Chapter 17 Part 2 Blood And instincts
871 Words
The words hit Daxus like a war drum.
“She’s pregnant,” Semial said.
Everything inside Daxus stilled.
Then something ancient unfurled in his chest. Not rage. Not confusion.
Claim.
He didn’t speak. Just turned and strode out of the room.
Alec fell into step beside him, jaw tight. “Is it hers?”
Daxus didn’t answer.
“You can’t go storming into a student dorm—”
“She’s carrying my child.”
The Beta didn’t argue again. He knew better. He felt it too—the primal pull, the way instinct whispered truths deeper than blood. And even though his own muscles had tensed, though something strange and sour stirred in his gut, he followed.
Cassian’s vehicle was already outside with a young enforcer seated beside him, unaware he was about to witness a storm.
No one spoke as the cars cut through the trees.
—
Back at Blackwood’s north dorms, Avane sat on the edge of her bed, the pill bottle trembling in her hands.
The nurse had explained everything. Taken her through options. Timelines. Risks.
Elara had wanted to stay but had a lab she couldn’t miss.
And now, Avane was alone.
She stared at the pill—tiny, pale, unassuming.
It looked like nothing. But it felt like everything.
She closed her eyes, her fingers clenching the glass bottle. Her thoughts were chaos. Daxus. The night. Her future. Her shame.
Her heart thudded, cold sweat clinging to her spine. Her body ached—bone deep.
She tipped the pill into her hand. Brought it toward her lips—
—
In the lead vehicle, Daxus gripped the wheel. Alec sat next to him, knuckles white on the dash. The closer they got, the worse it became.
The scent was unmistakable. Faint, but present.
The girl. Her pain. Her fear.
And something else—something dark and aching. Decision.
“She’s doing something,” Alec muttered. His throat worked around something like a growl.
“I know.”
Daxus’s pulse pounded. His hands shook on the wheel. His wolf was snarling beneath the surface, clawing at his restraint. Mine.
In the car behind them, Cassian watched the road but couldn’t help but glance at the rearview. The enforcer beside him had gone very still.
“Something wrong?” Cassian asked.
“I can feel it,” the young man whispered. “Someone’s about to bleed.”
—
The cars screeched to a halt outside the dorms.
Daxus was out before the wheels stopped spinning. Alec followed, tense, lips drawn tight. The air pulsed with tension—so thick it made students nearby glance up, confused and unsettled.
Daxus climbed the stairs to her room, his stride unstoppable.
He didn’t knock.
The door flung open under his hand.
Avane froze. The pill still in her fingers. Eyes wide, breath caught.
Daxus stood in the doorway, chest heaving. Shadows burned behind his eyes.
“I think you have something to tell me,” he said, voice low and rough. “And I have a lot to tell you too.”
He took two steps toward her. “You’re coming with me.”
She didn’t move. But she didn’t resist either.
His touch was gentle, a hand on her back guiding her forward. She stumbled once, and he steadied her with a firm grip.
They barely made it to the staircase when a blur of motion struck Daxus hard, sending him reeling into the hallway wall.
Alec.
Snarling, furious, eyes glowing amber, he tackled his king with enough force to shake the corridor.
Daxus spun, catching Alec by the shoulder and slamming him into the railing, but not before taking a heavy punch to the ribs.
“Tova!” Cassian’s voice rang out from below.
The other enforcer surged up the stairs, grabbing Alec by the waist and yanking him backward with practiced strength.
Alec thrashed. “Get off me!”
“She’s not yours!” Tova snapped, pinning him. “What are you doing?”
Avane stood frozen at the top of the stairs, eyes huge.
She couldn’t see clearly, but the sound—the snarling, the bone-rattling impacts, the way the very air trembled—filled her with a terror she hadn’t known she could feel.
Then Daxus was in front of her again.
His arm curved protectively around her waist, shielding her from sight. His body, solid and tense, blocked out everything behind them.
“Look at me,” he said quietly.
She did.
“Don’t be afraid.”
She nodded, though she didn’t believe it.
Behind them, Alec gave one last roar before being thrown into the side of Cassian’s car, the metal groaning under the impact.
Avane flinched.
Daxus guided her into the front passenger seat of his vehicle.
He slammed the door shut.
The others loaded Alec—still snarling, but starting to calm—into the second car.
Daxus climbed into the driver’s seat beside her and started the engine.
Avane’s hands shook.
“What’s going on?” she whispered.
Daxus didn’t answer at first.
His jaw was tight. The road blurred past them.
Finally, he said, “Your questions will have to wait, Avane.”
His voice held something primal. Final.
And terrifying.
- Writer
