Chapter 47: Pain of a monster

*~Hazel’s POV~*

I stormed into my room, my chest heaving like I had just run a mile through mud. I don’t know what I thought—that they would believe me? Me? The helpless human girl whose voice had never mattered in a room full of wolves. One strange observation and I thought it would finally count for something?

It never has.

Caspian didn’t follow me. He didn’t even try. He just stood there, watching me walk away. Or maybe he’d already turned his back by then. I didn’t go to his chamber this time—I went to mine. I wanted to be alone, where the silence wouldn’t try to argue with me, where I didn’t have to pretend I was still brave.

The moment I shut the door behind me, the weight of everything crashed down.

I collapsed into the bed without even pulling back the covers. I lay there as the hours passed, unmoving, my body heavy and my mind louder than ever. At some point, the room began to dim. Evening gave way to night, and moonlight crept through the slits in my curtains, casting silver streaks over my skin.

The glow touched my face. I didn’t move. I just turned to my side and touched my stomach, rubbing slow circles.

I gasped softly. A soft movement NovelFire

It was faint. So faint. But I felt like...

My child.

And then the memory returned. The thing I saw. The thing no one wanted to believe. The thing with his eyes. The way he looked, the power around him, the way something ancient had flickered across his skin for a split second. What is he? Who the hell did I get pregnant for?

Before the thought could consume me again, a sound cut through the stillness—a knock. But not on my door.

Tap. Tap.

I sat up sharply. My head whipped toward the window.

Another knock.

I crawled to the window and peeked through the glass. My breath caught. A small folded letter was pressed to the outside, pinned with a silver thumbtack. I opened the window slowly, letting the cool breeze brush past me, and took the letter.

Scrawled in dark ink:

"Meet me at the rooftop."

My heart stuttered.

Who? Why?

But curiosity? Yeah, it had always been the death of me.

I didn’t think—I just moved. Slipped out the back of my chamber and snuck through the silent halls. Up the winding stairwell that led to the roof of the high-house.

When I finally pushed open the rusted door, the night air kissed my skin, and my eyes found him.

Sitting near the ledge, his posture relaxed, but everything about him screamed tightly wound chaos. His long black hair blew gently in the breeze, a few strands sticking to his sharp cheekbones. He had a trimmed beard now, darker than the last time I saw him this close. And those eyes—goddess, those eyes, blood red, glowing faintly under the moonlight.

Cayden.

catching me in his gaze. And then, slowly, he patted the spot beside

drink sat in one hand. Another empty cup in the other. As

I didn’t move.

legs froze. My

sit next to him. Not after what I’d said. Not after the way I’d looked at him—like he was

didn’t erase what I’d

step forward. The memory of his face when I called him that. The pain in it, like a mirror of something he’d seen before. His mother looked

something

slowly and sat beside him,

handed me the

I flinched.

jaw tightened, and something flickered across his face. A mix of hurt and disappointment, quickly masked with a scornful half-smile. "I forgot," he muttered, "humans don’t

" I stopped, then took the cup from him gently. I placed it back on the ground, between

He raised a brow.

like it would prove my words. "You shouldn’t serve a pregnant

then he chuckled. A real, low sound that

he said, taking the cup back and downing it in one long gulp.

"People like me?"

toward the stars. "Someone

how to answer that. But then he turned

call me a monster," he asked, voice quiet, almost gentle... Almost? "That made you call me a

deep breath, my lungs stinging with everything I hadn’t said for weeks I’ve stayed in the high-house.

to know why I

turned toward me, his jaw already

on my

eyes flinched just

got me

but I

illegitimate like it didn’t

eyes dropped

nowhere, you accepted me again. Married me. No explanation. No apology. Just... possession. Five" I inhaled sharply, voice shaking

my voice dropped, lower,

then I

He didn’t look up.

under your skin. This terrifying power bursting

Silence.

Then, a whisper. "What?"

"I said, first you

sat up, his eyes locked on mine now, something wild flashing in them. "The last thing. Say the last

My heart thudded.

this weird power was surging through you. It didn’t

when his face

flickered in his

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