Examination

MAYA

The night air outside the estate was cool and damp, carrying the crisp scent of pine from the surrounding mountains. I wrapped my thin shawl tighter around my shoulders, stepping softly along the cobblestone path near the back garden. I just needed a moment away from the suffocating tension inside the manor, a few minutes to breathe without feeling the heavy weight of the Alpha’s house pressing down on my chest.

As I rounded the corner near the kitchen entrance, low, whispered voices cut through the quiet night.

I froze instantly, pressing my back flat against the cold stone wall of the pantry exterior.

"Are you sure about this, Luna?" a nervous male voice whispered. I recognized it immediately—it was Jonas, one of the kitchen staff who answered directly to Maria.

"Don't question me, you idiot," Maria’s sharp, venomous voice hissed back. She was standing in the deep shadow of the archway, her robe wrapped tightly around her. "It’s a simple task. A few drops of the nightshade extract in her morning broth. It’s subtle. It will look like a natural cramping, a sudden misfortune. The baby in her belly goes, and the problem is solved forever."

My heart did a violent, terrifying drop into my stomach. I placed a trembling hand over my abdomen, my knuckles turning white as I gripped my dress.

"If the Alpha finds out..." Jonas stammered, his voice trembling with fear. "If he discovers it was poisoned—"

"The Alpha won't discover anything!" Maria snapped softly, her voice dripping with lethal authority. "He thinks she’s a helpless, low-class girl. He won't run a blood diagnostic if it looks like a simple miscarriage. Just do as I tell you, or I’ll have you thrown into the dungeons before sunrise."

I didn't wait to hear another word. I stepped backward, lifting the hem of my skirt so the fabric wouldn't rustle against the gravel. Step by careful step, I sneaked back into the darkness of the garden, making sure they never knew I had heard their sick, deadly plan.

When I made it back to my small attic room, I slammed the door and locked it, my back sliding down the heavy wood until I was sitting on the cold floor. My entire body was shaking with a mixture of horror and cold, blinding rage.

Maria was absolute evil. She had murdered me eighteen years ago with a blow to the head, stripping away my life, my name, and my royal right. Now, seeing me carry the Alpha's bloodline, she was ready to kill me twice. She was ready to butcher my unborn child just to protect her stolen throne.

I kept the secret to myself for two full days.

I didn't eat a single drop of broth, soup, or open food from the kitchen. I survived on sealed fruits and plain water I grabbed myself from the pantry when no one was looking, pretending to have a poor appetite due to early pregnancy nausea.

But those two days were agonizing for another reason. Alpha Edward stayed completely away from me.

He didn't come to my room. He didn't walk past my corridor. He didn't come to my bed for sex. In fact, ever since the doctor had confirmed I was pregnant, he hadn't touched me or come near my bed at all.

I hated it. I hated the sudden distance. It felt like he was drifting far away from me, retreating behind his cold Alpha walls now that he knew a child was secured. I needed his obsession. I needed his intense, searching gaze on me every single day if my plan to destroy Maria and take the crown was going to work. I couldn't let him grow distant.

On the third night, as the grandfather clock downstairs struck midnight, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I stood near the center of my dark room, took a deep breath, and let out a sharp, piercing scream.

"Help! Someone help me!" I cried out, making my voice sound wild, desperate, and filled with sheer terror.

Within less than thirty seconds, heavy, frantic footsteps thundered down the stone corridor. The door was thrown open with immense force, crashing against the wall.

Alpha Edward rushed into the room, his dark hair messy, wearing only thin sleep pants, his bare chest broad and imposing in the dim moonlight. His amber eyes swept the room with lethal sharpness, his Alpha aura flaring so hard the air vibrated.

"Maya!" he barked, closing the distance between us in two long strides. His large, warm hands grabbed my shoulders, pulling me close. "Are you okay? What happened? Did someone enter your room?"

I looked up at him, my eyes wide and shimmering with deliberate, unshed tears. I reached down, grabbing the edges of my nightgown, nervously twisting and folding the white fabric between my fingers as if I were a helpless, terrified girl on the verge of a breakdown.

"I... I had a terrible nightmare," I whispered, my voice trembling perfectly. "I dreamed someone was standing over my bed with a knife... trying to take the baby. I'm scared, Edward. I'm so scared, and I need to stop sleeping alone in this dark hallway."

Edward’s expression softened, the violent tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction as he looked down at my pale, trembling face. He ran a heavy hand over his jaw, letting out a low, breathy sigh.

"I will get two full-time guards posted right outside your door starting tonight," he assured me, his voice deep and steady. "No one will touch you, Maya. I give you my word."

"No," I cut in softly, shaking my head and taking a small step closer to him, letting my chest lightly brush against his warm skin. I looked directly into his eyes, projecting pure vulnerability. "Guards outside the door won't help me sleep. I want someone to hold me tight while I sleep. I can't be in this bed by myself."

Edward paused. He stared down at me for a long, heavy moment, his amber eyes darkening as he took in the sight of my bare shoulders, my soft lips, and the helpless posture I was putting on. A battle raged clearly behind his eyes—a conflict between his official duty and the overwhelming pull he felt toward me.

"Just for tonight," Edward finally agreed, his voice dropping into a rough rumble. "I will stay here with you tonight. But starting tomorrow, I will hire a dedicated female maid to stay in the adjacent room and attend to you round the clock."

