ANMELDENCiara's POVBreakfast with the Blackthornes had become a rather interesting experience lately, especially now that everyone was trying so hard to pretend there wasn't a complicated mate situation hanging over our heads. Dax had been behaving himself, although I still caught him watching Valerio whenever his elder brother spoke to me, and Valerio had kept his promise to give me space. I appreciated the effort from both of them because, frankly, I was already tired of thinking about which ancient part of my soul wanted which man.I had enough problems with my enormous stomach and the little troublemaker living inside it.At least something good had come out of the whole mess. Valerio was recovering wonderfully. He'd walked into the dining room that morning without his wheelchair, although his movements were still careful and he occasionally needed to steady himself. The healers had warned him against pushing his legs too hard, but I suspected convincing a Blackthorne Alpha to remain sea
Ciara's POV“If you tell me to relax one more time, I'm going to start charging everyone for touching my stomach. At least I'll make some money out of this.”The elderly healer chuckled without lifting his hand from my belly. I'd been lying on the examination bed for almost twenty minutes, and he was still checking the same areas he'd checked when I arrived. Dax stood beside me, watching every movement with that serious expression of his. I wouldn't have minded if he hadn't insisted on carrying me all the way here, as though getting pregnant had somehow damaged my legs.“Madam, we're almost finished. We need to be certain the energy you absorbed from Alpha Valerio hasn't affected the child,” the healer explained, and just like that, my complaints disappeared.I looked down at my stomach and rubbed the spot where my baby had been kicking earlier. That was the only reason I'd agreed to another examination. Ever since yesterday, I'd been thinking about the strange current I'd swallowed,
Dax's POVI stood outside Valerio's room longer than necessary, listening to the healer inside complain about something my brother had apparently done against medical advice. Under normal circumstances, I would have gone in and joined the argument. Watching Valerio irritate the healers had become one of the few entertaining things about his recovery, especially now that he could move his legs without enduring that terrible pain.But I wasn't here to celebrate his recovery.I pushed the door open and found him beside the window, sitting in his wheelchair with a report across his lap while an elderly healer examined his right leg. Valerio looked up, acknowledged me with a slight nod and returned his attention to the healer. He seemed annoyingly comfortable for someone who had nearly started a fight with me over my woman.“Leave us,” I told the healer.The man began gathering his instruments, but Valerio raised a hand. “Finish the examination. My brother can survive another five minutes.
Valerio's POVFor the first time in years, I could move my legs without feeling like someone was driving a heated blade through my bones.I had spent most of the morning staring at them, testing the smallest movements whenever the healers weren't looking. Bending my knees, stretching my feet and even shifting my weight in the wheelchair had become strangely fascinating, although the healers were beginning to lose patience with me.“Alpha Valerio, please stop moving. We need to finish examining the damaged pathways before you attempt anything else.”I glanced at the elderly healer crouching beside my chair and reluctantly stopped moving my foot. He had been examining me for almost an hour, occasionally exchanging disbelieving looks with his colleagues whenever another result confirmed what they were seeing.“You've checked that leg three times already.”“And I intend to check it again, Alpha.” He looked up at me, clearly unimpressed by my impatience. “Considering what happened yesterda
Ciara's POV“Babe, you've been staring at that wall for almost ten minutes. If you're waiting for it to explain what happened back there, I don't think it's going to help.”I slowly turned toward Inara, who was sitting beside me on the couch with her arms folded. She had brought me into one of the private sitting rooms after practically dragging me away from the medical wing, and although she'd been unusually patient with me, I could tell she was getting worried. I had barely spoken since we arrived, mostly because every time I tried to understand what had happened, I remembered Valerio's golden eyes and the terrifying way my body had responded to him.God, I was going insane.“Inara, I think something is seriously wrong with me.”Her expression changed immediately. “Are you feeling sick? Is it the baby?”“No, the baby's fine.” I rubbed my forehead, struggling to find the right words. “It's Valerio. I don't understand what happened, and the more I think about it, the more frightened I
Ciara's POV“You feel it too, don't you?”Valerio's voice was low, almost demanding, and his fingers remained wrapped around my wrist while he stared directly into my eyes. The golden glow in them had become so intense that I could barely recognize the normally calm man sitting before me. I tried looking away, but something inside my chest tightened whenever our eyes met, and the frightening part was that I didn't entirely want him to release me.What the hell was happening to me?“Valerio, take your hand off her.”Dax's voice was dangerously quiet. Before I could react, he caught my other hand and firmly separated my wrist from his brother's grip, pulling me against his chest. His golden-red current immediately surrounded us, and I felt his wolf stirring violently beneath his skin.“Mine,” he growled, his arm tightening around my waist. “She's mine, Valerio.”But Valerio wasn't even looking at him.His eyes followed me as Dax pulled me farther away, and the intensity of his gaze made







