Chapter 29 Wen
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Wen
I was shocked watching him murder all the traitors.
Not horrified or disgusted, just shocked at the efficiency of it.
The brutality. The way he moved down the line without hesitation or mercy and delivered death to each person who’d threatened me.
But I couldn’t lie to myself about the relief flooding through me.
It was over. The threats were finally over.
No one would hurt Mal or me or our baby anymore.
Andreas was dead along with all his supporters. The nightmare was finished.
Once he was done with the slaughtering, he turned to face me. Blood still covered parts of his skin despite Aurion handing him a cloth. His eyes met mine across the throne room.
And fuck, it was so awkward.
We just stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. I could see him wanting to say something. Wanting to ask about the obvious bump under my dress. But the words seemed stuck in his throat.
“You’re alive,” I finally said. Because apparently my brain had decided that was the most intelligent thing to say after witnessing a massacre.
“Yes.” His voice was rough. “You are here.”
“Yeah. Clearly.”
The silence stretched between us. This was excruciating.
“You came back,” he said.
“I felt you dying through the bond. Couldn’t exactly ignore that.” I shifted my weight because my feet were killing me. Five months pregnant meant standing was not comfortable. “But you’re okay now so I’m going to head back.”
I saw panic flash across his face. “Wen, wait-”
“Goodbye, Mal.”
I turned and walked away before he could say anything else, before I could change my mind, before the tears threatening to fall actually made an appearance.
Commotion sounded from behind me as voices overlapped and Aurion said something while Mal responded. I didn’t look back, just kept power-walking as much as my pregnancy would allow toward the exit.
Maybe I should just stick to the human kind from now on? Werewolves were clearly too much drama and violence and everything I didn’t need in my life.
I was halfway down the corridor when I heard footsteps running behind me. Fast. Getting closer.
“Wen!”
I froze at the sound of my name in his voice. Shit.
He walked around me so he was blocking my path. I noticed he’d changed into clean clothes and washed most of the blood off. Most. Not all. There were still traces of it under his fingernails and in his hair.
“What do you want now?” I asked. My voice came out tired. Defeated.
He grimaced and his eyes dropped to my belly. Stared at it for a long moment before meeting my gaze again. “You are pregnant, Wen? With my heir?”
I tensed at the word heir, as if this baby was just some political tool or successor to his throne instead of a person, instead of our child.
“The baby isn’t yours,” I lied.
Which was actually completely useless since I could feel through the bond that he knew I was lying. Stupid supernatural werewolf senses.
Shit.
“Do not lie to me,” he grunted. His eyes flashed red for a second. “Please. Just tell me the truth. How far along are you?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Around five months.”
The devastation that crossed his face was immediate and brutal. He looked like I’d just stabbed him. “Five months. You were pregnant when I...” He couldn’t even finish the sentence. “Gods, Wen. I am so sorry. For everything. If you would just let me explain-”
“No.” I cut him off. “I’m not letting you sweet-talk me into anything anymore.
We’re done, Mal. You rejected me for another woman.
One I fucking HATE. And then you banished me like I was trash.
So there’s no future for us. There’s no US.
You made absolutely sure of that when you stood in front of your entire court and called me worthless. ”
My voice had risen to almost a yell by the end. Tears were gathering in my eyes and I refused to let him see them fall. Refused to give him that satisfaction.
I turned and practically ran toward where the portal sat in the middle of the corridor, jumped into the swirling light before my stupid heart could convince my brain to forgive him.
The journey back was rough. My stomach protested the entire way. But I landed in my bookstore and climbed out without vomiting, which felt like a small victory.
I checked my phone. Two days had passed since I’d left. Just two days. My friends had kept the shop running smoothly in my absence according to the texts in our group chat.
I was so damn grateful to have them. What would I do without Krystin and Bella and Daphne?
The gratitude turned into tears. I sat down behind the counter and cried for what felt like hours. Lost and alone and like my life was spiraling out of control again.
But eventually the tears stopped. I wiped my face and took some deep breaths.
I made it. I was alive. Mal was fine. Our baby was okay. That had to be enough.
I spent the next day like a zombie, going through the motions of helping customers and restocking shelves and eating when my friends forced food on me. But I felt hollow inside.
