CHAPTER 2 – 24 Hours Until Destruction
1877 Words
ARIEL’S POV
“Abort the child!”
The words cut through the hospital room.
I stopped breathing.
For a second, even the machines beside my bed seemed to stutter. The door swung open and he stepped in.
Tall. Immaculate. Silver hair and cold blue eyes… the same ones his sons carried. And a polite smile that never reached his eyes.
Lord Drake.
The room went cold. My mother gasped beside me.
Lucian moved first. His chair screeched back as he stood.
“Careful what you say next, father.” Lucian said quietly.
That quiet tone was far more terrifying than a shout.
Lord Drake’s smile didn’t change.
“My sons,” he said smoothly, “I’m merely suggesting a practical solution. A shameless bartender who slept with two wolves in one night,” he said calmly. “And now you expect the Drake family to accept the result?”
Adrian stepped forward at once.
“You will speak to her with respect,” he warned. “And let me remind you… Lucian alone is your son. I am not.”
Lord Drake’s gaze shifted to me, cold, measuring and judging. Then a mocking laugh slipped from his lips.
“You certainly did something to my sons.”
His eyes drifted slowly to my stomach before he laughed again, softer this time.
“This girl is nothing more than a wh0re trying to cling to your wealth,” he said calmly. “She doesn’t even know who the father is, and yet both of you want to build a future on that?”
Silence fell into the room like a stone sinking into deep water.
The words spread through the air like poison. My cheeks burned with humiliation.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Lucian’s fists clenched so hard the veins in his hands bulged.
Lord Drake looked straight at me again.
“You should think about the future,” he said smoothly. “For the sake of my sons—and for your own dignity—remove that thing inside you.”
My voice came out rough and hoarse.
“You think I’m going to kill my child just because it embarrasses you?”
His smile widened slightly.
“You should be grateful I’m offering you a solution.”
Lucian snapped.
His hand slammed against the hospital table with a violent c***k.
“Enough!”
Every eye in the room turned toward him.
Lucian’s blue eyes burned like ice set on fire.
“Say one more word about the child,” he growled slowly, “and I will forget that you are my father.”
Lord Drake took a small step back from my bed.
Lucian moved so suddenly that the chair behind him crashed to the floor.
“Guards!” he barked.
The hospital door burst open. Four massive men rushed in.
Lucian pointed toward the hallway.
“Stand outside. No one enters. No one leaves.”
The guards nodded immediately.
Adrian frowned.
“You and your father cannot imprison her.”
Lucian’s eyes flashed dangerously.
“She is carrying my heir.”
Adrian’s head snapped toward him.
“Your heir?”
Lucian stepped forward.
“You heard the doctor.”
Adrian laughed once.
Cold.
Sharp.
“The doctor said the child could be either of ours.”
Their words clashed, sharp and dangerous.
“You think I will let you claim what is mine?” Lucian growled.
Adrian’s smile was razor-thin.
“You can’t claim something you didn’t even know existed until today.”
Lucian shoved him.
Hard.
Adrian staggered back a step.
The room exploded.
“Touch me again,” Adrian said softly, “and I will forget we share blood.”
Lucian’s grin was pure danger.
“I’ve been waiting for that.”
The next second…
They lunged.
They crashed into a metal cart.
Instruments scattered across the floor.
The crash was violent.
A table flipped.
Glass shattered.
My mother screamed.
The doctor rushed toward the door.
“Security!”
Lucian slammed Adrian against the wall.
Adrian drove his fist into Lucian’s ribs.
The sound made my stomach twist.
Nurses rushed into the hallway.
Patients ran.
The hospital dissolved into chaos.
My heart hammered.
Abort my child?
My fingers tightened on the sheet.
I’d made mistakes. But I would never kill my child.
I scanned the room quickly. There was only one way out alive… if I could reach the door before anyone stopped me.
Good.
I slid off the bed, careful not to make a sound. All eyes were on them, no one noticed me.
Perfect.
I inch toward the door.
The guards’ eyes are on the brothers, not me.
I pressed myself against the walls, moving like a shadow, every step silent, every breath a prayer. My heart thumped in my chest.
One wrong move… and it could be over.
I slipped out the door, and finally, I was in the hallway.
The hallway was total chaos.
That reckless courage… the same one that made me stand my ground at The Velvet Fang Club, was what kept my legs moving through the chaos.
Fear could not touch me. Not yet.
I picked up my pace. Faster. Faster. Then I ran.
No one noticed the pregnant girl weaving through the madness. Cold night air slammed against my face as I burst through the hospital doors.
Freedom.
For a moment, I just stood there breathing.
My hands trembled.
“Taxi!”
One passed.
Ignored me.
Another drove by.
Still nothing.
Panic crept up my spine. I wrapped my arms around myself.
“I’m such a mess,” I whispered.
