All Chapters of The Kingslayer’s Forbidden Mate: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

AURORAHe did, eventually, turning back toward one of his men with a short nod, and just like that, whatever had passed between us shattered into nothing. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and hurried back inside before Josie could catch me standing there while my heart beat really fast.I told myself it meant nothing. I was still telling myself that when the nausea hit me the next morning, sudden and sharp enough that I barely made it to the basin in time, my whole body shaking as fear chased out every other thought in my head at once.Something was wrong. It had to be. And all I could think, kneeling there with my hands trembling against the cold porcelain, was that I couldn't lose this baby, not after everything it had already survived just to still be here with me.Josie must have heard me because she was in the room within seconds, calling for the doctor before I'd even managed to catch my breath properly. I sat curled up on the edge of the bed after that, one

ROMANI chose my next words carefully, because whatever I told her next was going to be more important than she probably realized yet."Your name was added late to the list," I said. "After the shipment had already been arranged, someone paid extra to guarantee you reached Ravenwood, not just any random northern pack."Aurora went pale hearing it out loud, her hand moving instinctively to cover her stomach like she was shielding the baby from a threat she couldn't even see coming. "Why would anyone want that?""I don't know," I admitted, and I hated saying it. I hated how little I actually had to tell her after everything she'd already survived. "Not yet.""Who even knew I existed?" she asked, her voice breaking slightly on the last word. "Nobody outside Silverlake should have known anything about me. I wasn't important enough for anyone up here to care about.""Someone clearly disagreed with that," I said.She looked down at her hands, twisting them together in her lap as if she was

ROMANI didn't sleep that night.I kept hearing her laugh. It was such a small thing, but it kept playing in my head like a song I couldn't turn off. Then I kept seeing her face right after, and the way it crumbled, like she'd done something wrong just by being happy for a minute.I knew that look. I'd worn it myself for years.By morning, I'd made up my mind. She was living under my roof, sleeping in my house, and carrying a child I was supposed to protect. She was also hearing every ugly story about me from every maid and guard who thought I couldn't hear them. If she was going to be afraid of me, I wanted her to be afraid of the truth, not the rumors.I found her in the small library on the second floor, curled up in the window seat with a blanket around her legs. She had a book open in her lap, but she wasn't reading it. She jumped a little when I came in.“Sorry,” I said. “I can leave.”“No.” She sat up straighter. “It's fine. Is there news?”“No news.” I stood there like an idi

AURORAI didn't get a single ounce of sleep after Roman left.I just lay there staring at the ceiling, and every time I closed my eyes, I felt it again. That warm, soft pull in my chest. Willow lifting her head and reaching for him.By sunrise, I was exhausted, and I still didn't have an answer.“Willow,” I whispered under my blanket. “What was that?”She didn't say anything. She just hummed in the back of my mind, sounding so calm and pleased with herself, like she knew exactly what was happening. It made me want to pull a pillow over my face.I got up, washed my face, and put on the softest sweater I owned. I told myself I was going to act normal. I was going to walk down to the kitchen, eat breakfast, and not think about wolves or scars or the way Roman had looked at me in the doorway.That plan lasted until I dropped a spoon in my tea, spilled half of it, and had to clean it up two different times.“You're jumpy today,” Josie remarked.She was standing at the counter kneading some

AURORATurned out it was very hard to hide from your own thoughts in a palace like this.After my talk with Josie, I tried everything. I ate lunch. I took a long bath. I sat by the fire with a book and read the same page four times without assimilating a single thing. Every time I felt calm, my mind reminded me that Willow had leaned toward him, and she wanted him.By evening I gave up and went to the little sitting room at the end of the hallway. It had soft chairs and a window seat. It was my favorite spot in the whole palace, mostly because nobody else ever came there. I curled up by the window with a blanket over my legs and watched the snow start to fall over the mountains.I’d been sitting there for maybe twenty minutes when someone knocked on the doorframe.I didn’t have to look. Willow told me first. She sat up in the back of my mind, now warm and completely alert, like a dog hearing its name.“Stop it,” I muttered.“Stop what?” Roman asked.I jumped so hard that the blanket