ANNE“ It’s the same again. ” Ryker sighs, his fingers pushing his messy hair back from his forehead.Just as he got there, he picked up Natalie and carried her back to the Night Walkers Pack. We all followed, worried for her baby and her health. She fainted somewhere along the way and the whole situation was alarming for everyone.Luciana said things were bad for some time. Her baby was chewing at her insides. I didn’t understand how she even called this fine after a while. She said it has stopped but Ryker says that this will happen again. Just as their baby gets hungry again, he will start chewing at her insides. That thought is scary. I know what needs to be done to stop it and this makes it even more dreadful for me.“ Gualterio doesn’t seem to want good relationships with us anymore. ” Ryker hisses all of a sudden.My attention is drawn to his rapidly color-changing eyes. Bile rises to my mouth but I push it down my throat, maintaining my calm and refusing to let panic consume

ZEROI feel Anne’s warm body pressing into mine from behind and it’s like the dangerous daze breaks. I felt her pain tugging at my heart from afar and I almost drowned in misery and regret. When I saw my father choking her, the desire to snap his neck raised its head. Dread and anger became one. I was seeing red and I had lost control over myself.I can’t bear the thought of Anne getting hurt. If I hadn’t left her here, she wouldn’t have to go through something like this.“ D—Don’t do it. Please. Please, Zero. ” She pleads in her shaky voice. “ Leave him. ”As if I was only waiting for her to say this to me, I release Gualterio. He falls to the ground, the shadows leaving his body and dispersing into thin air.I blink to get rid of the black haziness as my hands instinctively wrap around Anne’s wrists. I almost killed my father because he hurt her. I don’t understand how I can lose control over the mere thought of seeing her in pain but I do. Always.Anne breathes against my back, h

ANNEThe more Zero realized I needed him to confess his love to me, the more he started taking amusement out of my misery. I kept repeating I love you and he kept saying he knew with a stupid heart-stealing smile on his lips.I didn’t know a few words could make me so desperate and I didn’t know time could pass so fast. I am used to taking bath with Zero now like he said I will. He is always here. We sleep in the same bed, I wake up by his side every day, we smile, we laugh, and we walk together. Even Zero’s family has become bearable for me because Gualterio and Liam refrain from getting in my way after what Zero did to them three weeks ago.Natalie is about to give birth. And as usual, the Vampire King is eager to get Zero on the throne before that.I did discuss with Zero about the future. I told him what Liam had said to me about the whole age difference thing and then I found that little evil shit with a broken spine again. After that, Zero assured me that he had been reconnectin

ANNELiam, Gualterio, and Freya did all they could. And saved Zero.It was not a nightmare. It was the worst moment of my life. I almost lost him and lost my mind.Now, he lies on his bed in the room as Freya sits by his side, crying silently. I was wrong about his family—They care about Zero more than they let on. They just don’t how to show it to him when Zero is not ready to listen to them or ever accept their affection.I wipe my wet cheeks and suck in a huge breath while I look at Zero and his parents from the doorway of the room. I still can’t feel Zero’s presence in my head. Neela said Zero blocked our connection completely to protect me. He didn’t want me to feel his pain.Prick! I died with fear when I couldn’t feel him. My heart had almost given up on me at that moment.“ How did you know they were going to attack? ” I hiss at Liam who is standing beside me, his side resting against the door.“ I saw them. ” He shrugs his shoulders. “ Clearly, I was not as distracted as you

ANNEHe let me leave. I didn’t waste a moment and left him there. He was better off without me. I should have realized this sooner.A week has passed since that Goddess awful day yet my heart still hurts the same. A little part of me even wanted Zero to follow me. I didn’t think it was this easy to push him away.When I left the vampire territory, I was not sure where I wanted to go. At that moment, Natalie called me and asked me to come to her. She was in pain again but this time, it was labor pain.For some time, I forgot about my misery and stood outside her hospital room as she screamed in agony. Ryker was by her side for hours straight.Her labor was prolonged. Giving birth to a hybrid was hard for her but she survived. And gave birth to a blue-eyed angel. Rhys Ambrose—Natalie and Ryker named their son together.Ryker had stepped out of the room with his baby only when Natalie had fallen asleep under the influence of some potions. My heart had filled with so much happiness for my