All Chapters of PREGNANT AND BANISHED : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Lana's POV.The figure in the doorway stepped fully into the light, and I could feel every muscle in Asher's body tense up beside me, like a predator readying itself for an unknown threat.It was Jacob.There he was, my son, standing in his sleep shirt with his bare feet on the cold stone floor, his small frame almost swallowed by the shadows that loomed around him. His hair was messed up from sleep, and his eyes were heavy with fatigue. For a fleeting moment, it felt like the entire room held its breath.Amelia was still watching me, her gaze crawling over my face as if she were trying to uncover the secrets I was hiding, when Jacob's small voice sliced through the tension like a knife through silk."Mummy?"That single word shattered something deep inside me. I didn’t think about how this looked, didn’t consider Amelia’s narrowed eyes or the unfinished question still hanging in the air. I rushed across the room in three quick strides and dropped to my knees, wrapping my arms around

Lana's POV.I could sense that Greta was about to make a confession, so I kept my tone as sharp as a knife. "What happened when you went to get their tray?"Greta swallowed hard, her throat moving nervously. She twisted her fingers into her apron, the fabric bunching up until her knuckles turned white. "I got a text," she murmured. "From an unknown number. It said not to give them food again."The room fell into a heavy silence, the kind that presses against your ears and feels almost suffocating. Even Amelia's earlier laughter seemed like a distant memory, completely overshadowed by the weight of those words. I stared at Greta, hoping she would take it back, that she would say she misunderstood, or anything that would make this situation less chilling.But she didn’t take it back."Show me," I demanded. "Right now."Greta fumbled with her apron pocket, her hands shaking so much that she almost dropped her phone twice before finally managing to unlock it. She turned the screen toward

.Lana's POV.I ran so fast down the corridor, my bare feet pounding against the cold stone floor, my heart racing in my throat. When I finally burst into the kitchen, I found Greta hunched over by the counter, both hands pressed to her arm, her body shaking with silent, breathless sobs.A pot lay tipped over beside her, water spreading across the tiles, steam still rising gently from the mess."Greta." I rushed over in just a few strides and grabbed her shoulders, making her meet my gaze. "Greta, please, talk to me. What happened?"She opened her mouth, but all that came out was a choked, soundless gasp, her face contorted in pain too deep for words. Her other hand trembled as she pointed weakly toward the counter where her phone lay face-up, the screen still lit. I snatched it up.Another message. Another blocked number, just a string of digits with no name, no context, just the chilling anonymity of someone who wanted to remain hidden.“Leave now, or you'll have me to deal with. Th

Lana's POV.I tried wiping my tears and pretended nothing happened, dragging the back of my hand across my cheeks in one quick, clumsy motion, forcing my spine straight even as my chest still heaved with the aftershocks of everything I'd just let loose. I opened my mouth, already reaching for some excuse, some steady voice to greet him with, but Asher caught me before I could even finish turning around.He crouched low in front of me, and before I understood what was happening, his hands were cradling my face, tilting it gently toward his own.The touch sent shivers down my spine, sharp and immediate, the kind that bypassed thought entirely and settled straight into memory. I remembered that touch. I had felt it before, months ago, in a different kind of darkness, when he'd held my face just like this and told me I didn't have to carry everything alone. My body remembered before my mind could catch up, and I hated it, hated how easily it betrayed me even now, even with my heart still

Lana's POV.I knew that tone. I had heard Asher use it only twice before in all the months I'd lived inside this pack; once when a hunter's trap had caught one of the pack's youngest scouts, and once when he'd discovered a betrayal buried three ranks deep in his own guard. It was a voice that didn't shout, didn't rage, didn't need to. It was quiet the way a mountain goes quiet right before it splits open and swallows a village whole. Fire on the mountain, my grandmother used to call it the calm that comes just before everything burns.I understood, in that instant, that I could not afford to flinch.So I decided to steel myself, to bury the fear climbing up through my chest before it ever reached my face. I lifted my chin. I let my eyes go wide with something close to offense, as though he had accused me of something absurd, something that was not worth consideration."Lana," he said again, and this time he did not look away from me at all, even as he lifted the phone from the table a