Chapter 154

I sat frozen on the bed, my mind spiraling with thoughts. Each breath felt like I was forcing air through a narrow straw, shallow and insufficient. My head spun from the lack of oxygen.

"That can’t be true. The child isn’t his."

The words played on an endless loop in my mind, a desperate mantra shielding my heart from shattering completely.

Slowly, the repetition took effect, steadying my racing pulse, easing the tightness in my chest. Logic crept back in, pushing past the haze of panic.

"I need to call Hadrian…" I murmured under my breath.

I stared at the phone for over a minute before my trembling fingers managed to select his number from my painfully short contact list. The moment I pressed the call button, dread coiled in my stomach. Each unanswered ring was agony. I tried to regulate my breathing—long, deep inhales, slow exhales—but it did nothing to calm me.

He didn’t pick up.

A heartbeat later, I called again. Then again.

Maybe I was being irrational, maybe I was asking too much, but I felt like I would unravel completely if I didn’t hear his voice. After the twelfth attempt, I gave up. My hands shook as I typed out a message.

"Is Selene carrying your child?"

I hovered over the send button, gathering the last scraps of my courage before pressing it.

Minutes crawled by in silence. No response.

I typed another message.

"I’m begging you. I need to know if she’s pregnant with your child."

Still nothing.

I told myself I was being unreasonable. He could be in the middle of a battle, fighting for his life. That should have been enough to temper my emotions, but the silence gnawed at me, the pain unrelenting. My eyes remained glued to the screen, silently pleading for any sign of a reply.

When I finally forced my brain to function again, I called Freya. My fingers gripped the phone tightly as I brought it to my ear.

"Hi…" I murmured weakly.

Guilt tugged at me for hanging up on her earlier, but after the news she had dropped on me, I hadn’t been capable of continuing the conversation.

"I’m sorry, Thalassa," she whispered, her voice thick with regret, as though she carried my pain with me. "I never meant to hit you with it like that, but I did, didn’t I? All I know is that King Hadrian loves you. I shouldn’t have made you doubt him. I never should have let you believe he could betray you like that…"

"I called him," I choked out.

"And?" I heard her sharp inhale, the way she braced herself.

"He didn’t answer."

I swallowed, trying to reason with myself. "Maybe… maybe he doesn’t even know about Selene’s pregnancy. He’s leading a war. He’s commanding an entire army against bloodthirsty creatures. It makes sense that he wouldn’t reply right away… right?"

"Of course!" Freya’s laugh was high-pitched, nervous, and short-lived. A beat of silence passed before she hesitated. "Except… degenerates are incredibly allergic to sunlight, so most battles happen at night…"

I had been so focused on making excuses for him that I had overlooked the obvious.

Sunset was still two hours away.

"But…" Freya rushed to add, "I’m sure he has other important things to deal with. Managing an army is time-consuming, after all."

"It is, isn’t it?" I forced out a hollow laugh, as if saying it aloud would make it more convincing. "But I can’t stop thinking… If Hadrian and Selene never slept together, Hadrian could easily accuse her of treason. What could she possibly gain by lying?"

Freya cleared her throat. "Well, for starters, the King can’t publicly declare that he’s never touched his own queen. They’d question his… masculinity, you know?"

"Fucking politics," I muttered under my breath.

She wasn’t wrong. No one cared that his marriage to Selene had been purely political. The nobles had accepted her as queen because she was meant to bear the perfect heir. If Hadrian stood before them and announced that he hadn’t even tried to conceive a child with her, it wouldn’t just be a scandal—it would be political suicide. Worse, it would cast doubt on his ability to produce an heir at all.

A paternity test could clear his name, but that would take time. And Hadrian was nowhere near the castle to take one.

"Don’t worry, Thalassa." Freya’s voice was warm, a soothing balm over my raw nerves. "The King will call or text you back, and then everything will make sense."

She wanted to comfort me, but something in her tone wavered. She was just as restless as I was. She wanted me to be with Hadrian more than anyone, and I knew that if he hurt me, she would carry that pain, too.

"It’ll be fine. I just have to wait," I said, forcing a smile into my voice.

"That’s the spirit!" she chirped. "Now, don’t spend your entire day clutching your phone. This is your only day off before heading to your father’s pack, so use it. Relax a little."

"I will," I promised, ending the call.

I placed the phone on the bedside table, hesitating before letting it go. But I had to. My sanity depended on it.

I needed to focus. My life could depend on it.

I had too much at stake to be consumed by the wreckage of my love life.

Still, no matter how hard I tried, my mind remained shackled to one thought: Hadrian and Selene’s child.

With effort, I shoved the urge to check my phone aside and left my room, stepping out for a walk through the quiet streets of Wineville.

But I couldn’t relax.

Each breath was shallow, my nerves frayed from the waiting.

I was passing a grocery store when a familiar voice called out.

"Hello, little Princess," Ashley’s voice carried a soft chuckle as she approached, her arms full of shopping bags.

"Hey, Ashley," I greeted, stretching my lips into what I hoped was a smile. It probably wasn’t convincing.

She narrowed her eyes, scanning my face before handing me one of her bags.

"Walk with me," she said simply.

I had nothing better to do, so I shrugged and followed her.

Her home was a cozy wooden house nestled at the edge of the forest. She motioned for me to bring the bag into the kitchen before setting me down at the large wooden table in the center of the room.

