Dangerous Lycan: Claim Betrayed Luna’s Second Chance Mate

“So, what do you think? Do you think it would work?”

“Do you doubt the witches?” His voice was cold. “Are you okay?” I asked and he nodded. He was far from being okay and somehow, I knew why. The journey back to the palace was quiet. I didn’t want to say anything to Kieran that could hurt him.

As soon as we got to his chambers, Kieran shut the door and turned to me. His jaw was tight and stiff.

“Why, Clara? Why didn’t you tell me?”

I felt the anger in his voice. My throat became dry making it difficult to speak. “I… I was scared,” I stammered.

“Scared?” he echoed, “Scared of what? That I wouldn’t be happy? That I wouldn’t want this?”

Tears swelled up in his eyes as he looked at me. I had not seen Kieran in such a mood before.

“It wasn’t that,” I sobbed, “It was everything. You were barely hanging on and with the nightmares… I was terrified.”

“Terrified of what?” he pressed on, “That you’d lose me again? That we wouldn’t have a future?”

His words struck hard on me. The fear of losing him, of losing another piece of my heart, had been so hard to bear. But I hadn’t meant to shut him out or keep the news from him. It just didn’t feel like the right time to let him know about it. I thought that there would be a perfect time. When it would suddenly feel right I would finally break the news to him.? But it didn’t turn out the way I planned. I understood his anger and maybe his fear. But I felt that with all that was going on in our lives, especially his, he wasn’t ready.

“I just wanted to protect you, from the burden, from the fear…”

Kieran sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his shoulders slumped forward slightly. “But you did the opposite, Clara, you kept me in the dark and denied me the chance to share this happiness with you. You kept the best news ever from me that I had to get the news of my unborn child from the lips of some strange witches.”

My heart ached at the hurt in his voice. “It wasn’t meant to be like this. I was going to tell eventually,” I pleaded. “I just…”

“Stop,” he snapped, “just stop.”

“Kieran please.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said, “Right now, I need some time alone.”

He turned away; his shoulders were still as he walked away. As I watched him go, my heart felt heavier. I wanted to go after him so we could have the talk but he needed his space and I had to respect that.

The joy of returning home and finally getting the solution for all the nightmares drained off. I was happy about the test but not as excited as I should have been. Even when I shut my eyes, I would see Kieran’s back walking out in me. It was like I was haunted by his absence. I wanted to talk to him, to see him. But going after him was not a top option. I laid back on the bed with my eyes shut. The moment replayed in my head. From the point when the witch had said the words about the pregnancy, the look in his eyes when I faced him. It was an admixture of joy and betrayal. And the more he stood closer to me, the more the joy turned to hate.

I opened my eyes to the creaking of the door. It was Kieran he walked slowly towards me. I sat up from the bed but he got to me first before I could leave the bed and walk towards him.

“I’m sorry,” I said sharply before he could even say anything, “I didn’t mean to keep the news of our child from you. I…was stupid to think that you might…”

“Shh…” He held my hand, “you don’t have to say anything. I understand the reason for your hesitation.”

“I never really told you what happened to my first pregnancy.”

“You don’t have to say the words for me to know that it was a traumatic experience for you. A world that you do not wish to live in. But Clara, that world is gone. This is a new world. It was just the two of us but now, we have a little one on the way,” he chuckled.

I placed his hand on my belly and his smile was priceless.

“I love you, Clara,” he leaned in for a kiss.

“With this child, a lot has to change. I will not let all these troubles and conflicts come upon this child. I will do everything in my power to protect you and our child. No more secrets Clara. We are in this together.”

I nodded and hugged him.

The weeks went by and Kieran did not leave my side. We did everything together as King and Queen. And for once again, I could say there was peace. The nightmare had stopped as the witches had said that it would. I could never have wished for a better life. Every day, I felt the fetus growing in my womb. Sometimes, I felt scared again when I thought about the past but? Kieran made me think less about it. He had the doctors and nurses check me every day to make sure that I was fine.

One evening I sat in the gardens feeling the cool evening breeze of the flowers, and a raven landed on the stone railing. Normally? I could have looked away but black ravens weren’t particularly a normal breed to be seen around the palace. I moved closer to it and found a small scroll attached to its leg. It had a strange seal- like a bird skull sketch with black ink.

The symbol looked very familiar. Like something I had seen many hands recently.

As soon as I took the scroll from the raven, it flew back up into the sky and vanished into thin air. And just then, it struck me where I had seen the symbol- the witches Coven. Kieran and I had seen it by the door close to the part where we had seen that inscribed text.

My stomach churned as I thought of what could be inside. We don’t exactly get notes like that from witches. And Kieran was okay after what they had instructed. The reason for the scroll was still a mystery but there was only one way to find out.

I untied the scroll and unfolded it; my heart pounded. It was a message from Emaline, the youngest member of the coven. Her words were cryptic, but the urgency of the note was clear.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“There is more,” she wrote. “A piece of the ritual left incomplete. I must come. Prepare yourselves for one final act.”

I swallowed seeing those words. I thought it was all over. It felt so. An Incomplete ritual? Did that mean the whispers and strange dreams of? Kieran weren’t entirely gone?

“I need to go in,” I said to the maid standing beside me. The breeze of the garden suddenly felt too cold for my skin.