All Chapters of Running Away with Alpha's Baby Bump: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

( Kael's POV )The moment Kael stepped out of the longhouse, the Hollow shifted.Wolves moved like shadows between the mist and trees, some still carrying the scent of blood and storm from the night before. The fires burned low, more smoke than flame now, curling thin and gray into the pale light. The air itself seemed to hold its breath, heavy with the weight of something waiting just beyond sight.Aria kept close to Kael as they crossed the clearing, Jarek a pace behind. Her boots squelched against the soaked earth, the ground slick from the storm. She could hear the distant snapping of branches, the low growls of wolves in their skin, patrolling the perimeter. The Hollow had always felt alive, but this was different. The forest wasn’t just alive. It was watching.Kael’s jaw was set like carved stone. Every line of him screamed Alpha now , the man she’d curled against hours ago was hidden behind that iron mask. But she felt the heat of him anyway, the steadiness that bled into the a

( Aria’s POV )They managed to find there selfs a cabin, after walking and running thru the woods.Having to get the baby out of the woods, letting him have a resting period. The Hollow felt smaller in the light.Morning spread thin across the clearing, weak and uncertain, painting everything in washed-out gold. Smoke rose from the pyres, the smell of ash and blood clinging to her clothes, her hair, her skin. Every breath tasted like something that wouldn’t fade.Aria stood near the longhouse, her hands slick with herbs and bandages, tending to the wounded who still breathed. But her mind wasn’t on the cuts and the broken ribs in front of her. It was on the sound that hadn’t left her since dawn.A heartbeat.Too small. Too fast.Her son’s heartbeat.She could hear it in the back of her mind, steady but distant, the tether between them that never fully went quiet. It had always been like that, ever since he was born under blood-red skies and Kael had cut the cord with trembling hand

(Kael’s POV ) The Hollow had never been this quiet. Not after a battle. Not after blood. Not even after death. Kael sat with his back against the charred remains of a support beam, his body still trembling from what had passed through him. Every muscle ached. His veins pulsed with something colder than blood, something that wasn’t entirely his anymore. Aria slept only a few feet away, the baby nestled in the crook of her arm. The faintest shimmer of gold pulsed beneath the infant’s skin when he breathed, soft, rhythmic, harmless. For now. Tessa and Jarek had taken the first watch. He could hear them whispering near the ridge, their voices a low hum against the still air. The forest beyond remained unmoving, as though the world itself had paused to catch its breath. Kael’s gaze drifted back to the sealed ground where the gate had once been. The earth there was smooth now, untouched, the runes dark and lifeless. But he could feel it, deep under the soil, something vast and pa

(Kael’s POV )The journey began beneath a bruised sky.By dusk, the pack had left the shelter of the mountain behind, moving through a forest still slick with last night’s rain. Mist clung low to the ground, turning every breath into a ghost. The trees thinned as they traveled south, replaced by stretches of ash-colored earth that seemed to drink in the light.Eira led the way, her movements silent and precise. Kael followed close behind, Aria at his side, the baby cradled against her chest. Jarek and Tessa flanked the rear, weapons drawn, scanning the shifting fog for movement.Every sound felt wrong. Every shadow too still.Kael could feel the Deep beneath his skin again. It wasn’t speaking, not yet, but it was awake. The black veins along his arms pulsed faintly in rhythm with something beneath the soil, a heartbeat too deep to be human.They reached a rise just before nightfall. From there, the land opened into the Ashen Fields, a vast expanse of cracked, gray terrain, dotted wit

(Aria’s POV)The storm had passed, but the air still carried the scent of rain, sharp, metallic, alive.Aria stirred slowly, her body pressed against Kael’s. His warmth radiated through her, steady and grounding, even as faint light crept through the gaps in the broken roof. The longhouse was quiet now, no distant howls, no tremors beneath the floor. Just breath and heartbeat.For a few fragile moments, she let herself exist in that peace.Kael’s arm lay heavy over her waist, his skin hot against her own, though the black veins that had marked him now glowed only faintly, thin threads of gold weaving through shadow. When she traced one with her fingertips, his body tensed slightly, but he didn’t wake.She smiled softly. He was always on the edge, half man, half storm.Her gaze wandered over his face, the faint scar along his jaw, the sharp line of his cheekbones, the dark stubble dusting his skin. He looked younger in sleep, unguarded. Vulnerable in a way she hadn’t thought possible