Page 33 of Lycan Prince's Secret Baby

Roman entered my room, his brow furrowed and jaw tense. Concern radiated from him as he approached. Without a word, he settled beside me and watched Lina’s fitful slumber with me.

He’d already heard what Lina required from Lyvia and promised, “We’ll find a way to bring Kyle here to heal her, I swear.”

Despair twisted in my gut. “How, Roman? Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”

A dark thought slithered through me. Perhaps Igaluk was punishing me for my weakness in being with Kyle. Maybe the moon goddess had only marked me for him, not as a binding fate, but as a test, a challenge meant to provoke my defiance. Wasn’t I meant to break this bond with the one who had oppressed my kind? As I wallowed over the past, resentment toward Kyle clung to me.

Roman’s bright blue eyes dragged up from Lina and settled on me. “Stop beating yourself up, Leah. You did what you had to do by leaving. If Reginald had discovered your pregnancy, Lina might not have survived.”

Even though I knew Roman was right, it was hard to forgive myself for causing Lina the pain she was now in. Each distressing frown or cry that came from her felt like it was me who had put it there. Dread coiled tightly in my chest like a serpent constricting my heart. My gaze seemed chained to her as if just by keeping close enough vigil, I could somehow fix this.

“Besides, Mark will get Kyle to us, I promise,” Roman reassured me.

My skin prickled with anticipation. Mark, who had helped lead the Moonlight patrol away the night I escaped, was indeed the ally I had suspected. I had seen Kyle wash his hands of me, leading me to conclude that Mark, his assistant, was the spy within the Moonlight Pack. Roman had confirmed that when I’d gotten here. But there’d been far more to Mark’s tie to our pack than I’d imagined.

Roman and I had always been close friends, best friends, which I suppose was where our fathers got the idea to enter into an engagement for us. Our fathers had loved the idea of our familiesbecoming united. I’d been young and assumed that my feelings would change as I got older. But Roman had called it off when he’d told everyone he had fallen in love with someone else.

At the time, he hadn’t explained who it was. When I arrived here a year ago, I’d been astounded to learn that it had been Mark he’d fallen in love with. Back then, they’d hoped that with our packs forming an alliance, they’d soon be able to be open about their relationship.

It was another piece of our shared past that had reforged the relationship between Roman and me. My heart ached for my friend, who had lost his father, his homeland,andthe love of his life the day he’d run from Reginald and the Moonlight Pack.

“We’ll find a way, I promise,” Roman said again, his voice low with emotion. I could feel his unwavering trust in Mark despite their four long years apart.

The clouded expression that so often settled on his face blanketed it, and I wanted to hug him, knowing he was missing Mark. But I held Lina, so I laid my head on his shoulder, “Thank you,Anuk, and thank Mark from us.”

Roman’s chin settled on my head as he breathed me in, drinking in my closeness.

“Mark’s most recent message said that Kyle has been causing waves with reforms for the female wolves in the Moonlight Pack. He thinks Reginald is itching to find a reason to send him away. If Mark sows the seed in Reginald’s mind to use Kyle to hunt down fugitive Blood Moons, we could get him here soon. Reginald has all sorts of rumors about where we are, none of which are accurate thanks to Lyvia’s enchantments, but Mark could give him our actual location.”

Anticipation beat through me, along with a glimmer of hope. My heart ached for what my friend had been forced to give up. I imagined all the messages besides those of purpose that had been the only thing that Roman and Mark could exchange with one another. Roman spent a lot of time online, and most of his communications with Mark were via email.

Mark’s messages had been invaluable in helping Roman and the pack evade Reginald these last few years. With his position as Kyle’s assistant and, before that, as treasurer of the Council, he’d always had access to the comings and goings of everything.

He’d secretly read the letters between Kyle’s father and the elders and garnered information about when and where Reginald would take action. That was how Roman and the free Blood Moons had evaded the Moonlight Pack these four years. Reginald had made it easier by preferring letters to digital communication or phone calls.

My thoughts fell back to Kyle. Roman and I hadn’t really talked about Kyle much in recent months. I didn’t want to dwell on what had happened between us. But now, with the insight Roman had mentioned about his making waves with the reforms for the female wolves in his pack, I couldn’t help being curious.

Not wanting to admit it, though, I cloaked it in bitterness. “I suppose Kyle has withdrawn his reforms for Blood Moons now?” I thought of how he hadn’t put up any fight against his father’s orders to starve me in the cell block. He’d been all too easily ensnared by his father’s machinations. I didn’t suppose his reforms would stand up long against Reginald.

“Actually, Mark’s messages are that Kyle’s managed to give more help to the Blood Moons. Their quarters have been overhauled with electricity and heating, and the sanitation has improved.”

My heart raced as a fleeting glow of surprise and wariness coursed through me. But Kyle had always been an enigma—capable of benevolence and profound cruelty. A shiver ran through me as I thought of the man who had caused me so much harm. I didn’t want to see him again, and yet, for Lina, I had to.

Roman wrapped his arm around me, drawing both me and Lina into him. “Despite what Mark says, I don’t trust Kyle, and however we get him here, I’ll ensure he can’t betray us,Nuka. And I’ll protect you from the bond you don’t want in any way I can.”

With this assurance, Roman started to set things in motion. Days turned into restless nights, in which both Lina and I found little rest. As the shadows of night kissed the edges of our home one evening, Lyvia poked her head around my bedroom door. For a moment, I assumed she’d come to administer a dose of her calming magic, which had eased some of Lina’s fevered dreams.

But the witch said, “Roman’s got him.”

The impact of her words was like a punch to the gut. Adrenaline charged through me, and my heart thumped against my ribcage. I stood up, shifting Lina in my arms, but even that movement didn’t cause her to stir. Worry gnawed at me as I longed for the days when she woke at the slightest of noises or movements.

“Where is he?” I asked, my voice strained.

“The pack’s gathering in the cavern below,” Lyvia said.

With my heart beating against my chest like a battering ram, we rushed down the many stairs of our home, all the way to the subterranean cavern. The atmosphere buzzed with energy, and the Blood Moons shared glances of intrigue. Roman stood tall and broad-chested in the heart of the firelit chamber, gesturing me to him with an intensity that made my heart race.

As I approached, I found what all the other Blood Moons were looking at Kyle. He stood blindfolded, his hands restrained behind him, and utterly naked. But far from making him seem vulnerable, each of his muscles was tense with strength and power. Heat flooded my cheeks, and a rush of breath caught in my throat before I could organize my swirling thoughts.

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