Three

CHAPTER THREE

Kiara’S POV

Two months had passed since the night that changed everything.

Two months since I had opened my eyes in an unfamiliar room and believed, for a few foolish minutes, that Maelor had finally returned to me.

Two months since I discovered that the man who had carried me into that room had never been my husband.

Two months since Cassian, the man everyone had believed was dead, returned to the pack.

And for two months, I had done everything I could to avoid him.

Whenever I heard that Cassian was in the main house, I found an excuse to remain in my room. Whenever I saw him from a distance, I changed direction before he could notice me, and whenever his voice reached me from somewhere nearby, my heart would begin beating so hard that I would have to remind myself to breathe.

I didn't know what frightened me more, the fact that I had spent that night with Maelor's stepbrother or the fact that I could still remember every detail of it.

I remembered his voice, I remembered his scent, I remembered the strength of his arms when he caught me and most of all.

I had spent two months pretending that night had never happened.

I had told myself that it had been the fertility seed, that I had not been in my right mind, and that whatever had happened between Cassian and me belonged to the past but my body refused to let me forget.

Something had been wrong with me for the past few weeks.

At first, I thought it was stress.

With Cassian's return, the entire pack had changed. The warriors treated him with a respect that made it obvious they had never truly forgotten him, while Maelor, who had once walked through the pack as though he owned everything beneath the Moon Goddess, had become increasingly tense.

He was afraid of Cassian, everyone could see it.

Maelor had only become Alpha because Cassian had disappeared during the northern war and everyone eventually believed that he was dead. With no heir to return to, the elders had placed Maelor on the Alpha throne but Cassian was alive and now that he had returned, Maelor's position was no longer secure.

The fear in my husband's eyes whenever Cassian entered a room told me more than his words ever could.

Still, none of that explained what was happening to me.

My appetite had changed, some foods that I had always loved suddenly made my stomach turn, while I found myself craving things I had never cared for before.

I had also been unusually tired but I had tried not to think about it.

There was another possibility that I had deliberately refused to consider.

My period was late, not a few days late, much later than it should have been.

I had noticed it weeks ago, but I kept telling myself that stress could affect a woman's body, and with everything happening around me, there was more than enough stress to explain it.

Besides, there was no way I could be pregnant.

There was simply no way.

Maelor had not touched me in almost a year.

I knew exactly how long it had been because I had counted the months in silence, hoping that one day he would come back to me.

He never did.

The only night I had been with anyone was the night I had spent trying to convince myself that Maelor had finally returned.

I refused to think about the truth, I couldn't, I was walking through the back corridor of the estate when a sudden wave of nausea hit me.

I stopped immediately, pressing one hand against the wall.

My stomach twisted violently. I barely managed to reach the washroom before I bent over and vomited.

When it finally stopped, I remained there for a moment, breathing heavily as I wiped my mouth with trembling fingers.

I hated this, I hated not understanding what was happening to my own body.

I slowly straightened and walked toward the sink, intending to rinse my mouth, but before I could reach for the glass beside it, another hand extended a cup of water toward me.

“Drink.”

My entire body went rigid, that voice...

Slowly, I lifted my eyes.

Cassian stood in front of me.

For a moment, I simply stared at him, he looked different from the man I remembered from that night, perhaps because this time his eyes were clear and his expression was calm, but the familiarity of his presence sent a strange shiver through me.

I immediately stepped back. “What are you doing here?”

His eyebrow lifted slightly. “Relax. Don't I have the right to help you with water?”

“I don't need your help.” I turned away from him, but he didn't move.

His gaze remained on me. “You have been vomiting.”

“I am fine.”

“You don't look fine.”

“I said I'm fine.”

He studied me for another moment, and I could feel his eyes following every movement I made.

Then, almost casually, he said, “I hope you aren't pregnant.”

My heart stopped.

I turned toward him so quickly that the room seemed to spin. “No.” The answer came out too fast.

Cassian's eyes narrowed. “No?”

“I can't be. I swallowed hard and forced myself to look away. “And even if I am, it none of your business, it has nothing to do with you”

His expression changed. “Nothing concerns me?”

I could hear the faint amusement in his voice, and it made my stomach twist for an entirely different reason.

He stepped closer. “But we spent a night together.”

My eyes widened.

Before he could say anything else, I quickly raised my hand and covered his mouth. “Don't.”

Cassian froze.

I looked toward the corridor, terrified that someone might have heard him. “What if someone hear you”

His eyes remained fixed on mine.

I lowered my voice. “No one can know about that night.”

He slowly removed my hand from his mouth. “And why is that?”

“i am your brother's wife”bThe words hurt more than I expected them to.

Cassian's expression became unreadable. “But he's there chasing another woman ”

“And ? “ I forced myself to meet his eyes. “It happened because of the fertility seed, and I didn't know what I was doing. I thought you were Maelor.”

“And when you realized I wasn't him?”

I had no answer, the memory of that night flashed through my mind.

His arms around me, his voice, his scar.

The way he had carried me when my legs could no longer support me.

I looked away. “I don't want to talk about it.”

Cassian watched me silently.Then he said, “Then do a proper checkup .”

He turned and walked away.

I watched him disappear down the corridor before finally allowing myself to breathe.

My hand slowly moved to my stomach.

Pregnant. The word echoed inside my mind.

No! I couldn't be, I had only missed my period because of stress, that had to be it, there was no other explanation but my hand remained against my stomach.

I closed my eyes and began counting silently.

One week, two weeks, three.

My breathing became shallow.

I opened my eyes. I counted again, this time more carefully, trying to convince myself that I had made a mistake but the numbers didn't change.

It had been far too long since my last period.

My heart began pounding. I thought about the nausea, the exhaustion, the strange changes in my appetite, then I remembered the fertility seed.

My fingers trembled against my stomach. “No,” I whispered to myself.

I couldn't know, not yet, I couldn't let myself believe it without proof because if I was pregnant, there was only one man who could possibly be the father and that man was the same man whose return had turned the entire pack upside down.

Cassian, Maelor's stepbrother, the rightful Alpha.

I pulled my hand away from my stomach as fear spread through me.

I had spent five years being terrified that I would never give Maelor a child.

Now, for the first time, I was terrified that I might actually be carrying one and I didn't know what would happen if that child truly existed…