"Thank you," I murmured softly, letting out a fake sigh of relief as I stepped back toward the bed.

He climbed onto the narrow mattress beside me. The contrast between his towering, muscular frame and the small twin bed was stark, but as soon as he pulled the blanket over us, his massive arm wrapped around my waist, pulling my back flush against his broad chest. The sheer heat radiating off his body enveloped me instantly.

We lay there in the quiet room for nearly an hour. Edward’s breathing eventually slowed down, turning heavy and rhythmic as he drifted into a deep sleep.

I stayed wide awake. The ghost inside me was restless.

Slowly, silently, I turned over to face him in the moonlight. He looked younger when he slept, the harsh lines on his forehead relaxed, his dark eyelashes casting soft shadows over his cheekbones. My eyes drifted down his body, tracking the defined lines of his chest down to his waist.

I carefully pulled back the thin blanket. Reaching down, I unfastened the tie of his sleep pants, sliding the dark fabric down just enough to release his heavy, rigid length into the cold night air.

He stirred slightly, a soft groan escaping his throat, but he didn't wake up.

I shifted down the bed, slipping onto my knees between his legs. I leaned forward, wrapping my lips around the thick tip of his shaft, taking him deep into my mouth.

Edward gasped instantly. His eyes snapped open in the dark, his hands flying down to grab my hair, his fingers tangling tightly into the dark strands.

"Maya... stop," he rasped, his voice thick with sleep and sudden, overwhelming shock. He tried to pull my head back, his muscles locking up. "Maya, no... listen to me. I want to start sleeping with you properly... as my wife, when the ring is on your finger, not as a maid or a servant in this attic..."

I didn't pull away. Instead, I tightened my grip on his thighs, looking up at him through my lashes in the dim moonlight while taking him even deeper, letting my tongue swirl smoothly over his sensitive skin.

The sheer, addictive sweetness of the suction I gave him completely paralyzed his willpower. The words died right in his throat. He couldn't bring himself to push me away or tell me to stop.

"God... Maya..." Edward groaned, his head snapping back against the pillow as his hips bucked involuntarily against my mouth. His hands shifted from pulling me away to holding my head firmly in place, guiding my rhythm as a dark, frantic heat took over the small room.

For nearly thirty minutes, the only sounds in the quiet attic were his ragged, heavy breaths, the rustle of the sheets, and the slick, wet rhythm of my mouth working over his body. I gave him everything I had, driving him past the brink of his Alpha control until his whole body went rigid.

With a low, guttural roar that vibrated through the mattress, Edward surged forward, coming intensely all over my mouth and across my face.

I swallowed greedily, letting out a soft, breathy sigh as I wiped my chin with the back of my hand.

As Edward lay back on the bed, panting heavily with his eyes closed, catching his breath from the sheer intensity of the release, a sudden instinct made me turn my head toward the small glass window set into the heavy wooden door.

My blood ran cold for a split second.

There, framing the small glass pane in the dark corridor, was Maria.

She was peeping straight through the window, her face pale, her eyes wide with a terrifying mix of fury, jealousy, and utter shock as she watched the entire scene play out. When her eyes met mine through the glass, I didn't hide. I slowly raised my hand to my lips, licking a lingering drop from the corner of my mouth, giving her a cold, victorious smirk.

Maria pulled back into the shadows of the hallway and vanished.

By the early hours of the morning, long before the sun began to rise over the mountains, Edward stirred. He sat up, pulled his clothes back into place, and looked down at me with an intense, burning expression filled with raw possession.

"I have an urgent early meeting with the pack elders regarding the wedding preparations," he said softly, leaning down to press a firm, lingering kiss against my forehead. "Rest today, Maya. I will have breakfast brought up to you."

"Be careful," I whispered softly, acting like the devoted woman he expected.

He gave me one last long look before slipping out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

I lay back against the pillows, exhausted from the long night, closing my eyes to finally get a few hours of real sleep.

I hadn't even been resting for ten minutes when the iron latch on the door clicked sharply.

The heavy wooden door swung open, and Luna Maria stepped into the room.

She didn't look like a Luna today. Her hair was slightly unkempt, her silk robe thrown messily over her shoulders, her face twisted into a dark, frantic sneer. She slammed the door behind her, throwing the bolt into place with a loud, metallic clink.

She marched straight over to the side of my bed, towering over me as I sat up.

"Get up," Maria commanded, her voice dropping into an icy, venomous register that trembled with repressed rage. "Open your legs."

I narrowed my eyes at her, pulling the blanket tight around my chest. "What are you talking about, Maria?"

"I said open your legs, street rat!" Maria spat, reaching down to grab the edge of my blanket, yanking it back with brute force. Her eyes were bloodshot, glowing with a dangerous, unstable light. "The pack doctor is unavailable this morning, and after what I just witnessed through that window, I need to verify things myself. I am going to examine your vagina right now to check the state of your cervix and ensure that pregnancy isn't a lie you're using to steal my husband."

"I must look stupid to her," I murmured under my breath. This woman is in  love wth my vagina.

She reached out, her fingers curving like claws as she stepped closer to the edge of the mattress.

I sat up straight, the soft, timid street girl vanishing in an instant, replaced by the cold, lethal spirit of the queen she had murdered.

"Touch me," I whispered, my voice chillingly calm as I stared her dead in the eye, "and I promise you, Maria, my vagina you can toil with till you die.