On the second day I decided enough was enough. I couldn’t keep living like this. Couldn’t keep wallowing in misery while pregnant. It wasn’t good for me or the baby.
I hired a part-time employee. A college student named Emma who needed flexible hours and seemed responsible enough. She was thrilled to work in a bookstore and didn’t ask questions about my personal life.
I paid my friends for all the time they’d spent running my shop. They protested. Said they’d never accept money for helping me. But I insisted and eventually wore them down.
Then I decided I’d been locked up long enough, trapped in my apartment or my bookstore for weeks when I needed fresh air and space and to not feel like the walls were closing in.
I walked through the woods behind the bookstore to a riverbank I’d discovered years ago. It was quiet and peaceful, and the sound of water flowing over rocks was soothing in a way nothing else was.
It was chilly outside but I didn’t care.
I really needed the vitamin C, so I spread out a blanket on the grass near the water’s edge, put on sunscreen even though I was fully clothed because pregnancy had made my skin more sensitive, then I lay down and closed my eyes, letting the sound of the river wash over me.
Sadness crept in again. Tears slipped down my cheeks before I could stop them.
“Stop,” I said out loud to myself. “Just stop. Deep breaths, Wen. Deep breaths.”
I focused on breathing. In through my nose. Out through my mouth. Tried to find that inner peace I’d been searching for. Tried to quiet the chaos in my mind.
I was barely starting to feel calm when a shadow fell across my face. Something was blocking the sun.
Please don’t let it be a bear, I prayed silently. Please don’t let me get mauled by wildlife while pregnant.
I opened one eye cautiously and would’ve fallen flat on my ass if I wasn’t already lying down.
“Mal?”
It couldn’t be real. My brain was playing tricks on me. Stress hallucinations or something.
But it was real. My mate was standing there dressed in casual clothes I’d never seen him wear before.
Jeans that fit him well. A plain shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show his tattooed forearms and the scars from battles.
His hair was shorter. Much shorter. No longer reaching his shoulders at all.
I felt a pang of sadness at that. I’d loved his long hair.
“What are you doing here?” My voice came out confused. Wary.
“I came for you, little mate,” he said. His voice was rough with emotion.
Then he fell to his knees beside my blanket.
I sat up awkwardly because five months pregnant meant nothing was graceful anymore. Stared at him kneeling in the grass. “What are you doing?”
“Begging,” he said simply. “Groveling. Whatever you want to call it.” He took a deep breath.
“I love you, Wen. I have loved you since the moment you threw that book at my head in your bookstore. I love your sarcasm and your strength and the way you see the world. I love how you care for your friends and your customers. I love how you fought back even when you were terrified. I love everything about you.”
I opened my mouth to interrupt but he kept going.
“What I did in that throne room was the hardest thing I have ever done. Rejecting you. Saying those horrible things. Watching you break apart and not being able to comfort you. It destroyed me, Wen. Every word was a lie designed to keep you safe. Andreas and his supporters were planning to kill you. The only way to protect you was to make them believe you meant nothing to me. To send you away where they could not reach you.”
“You called me a whore,” I said. My voice cracked. “A plaything. You said I disgusted you.”
The devastation on his face was immediate.
“I know. And I will regret those words for the rest of my life. I was trying to be cruel enough that no one would question the rejection. But saying them felt like ripping my own heart out. You are none of those things. You are my mate. The only one I will ever have.”
I felt his emotions through the bond bleeding into me. His sincerity. His pain. His desperate hope that I would forgive him.
“This past month without you has been hell,” he continued.
“I could not sleep. Could not eat. Could barely function. All I could think about was you. Whether you were safe. Whether you hated me. Whether I had destroyed any chance of us being together.” He gestured to himself.
“I’m a fucking mess, Wen. Barely holding myself together because half of me is missing.
You are half of me. And I cannot survive without you. ”
Tears were streaming down my face now. “If you’re here, who’s ruling Ravenor?”
He blinked at the question. “I am taking a year off. Leaving my guard captain in charge. My successor. If a year passes and I have not returned, he will stay on the throne permanently.”
I stared at him in shock. “What? You’re abandoning your kingdom?”