Page 42 of Knocked Up By My Fated Alpha
expression vanished at my words, and elders exchanged baffled looks.
“Alpha—” Elder Malcolm started, but I spoke over him.
“My future Luna, who is descended from the alpha bloodline of the Ivory Moon Pack, is already pregnant with my heir,” I met the gazes of the stunned Elders, one after the other. “Any attempts to discredit, sabotage, or remove her from her rightful position will be seen as treason and punished thus by execution and exile.”
“I…impossible,” Elias stuttered, a horrified expression on his face. “Raven can’t be pregnant for you.”
I shrugged lightly.
“The pack doctors are of a different opinion.”
Elias paled even further.
“You can’t be seriously considering giving my position away, Uncle.”
“You mean giving my child their rightful inheritance?” I queried lightly before my tone hardened. “The next time you attempt to call a council meeting without the authority to do so, you will be stripped of everything you own and exiled.”
I decidedI didn’t like it very much when Raven shunned me, or whatever it was, she was doing now while avoiding my gaze, giving me clipped one-word responses, and pointedly ignoring my presence in the training room while concentrating kicks and punches at the head and groin of a silicone training dummy.
I should have been grateful that she was giving me an out for my wolf’s behavior that night, but how could I when the memory of her in my arms was emblazoned in my mind? Goddess, it had been…none of the many dreams I had of her, of us, none of them compared.
So now, all I felt as I watched Raven trip over her pretty, delicate feet was an unending wave of frustration. Pretty, delicate feet? My wolf was messing with my head. Fuck this. I closed the distance between us.
“Your fighting stance is wrong,” I corrected her stiffly with a tap on her shoulder. “Feet apart—”
Raven sprang a step back as I made contact, almost falling over in the process.
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t touch me unnecessarily,” she bit out with a glare once she steadied. “You can direct me verbally.”
Seeing her react so strongly to me felt satisfying in a way I couldn’t fully articulate.
“Why?” I asked, deliberately obtuse.
Raven’s glare heated up, her cheeks flushing beautifully.
“Isn’t it obvious? I find your touch repulsive.”
Even though I could literally scent the lie in her words, a growl rumbled to life in my chest.
“That’s not what you were saying when I had my fingers in—”
“I see you are in rare form today, but I will not do this with you,” Raven interrupted, her blush intensifying as she stepped around me to pick up her gym bag. “I have some work to get to. I’ll leave first.”
My hands formed fists at my side.
“Training hours aren’t over, Raven.”
Naturally, she ignored me.
Aggravating me seemed to be Raven’s default setting. She was combative, loud, reckless, and impulsive. She was nothing like Rielle, not my type in any way, so why was my wolf obsessed with her?
It didn’t matter, I reminded myself. What mattered was my promise to help her win the duel. Something that would be virtually impossible if she kept missing precious training time because of our disagreements.
I reached Raven before she could pick up the gym bag and put her in the simple hold I’d taught her how to break in our first week of training together. But instead of hitting me and breaking free, Raven went still in my grasp.
My entire body went taut with tension as I caught the change in her breathing. No. I wasn’t going to do this again. I wasn’t a slave to my wolf’s impulses. I started to pull away, but that was the very moment Raven started to fight back, which ended with our bodies being pressed close, far too close to each other.
A small, almost strangled whimper escaped Raven’s lips, and for amoment, just one, my control lapsed, my hand going around Raven’s middle, keeping her back pressed to my front. Raven went still for the second time, but this time it was just for a moment, then she placed her hand over mine, no doubt to pry my fingers off her—
