บททั้งหมดของ Rejected and Pregnant: The Alpha King’s Forbidden Heir : บทที่ 221 - บทที่ 230

The moment her mother spoke the root gate’s true name, Kael lurched in Aira’s arms as if the sound had struck straight through his bones. The blackness at the edge of his eye surged hard and then froze, trapped by something older than pain. Aira did not let him slip. She locked both hands over his chest and poured herself into the bond with everything she had left, every memory of him, every fierce moment when he had held her through terror, every promise he had made with blood in his mouth and love in his eyes. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but unbroken, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not listen to the voice below.” His breath came ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby inside her answered with a bright pulse that rolled through the bond like fire finding dry wood, and for one precious heartbeat she felt him hear her. Not safe. Not whole. But enough.Below them, the father beneath the floor went white. He stared at Aira’s

The floor opened wider, and Aira saw the root gate for the first time in full.It was not a shadow. Not a mouth. Not a thing without shape. It stood beyond the split in the earth like a man made from grief and hunger, its outline trembling in the black light, its face shifting between the father beneath the floor and the line of every body the bloodline had ever buried. Kael jerked hard in her arms, the blackness at the edge of his eye surging as if the sight had struck the deepest wound in his blood. Aira did not let him fall. She locked both hands over his chest and shoved herself deeper into the bond, pouring warmth, memory, and stubborn love into the space between them until the darkness had to slow. “Kael,” she whispered, shaking but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not look at it.” His breath came ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby inside her answered with a bright pulse that rolled through the bond like fire

Aira felt the last of Kael’s strength tremble against her hands as the floor split wider and the house gave one long, shuddering groan. The thing below was no longer only a shadow or a voice. It was taking shape, pulling itself together from grief and blood and the old names the bloodline had buried too deep to survive. Kael jerked hard in her arms, the blackness at the edge of his eye surging again, but Aira would not let him go. She locked both hands over his chest and shoved herself deeper into the bond until it burned between them like live fire. “Kael,” she whispered, her forehead pressed to his, voice shaking but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not follow the thing in the dark.” His breath came ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby inside her answered with a bright pulse that rolled through the bond, and for one precious heartbeat she felt the man beneath the corruption answer her. He was still there. Bruised. F

Open me.The words came from inside Aira’s womb, soft and clear, and they nearly broke her.Kael screamed her name at the same moment the thing below the floor lifted his face through the darkness, and the sight of it made her whole body go cold. It had Kael’s mouth. Kael’s jaw. Kael’s eyes, twisted into something hungry and wrong. Aira did not let fear take him. She locked both hands over Kael’s chest and shoved herself into the bond with everything she had left, every memory of him, every time he had held her when she was shaking, every fierce promise he had made that no one would ever take her from him. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not look at it.” His breath came out ragged and broken. The blackness at the edge of his eye surged once, then hesitated under the warmth she was forcing through the bond. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once and stilled. The baby inside her answered with a hard pulse that rolled through

The moment the root gate opened its eyes, Aira felt Kael nearly go under in her arms.The blackness at the edge of his eye surged hard and fast, and for one terrible heartbeat she thought he would be lost to it again. She did not let him fall. She slammed both hands over his chest and shoved herself deeper into the bond with everything she had left, every memory of his hands on her skin, every promise he had made in blood and heat and desperate love. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not look at it.” His breath came out ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby inside her answered with a bright pulse that rolled through the bond like fire finding dry wood, and for one precious heartbeat she felt the man beneath the darkness answer her. Not whole. Not safe. But enough. Enough to keep fighting.Below them, the thing rising from the broken floor smiled with Kael’s mouth and her mother’s eye