XENA'S POV
I sat on the edge of the couch, my fingers curled tightly around the fabric of my skirt. My stepfather stood near the fireplace, arms crossed, his face unreadable. Chloe, that smug witch, lounged on the other couch like a queen, her legs crossed, lips curled in a satisfied smile. “I guess you know now,” my stepfather said finally, his tone flat. “About Chloe and Jason, so it’s time to move on.” “Move on?” I laughed bitterly, standing up. “Just like that? You expect me to forget everything and move on like none of this ever happened?” “You’re acting like you and Jason were married,” Chloe said, flipping her hair. “You weren’t, so stop acting like you owned him.” I turned to her, rage bubbling up again. “You already have a fiancé, Chloe! Or did you forget? Why are you after mine?” Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’m not marrying some random stranger just because Mom wanted me to. Please.” “That’s your business,” I snapped. “But leave mine alone!” Chloe leaned forward, a wicked smile on her face. “Too late for that, sis. And let’s not forget, Jason already denied your little ‘I’m pregnant’ stunt. So now you’re not just a rejected impure wolf…you’re a rejected impure wolf carrying a mystery child.” “It’s Jason’s!” I yelled, tears welling up in my eyes. “You know it is!” Chloe burst out laughing. “Oh, really? Let’s rewind to what Jason said. He used you, Xena. He never loved you, His words not mine, you’re nothing to him.” I shook my head in disbelief hoping I would just wait up and all of this would be different, like it was a bad dream or something but nope, it wasn't, Chloe did sleep with Jason. All these years of thinking that I finally belonged somewhere, that someone saw past my tainted blood but it looks like everyone was just the same, I’d been rejected, thrown away like trash and now…I was carrying a child and the worst part? Because of my own foolishness, the whole pack would soon know that an impure wolf lives among them. I couldn't bear the rage so I walked out of that place, completely letting the rain wash away the potion hiding my scent. I barely managed to get the few wolves off my back, but I knew it wouldn't take long before they found me. “I just got off the call from Jason, they said an impure wolf is running in our territory,” he turned to me, maintaining eye contact. “I wonder who that could be?” I looked up, my chest aching. “So what now? You want to throw me out?” My stepfather sighed. “This situation can’t go on. I can’t let you drag this family’s name through the mud.” “This family name?” I scoffed, staring at him in disbelief. “My mother built that name, you betrayed her, brought in some slut—” he cuts me off with a slap. “You are really growing a lot of nerves, so I think we need to teach you a lesson,” he growled, grabbing me by my hair. “Chloe, call the sentinels, tell them we found the impure wolf.” “Alright,” Chloe said in excitement. “We would be praised for turning in the damn thing, I would ask Jason to do the honors.” “Let go of me,” I screamed in pain, trying to free myself from his grip. Chloe reached for her phone in her bag, I knew if she made that call I would be totally screwed. The sentinels would tear me apart even before I would even have a chance to defend myself, I had to get out of here. I picked up the mug cup on the table and smashed it to my step father's head, he screamed in pain, his grip loosened, I quickly stood up rushing to the door, but before I could open the door, my step father was already on me…I guess that was the cruelty of my fate. Impure wolves can't outrun a werewolf, never has it happened, we were even slower than humans. “Get over here you bitch,” my step father spat, shoving me hard to the ground and started hitting me hard with his foot. My hands went straight to my belly trying to protect the little life growing inside me, it's not like it was going to make a difference anyway, we would both die very soon. “Dad enough,” Chloe shouted, pushing him away. “You would kill her before we even get the chance to watch the sentinels tear her into shreds.” He nodded in agreement, his breath hard already. “You guys can't do this to me,” I cried, locking eyes with Chloe. “Please I don't want to die, spare me child…we are sisters.” Chloe scoffed, her eyes filled with disdain. “I never liked you, Xena, everyday I always pray to the moon goddess, I even went to church to pray that you would be gone, I spent years trying to get mum's approval but no, everything I did was stupid, you never stood up for me back then so why I should I do that now?” She leans closer. “Say hi to mum in the afterlife.” “No,” I cried louder, trying to reach for her leg but my step father placed his foot on my fingers, crushing my bones so hard, I screamed in pain, watching his cold cruel smile playing on his lips. “Let's take her inside, I have called Jason to come with