The Alpha's Forbidden Vow novel Chapter 6

POV: Selene

A week passed, then two.

The memory of Zane’s touch was a phantom brand on my skin, a secret I carried in the marrow of my bones.

Then my body began to betray me in a new way.

It started with a wave of nausea that hit me every morning as the sun rose.

Soon, an exhaustion so profound settled deep within me that even climbing the grand staircase felt like scaling a mountain.

My breasts were tender, aching with a strange fullness.

I knew.

A terrifying, primal part of me knew what was happening, but my conscious mind refused to accept it.

I couldn't be.

It was impossible.

It was a death sentence.

After another morning spent retching into the pristine toilet of my small bathroom, the denial crumbled, leaving raw, cold fear in its place.

I had to know for sure.

I waited until midday, when the household was at its busiest.

I pulled a simple grey hoodie over my head, a garment so plain I hoped it would render me invisible.

Slipping out a side entrance meant for the kitchen staff, I walked the two miles into the small town that serviced the Volkov estate.

Every shadow seemed to hold a pair of judging eyes.

Every passing car made my heart leap into my throat.

The pharmacy was small, its bell chiming with an accusing loudness as I entered.

I kept my head down, my hood pulled low, and walked directly to the family planning aisle.

My hands trembled as I grabbed a box, its clinical pink-and-white packaging feeling like a judgment in my hands.

I paid in cash, the crumpled bills from my small allowance damp with the sweat from my palm.

The cashier, a middle-aged woman with kind eyes, gave me a soft, knowing smile that felt like a hot poker against my skin.

She thought this was a happy secret.

She had no idea.

The walk back was a blur of panic.

I locked my bedroom door, something I never did, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps.

In the bathroom, my reflection was a stranger—a pale, terrified girl with haunted eyes.

My hands shook so violently I could barely tear the box open.

The air was sucked from my lungs.

The pristine white bathroom tilted, the floor rushing up to meet me.

I gripped the edge of the sink, my knuckles white, to keep from fainting.

I was pregnant with the Alpha heir’s child.

The child of a man who saw me as a mistake.

A complication to be handled with cash.

A wave of pure, unadulterated terror washed over me, so cold it felt like death.

But then, something else stirred deep in my belly.

A fierce, primal, protective warmth.

A mother’s instinct.

My hand moved from the sink, coming to rest shakily on my flat stomach.

There was a life in here.

A part of me. A part of him.

And in that moment, I knew with a terrifying certainty that I would die before I let anyone harm it.