Chapter 61 The Second Heartbeat
Chapter 61 The Second Heartbeat
The wind didn’t just blow; it screamed. It whipped white sheets of snow across Lila’s face, stinging her eyes until they watered. Every time she lifted a boot, the deep powder tried to hold her down.
Lila looked back. The thirty wolves were a thin, grey line against the white world. Ronan was at the back, his shoulder low as he pushed an elderly man up the ridge. Sarah followed behind him, her arms locked around Toby. The boy’s face was buried in her coat, his small body shivering in a way that didn't stop.
Then there was Kieran.
He walked exactly three feet behind Lila. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. His steps were perfectly timed. He didn't look at the sky. He didn't look at the freezing children. He just watched the back of Lila’s neck, his eyes locked on the amber glow of her skin.
"You’re stumbling," Kieran said. His voice was flat, cutting through the wind like a blade. "Your pace has dropped by half."
Lila didn't stop. She wiped a layer of frost from her eyelashes. "The pack is exhausted, Kieran. I’m not leaving them."
"The pack is a variable," he replied. He stepped closer, his shadow falling over her. "You are the mission. If you fall, I’ll have to carry you. We lose more time that way."
"Don't touch me," Lila snapped.
She spun around to face him. Her chest heaved, and her breath came out in short, ragged plumes. She wanted a reaction. She wanted him to be angry, or to snap back, or to even look annoyed. But he just stood there. His grey eyes scanned her face like he was checking a piece of equipment for cracks.
Suddenly, the world tilted. The white snow and grey sky blurred together into a dizzying spin. Lila’s knees hit the frozen ground before she could catch herself.
"Asset has fallen," Kieran said.
He was over her in a heartbeat. He didn't pull her into his chest to warm her. He grabbed her arm with a grip like a vice and hauled her upward. Lila winced as his cold fingers dug into her skin, but his face remained a blank mask.
"I'm... I'm just tired," Lila gasped. She instinctively curled her arm across her middle, shielding her stomach.
Kieran stopped. He didn't let go of her arm. Instead, he leaned in. He wasn't smelling her hair; his head was tilted, his ear inches from her belly. He stayed there, frozen, for three long seconds.
"Your rhythm is wrong," Kieran whispered. His brow furrowed, a tiny "glitch" appearing in his cold expression. "There is a secondary vibration. A double pulse."
Lila’s heart stopped. She yanked her arm back and stumbled against a frozen pine tree, her hands covering her stomach. "It’s the mountain magic, Kieran. My blood is still reacting to the Peak."
Kieran stepped toward her. His eyes narrowed, searching her. For one tiny second, the grey in his eyes flickered. A spark of violet tried to break through the fog.
"It doesn’t feel like magic," he murmured. He reached out a hand toward her waist. "It feels like... life."
"Get back!" Lila shouted.
Her Gold flared, a blinding burst of amber light that forced Kieran to shield his eyes. The pack stopped in their tracks, staring in silence. Sarah pulled Toby closer. The only sound was the howling wind.
Kieran stood still. The violet spark in his eyes died out, replaced by that empty, flat grey once again.
"Whatever is inside you is a weakness," Kieran said, his voice turning hard. "A tactical disadvantage. The SOC will sense that pulse. They’ll hunt you twice as hard."
"It’s not a disadvantage," Lila said, her voice shaking. "It’s the only thing left of the man I loved."
Kieran didn't react to the word love. He didn't even blink. He just looked at the sky. Above them, a tiny black speck circled in the clouds.
"Drone," Kieran said.
He didn't wait. He grabbed a jagged stone from the ground and threw it. It whistled through the air like a bullet. A second later, the drone exploded into a ball of orange fire above the trees.
"They’ve found us," Kieran said, turning to the pack. He looked at Sarah, then at Toby. "Lila, if you want that life inside you to survive, we leave the others now. We move for the Pass."
Lila looked at the thirty souls behind her. Then she looked at the father of her child the man who didn't even know his own son was a "disadvantage."
"No," Lila said. She reached out and grabbed Kieran’s collar, pulling him down until they were nose-to-nose. "You’re a shield? Then prove it. Pick up Toby. Carry him. If we move slower, you just have to fight harder."
Kieran’s eyes flickered as his logic fought her. "Carrying the child reduces my reaction speed."
"I don't care," Lila hissed. "The Queen ordered it.
Do it."
Kieran stared at her. Finally, he turned and walked to Sarah. He picked up the boy like a sack of grain and slung him over his shoulder. He didn't comfort the child. He just turned back to the path.
"The unit is moving," Kieran said.
Lila watched him, her hand pressed against the tiny thumping in her belly. She stepped into the wind, the amber light from her hands cutting a path through the white. She was the Queen. She was the Alpha. And she was going to save her child, even if she had to fight the father to do it.