Page 75 of Knocked Up By My Fated Alpha
I lost my temper?
“You weren’t here!” I snapped, my voice rising, sharp with disbelief. “You don’t know what she said to me. I just told you, she cleared out my nest!”
My anger crackled in the air between us, and I didn’t care that it showed. Damien’s response came quickly. Too quickly. His tone was still calm, but now it had an edge to it. One that cut.
“It’s not about what she said,” he replied. “You shouldn’t have done that, and I’m not just talking about her. I’m talking about you.”
My breath caught, my fury flaring hotter.
“What the hell do you mean?”
I could feel the red rising behind my eyes, in my chest, everywhere. I was boiling.
“You’re pregnant,” he said, the words clipped. “What if she fought back? You can’t take any risks right now. You can’t recklessly endanger yourself like that.”
Something cracked in me then. I was the one who walked into my room and found it stripped bare. I was the one whose space, my privacy, and my sanctuary had been violated. But somehow, I was the danger? I was the one being called reckless?
I sucked in a breath, trying to keep the heat from spilling over, but it was too late.
“Endanger?” I said, voice trembling not with fear, but with rage. “She violated my space, Damien. My room. My nest. The one I built because of the child I’m carrying.”
I stepped forward, my voice low and unyielding.
“And you’re defending her. You’re actually standing here telling me this is my fault.”
His jaw tightened, a muscle ticking, his eyes flashing with frustration. “I’m not defending her,” he snapped, standing fully. “I expected you to be smarter, Raven. You’re pregnant, vulnerable, and you’re getting into fights? What if she’d struck back? What if you’d been hurt? You can’t shift into your wolf.”
The words flew from his mouth like an accusation. All sharp, thoughtless, and cruel.
He knew why I couldn’t shift into my wolf. I had told him about that traumatic night in the woods, the night my parents were murdered, a night that left me scarred so badly it made me shiftless. And yet, the way he said it, like my inability was a flaw I had chosen, something I had done to myself, struck like a slap across the face.
And then it hit me—a quiet, devastating realization. It was already happening. All the whispers I had been hearing were playing out before my very eyes: He was choosing her. It didn’t matter who was right or wrong. She was his fated mate. He would defend her.
Something in me cracked wide open, and all the pain, rage, and sorrow twisted together until I could barely breathe through it.
“This has nothing to do with me or my wolf,” I said, my voice cold and trembling. “She’s your mate. I get it. You’ll defend her no matter what.”
“What the hell are you talking about? This has nothing to do with… ”
“It has everything to do with it, Damien,” I cut in, shouting now, unable to hold the storm back. “It’s exactly what we agreed on, isn’t it? I’m only here to give you your precious heir so you can cling to your title and keep your precious alpha throne. I’m just a means to an end.”
Something shifted in him then. Until that point, he’d tried to stay composed with his voice low and edged with restraint. But now? His temper surfaced. His voice came sharper and harsher, like glass cracking under pressure.
“How can you even say that?” he asked, his voice edged. “After everything…that’s what you think?”
“You’ve made it clear, Damien. Every single thing you’ve done has been about that.” My words were tumbling out now, fierce and fast, maybe from the pregnancy hormones, maybe from everything else I’d been holding back. “You brought me here because of your heir. You delayed the duel because of your heir. You’ve been training me to survive it for your heir. You made me stop working because of your heir.”
“I had every right to stop you from working,” he snapped.
We were nose to nose now. Tempers flaring. Chests heaving.
“Yeah. Because I’m carrying your heir, right? That’s what gives you the right to control me. That’s what makes you think you can decide for me. Just like that.” My voice cracked. “You didn’t even ask, Damien. You just decided.”
His face shifted. Just a little. A flicker of guilt.
“Raven…” he said, quieter now. “That’s not what I meant…”
I pulled away.
