Forbidden Temptation

Chapter Two

My throat felt tight. I planned to tell Robert the news tonight, but the castle only echoed fear today. The draft in the hallway felt sharper; the cold stone went through my soles. My heart beat faster than the soft sound of the plates when I put them down.

I had been preparing since morning. My hands did the work before my mind agreed to it.

“Be careful,” my wolf growled as I pulled up the water bucket. “The Alpha smells bad. Wait.”

“Everything must be right today,” I answered. The healer’s words echoed in me all day: there is life in you.

In the kitchen, the soup slowly cooked. I kneaded bread; the dough was warm under my palms. My wolf quietly settled around me—I am not alone now.

The afternoon slipped into darkness without me noticing. The noise from the training ground died down; the castle grew quiet. Robert was still not here. But he always came home in the evening. He will come now, too.

As the sun went down, the fear turned into waiting, and then into clear tension.

“It’s late,” my wolf whispered. “Not now.”

“I won’t wait. This is happy news.”

The heat from the oven grew stronger when I finally heard the sound of boots in the hall. Slow, heavy steps. The front door rattled, the wood groaned, and Robert stepped in.

First, his shadow hit the wall. His cloak was still on, his hair wet and stuck to his temples. His smell brought in the forest and blood—and a cold anger that made the air tense. His wolf was almost sparking beneath him. His look fell on me: hard and dark.

“You’re late,” I said, with a smile in my voice. “I waited with dinner.”

He did not answer. He didn’t even take off his cloak. He sat at the head of the table, his fingers tapping on the blade of a knife, then stopping. His quiet calm hurt more than any shouting.

I put the plate in front of him, then sat across from him. The silence was heavy.

“I have to tell you something,” I began. My wolf stood up inside me.

Robert’s eyes flashed for a second, but he didn’t speak. I did not want to beat around the bush.

“I am expecting a child,” I said clearly. “Your child. The healer is sure.”

For a moment, there was complete silence. Then Robert’s face tightened. His palm pressed onto the table; his jaw was clenched. My wolf snarled inside me.

“What did you say?” he asked in a low, sharp voice.

“I am expecting a child,” I repeated.

Robert suddenly stood up.

He did not shout. He did not hit the table. He just moved.

The table flipped over, the dishes crashed down, and the hot soup splashed my skin. My chair slid back. I tried to jump up—but his hand was already on my throat.

The grip instantly became strong. My feet left the floor. The air stopped.

“I don’t want you or the pup,” he said. His eyes glowed red. “No one will tie me down.”

My wolf surged forward inside me. My nails scratched his wrist; the metallic smell of his blood filled the air. Robert reacted to the defiance, not the pain. The grip only tightened. My vision blurred.

“Let me out!” the wolf yelled inside. “We must protect!”

Robert threw me away. I hit the wall, then fell to the floor. Every part of my body hurt, but I tried to move. I pulled my hands to my stomach, protecting it by instinct.

Robert walked toward me slowly.

“No!” my wolf shrieked. “Not there!”

The hit landed on my stomach anyway. First with a palm, then with a fist. My body curled up; the air rushed out of me. I tasted blood.

“There will be nothing from this,” he growled. “Nothing to make me weak.”

“It is life,” I whispered back.

His answer was a kick. Above my ribs, then lower. My wolf screamed inside me—not with anger, but with loss.

Robert pulled me up by my hair. White light flashed in my eyes.

“Look at me,” he commanded. His voice was the Alpha-voice. My wolf flinched but resisted.

“This will not stay this way,” I spat out. “Everything will end.”

“That’s the goal,” he said calmly. “The end of everything that is weak.”

The next punch pushed me against the wall. My hearing became muffled; the world was blurry. My wolf was gasping, curled around my stomach, protecting it. I did the same.

Another kick. My hip, my ribs. My lungs whistled; the world shrank.

“Hold on,” my wolf panted. “One more breath.”

Robert’s movements seemed far away. I managed to pull my arm around my stomach one more time. That was all I could do.

“Enough,” someone said.

My vision grayed out. The darkness slowly closed in. I could still hear my wolf’s voice:

“I am here. I am holding you.”

Then everything went silent.

Deep in the darkness, however, a tiny, stubborn life moved one last time… but it didn’t have the strength to keep me on the surface.