CHAPTER 52
Sera sat on the edge of the bed, her hands trembling as she clutched the small plastic stick.
Her breath caught in her throat, shallow and uneven, as she stared at the result.
For a long moment, she couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t process the words her body was screaming at her.
She felt hollow and full all at once, a storm of fear, grief, and disbelief crushing her chest. Two months after the blood, the chaos, the war that had taken so much from them both, and now this.
Her hands shook as the tears finally spilled over, hot and unstoppable.
How could this be happening? How could there be life, hope, and responsibility when the world around her had been so violent, so unforgiving?
She sobbed into the sheets, the sound raw and ragged, a release she hadn’t allowed herself in weeks, maybe months.
Lucien entered quietly, expecting her to be tense, angry, maybe even distant but the moment he saw her sitting there, pale, fragile, and trembling, his chest tightened.
“ Sera? ” His voice was low, dangerous, concerned, each syllable carrying a weight she felt like she might collapse under.
He crouched in front of her, hands hovering near her shoulders but not touching, waiting for her to tell him the truth.
She could barely look at him through the tears.
“I…I’m pregnant,” she whispered, voice breaking.
The words fell like stones between them, heavy and sacred and terrifying.
Her hands flew to her face, muffling her sobs, and she looked down at the floor as if she could disappear entirely.
Lucien froze, his dark eyes widening for just a heartbeat, and then he closed the distance between them, one hand cradling her face as he forced her gaze back to him.
“You’re… pregnant?” His voice cracked, just slightly, disbelief and excitement mixing together.
Sera nodded, unable to speak, tears still streaming down her face and then, something in Lucien shifted.
His hands tightened, firm but gentle, and he pressed a finger to her lips to silence her sobs.
“Sera… do you understand what this means?”
She shook her head, letting the tears fall freely. “I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if…”
He silenced her again, this time with his lips brushing hers softly, tenderly, grounding her in the moment. “You don’t have to think about that now. Just know, we’re going to do this together. Every step. I’ll be with you, every second, every heartbeat. You’re not alone. Not now, not ever.”
Sera’s hands clutched his coat, holding on for dear life as relief and fear collided inside her. “A boy or a girl,” she whispered, trying to let herself imagine the impossible future. Lucien’s lips curved in a rare, full smile. “A boy?” he asked, voice soft but tinged with hope. “Cassian Vale”
Sera nodded, finally letting herself imagine. “Cassian if it’s a boy and Valentina if it’s a girl.” Her sobs broke again, but this time mingled with laughter, joy, and disbelief.
Lucien pressed his forehead to hers, dark eyes glimmering with something almost vulnerable, almost human beneath the storm of the man he was. “Cassian or Valentina,” he whispered. “We’ll protect them. We’ll protect you and I swear, nothing in this world will ever take you from me.”
Sera clung to him, her body shaking, tears still falling, but her heart soaring in a way it hadn’t in months. For the first time, in the chaos, in the blood, in the endless war, they had life. A future together, they would face it all.