are you, Selene?"

A simple question. But coming from him ... from him ... it carried weight I wasn’t prepared for. I had never seen him like this. There was something open in his face, something that almost looked like joy.

"You’ll need rest and to stay away from any stress, okay?"

I nodded. Yes, sir.

He instructed the nurses to discharge me and arranged for me to be taken to his chambers. "There’s a car waiting outside," he said.

They walked me out and helped me into the vehicle. When Lucian got in, we drove straight to the Alpha’s wing.

I was given a new room. Bigger. More beautiful than anything I’d had before. It had everything ... draped in luxury, designed with intent. So this was what carrying a pup could do. Damn. Life had just gotten a lot more interesting, even if I wasn’t sure how I felt about the pregnancy itself.

Because the truth was ... I wasn’t happy about it. Not fully.

It would slow me down. Pull me away from the things I was building, the ambitions I was chasing. A pregnancy wasn’t something I had room for in the version of my future I’d imagined.

"Are you comfortable?" Lucian asked when he came back.

"Yes," I said honestly. The room was more than I could complain about.

I made a quiet promise to myself right then ... this pregnancy wasn’t going to hold me back. I was still going to live. Still going to pursue what I wanted. I just didn’t know how yet.

"You’ll find the answers you’re looking for soon, Selene," Nara whispered inside my head.

Can this dead bitch leave me the fuck alone?

Lucian stepped out onto the balcony ... high above the ground, the kind of height that made your stomach lurch just looking down. Someone handed him a microphone and a speaker.

I turned from where I lay on the bed, curious despite myself.

"Winterwood!"

His voice boomed across the entire territory. A roar came back in response ... hundreds of voices rising at once.

"I have news. One of my breeders is expecting a pup."

Chanting. Hailing. The sound swelled like a wave.

"Which breeder, Alpha?" a female voice called up from somewhere below.

"Selene Ironheart."

The cheer that followed was... measured. Polite, maybe, but not loud. They knew me. They knew I’d arrived in Winterwood on exile, that I’d only been made breeder because my life had been spared. I wasn’t exactly their favourite story. At least, that’s how it read from where I was lying.

"In a few months, Winterwood will welcome a baby ... and I will be a father."

That landed differently. Drums erupted. Trumpets followed. The celebration spread through the territory like fire.

The Alpha was the supreme authority. He could announce whatever he pleased. But I didn’t like it ... the idea of my situation being broadcast to everyone like a public declaration. Still, who was I to question him? He was the king.

And within minutes of him speaking, it was already everywhere. Every news headline I could think of had the story.

The breeder from Winterwood is carrying the king’s heir.

Different words, same truth. My name was suddenly in everyone’s mouth. Anyone who hadn’t known who I was before knew now ... because I was standing beside the king, whether I’d chosen that position or not.

Lucian came back inside. He looked at me and, this time, he didn’t hold back the smile.

"I’m glad. This news ... you made my day, Selene."

Something about the sincerity in his voice caught me off guard.

"Thank you for everything, Alpha," I said, and I meant it. Every word.

"No. Thank you."

He paused, then added, "There’s a press conference tomorrow. We’ll both be expected to speak about the pregnancy."

More exposure. More questions. Personal ones I’d have to actually answer.

A knock at the door.

"Come in," Lucian called.

Kael and Tessa stepped inside.

"Congratulations, Selene," Kael said, his smile easy and genuine.

"Congratulations, Selene. This is wonderful for the territory ... for all of Morvaine," Tessa said.

She looked the part. Said the right words. But her eyes were too steady, her smile too practiced. Tessa had always wanted to be the one standing where I was standing. She could cut the act ... it wasn’t working on me.

"She’s smiling," Nara murmured, "but don’t be dumb enough to ever trust her."

For once, dead girl, we agreed on something.