the sentinels,” Chloe said, her tone filled with excitement. “This is going to be so much fun.” They both laughed, nodding their heads in agreement. My step father grabbed my legs and pulled me into a room and slammed the door shut. Immediately I was alone, I forced myself up despite the pain in my abdomen, my hands went to my stomach as fresh tears flowed out. “I'm going to save you, my child, we are going to get out of here,” I muttered, forcing myself to walk towards the wardrobe. I flung the door open, searching desperately for the potion that hid my scent but I found nothing…I was all out. “No, I can't give up,” I muttered to myself. Fuck the potion, I just need to get out of here. I ran to the window. It was really far from the ground, but I didn't care, I knew I wouldn't die from the car…probably but I knew I would die if I stayed here. Without giving it a second thought, I climbed, jumped down, rolling hard to the ground, my hands instinctively went straight to my belly. My side screaming in pain, I struggle to get to my feet. I just needed to get far away from here. Just as I was about to take another step, my neighbor walked right in front of me. “Are you okay?” He asked, staring at me. His eyes filled with something dark. “I'm fine,” I muttered, under my breath. “I just need to get far away from here, can you help me please?” He paused, glancing around. “Your step father was never a good man, I knew something like this would happen.” He smiled and helped me up, taking me to his house. We were the only people living in that area, far away from civilization and humans. “Thank you so much,” I groaned in pain as he helped me to his couch. “Nah, it's nothing,” he waved his hand dismissively. “And besides it's not everyday you get to see an impure wolf.” Suddenly I froze, my eyes widened in realization. I completely forgot I wasn't wearing my perfume. I turned to him, my expressions flickered to fear, tears welling up in my eyes. “Please, please, Mr Lincoln, please don't call the pack on me, I promise to leave tomorrow night,” my hands went to my belly. “Please.” He smirked, sitting down next to me. “I don't think it's fair that impure wolves are persecuted.” “Really?” He nods. “There are better things to use them for,” his expression changed immediately, and before I could process what was happening, he lunged at me and raped me…brutally. Hours later, I was lying on the floor, tears flowing down freely, it was like my soul left my body and all that was left was an empty living shell. My vagina was on fire, I could feel sticky substances coming out, I wasn't sure if it was blood or his fucking cum. “Damn, you must have enjoyed yourself,” I heard my step father's voice. “Yeah, she was one tight slut,” Mr Lincoln laughed. I don't know what really happened again but everything fast forward to dawn. Chloe walked in with a bright smile on her face. “Rise and shine,” she smiled, crouching down beside me. “Mr Lincoln sent his appreciation, he couldn't stop talking about how fucking good you were.” I ignored her, turning to the other side. She leans closer, brushing the strains of hair that were covering my face away. “You know that stranger called, the one that mum wanted me to marry, I found out he paid mum a lot of money to marry me, he seems dangerous and he desperately wants what he pays for.” “I’m going to propose a deal, you’ll marry the slave your mother had originally arranged for me or—” she stood up, forcing me up and dragged me to the window. “You go with the sentinels.” A slow wicked smile played on my lips. If I go with the sentinels, Chloe would have to marry the stranger that means we both go down. I slowly turned to her. “Fuck you,” I chuckled darkly. But she smiled back. “I knew you were going to disagree,” she turns to the door. “Hey Dad, come in,” she shouted. “Trust me, you really don't have a choice.”Kael’s POVI stormed down the hallway with my fists clenched and jaw tight.What the hell was that?I couldn’t believe I’d actually said it. Shouldn’t you apologize? For what? Kissing her? I was the one who kissed her. I was the idiot who leaned in and made it awkward. And she—she didn’t even push me away, but then I made it worse by expecting her to feel guilty about it.Gods.I dragged a hand through my hair and kept walking, faster now, trying to outrun the embarrassment crawling up my neck. My chest felt like it was on fire. That wasn’t just dumb—it was childish. Since when did I act like a jealous teen?“Me?” I had said. Like I was offended. Like she did something wrong. I was angry at her for walking away—but now I was the one walking away like a brat.I reached the end of the corridor and leaned against the wall.Then, without thinking, I smacked my forehead against it.Thud.It hurt, obviously. Good. I deserved it.Thud.I did it again.“Sir?” a small voice behind me made me f
