6: Strength

ELINNA

I sat up on the bed and looked at him like I hadn't heard him right.

“S-Sorry?”

He had a very scary look on his face and I wondered if I had genuinely done something wrong.

“Don't make me say it again. I said strip.”

I stood up from the bed and my hands shook as I looked at him. I removed my shorts that I had changed into and then took off my shirt. I remained handing in my panties and my bra.

I wondered what he wanted to do so I just obeyed. After all, I had made a vow to do so.

Carlisle's nostrils flared as he drank in the sight of me. "All of it."

His voice startled me that I took a step back before I started undressing.

The fact that I was standing naked in front of a man for the first time was not what bothered me..it was the fact that my body was shaking terribly while standing in front of him.

“Get on the bed. Spread your legs.”

W-What? What did that mean?

He surely didn't mean that, did he?

I got on the bed, my fingertips and feet cold in fear. Who was this man that I was seeing?

He undressed himself and got in the bed, positioning himself between my legs. I couldn't believe what was about to happen..that was not how I thought things were supposed to happen.

My breath came in shallow gasps as I slid the last barrier down my legs. Carlisle's heated gaze followed their descent, his jaw tightening when I stood bare before him.

"Beautiful," he murmured, dragging a single finger down my sternum. "But not nearly desperate enough."

Before I could process his words, he pushed me back onto the bed. My legs fell open instinctively, baring everything to his hungry gaze. His hands gripped my thighs, spreading me wider as he leaned down to inhale my scent.

"So sweet," he growled against my inner thigh, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin. "And all mine."

It hurt. Badly..even when it didn't go in on the first try, he didn't go easier. He just made it hurt more.

“Oh, it's your first time.”

I want it to end..I just want the pain to stop so that he can leave.

####

THREE MONTHS LATER

I traced the condensation on the windowpane, watching as droplets chased each other down the glass. Three weeks. Three weeks since Carlisle had last visited my gilded prison. Three weeks since he'd taken me against these very sheets before disappearing without a word.

The door creaked open, but I didn't turn. Only one person dared enter without permission these days.

"You haven't eaten." Lizzy's voice held an edge of worry as she set the tray beside me. "Again."

The smell of roasted meat turned my stomach. "I'm not hungry."

She sighed, her fingers brushing my shoulder. "You're wasting away. Look at you."

I didn't need to look. The mirror showed the truth - the hollows beneath my cheekbones, the purple shadows under my eyes. The Lycan Queen had become a ghost in her own palace.

Lizzy pressed a small paper bag into my hands. "At least take these."

I peeked inside - pain relievers, vitamins, and...

"A pregnancy test?" My head snapped up.

"You've been sick every morning for a week." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "You know what he'll do if..."

The unspoken words hung between us. Carlisle had made his stance on heirs clear - no child would bind him to a mate he despised.

“I want you to take it. I think you're pregnant.”

Pregnant. That would explain it. The fatigue, soreness, loss of appetite, everything that I thought was wrong with me.

I stood up immediately and walked in to the bathroom and did my business.

I brought the stick out and placed it on the table, while my heart was beating in my chest.

What if it's positive? That means I'm pregnant. I'm not ready to be a mother.

“If that test is positive..is this what you want to bring your baby into? This pain and suffering? He's not even treating you right. How will he treat the baby right?”

I wouldn't want to raise a child that he would hate. And I don't want my baby to think they're not loved. I would hate for that to happen.

But how do I leave a man that has taken over my life?

“But how would I leave? There is no way-”

My eyes caught the stick and saw the lines. There were two lines on it.

I am pregnant. I was carrying Carlisle's baby in me. The man who didn't give me, who didn't give me the time of day.

I sat down on the bed as my legs felt weak.

Lizzy left the table and came to sit beside me.

“Do you see what I'm saying now? You have to run for your dear life. He will not care that you're pregnant. I can't let you stay here and.have this baby. You have yourself, your baby and your mother to think about.”

The tears fell from my eyes.

“But where will I go? I can't leave my mother. I don't know what they will do to her. Besides,I don't have anywhere else to go.” My laugh was brittle. "He owns every inch of this territory."

"Not all of it." She gripped my shoulders. "There are places even the Lycan King can't reach. But we have to move fast - before he notices."

I stared at the positive test, the reality settling over me like a shroud. This wasn't just about survival anymore.

I cleaned my tears and looked at her

“Okay, I'll leave him.”

Carlisle's POV

margin-left:0.0000pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;">The Lycan pack desperately needed an Alpha-blooded Luna to bear an heir. So I targeted the only unmated daughter of the Sunshine Pack.

margin-left:0.0000pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;">But the moment I saw Elinna, I knew—she was the one fate had chosen for me. I ruthlessly took her virg-inity—only to be met with terrified sobs.

margin-left:0.0000pt;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph;">That look of horror on her face... it ignited something vicious in me. So I didn’t see her these past months.

I keep thinking about the way she looked at that man called Ben, and it drives me crazy. I'm afraid I can't control my anger and might hurt her, so the only thing I can do is avoid her.

However, the moment I sensed Elinna's absence, the world turned red.

Her scent—vanilla and wildflowers—had faded from our bed. The sheets were cold. The silence in our chambers was deafening, a void where her soft breathing should have been.

I stood in the center of the room, my claws extending, my canines sharpening. The beast inside me roared, demanding blood, demanding vengeance.

She's gone.

The realization hit like a blade to the chest. My mate. My queen. Mine.

And someone would pay for taking her from me.

"Find her."

My command shook the walls of the throne room. Guards scrambled to obey, their heads bowed, their bodies trembling. I could smell their fear—acrid and sharp—but I didn't care. Let them fear me. Let the whole damn world fear me.

"Search every inch of this territory," I snarled. "Tear apart every forest, every village, every fucking hole in the ground. If she's not here, expand the search. I want her found. Now."

The guards dispersed like shadows fleeing the dawn.

I turned to my Beta, my voice deadly calm. "Who was on duty last night?"

His throat bobbed. "Jensen and Rafe, my King."

"Bring them to me."

The two guards knelt before me, their faces pale.

"Explain," I said softly.

Jensen swallowed hard. "We—we didn't see anything, my King. The perimeter was secure. No one entered or left."

I leaned forward, my golden eyes burning into his. "Then where is my wife?"

Silence.

My claws slashed across his throat before he could blink. Blood sprayed across the marble floor, pooling like ink. Rafe screamed, scrambling back, but I was already on him, my hand around his throat.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know!" he choked. "But—but there was a scent. Faint. Like ozone and smoke. I thought it was nothing!"

My grip tightened. "Whose scent?"

"W-Wolves from the northern border. The Blackfang Pack."

I dropped him, my mind racing. The Blackfangs. Our enemies.

If they had touched her...

I didn't wait for reinforcements. I didn't need them.

The forest blurred as I ran, my lycan form tearing through the undergrowth. Trees splintered in my wake. The earth trembled beneath my paws.

Every instinct screamed at me to find her, to protect her, to kill whoever had dared take her.

Memories flashed behind my eyes—Elinna's eyes, the way she bit her lip when nervous, the warmth of her body curled against mine.

I failed her.

The thought was a knife twisting in my gut. I had sworn to keep her safe. Sworn to be her shelter. And now she was gone.

But I would find her.

And heaven help anyone who stood in my way.