One Month Later
KARIN’S POV
“Your levels are good, and you’re ovulating…I honestly can’t make heads or tails of this,” the doctor said. “By all accounts, you should be pregnant by now.”
“It’s hard to get pregnant when the other person won’t touch you,” I reply, frowning.
“That is an important piece of information that would have been beneficial to know.”
The butler’s face crumbles at the news. “Doctor, is there anything that you can do?”
The doctor shook his head. “The Second Prince is one of the healthiest people I know. Unless you’re proposing that I sit in the room with them and assist—which I’m certain will be uncomfortable for all of us—then there is nothing else that I can offer.” He paused. “Actually, if you two are having problems performing the act, there is the option of artificia
My entire body shook in front of him as I processed his request. His eyes shifted in color, and he watched silently, waiting for my next move. Hot tears burn my eyes, but I hold them off and close them. “Fine. If that’s what you want,” I say.I grabbed the hem of his pants and his breathing pattern harshen. Fumbling with his buckle, my bottom lip trembles, but I refuse to let him see me fall apart. Ansel grips my hand, stopping me, and I open my eyes. His eyes softened back to their blue, carrying a calm but brewing storm.“Wow…” he whispered as he distanced himself from me. He sat back on the bed. “Is that what you really think of me?” he asked.I sit on the floor, still shaken. “Honestly, I don’t know what to think of you anymore. I don’t understand you at all.”“Then you aren’t paying attention.” He places his head in his hands. “Why do you insist on making me out to be a villain? How could you think of me as such an ugly thing?”Standing, I walk over to him and rub his hair. He sh
“I wish I could tell you, but I didn’t see anything last night or this morning,” Maggie replies.“It’s okay, Thank you.”“Of course.”I stare pensively at the bouquet flowers.But if they were from him, how could he have come in here without me sensing his pheromones?Something Maggie said crosses my mind.‘He apparently had a strange look on his face and made an even stranger request of a vial of musk to mask his natural scent.’A smile pours on my face. There is no doubt in my mind that the flowers are from Ansel. No one else knows that they are my favorite flower because he always mentioned when we were younger how much I smelled like them. He always had a way of finding them even when they were out of season just to surprise me.The gesture left me both happy and confused. After what happened between us last night, I was certain that I would receive notice this morning that I was to pack my bags and leave immediately. I gently pluck a flower and take it into the bathroom to put in
I could hear the door of my villa open. “Get off of her!” Maggie shouted.“Or what? What you going to do?” Cherry said, loosening her grip.Past her, I can see the figures of Maggie and the doctor. Standing side by side, their eyes turned yellow, and they growled at her and her gammas. They’re going to attack with no regard for their own safety.Ada paced inside me, and the longer I watched them prepare to put themselves in danger, the angrier she grew towards Cherry and her gammas.“Not our friends,” she raged inside of me as she took over.From my mouth came a voice that didn’t sound like my own. “Stand down,” I strain out through the clutch of Cherry’s hand around my neck. “I will not let you be harm.” They stop as if almost in a trance-like state. They lower their heads slightly, though their bodies remain hunched as if waiting for my command. Fear flashes across Cherry’s face and she releases me. My eyes tinge in color at her, and I can feel the twist of my bones.“No, Ada!” I be
ANSEL POV Cherry opened her mouth to speak, but the fury on Ansel’s face kept her quiet. “Back away from her and call off your men or I swear to you, none of them will make it out of here alive.” Entering in droves, Ansel’s gammas square off with the others. They are bigger, stronger, and like their leader would attack without restraint. Maggie and the doctor are released. “S-stand down,” Cherry says to her gammas as she backs away. “Ansel I—” “Enough.”He didn’t want to see the full extent of Karin’s injuries. The blood that stained the gamma’s fists and boots left him with a sinking feeling. Reaching her, Ansel bent down and exhaled sharply at the sight. It was worse than he imagined; there was so much blood that covered her body, he could hardly make out her clothes. Her face was beginning to swell, and her fingers were bent back in an awkward position. He covered his mouth, and his bottom lip trembled in both anger and fear. “Why wouldn’t she fig
“Hold her down!” the doctor shouted to Maggie as Ansel entered the room. Karin tossed and turned on the bed, her wails growing more intense. “We have to keep her still.” He looked up at Ansel. “Sir, we need your help.” “Grab her legs, I have her arms,” Ansel said to Maggie. Working together, they pinned Karin to the bed. Her head rocked back and forth as she slipped in and out of consciousness. “Look at me, Little Wolf,” he coaxed. “Just focus on me.” “It hurts,” she mumbled as she calmed. “Just, please…” She closed her eyes, and her breathing shallowed.“No, Karin,” he said, releasing her arms. He craned her neck. “You can do this.” He removed the hair from her face. “If there is anyone I know that can pull through this it’s you. Do you remember when we were younger, and we went on that dare spree?” He chuckled sadly. “By the end, my hair was blue, and you had poison oak.”A painful smile formed on her lips, and she opened her eyes. “Y-you didn’t look too bad with blue
KARIN POV“You never grew tired before so easily,” Ansel teased me as he continued to play his piano.I leer at him. “I also was much younger, and you could play without botching a note. I guess a lot of things have changed.” He returned my glare, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Our banter has grown into something that I look forward to everyday. It reminded me of when we were younger and though he was sickly, Ansel could mentally spar with me better than anyone else.“Fine, Little Wolf, if you think you’re up for the challenge, how about we put your pointers to the test?”I arch my eyebrow at him. “What do you have in mind?” Instead of responding, Ansel changes the tempo of the song to something unfamiliar. “I don’t think I know this song,” I say.“That’s because I’m making it up as I go. You know I’ve always been one to keep you on your toes…literally.”His smug expression as he continues to play gets under my skin. Closing my eyes, I listen closely to the sound of his fingers hittin
My eyes grow to the size of plates. “What?”“I know all about you and your father joining the Full Moon Pack.” He took a pause between words as if waiting for me to deny it, but I didn’t. He nods again. “Good. I hoped that this would be an honest conversation between us. So, Full Moon Pack. Apparently, your father did very well there at first.”I exhale sharply. “Then I guess you know the rest. We’ve always joked that the only thing bigger than your father’s head was his classism, and the only thing bigger than my father’s belly was his ego.”“That we did,” he said with a small smile, and then he grew serious again. “He lost it all.”“And then some. Before I knew it, it wasn’t just the dance class I had to give up, but the clothes off our backs. That’s when the true fun began, the gambling. Overconfidence in a casino is a lethal combination. Nights without lights and heat soon followed, and then he couldn’t hide how bad it really was for us anymore.”“I’m sorry,” he says genuinely, an
One Week Later Watching the doctor closely exam me, I tilt my head. “You know what I just realized? No one ever calls you by your name.” He arched his eyebrow at me. “Is that your way of saying that you don’t know my name?” “No it’s me pointing out that most people call you doc or kind of just start a conversation with you.” He let out a chuckle that turned into a full laugh. “What’s so funny?” “I was only teasing, but you have no clue what my name is, do you? An entire friendship and professional relationship developed, and you haven’t the faintest idea about the name of the man who oversees your wellbeing.” Caught red-handed, I blush. “Alright, you figured me out. I know I should have asked, but it’s a little embarrassing. Sorry.” “It’s alright, Lady Karin,” he replied, his eyes gleaming. “Okay then, what is your name?” He smirked. “Doc.” “Hilarious.” Pulling out his identification card, he hands it to me and my mouth pa