LUCIANSelena was carrying my baby.Those words hadn’t stopped echoing in my head since she said them. They hit me harder than anything I had ever faced—harder than war, harder than betrayal, harder than rejection. A part of me wanted to cry, but I didn’t even know how to do that anymore. It was strange how an entire life could shift with one truth. Everything I thought I cared about—my title, the pack, the weight of being alpha—it had all faded into the background.This… this baby growing inside her… that was what mattered now.And her.I kept seeing the look in her eyes when she told me. The way her hand had moved over her stomach, so gently, like she was protecting a secret more precious than anything in the world. I should’ve been the one protecting them from the beginning. But I wasn’t. I had failed her. I had failed both of them before I even knew they existed together.I kept thinking about that night.The one I forced her to remember today. The one I had tried to forget, but g
SELENAI didn’t even realize when my hand drifted to my stomach again. It was becoming a habit now—subtle, unconscious. Maybe it was the way I felt a slight flutter earlier, like something shifting deep inside me, gentle but alive. A quiet reassurance that after all the running, fear, and nights spent crying into the earth, my baby was still there. Still holding on.My thumb brushed across the curve, slow and protective. I didn’t mean to draw attention to it. But when I glanced up, Lucian was watching.His eyes had frozen on my stomach, unmoving. Then they lifted—slowly—to my face. His expression didn’t match the silence that followed. Something flickered there. Not joy. Not confusion. It was something deeper. Something closer to fear.“Selena…” His voice was low, careful. “You’re pregnant?”I didn’t speak right away. I had played this moment over and over in my head for days, maybe longer. Sometimes I imagined him smiling, lifting me in his arms. Sometimes I imagined him angry. Or br
LUCIANShe walked backward for a few steps, her long hair catching the breeze. “You’re recovering. Let’s test it.”I rolled my eyes and tried to match her pace, but of course, she was teasing me. She slowed down and fell into step beside me again, hands brushing as we walked. Every so often, she’d point out wild fruits growing near the edge of the path, and we’d pick some, tasting the tartness and spitting out the bad ones.At one point, she climbed a small rock just to strike a silly pose. “Behold, Queen of the rogue boundary,” she announced, arms wide. I laughed harder than I had in weeks.But soon enough, my legs began to ache. “Let’s rest,” I said, nodding toward a cluster of trees ahead. We found shade beneath them and sat side by side on a flat stone. The wind rustled the leaves gently above us, and the forest stretched in soft silence.Selena glanced at me. Her voice was quiet but firm. “Lucian, why are you staying in that house? Isolated from the rest of the pack? Why does the
CHAPTER 39 LucianCan we?That was all I asked her. A simple question. My voice had been quiet, almost hesitant, like a man asking for something he already knew might be denied. But I had to ask—not because I couldn’t hold back, but because I wanted her to know that her decision mattered to me.She looked up at me, her eyes calm… soft. Not afraid. Not angry. There was something peaceful in her expression—like she finally felt safe with me. That alone made my heart feel full. Her smile wasn’t wide, but it was real. The kind of smile that rises from inside when the heart is no longer carrying so much pain. But then she said no. Not yet. Not this time.And I understood her.I wasn’t disappointed. I wasn’t hurt. I was… proud of her.Proud that she could say no, and that I was finally the kind of man who could hear it without taking it personal. I laid there next to her, watching her pull the covers closer to her chest, not out of shame—but for comfort. My arm was still around her. She di
SELENAThe soft rhythm of his breathing was the first thing I noticed. It was slow, deep, and steady—like the calm waves of an early morning sea. My eyes fluttered open, and for a second, I wasn’t sure where I was. The room was dim, kissed gently by the pale light of dawn leaking through the small window. The air smelled like him—warm cedarwood and something distinctly… Lucian.And then I saw him.Lucian was lying on his side, eyes wide open. He wasn’t just awake—he was looking at me. Not in a casual, sleepy way, but like he was seeing something rare… like I was something fragile and precious, something he couldn’t afford to lose. There was no hardness in his eyes, none of that usual alpha dominance or pride. Just softness… and something else. Something that made my chest ache.He didn’t even realize I was watching him.That look on his face—it did something to me. It unraveled me from the inside. I had never been looked at like that before. Not by anyone. Not with that much quiet re
CLUCIANThe last seven days had been nothing short of remarkable for me. It was the kind of peace I hadn’t known in years—the kind that seeped deep into my bones and quieted the chaos I had grown used to living with. For so long, my life had been a blur of pain, regret, and the hollow weight of responsibility. But since the past seven days, everything has changed. And the reason was simple: Selena.My healing had been rapid—almost unnatural. Physically, I could feel my strength returning each day. The aches that clung to my muscles had vanished like they were never there. But more than that, it was the healing I couldn’t see that truly stunned me. The darkness that had plagued my mind—the bitterness, the guilt, the burning silence from my wolf—was no longer there.Selena’s presence had done something to me. Her scent, her voice, her closeness—it brought calm. My wolf, who had turned his back on me, now stirred often, restless but content. We were finally aligned again. No more resista