The Bastard's Daughter

Sena did not tell Aldrian about the baby. She hid her growing belly beneath loose dresses and aprons. She prayed to the moon goddess that the child would be wolf-less like her, invisible, safe.

But the moon goddess did not answer her prayers. She never had.

Aldrian noticed the change when she was four months along. He came to her room one night and stopped in the doorway, his pale blue eyes fixed on the curve of her belly beneath her thin nightgown.

"You are with child," Aldrian stated, his voice flat.

Sena placed a protective hand over her belly. "Yes."

"Whose?" The single word cracked like ice.

Sena looked at him. "Yours. Who else would it be? You have not let anyone else touch me."

Aldrian walked toward her and placed his hand on her belly, his palm flat against the swell. His eyes were no longer cold. They were warm, almost tender.

"A child," Aldrian murmured. "My child. Growing inside you."

Sena said nothing. She stood still and let him touch her.

"You will stay in this room until the baby comes," Aldrian ordered. "You will not work. You will not leave. You will rest and eat and grow strong. You will give me a healthy child."

"And after?" Sena asked, her voice barely audible.

Aldrian's pale blue eyes met hers. "After, we will see."

The months that followed were the strangest of Sena's life. Aldrian came to her less often now, his desire tempered by his concern for the baby. But he still came. He still touched her. He still whispered in the darkness.

"You are carrying my heir," Aldrian said one night, his hand resting on her swollen belly. "My blood. My future."

One night, when she was seven months along, Aldrian lay beside her in the darkness.

"I have been thinking about the child," Aldrian said.

Sena's heart tightened. "What about the child?"

"If it is a son, he will have a place in my court," Aldrian replied. "Not as my heir. Ziera will give me trueborn children for that. But a son could be useful."

Sena said nothing.

"If it is a daughter..." Aldrian paused. His hand stopped moving on her belly. "A daughter will be a slave. Like you."

Sena sat up, her heart pounding. "What?"

"A daughter has no use to me," Aldrian said coldly. "A bastard daughter born of a slave would be an embarrassment. She will be raised in the kennels. She will work. She will serve. She will never know that I am her father."

"You cannot do that," Sena whispered. "She is your blood."

"I can do whatever I want," Aldrian replied, his voice soft and dangerous. "I am the Alpha King. You are my property. The child will be my property too."

Sena's hands clenched the bedsheets. "Please. If it is a daughter, let me raise her. Let her stay with me."

Aldrian was silent for a long moment. Then he rose from the bed.

"We will discuss it after the birth," he said. "If it is a daughter." He walked to the door and paused. "Do not hope for a son, Sena. The moon goddess has never answered your prayers. She will not start now."

Then he was gone.

The labor came early, seven months instead of nine. It was brutal.

Aldrian was not there. He had been called away to deal with a border dispute.

"The Alpha is not here," Mira said, her face pale with fear. "What do we do?"

"You will do as I say," Sena gasped between contractions. "Boil water. Clean cloths. Now."

Sena delivered the baby herself, her hands shaking, her body screaming. When the child finally emerged, she held her to her chest and wept.

A girl. Dark haired and small. Perfect. Precious.

"She is beautiful," Mira whispered. "What will you name her?"

Sena looked at her daughter, at the fierce spirit already burning in those dark eyes. "Lyra," Sena said, her voice thick with tears. "Her name is Lyra."

Aldrian did not come to see his daughter for three days.

When he finally appeared, he walked to the crib and looked down at her.

"She is mine," Aldrian stated.

Sena sat up in bed. "Yes."

"A daughter." Aldrian's lip curled. "Worthless."

"She is not worthless," Sena said fiercely. "She is your blood."

"She is a bastard," Aldrian snapped. "A child of a slave. She has no place in my court, no claim to my name, no right to my protection. She will be raised in the kennels. She will never know that I am her father."

"You cannot do this," Sena pleaded.

"I can do whatever I want," Aldrian said, his voice final. "I am the Alpha King. You are my property. Both of you."

Sena's tears fell onto the blanket. "Please. She is just a baby."

"If you want to survive, you will forget this conversation ever happened," Aldrian said coldly. "Do you understand?"

Sena understood. "Yes," she whispered.

Aldrian walked to the door. He did not look back. "The girl will be moved to the kennels tomorrow. You may visit her when your duties permit."

Then he was gone.

Sena pulled Lyra from the crib and held her close.

"I will find a way to free you," Sena vowed against her daughter's tiny ear. "I do not know how. I do not know when. But I swear on the moon goddess herself that you will not live your whole life in chains."

The baby stirred but did not wake. And in the darkness of that cold room, Sena felt something stir inside her own chest. Not a wolf. She had no wolf. But something else.

Hope.