Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“Does he?”
“Yes! Of course he does. He’s half wolf, Alara. You know that.”
“And what makes you think he requires the blood of his father?”
I swallow. “He tells me. The ache in my abdomen becomes so pronounced, and only wolf blood heals it.”
She smiles at me, and I’m again struck by her ethereal beauty. Her silver hair glistens down here.
“Hannah, your child has no need for blood at this stage in his development.”
I advance toward her, clenching my hands into fists. “You’re wrong. I know when he’s hungry. I know when—”
She holds out her hand, and against my better judgment, I stop talking.
“Your child is half wolf.”
“Which is why he needs Rogan’s blood. Or at least wolf blood.”
“Wolves have no need to ingest blood.”
I huff. “Don’t you think I know that? It’s his vampire half—or quarter—that needs blood.”
She smiles. “You are indeed in love with the wolf.”
“I don’t need anyone to state the obvious. But it’s over. I accept that. I have no choice. My father’s meddling has broken my heart, Alara, but at least I have Rogan’s child, and I will see to his needs. Right now, he needs wolf blood.”
“Hannah,” she says gently, reaching toward me with her hand. “Take my hand. Know the truth.”
I resist for a split second, but then something inside me compels me to take the vampire’s hand.
And I know.
I know as if I’ve always known.
My child doesn’t require the blood of his father. Those aches, those needs…
They came from me.
I jerk my hand away. “No…”
“It’s true. The only one craving Rogan’s blood is you, Hannah. Your child is only a quarter vampire. It’s unlikely he’ll even carry the blood gene.”
“And if he does?”
“Then the lust will hit during puberty or after, as it does for all vampires.”
“Mine hit later.”
“Yes, and his likely will as well.”
“Then why…”
She comes toward me, places her hands on my belly, and closes her eyes. She stays silent a moment and then opens her eyes, smiling.
“The child within you is healthy. He’s growing rapidly, but not abnormally. He already loves you very much…and he has no need for his father’s blood.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”
“You were the one craving the wolf’s blood, Hannah. You transferred the need onto the child to make it easier on yourself. You no longer wanted to crave his blood, for you now know the truth that you are not his fated mate. Still, you love him, and wolf blood is among the most potent elixirs to our kind.”
I shrug with another huff. “My father did this to me.”
“He did.”
“What a manipulative bastard.”
She laughs softly. “I won’t disagree with you. Our king wasn’t born to be king, as you know. But in his way, he does what he thinks is right.”
“He thought it was right to leave his daughter—his heir—brokenhearted?”
“He had his reasons.”
“Tell me what they are, then. Why did he do this to me? To my child?”
“I will tell you in time. But first, you must learn to control the craving for the wolf’s blood.”
36
I nod, squaring my shoulders. Despite the quiver in my belly, an ember of resolve ignites inside me.
I may love Victor Rogan and he may love me. I may be carrying his son, but we are not meant to be together in this life.
I need to think with my head and not with my heart, for my own good as well as the good of my child.
“Let’s begin,” Alara says. “I want you to close your eyes, feel the child growing within you, feel his needs. Feel your own needs, the physical needs and not the emotional. This is very important, Hannah, if you’re to succeed in what you were meant to do.”
My eyes pop open. “What I’m meant to do?”
“Take your father’s place on the throne, of course.”
“It’s not a throne I ever wanted.”
“It’s not a throne he ever wanted either, as you well know. But it is your fate, your destiny. And that of the child within you.”
“My child will be more wolf than vampire. Will our people accept him?”
“That is far in the future,” Alara says. “Please. Let’s concentrate on getting your craving under control.”
I have so many questions, but I agree with Alara. Rogan is not mine, and I must no longer yearn for his blood. I let out a breath, and the air shifts around us. My pulse syncs with the rhythm of the torches’ crackle, and I force my mind to focus.
It’s far from easy, but after a few more breaths, I think of my son and he gives me strength.
“Control,” I say softly, closing my eyes.
Though the memories of Rogan’s blood claw at my conscience, I shove them back, locking them away in a mental vault fortified with steel will.
Tonight, I am not prey to the beast.
Tonight, I am its tamer.
I open my eyes. Alara circles me like a hawk, her eyes never leaving mine.