Page 46 of Lycan Prince's Secret Baby

Leah

Lina’s piercing cry ricocheted through my dream, and I bolted awake. The room was steeped in shadows, the night’s cloak still thick outside. A sliver of moonlight slipped through the heavy, earthy-toned curtains. I yawned, stretching as I went to my daughter.

“Hey, little one,” I cooed, scooping her up and quickly returning to the nest of my blankets. These days, Lina smelled like pine and wildflowers from the fragrant waters symbolizing mine and Kyle’s essences so frequently bathing her skin. I eased my breast out of my top, waiting for her to take my teat, but Lina didn’t stop crying. I checked to see if she needed changing, but the Uruk, the moss liner of her diaper, was dry.

I tried again, but she clearly wasn’t hungry, and her cries escalated. The wind outside howled furiously, flakes of snow dancing madly against the window. I wondered if its violence might be the culprit to her distress.

“It’s okay, darling,” I assured her. “Aaka’shere.” I used the shortened goddess’s word for mother. In this moment, the weight of myAakaga’slove felt heavy. Fierceness gripped my heart as I wanted to know what had upset her. She hadn’tsuffered from any of the feverish nightmares that had first plagued her from her Warring Wolves condition for weeks. Since Kyle and I had started guarding her in our wolf forms, paired with the infusion of spirit we gave her daily, her symptoms had all but disappeared.

But I frowned as I laid the back of my palm on her brow. Itwaswarm.

I began her lullaby, hoping that the familiar melody would soothe her. As worry thrummed through me, I sang to push away the tide of panic that was likely conjured more from the past than now.

Outside, the storm screeched, and my anxiety thickened. I turned on the bedside lamp, hoping the glow would chase away the shadow of unease growing in my mind. But the pale yellow walls seemed washed out, almost sickly. I got up as I rocked Lina in my arms, trying to find the comfort the lullaby usually evoked.

The chill of anxiety crawled deeper, penetrating my bones. I walked her over to my writing desk, glancing down at the treasures yesterday’s delivery had brought. I forced a smile. There lay kulvich, its tear drop-like flowers so delicate, and palliks. The cottony type buds were perfect for lining pillows and meant to bring good dreams. I determined to put some into Lina’s bassinet later today. She’d probably had a nightmare, that was all. Kyle had managed to obtain these obscure Shadow Moon herbs shipped out here from Alexis.

Lina’s cries grew more piercing, and I held her tighter. Her cry squeezed my heart, reawakening the dread from the first few days of her illness when she’d burned up with fever and nightmares.

My gaze went over to the herbs again as I sought to calm the rising tide of panic. I’d laid them out last night, hoping I’d get to do some sketching later today.

I will.

I was looking forward to reading up on kulvich’s properties, having never come across it.

Lina’s cries seemed as frantic as the winds roaring through the frozen valley outside, and it took everything in me to keep singing and rocking her.

My voice faltered. Each cry from Lina echoed the storm outside, and as I pressed her tighter to me, a flurry of emotion cascaded through me, threatening to swallow me whole. But then, Lina’s cries cut off, her form went limp in my arms, and the worst moment of my life replayed itself again.

In a moment, I was tearing down the hall. I burst into the witch’s room. “Lyvia! Lyvia!”

Her amber eyes snapped open, glowing like sikin stones in the dark.

“Lina’s unconscious again!” I yelled.

Lyvia’s hands took Lina, laying her down on the bed. Lyvia’s hands swept over her prostrate form, her words a low murmur as she investigated.

Even as she focused, Lyvia instructed, “Get Kyle, now.”

Of course. Kyle.

I spun on my heel, charging down the staircase. Each footfall on the creaking wood echoed my anxiety, coiling the suspense tighter around my heart.

Why is Kyle on the first floor?

He should have been put in a room next to Lina and me. Dread juddered through me, nausea spinning through me as I contemplated what our daughter might lose if we weren’t in time to help her.

I threw myself into his room. “Kyle! Kyle!” I threw myself onto his bed.

Kyle’s eyes blinked to life, confusion and sleep heavy in his voice. “Leah?”

“Hurry, it’s Lina,” I demanded, pulling him up.

In a moment, he was surging after me, following my hurried steps as we tore up the four flights of stairs. As we both hurtled into Lyvia’s bedroom, my heart stampeded with terror.

What if…?

Roman hovered at the foot of Lyvia’s bed, worry etched into his features. His bedroom was on the third floor, but I must have woken him with my hurried steps. I heard other stirrings of creaking floorboards and muffled voices about the house now. But I only had eyes for Lina.

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