บททั้งหมดของ Rejected and Pregnant: The Alpha King’s Forbidden Heir : บทที่ 231 - บทที่ 240

Aira kept one hand locked over Kael’s chest and the other pressed hard against the bond between them as the thing below the floor rose with her face twisted over Kael’s father’s body. The sight of it made her stomach turn cold, but she did not let fear swallow Kael this time. She forced herself deeper into the bond until it burned, until she could feel the rough edge of his breathing, the strain in his bones, the fight in his blood. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling 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 finding dry wood, and for one precious heartbeat she felt him hear her. The blackness at the edge of his eye did not leave, but it hesitated, trapped by the warmth she was forcing through the crack it had found.The thing beneath the floor lifted itself higher, and for one s

Give me the child.Her mother said it from beneath the floor with tears on her face and the root gate wearing her skin like a veil, and Aira felt the words strike straight through her chest. Kael jolted in her arms as the blackness at the edge of his eye surged hard again, but she would not let it take him. She locked both hands over his chest and shoved herself deeper into the bond with everything she had left, every memory of him, every fierce moment when he had held her through fear, every promise he had made in blood and heat and love. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not look at her face.” 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. Really hear her. The blackness in his eye did not vanish, but it hesitated, trapped by t

Aira’s body seized with the next contraction so hard that for one terrible heartbeat she forgot how to breathe. Kael caught her before she could fold, his arms locking around her with a strength that shook beneath the fear he was trying so hard to hide. The blackness at the edge of his eye surged again at the sight of her pain, but Aira would not let him slip. She pressed her forehead to his and shoved herself deeper into the bond, pouring warmth, memory, and fierce stubborn love through the space between them until it burned. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but fierce, “stay with me. You are here. You are with me. Do not look at the thing below.” His breath came ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby inside her moved hard enough to make her cry out, and the sound tore through the house like a warning. The root gate below lifted its face from her mother’s and smiled at the sound of her pain.Her mother’s eyes were wet, but they were steady wh

The newborn answered with a second breath, and Aira felt the whole house recoil.Kael went rigid before her eyes, one arm still locked around the baby, the other raised in front of Aira as if his body alone could stop the dark from touching them. The blackness at the edge of his eye surged hard, then thinned, then surged again, and Aira knew the root gate was trying to ride the shock straight into him. She did not let it. She slammed both hands over his chest and forced herself deeper into the bond with everything she had left, every memory of him, every fierce moment he had held her through terror, 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 the baby’s mouth. Look at me.” His breath came ragged and torn. The tiny hand in his palm twitched once, then stilled. The baby in his arms gave a small, strangled sound, not a cry, not yet, just the shock of life trying t

Come to me.The words came from the newborn in Kael’s arms, but Aira felt the lie in them at once. The baby was there. She could see the tiny fists, the wet lashes, the trembling mouth. She could feel its heartbeat against her palm when she reached for it. The voice was wrong because it was not the child speaking. It was the thing wearing her mother’s face below the floor, the root gate reaching through the first breath and trying to use the baby’s mouth to pull them back in. Aira’s throat tightened with rage and fear so sharp it nearly made her shake apart. Kael went rigid beside her, the blackness at the edge of his eye surging hard as the voice hit him through the blood. She did not let him fall. She slammed both hands over his chest and forced herself deeper 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 her. “Kael,” she whispered, trembling but