Rise of the Forbidden Luna

Chapter 26: Playing with Fire

The door of the bathroom clicked open, and I stepped back into the master bedroom, my feet sinking into the plush, rugs.

I had washed my face with cold water and smoothed down my damp clothes, the moment I cleared the threshold, the suffocating thickness of his Alpha aura slammed into my chest, making my pulse spike instantly.

Alpha Ethan was pacing the floor like a caged predator. The moment he heard the latch turn, he snapped his head toward me, his gold-flecked amber eyes flashing with a fierce, restless intensity that stripped the air right out of my lungs.

"You locked the door," Ethan murmured, his deep baritone dropping into a rough, gravelly rumble as he closed the distance between us in three massive strides. He loomed directly over my frame, his nostrils flaring slightly as he openly scented the air around me. "Your scent is completely erratic, Aria. It smells of sharp panic and sour exhaustion. Why did you bar me from my own room?"

I forced myself to stand tall, keeping my hands flat against my sides so he wouldn't see them trembling. I looked right into his burning eyes and delivered the first calculated lie of my new reality.

"I just spent the last twenty-four hours running through forests, dodging rogue enforcers, and dragging my battered father out of a filthy dungeon block. Forgive me if the physical trauma of watching my family bleed has made my stomach turn."

A sudden, sharp flash of raw guilt and agonizing regret passed over his chiseled features, instantly softening the harsh lines of his stone mask. He let out a low, heavy sigh, his massive hands reaching out to anchor firmly around my waist. He pulled my frame forward until my front was pressed flush against the solid, radiating heat of his broad chest.

The intense, forced proximity made another sudden wave of nausea flutter deep within my belly, but I clenched my jaw and fought it down with everything I had. He cannot know, I reminded myself fiercely. If he suspects a thing, my freedom is dead.

"I am sorry, little bird," Ethan whispered deathly softly, his breath brushing hot against my forehead as he buried his face in the crook of my neck, his large arms wrapping around my back in an unbreakable, possessive embrace. "I should have reached that dungeon sooner. I should have never let Richard’s dogs touch a single hair on your head."

"Where is my father?" I whispered against his shoulder, keeping my blue eyes wide and calculated in the dark.

"Marcus is safe," Ethan growled softly, his thumb slowly tracing a soothing, territorial circle against the small of my back. "I have personally moved him into the palace's highest-security medical wing under my elite pack physicians. He is heavily guarded, and no one from the western alliance can reach him here. I swear to you, Aria, Richard will pay with his life for what he did to you and your parents."

A cold, ruthless spark of triumph ignited in the deepest depths of my soul. My father was secure, and Ethan was already preparing to march his imperial vanguard straight toward Richard's throat. The chessboard was aligning perfectly.

"I want to see him, Ethan," I murmured, lifting my face to look at his iron jaw, letting a drop of fake vulnerability slip into my tone. "Let me visit the medical wing tomorrow.

"Ethan stared down at me for a long, agonizing moment, his intense amber eyes drilling into mine as if he were trying to read the hidden secrets buried beneath my soul. He reached up, his large, calloused hand gently cupping my chin, his fingers sliding up to trace my lip with a lingering, possessive touch that turned my blood to liquid fire.

"You will see him tomorrow," Ethan promised against my mouth, his low voice thick with a dangerous, absolute obsession that made my heart stumble. "But i will go with you, and I will spend every single day ensuring you realize that your place is right here, beneath my protection."

I kept my features steady, nodding softly as he lifted me gently into his arms and carried me toward the massive canopy bed. He laid me down onto the plush mattress, drawing the heavy velvet covers securely around my shoulders with a quiet tenderness. But as Ethan slid into the bed beside me, pulling my back against his warm chest, a cold wave of raw anxiety settled deep into my throat. I lay wide awake in the dark, my hand secretly flattening over my stomach beneath the sheets. A sudden, paralyzing fear of the future gripped my heart as I stared into the shadows. I had no idea how long I could successfully hide this child, or what would happen the exact second he discovered i was carrying his child.