Page 44 of Knocked Up By My Fated Alpha
“I’m… scared,” I admitted reluctantly.
Alpha Damien’s look of concern deepened.
“The procedure is safe,” he leaned in, quick to reassure me. “I read the brochure and looked it up online. I also confirmed with all the doctors—”
“It’s not a rational fear,” I interjected. “My parents—”
The rest of my words were lodged by the lump in my throat. I didn’t talk about my parents. Ever. Not even when Misha had tried toget me to open up about it so that I could “heal from it.” Not even with the pack therapist who had seen me after their deaths.
It was too raw. Too painful. Alpha Damien’s large hand covered mine, his thumb stroking gently over my painfully clenched fist, and in that moment, I found I could breathe again, so I pushed right into the story before I lost my nerve.
“I was there when they died. I don’t remember much of it, just the blood, but I was there, and it broke me, and I lost my wolf.”
Next to me, Alpha Damien went still. Then his arms were around me, cradling me in his embrace like I was fragile glass, his whisper holding an apology.
“I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
In our initial training sessions, I’d thought he’d been making a mockery of me with all that talk about my wolf’s dominance, but eventually, I realized that Alpha Damien might have been the only high-ranking wolf in our society who hadn’t heard the rumours about the wolfless heir of the Ivory Moon Pack.
Admittedly, it had been several years since my peculiar situation was a hot topic for gossip. It explained why he’d made that deal with me. He’d truly believed he could save me by training me. Pity.
“I…” I tasted Alpha Damien’s potent scent on my tongue as I grappled for words. “I… I lost myself that day, and sometimes it feels like I stopped existing when they died.” My voice broke. “And now, I’m scared I’ll do it to the baby, too. I’m going to make them live through losing a parent.”
It was one thing to know in theory that I would die in the duel, and my arrangement with Alpha Damien would make sure my child didn’t die with me. It was another thing entirely to see the child I would be abandoning through an ultrasound, to listen to their heartbeat, to see that they were real, and know that I’d never know them or see them grow.
My tears broke free of me before I could rein in my emotions. Uncontrollable sobs of pain wracked my entire body, and Alpha Damien held me through it all. He didn’t seem to care that I wasstaining his shirt with my tears as he pulled me onto his lap, his hand moving over my back in comforting strokes.
“You aren’t going to die in that duel,” he said tightly.
I shook my head, another sob in my throat.
“But I’m not strong enough—”
Alpha Damien’s index finger went under my chin, forcing me to silence as I met his steady, resolute gaze.
“You are the strongest woman I know,” he declared passionately, and my heartbeat faltered for all the wrong reasons. “I won’t let you die. We will raise our child together. Both of us.”
Sparks fluttered to life across my skin as his thumb stroked over my cheek, brushing away my tears, and I couldn’t read the expression on his face when he spoke. “I promise, Raven.”
The world fell away at his words, leaving just the two of us, and I struggled to stay firm.
“You can’t promise that,” I whispered, a silent question weaving through my words.
Alpha Damien’s gaze heated up, and I felt a chill despite the presence of his jacket draped over my shoulder. His voice dropped to a thick rumble, my name a sensual caress on his lips.
“I’ve found there’s little I want that I don’t get, Raven.”
My mind blanked, and I couldn’t think, not when Alpha Damien’s gaze dipped as he said those words, making me register how close we’d drifted. I was literally on his lap, our lips a breath apart, his body hard and warm against mine. Alpha Damien’s eyes were liquid gold as his lips parted, and I found myself leaning—
“Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell, we are ready for you.”
I nearly fell out of the chair, Alpha Damien and I springing apart like we were teenagers who had been caught in the act. However, it wasn’t until we were walking into the room that the way the nurse had addressed us fully registered. She’d addressed me as Mrs. Blackwell.
“You registered us as a married couple?” I whisper-yelled at Alpha Damien, but he just shrugged.
“Raven Blackwell has a nice ring to it, right?” he commented airily, and my traitorous heart skipped a beat once more.
