Chapter 131
Chloe's POV
Sunlight filtered through the latticed window and fell across my body, yet it brought no warmth.
I lay in bed feeling hollowed out—the price of burning my life force was far heavier than I'd imagined. Every breath came with a dull ache, as if the meridians inside me had been charred to cinders.
The door creaked open softly, and I forced my eyes open.
"Chloe." Grace entered carrying a tray, her face wearing a worried smile. "I brought you some good things."
She sat down beside the bed and withdrew several delicate vials from the tray. They contained herbs of varying colors—some I recognized, others I'd never seen before.
Grace was an excellent healer, her knowledge of herbs far surpassing anyone else in the pack.
"I had someone bring these from the eastern mountains." She carefully opened a deep green bottle. "They're specifically for repairing damaged meridians. When you burned your life force, the energy channels in your body were nearly destroyed. Without proper treatment, you might have trouble even walking normally in the future."
I looked at the herbs, gratitude welling up inside me.
Grace had always been my best friend, even when I decided to marry Ivan and defy the entire pack, she'd never left my side.
Frank poked his head in from outside. "Need any help?"
Grace nodded. "Could you bring me those silver needles? This treatment requires acupuncture to help the medicine penetrate deep into the meridians."
Over the next hour, I felt the slight pain of silver needles piercing acupoints and the gentle warmth of herbs flowing through my body. Grace's technique was delicate, but each needle landed precisely on key points.
Frank assisted from the side, helping me turn and adjust my position according to Grace's instructions.
"There." Grace finally withdrew the last needle and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "You'll need plenty of rest from now on, and take these herbal tonics daily. In about a month, your meridians should recover to seventy or eighty percent."
I struggled to sit up and lean against the headboard. "Thank you, Grace. I know these herbs must have been expensive."
"Don't be silly." Grace patted my hand gently. "You're my best friend..."
She paused, her expression growing complicated. "Though... there's something else I need to tell you."
My heart tightened. Grace's hesitant manner usually meant bad news.
"Alpha Tyler asked me to relay a message." Grace took a deep breath. "He said... given that Ivan has now mastered the thunder element, and you are after all an Alpha's daughter, he's decided to withdraw his previous punishment."
I froze. Father was withdrawing the punishment? It sounded too unreal.
"He also said," Grace continued with a trace of embarrassment, "he wants to hold a grand Mating Ceremony for you both at the main manor, to officially recognize your mate bond."
I couldn't help but laugh bitterly. Father had finally remembered I was his daughter? No, he'd just taken notice of Ivan's thunder power. A warrior who could control an element was priceless to any pack.
Father wanted to use this ceremony to bind Ivan—or more precisely, that power—firmly to the Thunder Wolf Pack.
"Chloe?" Grace looked at me tentatively. "What... do you think?"
"What does it matter what I think?" I said quietly. "Whether I agree or not, Father will find a way to get what he wants."
"But this time is different." Grace gripped my hand. "Ivan now possesses thunder power—even Alpha Tyler wouldn't dare provoke him easily. If you refuse, there's nothing he can do."
I fell silent. Grace was right—the situation was indeed different now. But attending that ceremony meant returning to the main manor, back to that place filled with hypocrisy and scheming. Ivan and I had finally escaped—did we really have to go back?
Just as I wavered, a wave of intense nausea suddenly surged up my throat. I lunged toward the bedside and bent over, dry heaving.
"Chloe!" Grace cried out and rushed to support me.
I retched for a long while but nothing came up. The herbal tonic Grace had brewed earlier, though bitter, normally wasn't unpleasant-smelling. But now that medicinal scent magnified a thousandfold in my nostrils, becoming unbearably pungent.
Grace placed her hand on my wrist, carefully taking my pulse. Her expression shifted from worry to shock, then transformed into incredulous joy.
"Chloe," her voice trembled slightly, "you... you're pregnant."
The world stopped in that moment.
"What?" I couldn't believe my ears.
"You're pregnant." Grace repeated, tears glistening in her eyes. "About a month along."
I sat there dazed, my hand instinctively pressing against my flat abdomen.
