Not allowed to die until I say so

“She’s dead, Alpha King.” His words echoed in my ears severally

"Dead?" I smirked,someone I left few minutes ago alive though pale.

This wasn't adding up.

His indifference infuriated me more than anything. "You stand there, Thorne, and tell me she is dead?"

“Alpha, she was found unconscious, blood all over the ground in the bathroom ” Thorne explained abruptly not giving me a chance to shift the blame on him.

My wolf raged within me

"No! She cannot be dead, Our mate, You tried to reject her, you let this happen."

"Send for the Healer," I commanded. "Now! And if he confirms that she is truly gone… then the both of you will go accompany her in the afterlife. Do you understand, Thorne?" My eyes glued on him . "I will personally rip his throat out for his incompetence. She isn't allowed to die until I say so."

Thorne didn't hesitate. He simply nodded his head, a silent acknowedgement of my instruction, and strode out, his footsteps echoing in the quiet room. I paced round my study room, contemplating on whether to visit her room or not.

Then I decided

I walked into her room, where she had already been cleaned up but still lying unconscious, my chest tightened.

Why should I feel this bad? She's just a slave anyway.

I tried to leave but something was holding me back restricting me from leaving. My wolf is using his powers to tie me down to her room.

It was impossible. She couldn’t be dead. I hadn’t even had the chance to… to what? To break her completely?

Minutes stretched into an eternity. Each ticking second increased my anxiousness. Finally, the door opened, and a thin, trembling man with sorrowful eyes entered, followed by Thorne. He was our most skilled healer, but his face was ashen, his hands shaking slightly.

"Alpha King," the healer bowed so low his forehead nearly touched the floor. "You sent for me."

"Then get to work." I instructed, he took his pale body to her front and started examining her. It took longer than forever.

The healer swallowed hard, his gaze flicking to Thorne, then back to me,. "Alpha King… I… I examined the girl."

"And?" My voice, a direct threat. "Is she dead? Speak plainly or I swear by the Moon Goddess, your life will cease to exist before you finish your next breath."

He shivered under my threat and stare, almost collapsing under my gaze. "No, Alpha King! Not dead! She… she is alive. Barely. She sustained a severe injury in her head due to the fall and her body is… is malnourished, but she is alive."

The breath I didn't realize I'd been holding escaped all at once. Relief, peace and utterly unexpected strength, washed over me, so strong it almost brought me to my knees. My wolf let out a triumphant roar.

"Good," I managed, my voice still rough, but the edge of death was gone. "Then heal her. Whatever it takes. Use every herb, every potion, every shred of your pathetic skill. And make sure she recovers fully. She is… valuable property." I had to maintain the facade, even to myself. She couldn't be my mate. Not her. Not the one I’d intended to break.

The healer nodded a thousand tomes, then hesitated again, his eyes wide, flickering with an internal struggle. He looked like a man about to confess a terrible, damning secret. "Alpha King… there is something else."

My brows furrowed in irritation. "What now? Hurry up. My patience is running on a thread"

He clutched his hands, twisting them together, practically squeezing the life out of them. "She… she is pregnant, Alpha King."

The words hit me with the force of a physical blow. Pregnant? My mind reeled, struggling to compute. Pregnant? My gaze shot to Thorne, who remained calm as ever. Then back to the healer, whose face was a mask of fear, bracing for my wrath.

"Pregnant?" The word was a foreign taste on my tongue, bitter and impossible.

I wasn't ready for this, I wasn't ready to get chained to someone all because of pregnancy, I wasn't ready to be a father, at least no yet.

The memory of that night came running through me, It was sweet, she was sweet down there, I took her first time.

. Jayden stood in front of the door, his eyes wide open, fixed on me with an expression of utter disbelief. He must have heard the healer's shocking pronouncement.

"Pregnant?" Jayden repeated in disbelief "Kael, what in the Moon Goddess's name is going on?"

I couldn't hide It any longer at least not now when I needed someone to share it all with.

And Selena? She won't back down.

Ava? She is too weak to carry my child.

"Then train her to be strong." My wolf advised for the very first time since we started our rift.

My jaw tightened. Jayden was perceptive, too perceptive. He’d seen the internal battle I’d waged against my wolf, the constant denial of a mate. He'd witnessed my calculated pursuit of Selena, my blatant disdain for the mate bond. And now this.

"It's nothing that concerns you, Beta," I snapped.

"Nothing that concerns me?" Jayden's voice hardened, his eyes narrowing into slits. He crossed his arms over his chest, a clear sign of defiance, of an unwillingness to back down. "You have been raging for days, dismissing your mate bond as a distraction, claiming your mate is weak, not fit to be Luna, and brazenly pursuing Selena! Now, your mate whom you just met few hours ago is suddenly pregnant? And you claim it doesn't concern me, your Beta, the man who runs this pack at your side?" He took another deliberate step forward, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.

"Explain yourself, Alpha King. Explain how this woman, barely hours after she became your 'property,' is carrying a child. Explain it, or I swear, Kael, there will be serious interrogation by the council about your fitness to lead."

My wolf let out another triumphant, mocking howl within my mind. She is our mate, you fool. And now, she carries our pup. You cannot deny her any longer.

Jayden looked at me curiously waiting for an answer, I dismissed Thorne and the healer but not without threatening them about the consequence of revealing the secret to anyone.

Now it was time to deal with my best friend, I couldn't use my Alpha power on him this time.

I narrated our encounter to him, starting from our one night stand, back to difficult days without her.

"Now that she is pregnant, what do you intend to do? Abandon her?" Jayden asked.

"And who is pregnant?" That voice made my whole body freeze

Her.....