“Let me out!”

She was screaming and thrashing like a wounded animal. A betrayed look plastered all over her face as she struggled furiously against the silver chains snaking around her wrists. Due to her part human genes, the silver did not burn her skin but it was enough to suppress and fight against her newly emerging vampire counterpart.

That day in the woods, she had made no attempt to resist Ares’ hold as he ran up to his castle while carrying her up in his arms. He had brought her to his room, the same dark room she had opened her eyes in after the pureblood attack. Although he had just promised to make her regret crossing paths with him, she trusted him to not behave unjustly with her.

He was kind, she believed in his kindness… until she saw those tarnished silver chains.

She was weak and still in transition and he was her king after all. He proved that when he moved too fast for even her extremely sensitive instincts to comprehend. Before she could even bat her eyelashes, her wrists were already bound to the head-post, leaving not much room for her to oppose his actions.

“It’s for your own safety. If you tried devouring your own blood again, it can harm both you and the child growing inside you.”

He had let out those words without allowing any hint of emotion to leak into his tone.

She hadn’t been able to utter anything out in that moment. Her lips were trembling as she gave him a pained look, a small crimson dot hovering near the lower rim or her lid had finally found its way down towards her cheek.

That was the first day she had cried tears of blood.

“Ah!”

Her hand went straight to her heavily swollen belly as she parted her lids wide, looking around with a dazed look in her eyes. She had fallen asleep while leaning against the soft leather of her head post.

Her belly had grown up remarkably in the past two months, making it extremely uncomfortable for her to find a comfortable position to lie down in. She could barely get any sleep due to the increasing pressure in her pelvis.

“Ugh…”

Putting some pressure on her wrist, she tried sitting up straighter to find a more relaxing position for herself but failed to do so. With a silent huff, she eventually settled a pillow behind to support her spine while letting her head drop back.

Her wrists were finally free. She had been kept chained for the first week of her transition to stop her unstable senses from harming herself. Henry, having significant past experience in the matter, was there to assist her through everything she faced. He taught her how to suppress her animalistic side from taking control of her body. He had stacked her refrigerator full with blood bags. He took her to the garden associated with the castle every night for walks. He did everything he could do for her.

His didn’t allow his reluctance to trust her due to her past ‘betrayal’ seep into any of his doings.

His master on the other hand had completely ignored her after bringing her to his castle. She tried being understanding of his position; he was the one who had witnessed her assisting Ruth right before his eyes; he was the one shackled for centuries in those chains she could barely stand on her wrist for a week; he had suffered through her perfidy firsthand.

And did she try being as understanding as possible of his condition, but at times she couldn’t stop feeling hurt over his behavior.

She was pregnant with his child; He was the one supposed to assist her, do everything that Henry had been doing.

Knock

Knock

Knock

“May I come in, my lady?”

“No.”

She hadn’t even taken any time to contemplate her words. The reply had come out immediate and firm. She could just imagine Henry raising his right brow at her through the door.

“It’s time for me to assist you through your walks, my lady. This isn’t hibernating season yet.”

She couldn’t help smiling at his dry sense of humor.

“Ask your lord to get down here or I’m not moving a muscle.”

There was some silence on the other hand before a sigh resonated through the empty hallway,

“We’ve been doing this for a week, my lady. He is not coming. We can’t afford to compromise any more of these walks. Staying in a torpid state is not too good for your health-”

She couldn’t help rolling her eyes at the exact words she’d been hearing since the last week. Deciding not to give any reply to his well memorized speech, she tossed the covers off of her body as she slowly got out of the bed.

“Ah!”

A low hiss escaped past her lips as her swollen feet made contact with the cold floor.

“Is everything alright, my lady?”

“Get your lord here!”

The nearer she got to her term, the worse her temper got. She was at a point where she couldn’t bring herself to give a rat’s ass about anything.

No one really knew when she would be giving birth. Henry had told her that a normal vampire pregnancy could take anywhere from four to nine weeks while a hybrid birth takes six to seven months. Her being a hybrid and Ares being a pureblood had complicated the situation.

From what Henry had told her, her pregnancy could take anywhere from three to four months.

She was already three months pregnant and just ready to pop any minute.

“You know he won’t come here, Milady.”

“Hm.”

Ignoring his statement, she went inside the bathroom. She didn’t hear him again.

‘He must’ve sensed me going away to relieve myself.’

She was leaning over the sink, gargling with tap water to wash out any bitter taste left behind by her stomach acid.

Slowly, her tired eyes looked up to stare at her reflection in the mirror hanging before her on the wall. Her hair had become longer than the last time she saw them, reaching past her butt. They were devoid of any splint ends or fuzziness. The gloss and bounce to them almost made them look unnatural. Her cheekbones had become more prominent as well. The soft chubby cheeks she used to love were gone now, a sunken in appearance left in their stead. Her complexion had become much paler than before as if all the blood from her body had been drained and confined to just one place—her lips. They no longer held a rosy tint to them. They were scarlet red now.

She didn’t look like herself anymore. She didn’t look human.

The last thing her frowning gaze focused on was her irises. Her stormy stare had been marred by a small herd of crimson dots, dancing around with the cobalt specks, constantly reminding her of this newfound presence lurking beneath her skin.

‘This sucks…’

Looking away from her reflection, she swiftly started removing every article of clothing that covered her body. Her clothes sticking to her clammy body were making her feel disgusted. She didn’t know what was wrong with her these days; whether it was her overwhelming senses or just the pregnancy hormones, the slightest sight or smell of something unpleasant made her want to retch her guts out.

Leaving a trail of wrinkled clothes behind her, she stepped forward to walk inside the shower cabin. Turning the knob for hot water all the way, she let the scalding liquid hit her back. She felt extremely cold these days, no matter how much she tried, no amount of warmth was ever enough.

‘Ares…’

After washing every speck of grime and dirt away from her body, she turned the knob. It was hard getting used to her enhanced sense of hearing, but Henry had been a good teacher to her. It didn’t bother her much anymore.

She understood now why Vampires were such aloof creatures. Too much socializing was equal to too much overload of their senses. It was a nuisance dealing with it.

Opening the door to the glass cabin, her eyes fell upon the robe resting neatly by the cabinets. Just as she grabbed the soft fabric, her hands paused midway,

‘I didn’t place it here.’

She had become overly paranoid after her pregnancy. Every little sound made her heart sink with the thought of someone trying to harm her baby.

She knew she was pregnant with the Vampire King’s baby and she knew what had happened to the last queen before her.

Only then did she feel it; someone was watching her naked body.

Using her unnatural speed, she swiftly grabbed the first thing lying by the counter, whirling around to chuck it at the person staring at her.

The moment her eyes fell on the man sitting behind her holding the freshly thrown hairbrush at him, a surprised gasp escaped past her lips.

“Ares?”