Xena's pov The baby wouldn't stop crying no matter what I did—rocking, walking, humming, begging—he screamed like he’d just been dropped from the moon and my head wouldn't stop pounding. My body felt like it was dragging weights. I couldn’t take it anymore.So, I did the only thing I could. I left the room.I stepped out onto the balcony, pulling the door shut behind me to muffle the crying. The night air was cool against my skin. It was quiet and calm. I inhaled deeply, a small smile forming on my lips like a prisoner just released from an underground prison and haven't felt fresh air in ages. The stars were out, shining like tiny fireflies trapped in the sky. It was very peaceful but not enough to stop the tension rising in me. I leaned on the cold railing and closed my eyes.I was so tired and I needed sleep but I couldn't even close my eyes for a second. I still couldn't get the meeting with the pack out of my head. It was obvious they still believed Chloe and wouldn't accept
Xena’s POVI sat quietly on the edge of my bed, my arms wrapped around my knees, my mind stuck on the kiss. It kept playing like a broken record—Kael’s mouth on mine, the heat, the tension, the way time froze and my body forgot to hate him. But what was more frustrating was the fact that it felt so familiar— there was this connection, one that couldn't quite be placed. I pressed two fingers to my mouth and shut my eyes. Damn it.What was that?And worse… Why did I want more?We hated each other. This wasn't an unspoken truth. This was real. We obviously despised each other and can't stand each other's presence but yet... he kissed me like he meant it.I was spiraling, sinking deeper into a mix of confusion, anger, and stupid, dangerous longing when the door creaked open.“Xena?”My head snapped up.“Susan!”She stepped in, her arms full with bags. Her long black curls were tied up today, her face tired but smiling.“Oh gods,” I stood up, the weight of everything crashing off my shoul
Kael's POVI sat in my office, my elbows on the table, hands gripping my head like it was the only thing keeping it from splitting in two. And it was because I had no explanation on why I kissed Xena. What the fuck was I thinking?“Fuck,’’ I screamed, covering my fave with my hands. I just wanted to get rid of the kiss of that witch but I ended up making it worse. Now she must think that I'm just some horny dude that fucks anything when he gets angry. The fuck… that wasn't me. I kept replaying everything in my mind trying to make sense of what happened or try to find something to excuse myself or defend myself but I found none. In fact I found regret on why I didn't go deeper. I didn't know what hit me first—the anger or the need. But before I could think, my mouth was on hers, and gods, I didn’t want to stop.And then she did.She pulled away. Apologized. And ran away. That was the first time I was the one left with red cheeks—- an insult to the name “Kael Noirfang”. And now I
Xena's pov. It took longer than usual to put the baby to sleep. He kept turning his head, searching, maybe confused like I was. His soft breathing finally evened out, tiny hands curled against his cheek. I stared at his face, brushing back a little curl that had fallen over his eye.He was beautiful. But he wasn’t Kael’s child. I knew that deep in my bones. So why the hell did the test prove otherwise?I was already pregnant when I met Kael. And even if I wasn't pregnant before meeting Kael,we still haven't done anything that would get me pregnant except if the Lycan Lord can make someone pregnant. I kept thinking about it, over and over, trying to make sense of it but nothing made sense. I looked out the window and saw Kael pulled up. He walked out of his car and looked towards my window, I hid behind the curtain— not sure why I did that though. By the time I summoned enough courage to look back, he was gone. I inhaled deeply, looking back at my baby still sleeping like he didn'
Author's pov The room was heavy with silence, until Orion slammed his fist against the wooden table. The sharp crack echoed across the stone walls. Distracted Chloe jumped in fear, her eyes wide, heart racing. Orion stood by the window, pacing like a caged beast, his hands clenched so tightly his knuckles had turned white."How could this happen?" he barked. "How?!"Chloe hesitated, trying to calm her racing thoughts. "Orion..."He spun around, his eyes blazing. "Don’t. Don’t start with that sweet voice now. This is your fault. All of it."Her lips parted, stunned. "Mine? It was your son who screwed up. He wanted to prove to you that he could be a badass and thanks to him Kael has changed all narratives.”"Ben is an idiot!" Orion snapped. "But you—you should have known better. You’re the smart one, Chloe. You were supposed to handle this."Chloe rolled her eyes. “Ben and Jared thought they could keep it under control.”"Under control?!" Orion shouted. “All that has been happening lat