Chapter 2

Renee

"Leave the bitch to rot" a sharp voice said, a mocking laughter following the words.

I gasped, shooting up from the bed as I woke up from the horrible nightmare I had been trapped in. Cold sweat lined my forehead and relief swept through me at the realization that it wasn't real.

"Your highness, you're awake" A woman in a white robe that touched her feet approached me from the door, wearing a wide smile "Congratulations to the newest mother” she beamed even harder

All of me hurt down to the root of my hair and I began to lay back down when I realized that something was missing. Panic gripped me like a vise, "Where's my child? Where's my husband?"

"Relax, Your Highness, the child, Arthur is fine. You had a beautiful baby boy, and two days ago"

My jaw dropped open, "Two days ago? Where am I?”

She nodded, heading over to something that was tied behind me to adjust them, " You are at the pack's infirmary. During labor, you lost a lot of blood and passed out. We almost thought that you wouldn’t make it. But we're glad you did. You're so brave”

I was still reeling over the fact that Levi had finally chosen a name, but it hadn't been any of the ones I had written down for his consideration. There was a churning in my belly, and something inside me was trying to tell me something.

"Where are they? Can you let them know I'm awake? They must be so worried," I sighed.

The nurse's forehead wrinkled, "Who is they?"

"My mate? The prince and his friendRosalie. They must have been coming every day to check up on me”

She stared at me blankly, "Actually, we haven't seen the prince in this healing home since we handed him the baby. The only person that has been coming around to check up on you is…”

Before she could finish her statement, there was a knock against the partly opened door, and a second later, a tall, familiar figure strode in like he owned the room and all it's occupants.

My face drained of color as I stared at the hard-eyed monster of a man standing in my room, holding a bouquet of Daisies. "Hello, Renee”

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed through clenched teeth.

Instead of replying, the tall man walked around my bed and placed the flowers on my bedside table, then stuck his hands in his pockets.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see the woman going about her task like nothing out of the ordinary was happening, which led me to believe that my brother-in-law's presence here was nothing new.

"What are you doing here!" I asked again, anger curling in my belly.

Roman Hastings was my husband's half-brother, and the thorn in his flesh. Ever since he had moved in with the Hastings at the age of five, he had been doing everything in his power to outshine my husband. He sabotaged Levi to get higher grades in their school days, stole Levi’s cars and crashed them, stole his girlfriends, lied against him to get him grounded and now, he was gunning for my husband's rightful position as heir of the Red Moon pack.

Worst of all was that Giles Hastings, their father had not only permitted, but was the mastermind behind the competition.

"No one else was coming to visit, so I decided to show some humanity," he said in that toneless voice that grated on my nerves. His dark blue eyes dragged over my face intently.

I froze, realising that in my anger at his unwanted presence, I had forgotten to hide my face behind my curtain of hair. In fact, someone had tied my hair up into a bun, and my hideous face was completely bared to him.

I tried to turn away, but his cold voice stopped me, "So that's what you've been hiding”

"You have no right to be here” I felt naked, hurt by his comment.

"How ungrateful of you," his eyes narrowed.

I scoffed, "You expect me to bow and thank you? Well, newsflash, I don't want you here. You can get out. And stop trying to use me to get to Levi. I will never betray my husband for you"

His mouth quirked up into a sardonic smile, "I wonder what your darling husband has done to warrant such loyalty"

That was the thing with Roman. Hiding beneath his clean cut, designer suits and a face that made both women and men alike do a double take was a truly black heart.

He was manipulative, conniving and evil. Levi and Rosalie had done their best to keep me out of his crosshairs. Which made me wonder where they were. Why weren't they here? And had the nurse meant it when she said she hadn't seen them since the baby had been bone?

I shook my head to push that thought away.

It was impossible.

"My husband is the best man on earth. He is kind, noble and selfless," tears welled in my eyes as I remembered how he had looked at me with a soft smile that first night I had run into when I was still with my pack, "He sees deeper than what's on the outside, and treats everybody like an equal"

He had been the first person except my mother that had treated me like a human being.

"Oh?" One dark mocking eyebrow that matched his inky dark hair raised up, "Is that so?"

"Yes!" I snapped, "And I won't let you ruin our relationship. I want you to get out. I don't want him coming here and thinking I have something to do with you. Get out. Now!"

Roman calmly adjusted his cufflinks, "It seems you've managed to capture the heart of the only prince charming left in the real world. I hope he's everything you say he is, Miss Aurora"

Miss? Was he crazy? I waited for him to walk out before turning to the vase of flowers he had left behind and hurling it away from me with a ferocious roar.

It was only as I stared at the fragments of the broken vase that I realized he had called me by my maiden name.