Page 122 of Bonded Chaos

Hope that I would not suffer a life in Ryker’s shadow, miserable and alone.

My fingers brushed against my stomach as the reality settled deep into my soul. A life now grew inside me, and that both frightened me and gave me strength.

I hadn’t asked for any of this, but I already felt a fierce sense of protectiveness toward my child budding within me.

Ryker glanced at me from the corner of his eye, his fingers tightening around mine. It wasn’t painful, but possessive, as if he feared I’d vanish the moment he let me go.

“You’re quiet,” he said, his voice soft but cautious.

I snatched my hand from his grip and wrapped my arms around myself in a tight embrace. Glancing over my shoulder, I found the hallway empty behind us. The others had slipped away, and I hadn’t even noticed, too consumed by my churning thoughts.

“What would you like me to say, Ryker?” I spat. “That I’m happy? Grateful? I’m not.”

Ryker’s jaw tightened, and I could feel his anger radiating from him as he struggled to maintain his mask of indifference.

“I did what I had to, Cadence, and I won’t apologize for it.”

We walked in silence as we made our way back to his chamber, the tension between us thick and unrelenting.

But beneath my fury, a quiet, insidious thought lingered.

The game had only just begun.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Ryker

The door clicked shut behind me, and I rested my back against the smooth wood as I crossed my arms. Cadence disappeared into the bathing chamber, and I waited for her to finally let go, to release some of her simmering rage.

Once she had gotten it out of her system, we could both move forward with our lives.

Not a minute later, Cadence returned, her hands balled into fists at her side.

“Why Ryker?”

“You know why,” I said as I studied her.

My gaze landed on her belly and the vision of her swollen with my child had my cock stiffening. I’d never thought about having children before, never particularly cared for them.

But I was now.

And only because it was her.

“Are you trying to tell me that the Night Cursed Prince, the most feared Fae in all the kingdoms, can’t protect his mate?”

She cocked her hip to the side and folded her arms over her chest. At least she had given up the pretense that I wasn’t her mate.

“Well,” she demanded.

“I told you I had a plan, Cadence.”

“And what plan would —” her words fell away, and she swayed on her feet.

I pushed off the door as I crossed the room to help her.

“Cadence, are you all right?”

“Don’t come any closer,” she snarled.

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