ELENA'S POV
The silence after those words was the loudest thing I'd ever heard.
Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Even the wind outside seemed to pull back like it was waiting to see what happened next.
Then I laughed.
Not the kind of laugh that meant something was funny. The kind that came from somewhere past exhaustion and fear and two days of running for my life. The kind that said I had officially reached my limit.
"Belongs to you," I repeated. "My baby. Belongs to you."
Ryker's expression didn't change. "It's not personal. It's the law."
"It's not law," I said. "It's a piece of paper three hundred years old that was written about a bloodline everyone thought was dead. It has nothing to do with me or my child."
"It has everything to do with you." He took one step forward. "The treaty