Then, without a word, she started cooking.

"You need food," she said, her voice firm, like a doctor prescribing a life-saving remedy.

I didn't argue. Instead, I offered her a weak smile, focusing on the simple act of breathing—on not thinking. The restlessness that had consumed me moments ago began to unravel as the air filled with the rich aroma of spices, warm and inviting.

My heartbeat steadied, the tension in my muscles easing. Ashley moved with quiet efficiency, scooping rice onto two plates before ladling thick, fragrant curry over each serving. She placed the plates on the table, her movements unhurried but deliberate.

"Dig in," she commanded, sliding a spoon and fork toward me before settling into the chair beside mine.

I gave a small nod and obediently lifted the spoon, stuffing the first bite into my mouth. The warmth of the food spread through me, but with it came something else—an ache so deep it loosened the floodgates I had been struggling to keep closed. Before I could stop them, tears began rolling down my cheeks.

I tried to brush them away, but they only kept coming, slipping silently into my meal. Ashley noticed but said nothing. She let me cry, only getting up when my silent weeping turned into a quiet, steady stream of tears. She returned with a tissue, placing it in front of me without a word.

"Thank you," I murmured, the taste of salt mixing with the food in my mouth.

Ashley waited, watching me with the kind of patience that made it impossible to hide. And when she finally spoke, her voice was soft but knowing. "Mind telling me who broke your heart?"

I hesitated, unsure whether I should tell her the truth. That I had fallen for a vampire. But Ashley didn’t strike me as someone who would dismiss me for the absurdity of it.

I swallowed hard and found the courage to speak. "The Vampire King," I admitted. "He saved my life more than once... and I’m still in love with him."

She propped her elbows on the table, resting her chin on her hands. "It’s never easy to love a king," she mused, her voice tinged with an understanding far deeper than I expected. "A king must make choices—choices that wound the people closest to him. And in the end, he calls it duty, sacrifice… the so-called greater good."

I exhaled shakily. "I’ve been hurt before. That’s why I chose to leave. That’s why I joined the Blue Moon Pack."

Ashley tilted her head slightly. "Does this vampire love you?" Her voice was almost therapeutic, coaxing me to open up.

"He says he does," I answered, though my voice lacked conviction.

"And how did he hurt you this time?" she pressed, her eyes gleaming with quiet curiosity, as if they held the power to lighten the burden of my words.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "He might have a child with another woman… the queen." Saying it out loud surprised me—not just in the way the words formed so easily but in the eerie calmness I felt.

Ashley studied me for a moment. "Does he love her?"

"No."

"Is it a political marriage?"

"Yes."

She released a long sigh, her fingers tapping lightly against the table. "Then it was his duty to provide an heir." She paused before leaning slightly forward. "Tell me… what is truly hurting you in all of this?"

I took a deep breath. "If the queen carries his child, then it means he lied about sleeping with her. And if he lied about that… then how do I know he wasn’t lying about everything else?"

Ashley nodded, taking a moment to process my words. "That’s wise thinking." She reached over and gently brushed her fingers against my cheek—a quiet gesture of comfort.

"But I love him," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

She arched a brow, the corners of her lips curving into a knowing smirk. "Then why did you leave him?"

I hesitated. "I don’t know anymore…" My hand moved to my chest, pressing against the dull ache that refused to fade. "Maybe I wanted him to feel what I felt. Maybe that’s why I left with Alpha Kenzo, who claims I’m his mate." I looked at her, silently begging for an answer—for clarity.

But instead of giving me one, Ashley asked, "Did you feel that Kenzo was your mate?"

I hesitated, then shook my head. "No… but I wanted to. I wanted to believe in a destined love. A love without pain. That’s what drew me to Kenzo."

Ashley let out a quiet, ironic laugh. "There is no love without pain. The question is, can you endure it? If it breaks you—if it destroys who you are—then perhaps you were never meant to be. But if you can survive it, if you can heal and still choose each other, then your love will only grow stronger."

Her lips carried a soft smile, but her eyes… her eyes told a different story. A story of someone who had learned this truth the hard way.

Something in my chest tightened. I reached for her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Thank you."

I didn’t know if I was truly ready for Hadrian’s answer. But maybe, just maybe, I was finally able to brace myself for whatever truth awaited me.

Back at the hotel, my heart pounded as soon as I saw my phone. My hands trembled slightly as I picked it up, my breath caught between anticipation and fear. But when I unlocked the screen, my notification bar was empty.

Disappointment sank its claws into me, dragging me down.

I collapsed onto the bed, staring at the ceiling before finally gathering the nerve to try again. I dialed his number.

It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

No answer.

Panic gnawed at my edges. Had something happened to him? Why hadn’t he replied? Was he ignoring me? I bit my lip, exhaling sharply before typing out another message.

"Hadrian, please. At least let me know that you’re alive..."

I threw my phone onto the bed and ran a hand through my hair, frustration simmering beneath my skin. The room felt suffocating. With a sharp breath, I peeled off my shirt, preparing to take a shower, hoping the hot water would wash away the unease.

Then my phone vibrated.

I spun around, heart hammering.

One message.

"I’m fine."

A breath of relief.

Then—before I could process it—another message arrived.

"Selene’s child is mine."