The streetlights flickered as my mind went back to two months ago, at The Velvet Fang Club, I had met Lucian, tall, tattooed, and terrifyingly calm…
The first man who tried to own me with money and power.
__
***Flash Back (Two Months Earlier)***
The Velvet Fang Club never slept.
Music shook the walls while drunk billionaires threw money like confetti.
I was just the bartender trying to survive the night.
I balanced a tray on my palm as I wove between tables.
“Another whiskey!” someone shouted.
“Coming.”
My feet and back ached, but the tips kept me going. And right now every dollar matters.
Mom’s surgery drained everything I had.
The bills never stopped.
I set a drink on the counter.
My hand slipped.
Crash.
Glass exploded across the floor.
“Damn it, Ariel!” My manager stormed over. “You’re useless tonight.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’ve been ‘sorry’ all week.” He leaned closer. “If you weren’t bringing tips, you’d already be fired.”
My teeth clenched.
“Go serve table twelve.” he commanded.
I grabbed another tray.
Table twelve.
The moment I approached, the air felt different.
Heavy.
Predatory.
A man sat alone in the booth.
Huge. Cold blue eyes. Tattooed arms resting casually on the table.
An Alpha.
You could feel it the moment you looked at him.
But I didn’t care.
“Your drink,” I said flatly.
I set the glass down.
Then his hand moved.
Fast.
His fingers slid along my waist, tracing the curve of my hips.
My body stiffened, my full boobs rising with a sharp breath.
“Don’t.”
He ignored me.
His hand drifted higher, brushing the swell of my breast.
Heat flared through my chest.
“Remove your hand.”
He smiled lazily, his pants bulging with the outline of his hard d**k.
“You’re new.”
“I’m not interested.”
The man chuckled, leaning closer, his body shifting with hungry intent.
“You should be.”
His gaze moved slowly over my body, like he was inspecting merchandise.
Licking his lips as he eyed my hips.
“I pay very well.”
My stomach twisted.
This again.
Every night.
Rich men believing money meant ownership.
“Drink your whiskey,” I said tightly.
His hand suddenly gripped my hip.
Hard.
Pulling me closer, his fingers digging into my soft flesh.
“You’re prettier when you’re angry.”
That was it.
My patience snapped.
I slammed the tray onto the table.
“Take your hand off me!”
Nearby conversations stopped.
Heads turned.
The man didn’t move, instead he chuckled.
“You know who I am?”
“Not my problem.”
“Interesting.” He leaned back. “Every girl here listens when I speak.”
“I’m not every girl.”
His smile widened.
“Spend one night with me.”
My stomach dropped.
“I’ll pay you more than this job makes in a year.”
Silence swallowed the table.
I stared at him.
“You think money makes you powerful?”
“It usually does.”
I laughed bitterly.
“This is why I hate rich men.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Oh?”
“You think cash buys people.”
He leaned closer.
“Doesn’t it?”
Something reckless ignited inside me.
I grabbed the wine bottle from the tray, and poured it directly over his head.
Red wine soaked his expensive suit.
The entire club froze.
Someone gasped.
The man slowly wiped his face.
For the first time…
He looked surprised.
I stepped closer.
“You think you can control people with filthy money?” I said loudly.
My heart pounded.
Fear burned in my chest.
But I didn’t stop.
I never stop.
“That trick might work on everyone else,” I said. “But not me.”
The room held its breath.
He stared at me, slow, careful, like he could see straight through me.
Then he stood. Towering.
“Be careful, little lioness,” he murmured.
The nickname made heads turn. My coworkers whispered it behind my back: “The Wounded Lioness.” Because I bite when cornered.
Good. Let them watch.
I stepped closer. Close enough to taste the sharp tang of his dark cologne.
“You want control?” I lifted my chin. “Do your worst.”
His blue eyes darkened. Something dangerous flickered there. Then he smiled, slow, deliberate, interested.
“You have no idea what you’re playing with.”
“Then show me.”
The club went silent. The music died in the background. Every eye on us.
The tattooed Alpha leaned in, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous whisper.
“Careful… because right now,” he said, his lips brushing my ear, “I’m very… curious… about you.”
Then he smiled, wiped the wine from his face, and walked past me.
I watched his tall, perfect silhouette disappear. Everyone stared at me, but I ignored them and kept working.
Then someone bumped into me. The tray in my hand tilted, and glasses clattered onto the floor.
“Sorry,” a woman muttered, hurrying away.
I bent to pick up the broken glass… and froze. A folded paper lay among the shards. Written in red:
“24 HOURS UNTIL YOUR LIFE IS DESTROYED!”
I gripped the edge of the chair as a shiver ran down my spine. I looked around, but the woman was gone.
The note burned in my hand.
My eyes slowly lifted toward the club door where the Alpha had disappeared a while ago.
Holy Goddess.
I had just provoked the wrong man…
- Writer
