<b>Chapter </b><b>78 </b>


    E & Alexander


    E


    Alexander’s words were like a p across the fucking face.


    “Our contract said we would never have children,” he said curtly. Then, without another word, he turned and walked into the bathroom.


    Not “I don’t want children” or “I’m not ready” or even “we should wait.” No, Alexander had immediately


    fallen back on that damned contract.


    I stared at him as he disappeared into the bathroom, the sound of running water filling the silence he’d left behind. My hand drifted to my stomach again, covering the tiny life growing there that Alexander clearly had no interest in knowing about.


    Of course he wouldn’t want a baby. Why had I even entertained the possibility that he might? The contract


    we’d signed five years ago had explicitly stated that he would never have children with me.


    We had already broken the contract’s stiptions by sleeping together once, and he wasn’t going to make a


    second mistake.


    I was such an idiot for thinking that our night together had meant anything to him. For believing that maybe, just maybe, he might have developed some feelings for me over the years and that I was wrong


    about his intentions.


    But no, Alexander saw me exactly the same way he always had: as a temporary inconvenience that he had


    to endure until he could find a way to legally discard me.


    And now I was carrying his child, a child he would never want.


    A child he would never know about.


    Because I wouldn’t tell him. Even if I decided to keep the baby, I wouldn’t let him know about it. I would


    have to find a way to get out of this sham of a marriage before I started to show, and then I would do what I


    kept dreaming of: I would run away, <i>to </i>the coast, somewhere he couldn’t bother me anymore.


    Having a child, of course, would change things. I would immediately be a responsible parent instead of the carefree young woman I’d dreamed of who would drink cocktails and dance with random young men.


    But I would be happy. Lilith and… we would be the best mothers ever. Just us and my little one. A strange but beautiful little family.


    And yet… Was it wise to have the child now? I was sick and stuck in a marriage with a man who didn’t want


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    me or our pup. Dr. Evelyn had made herself clear when she said that keeping the baby could be dangerous. for both of us, and I felt no closer to curing this damn disease.


    I pulled the covers up to my chin and turned onto my side, facing away from the bathroom. My hand stayed pressed against my belly, protective and possessive.


    This baby might not be wanted by its father, but I wanted it. Despite everything, I wanted this baby.


    But could I bring myself to bring a child into a world where its own father didn’t love it enough to save its


    mother from certain death?


    Alexander


    The hot water pounded against my shoulders, but it did nothing to wash away the image of E’s face when I’d mentioned the contract. She’d looked like I’d struck her, all the color draining from her cheeks before


    she’d tried to hide her reaction.


    “She wants pups,” my wolf said eagerly. “Our mate wants to have our children.”


    The thought sent a thrill through me.


    I pressed my forehead against the cold tiles of the shower wall, trying to quiet the images that were suddenly flooding my mind. E with a rounded belly, glowing with health and happiness. A small child with red hair and her eyes running through the mansion’s halls. Family dinners where we actually sat together, talked together,ughed together.


    Goddess, I wanted it. I wanted it so badly it made me sick.


    But the moment E had asked about children, I’d panicked. Out of instinct, I had cited the contract that disallowed us from having children, even though we’d already broken it by having sex.


    Deep down, I really just wanted to mark her. To make her mine. To put a baby in her and live the life every mated pair should: a life of love and happiness.


    But I still didn’t know if I could trust her. Her family had likely orchestrated my parents‘ deaths, and no


    matter how much I’d grown to care about her, I still had no concrete proof that she wasn’t a spy or a secret


    weapon.


    What if she wanted to get pregnant so I was even more susceptible to whatever they had nned?


    My wolf growled at the thought, angry that I would even entertain such a notion. But I couldn’t put away my


    suspicions, no matter how much I wanted to.


    The water was starting to run cold, so I finally turned it off and grabbed a towel.


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    When I entered the bedroom, E was already curled up on her side of the bed, breathing deep and even. Asleep, she looked younger and less stressed. Her hair was spread across the pillow, and in the moonlight streaming through the window, I could see the gentle swell of her breasts through her nightgown.


    Everything in me wanted to reach for her. To pull her against me and apologize for my harsh words earlier. To make love to her again, properly this time, with all the tenderness and passion she deserved.


    To whisper that yes, I did want children with her, wanted to give her everything she’d ever dreamed of


    having.


    Maybe if I marked her tonight, she could have the baby she <i>so </i>clearly wanted. Maybe we could build the family that my wolf was practically begging for.


    But I couldn’t. Not yet.


    I still didn’t know for certain if I could trust her, and until I did, I couldn’t risk hurting either of us. What if she was manipting me? What if her father had ordered her to seduce me, to get pregnant and cement our bond permanently?


    So instead of reaching for her, I slipped carefully into bed and rolled away, putting distance between us like I had every night for the past three weeks.


    Sleep came fitfully, filled with dreams that felt more like glimpses of a life I might never have. Eughing as she chased a small child through the garden, her belly round with our second pup.


    A little boy with her chestnut hair and my green eyes calling me “Daddy” as I lifted him onto my shoulders. Family portraits where we actually looked happy, where the love between us was real and beautiful.


    But then I woke up, and the dream faded like morning mist. Beside me, E was still sleeping, turned away from me with one hand tucked beneath her cheek.


    Just like I had every morning for the past three weeks, I quietly slipped out of bed and headed for the door. I needed to lock myself in my office and bury myself in pack business before she woke because I couldn’t bear to look her in the eye.


    As I opened the bedroom door, I nced back at E one more time. She was still sleeping peacefully, unaware that I wasn’t leaving her because I wanted to, but because I felt as if I had no other choice.


    572


    田