MasukLUCIEN’S POVWe were both breathing hard, our chests heaving like we'd just run a marathon through hell and back. My body still trembled from the release, buried deep inside her, our sweat-slicked skin sticking together in the best way. The wall behind Adele was cool against my palms where I braced us, but nothing could touch the heat still pulsing between us. I leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to her lips—gentle this time, not the frantic hunger from before. It was a kiss that said everything I couldn't put into words right then."Adele," I whispered against her mouth, my voice rough and low, "what if you get pregnant?"The question hung there, heavy in the quiet room, mixing with the scent of us—of sex and sweat and something deeper, more permanent.I hadn't planned on saying it, but it slipped out, born from that raw fear I'd carried my whole life. My mom dying giving birth to me, my dad's endless blame—it all crashed back in that moment, twisting the afterglow into something vulne
LUCIEN’S POVThe palace halls were dead quiet as I dragged my ass back to our room, the weight of the day clinging to me like a second skin. It was late—way past midnight—and the moon hung high outside the windows, casting silvery shadows that did nothing to ease the knot in my gut. My muscles ached from the endless hours I'd buried myself in work: reviewing patrol reports, drilling the night guard, anything to keep my mind from spiraling into the shitstorm that had exploded on the training ground. After finally prying Andrea off my leg and sending him back with Naomi—promising him I'd see him soon, just to stop the tears—I'd gone looking for Adele. But she'd been holed up with Emilia, the queen herself, and I didn't have the balls to barge in and make things worse. Not when her silence earlier had already gutted me.I pushed the door open, the creak echoing in the empty space. The room was dark, save for the faint glow from a bedside lamp. "Adele?" I called out, my voice rough fro
DAMIEN’S POV I sat propped against the headboard, laptop balanced on my thighs, going through the latest security reports from the sacred lands. Numbers, maps, patrol schedules…dry stuff, but necessary. Rose was curled up beside me on the bed, wearing one of my black T-shirts that hit mid-thigh on her. She’d been pretending to scroll on her phone for the last ten minutes, but I could feel her eyes on me every few seconds. Quick glances. Then away. Then back again. Her legs kept shifting restlessly under the blanket. Pressing together. Releasing. Pressing again. I knew that little tell by heart. I closed the laptop with a soft click, set it on the nightstand, and turned to face her. “Is there something you want, baby?” Her cheeks went pink instantly. She shook her head too fast. “No…nothing.” But her thighs clenched again—harder this time. “You'll be gone for two days and I'll be here all by myself." She whispered. I let a slow smile spread across my face. “Andddd…?”
LUCIEN’S POV The word “Daddy” hung in the air like a curse, echoing in my skull long after it left Andrea’s mouth. My blood boiled, hot and furious, as I watched Adele’s back disappear into the distance. She didn’t look back. Not once. That silence from her—it cut deeper than any shout or slap ever could. The training ground, once full of energy and purpose, now felt like a goddamn prison, with every warrior’s eyes drilling into me like accusations I couldn’t escape. I snapped my head toward Naomi, who was standing there with that calm, almost smug look on her face, like she hadn’t just dropped a bomb in the middle of my life. My fists clenched at my sides, nails digging into my palms hard enough to draw blood. Anger surged through me, raw and unchecked, the kind that made my vision tunnel and my voice come out in a low, dangerous growl. “What the fuck are you doing?” I snarled, stepping closer to her, my body towering over hers. The warriors around us shifted uncomfortably,
ADELE’S POVI didn’t know how my feet carried me away from the training ground.I just knew that if I stayed one more second—if I heard that word again, if I felt one more pair of eyes on me, if I watched Lucien stand there with that child clinging to him—I was going to break in a way I might never recover from.So I walked.My vision blurred, the world around me fading into colorless shapes. Gravel crunched beneath my boots, the sound too loud in the silence roaring inside my head. My chest felt tight, like invisible hands were squeezing my lungs, refusing to let me breathe properly.Daddy.The word echoed again and again, cruel and relentless.I pressed my hand to my mouth as a sob threatened to escape. I swallowed it down, forcing myself to keep moving, even as my legs trembled beneath me.I didn’t stop walking until I reached the royal wing.And then I collapsed.Emilia caught me before I hit the floor.“Adele,” she gasped, wrapping her arms around me as my knees gave out. “Oh my
LUCIEN’S POVThe training ground was already alive when I arrived, the air sharp with early morning chill. The younger warriors were lined up in uneven rows, some stretching, some already sparring, their laughter and grunts filling the wide open space. Normally, this was where my mind cleared. Where I breathed. Where I remembered who I was beyond duty and chaos.Today, my chest felt tight.I stood at the edge of the field, hands clasped behind my back, eyes scanning the crowd as I oversaw their movements. Every misstep, every sloppy strike, every moment of hesitation—I caught it all. Or at least, I tried to.Because no matter how hard I focused, my awareness kept drifting to one place.Adele.She stood a few steps away from me, dressed in simple training clothes, her hair pulled back, her posture straight and calm. Too calm. But she was there. She hadn’t hidden. She hadn’t avoided me. She hadn’t locked herself away in her room or drowned herself in tears.She stayed.And God, I loved







