Page 26 of Lycan Prince's Secret Baby

“How dare you accuse your Alpha of crimes!” Reginald roared. The force of his fury was like a violent gale. He lunged to his feet, knocking his chair over with a loud crash that made my heartbeat skyrocket.

Each of his words struck me, sharp and biting, like the sting of a whip. I funneled all of my lingering resentment from my enslavement into my tone, “You willneverbe my Alpha, and I willneversubmit to this pack’s rule,” I roared, fists clenching into tight balls at my sides.

Reginald’s fury began to drain away, replaced by a predatory leer as he prowled around the table. “You think you’re strong, but there arewaysto make you confess your crimes.”

My heartbeat ricocheted in my chest, nausea rising within me. His gaze raked over me as if contemplating which bone he would break first. I envisioned how he would dismantle me for information I didn’t have.

Suddenly, Kyle stepped between us, his wide back forming an imposing barrier against his father. My breath caught, a mixture of relief and disbelief. “Stop!” Kyle bellowed.

My heart ratcheted up again, and I felt like it was about to explode in my chest. Kyle had intervened.

The air thickened around us, charged with tension as father and son faced off. I could hardly believe what I was witnessing. Terror pounded through me as I wondered how this would end. Had Kyle just saved me from torture, or would Reginald refuse his son’s request?

The Alpha spoke. “You will be locked up until you reveal the location of the Blood Moons.” Reginald’s words sounded muffled in my ears as the thundering pulse of my heart almost drowned everything out.

But I managed to catch the Alpha’s decree through the chaos. The rage etched into his features was the last sight I saw before the guards closed in with firm hands to haul me out of the chamber.

Chapter 14

Leah

The stench of damp stone and decay clung to the air like a heavy fog, suffocating me as I lay curled in the corner of my filthy cell. The bed was nothing more than a hard splintered plank, while a crude hole served as a latrine, accompanied by a grimy, stained washbasin.

Days bled into one another. Each one was marked only by brief moments when a Moonlight delivered a meager meal, which was always just enough to keep me alive but never enough to quell the gnawing hunger clawing at my insides. Bitterness festered, and I reflected on how I’d fare if I hadn’t grown used to more substantial amounts. But after weeks of surviving on the scraps the Moonlights brought, only the reserves of weight and strength I’d amassed over the last couple of months kept me alive.

Each meal, typically delivered by Emily, was accompanied by taunts. “There’s a good Blood Moon in your cage where you belong,” she crooned, a malicious smile stretching over her sharp features. “Good dog, you ate all your dinner,” she mocked as she took my empty dishes away, her laughter echoing off the cold stone walls.

These cells, nestled close to the Council Chamber, were buried so deeply in the earth that all sound was blotted out. My senses felt deadened, and with the unchanging surroundings, it seemed as if time had come to a standstill. Weeks had blurred together, resentment growing within me like a tangled thicket of weeds. I couldn’t help but think that I had once believed Kyle reformed the Blood Moon Pack’s rations out of compassion. Now, the absurdity of that belief made me laugh. Where was he?

I remembered how he’d interceded between his father and me in the Council Chamber. My skin prickled at the thought of Reginald’s cutting stare and how he’d implied he was willing to torture the truth from me. I longed to believe there was some strength of feeling left in Kyle for me that had made him stop Reginald. But with Kyle’s continued absence, it seemed clear that everything that had happened between us meant little to him.

As I grew weaker, the thought of how wrong I’d been about him stung sharper than my merciless hunger. Increasingly, nausea racked my body, and bile coated my throat. I worried—had these squalid conditions made me ill?

After the third morning in a row of emptying my stomach, that worry merged into cold clarity, crashing over me like an avalanche. I hadn’t had my period in over a month and a half. I was always regular, even when I’d been malnourished and overworked.

I’m pregnant.

My wolf rose up deep within me, her instinct twining with mine.

We are.

The dawning realization prickled over my clammy skin, both terrifying and thrilling. Trembling, I cursed the lack of food and the brain fog that had taken me so long to realize what was happening. I was pregnant withKyle’schild. Confusion whirled through me as my wolf basked in the thought that we were carrying our mate’s child. But, grinding my teeth, I swore to myself that this was my child. Not Kyle’s.

Mine.

I realized I hadn’t been plagued by any of my usual estrus symptoms these last few weeks either—not even at the thought of Kyle. It was something I guessed my pregnancy was responsible for. With the knowledge of my child growing in my womb, something began to shift within me. I felt a little less alone. This tiny life within me was like a seed buried deep in the dark earth, defying winter’s chill, confident that spring would come. Their light kept me company in the stench and filth. Their presence was like a spell diminishing the darkness and hardships. Their well-being became my most pressing concern.

Along with the realization, however, came a creeping dread. What if my captors discovered my condition? I lived on tenterhooks, dreading that a change in my scent might betray my secret. Every time Emily visited, I bit the inside of my cheek, stifling contempt as she needled me with insults. I needed her to remain oblivious. Her smirking confidence that she was wearing down my spirit became my only defense—and the only chance I had to protect myself and my baby.

The pack had a strict rule against Blood Moons and Moonlights mating. Any child born with the mixed blood of a red wolf and a gray wolf was taken away and … dealt with. It was a rare occurrence, usually resulting from a Moonlight soldier takingadvantage of a Blood Moon female. But it had happened. Beth, one of our pack members, had fallen pregnant by a Moonlight soldier a couple of years ago. Her gut-wrenching screams as her baby was taken from her haunted me now.

I curled my arms protectively around my middle, trying to shield my child from such threats. Helplessness spiraled through me as I anguished over how I could protect them when I couldn’t even safeguard myself from captivity.

We can’t stay here.

The thought sliced through me. Staying with my pack was a danger to both me and my child while we were oppressed by the Moonlight Pack. I needed to escape. But how? Desperation clawed at me. Locked away, it was only a matter of time before my oppressors uncovered my secret. The thought of Reginald’s icy stare weighing the fate of my unborn child fueled my nightmares.

Most nights, I woke in the darkness, hands clasped tightly around my belly, having escaped dreams where the Moonlight Alpha tore my baby away. My heart raced, haunted by visions of my child abandoned in the woods, cries muffled by the cold, surrounded by snow, while branches snatched at them like the gnarled fingers of dark witches. The cold, empty stones of my cell echoed with the imagined cries of my future child, pleading for me to act.

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