Chapter 0132
Emory
Bernard looks a mix of horrified and furious. His gray eyes are wide, and he stares at me dumbstruck for a full minute before he lunges. Dr. Martin and Helga grab him before he can get off the bed. They push him down, and Bernard is no match for their superior vampire strength. It doesn’t help that he’s lost a lot of blood and is malnourished.
“You have to get rid of it!” Bernard yells. “You can’t keep that thing inside of you!”
“That is not your decision,” I reply firmly. “This is my baby, and I get to decide-”
I I
“It’s going to be a monster!” Bernard’s gray eyes look more scared than angry. “Whatever comes out of you, it’s not going to be a shifter or a vampire; it’s going to be an abomination.”
My hand cradles my belly protectively. “No, it’s not. My baby is going to be normal.”
“Normal?” he scoffs. “It’s going to destroy all of us. With Kane’s spawn inside of you, it’ll kill you as it tries to get out-”
The horrifying imagery makes me want to cover my ears. “Stop! Stop saying that!”
“Monster! It’s going to be a monster!” he chants. “A bloodsucking monster!”
I remember all the folktales I read in the castle library about hybrids. Those books said they are mindless bloodthirsty creatures that decimated whole villages on their own. My baby won’t become like that. I don’t want to believe it.
A hand touches my back gently, comfortingly. I turn to see it’s Kane. He wraps his arm around me protectively, and I want to let myself be lost in the safety of his touch. His anger is a cold fury that matches the blue of his eyes as he glares at my father
“Bernard, I will not allow you to upset your daughter. She’s carrying your grandchild.” His stealy gaze doesn’t change as he pins Bernard to the bed with a look..
“That thing is not my grandchild! It’s a crime against nature!”
Something inside me crumbles and dies. There has been this naïve part of me that still remembers Bernard as a loving father that thought he might be happy at hearing the news of his first grandchild. Instead, I have the reality of his disgust and outrage. What should have been a happy moment is twisted by his malice and distaste.
“We are done here.” Kane turns me away from Bernard’s ranting and out of the infirmary. “You don’t need to listen to any more of this.”
Rainer is waiting in the hallway. Kane tells him, “If Bernard is feeling well enough to act like an asshole again, he’s well enough to return to the dungeon.”
His friend doesn’t disagree. The king keeps his arm around me as he leads me away from the infirmary. We walk through hallways, and I cling to him, needing his steady comfort. He takes us to his room, and we lie on his bed. My head rests on his chest as he cradles me in his arms.
“Are you all right?” he asks.
+25 BONU!
Chapter 0132
“Yes.” After a second I confess, “I don’t know. All that stuff my dad said was…”
“Don’t listen to Bernard. He only wants to hurt and scare you. Anything that comes out of his mouth is always for his own benefit. He’s been known to twist truths into lies.”
I know about my father’s propensity for lying. He had our pack believe for decades that Kane had started the war between our species when it had been my father’s fault for not paying a debt he owed. My father had attacked our neighboring packs to expand his power and territory only to fail. All that bloodshed and wasted resources, and what was it all for? Nothing.
My father built his ambitions on hubris and greed. And when his house of cards fell, he blamed everyone but himsel
I sit up, and Kane does as well. “I went to the library and read every book I could find on hybrids, and every story talks about terrifying monsters who only want carnage and destruction. What if the baby turns. out like that?”