Pregnant? I was carrying Ivan's child?
"But... but I just burned my life force." My voice shook. "My body..."
"Yes, it's very dangerous." Grace's expression turned grave. "Your physical condition is extremely weak right now. Whether you can sustain the fetus's development is still unknown. And when you burned your life force, the energy in your body was almost completely depleted—the effect on the fetus..."
She didn't finish, but I understood her meaning.
This child might not survive, and even if it did, there could be various problems.
But my hand still clutched my belly protectively. There was a tiny life inside, the fruit of Ivan's and my love. No matter how dangerous, no matter what difficulties we'd face, I would protect this child.
"I'm keeping him." I said firmly.
Grace looked at me, her eyes full of complex emotions. "I know I can't stop you. But you need to prepare yourself—the days ahead will be very hard."
"I'm not afraid." I said. "As long as Ivan is by my side, I'm not afraid of anything."
Grace sighed and began gathering her things. "Then I'll need to prepare new medicine for you. You can't use those blood-activating herbs during pregnancy—I'll need to switch to warming tonics. Also, you need plenty of rest, no strenuous activity..."
She rattled off precautions while I sank into thought.
Pregnancy changed everything. If it were just Ivan and me, we could wander the world, defy everyone. But now with a child, we couldn't let him be born into chaos and flight, couldn't let him grow up in a slum shack, couldn't let him be treated as a pariah like Ivan was as a child.
The child needed a legitimate identity, a safe environment to grow up in, sufficient resources to ensure healthy development. And these things—only returning to the main manor could provide them.
"Grace." I interrupted her. "Tell my father we'll attend the ceremony."
Grace stared. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." I said through gritted teeth. "But this isn't forgiveness, and it's not compromise. This is a transaction—I'm trading our attendance for our child's future."
Grace was silent for a moment, then finally nodded. "I understand. I'll relay the message to Alpha Tyler."
After she left, I sat alone on the bed, hand gently caressing my belly.
I'm sorry, little one. Mommy wanted to give you a free world, but it seems we have to return to that cage after all.
But it's okay. As long as you're born safely, as long as you grow up healthy, Mommy will do anything.
At dusk, Ivan returned from training. He pushed open the door, saw me sitting on the bed, and immediately strode over. "Why aren't you lying down? The healer said you need more rest."
"Ivan." I caught his hand. "I have some news to tell you."
He sat down beside the bed, gripping my hand. "What news?"
"I'm pregnant."
Ivan froze completely. He stared at me wide-eyed, as if unable to believe what he'd heard.
"You said... what?"
"I said, I'm pregnant." I pressed his hand against my belly. "We're having a child, Ivan."
His hand trembled.
This man who'd just commanded wind and thunder in the canyon, who'd awed the entire pack—now he was like a fumbling boy.
"I'm... I'm going to be a father?" he murmured.
"Yes." I smiled through tears that wouldn't stop falling. "You're going to be a father."
Ivan carefully drew me into his arms, afraid too much force would hurt me. His body shook—I could feel the excitement and joy he was barely containing.
"Chloe," he choked out. "Thank you. Thank you for giving me a family."
We held each other like that in the fading sunset, beginning to discuss names for the child.
"If it's a boy, what should we call him?" Ivan asked.
"I want to name him Kane." I said. "In the old tongue, that name means 'warrior' or 'battle.'"
Ivan was quiet for a moment, then gently stroked my belly. "Kane. A warrior's name."
"Yes." I leaned against his shoulder. "I hope he'll be a born warrior, able to carve out his own path in this cruel world, master his own destiny. Not like us, always manipulated by others."
"He will be." Ivan said firmly. "Because he'll have a brave mother like you, and a father who'll protect him like me. No one will bully our child. No one."
I closed my eyes, feeling Ivan's warmth and the presence of the tiny life within me.
Yes, for this child, we would attend that ceremony, return to the main manor, face all the hypocrisy and scheming.
But this time, we were no longer pieces to be moved at will. We had thunder power, we had each other, and we had this life soon to arrive.
No matter how difficult the road ahead, we would walk it together.