Luna could not remember how to get back to her room.
Her legs went weak, and her hands pressed against her stomach.
Pregnant.
The word kept echoing in her head.
A knock suddenly rang out.
Luna jumped.
“Who is it?” “Open up!” Kael’s voice was ice-cold.
Luna opened the door.
Kael stood there.
His face was blank, but his eyes were red, burning with rage.
“You went to the Elder’s chamber,” Kael said.
It was not a question, but a statement demanding an answer.
Luna nodded slowly.
Kael stepped inside, shut the door, and locked it.
“So it is true,” Kael said, stepping closer.
“You are pregnant.” Luna backed away until her back hit the wall.
“My Lord, I…,” Kael slammed his hand against the wall right beside her head, not her cheek.
Luna squeezed her eyes shut, her whole body trembling.
“How long have you been planning this?” Kael growled, his breath fanning her face.
“From the very start?
Did you deliberately provoke me when I was in heat?” “No, My Lord,” Luna said, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“I did not know.
I swear I did not know.” Kael stared at her stomach for a long moment.
Then he laughed, a hollow, empty sound.
“Trash,” Kael whispered.
“The child of a defective omega and an Alpha.
It will surely be born broken too.” Those words cut like a knife.
Luna clutched her stomach protectively.
“Do not speak of my child like that.” “YOUR CHILD?” Kael gripped her chin hard.
“It is mine as well.
And I have every right to end it right now.” Luna’s blood ran cold.
“You cannot,” Luna whispered.
“The pack laws forbid it.
If you kill me and this child, you will be cursed.” Kael let go of her and shoved her to the floor.
“True,” Kael said.
“I cannot kill you.
Not yet.” He crouched down, locking eyes with her.
“But I can make your life a living hell until you miscarry on your own.” With that, Kael stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him.
Luna did not sleep that night.
She sat curled in the corner, holding her stomach.
“I am sorry,” she whispered.
“Your mother is so weak.” The next day, the torment began again, but this time, it was different.
Her meals were cut short, meant to starve her thin.
Meant to make her lose the child.
She was forced to work eighteen hours a day, washing, scrubbing floors, hauling firewood.
When she collapsed from exhaustion, Kael only kicked her.
“Get up.
Playing weak will not work.” Luna endured it for three days.
On the fourth day, she fainted in the kitchen, and blood pooled between her legs.
The servants panicked.
“Elder!
We need the Elder!” they screamed.
When Luna woke, she was in the healing chamber.
Elder Alden stood beside her, his face pale.
“My baby,” Luna whispered, her hand flying to her stomach.
“Stay still,” the Elder said.
“We are doing all we can to save it.” Luna sobbed.
“Please, please save my child…,” The door burst open violently.
Kael walked in.
He saw Luna lying on the bed, her face ashen, the stain of blood on the sheets.
He turned to the Elder, who was preparing medicine.
For a fleeting moment, something flickered across Kael’s face, fear.
It vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by his usual cold mask.
“How is it?” Kael asked.
“The babe is strong,” the Elder replied.
“But the mother is weak.
She needs rest, proper food, and no more hard labor.” Kael stepped closer and stared down at Luna.
“How far along?” “Three months,” the Elder said.
“The pregnancy is still very fragile.” Kael fell silent.
He looked back at Luna.
“You are lucky,” Kael said.
“The child is still alive.” With that, he left without another word.
But strangely, from that day on, his treatment of her changed.
Luna was no longer forced to do heavy work.
Her meals were increased, meat, fresh milk, and servants assigned to watch over her day and night.
Yet Kael never came to see her.
Until a week later.
That evening, Luna sat alone in the garden, gently touching her stomach.
Footsteps approached.
It was Kael.
He sat on the bench a meter away from her.
Silence stretched between them.
Until finally, “Why?” Kael asked.
Luna turned to him.
“Why what, My Lord?” “Why do you not hate me?” Kael said.
“I have tortured you.
I have insulted your mother, and I nearly caused you to lose this child.” Luna gave a small, sad smile.
“Because hate is tiring, My Lord.” Kael looked up at the sky.
“My mother died because of yours.” Luna froze.
“Ten years ago,” Kael continued.
“Your mother was my father’s concubine.
She poisoned my birth mother so that her own child would become heir.” Luna stared at him in shock.
“I never knew.” “Of course you did not,” Kael said bitterly.
“You were only an infant back then.
You were abandoned to a servant family so no one would ever learn you were the traitor’s daughter.” Luna’s chest tightened painfully.
“So,” Kael said.
“Now you understand why I despise you.” Luna nodded, tears spilling over.
“I understand, My Lord.” “Do not call me that,” Kael said suddenly.
“That night you called me by my name.” Luna’s face burned bright red.
“K-Kael.” Kael turned to look at her, holding her gaze for a long time.
Then he stood up.
“Take good care of that child,” Kael said.
“Because if it is born broken, I will be the first to kill it.” He walked away.
But that night was the first time he did not order her to sleep on the floor.
Instead, he had her moved to the guest chamber, with a proper bed and thick, warm blankets.
Two weeks passed.
Her stomach had not yet begun to show, but Luna could already feel it, a tiny, living presence inside her.
One night, she woke screaming from a nightmare.
Her mother stood before her, covered in blood, staring straight at her.
“Mother!” Luna cried out.
The door swung open.
“Why are you shouting?” Kael demanded.
“A nightmare,” Luna whispered.
Kael stepped inside.
He sat in the chair by the bed and did not leave.
“Do you have them often?” Kael asked.
Luna nodded.
“About my mother and when I was little.” Kael was quiet for a moment.
Then he spoke softly.
“Tell me.” Luna stared at him in surprise.
“You wish to hear?” “Tell me,” Kael repeated.
And so Luna told him, of their small cottage, of her mother singing her lullabies, of how she had taught Luna to read by candlelight.
Kael listened.
He did not interrupt, and he did not mock her.
When she finished, Kael stood up.
“It was boring,” he said flatly.
But before he left, he left a bowl of hot soup on the table beside her bed.
Day by day, their relationship remained strange.
By day, Kael was still cold, still commanding, still cruel.
But by night, he would sometimes come.
He would sit in silence.
Sometimes he would toss a book at her.
“Read it.
So my child does not grow up stupid.” Luna knew.
It was his twisted way of caring.
Until one night, trouble arrived.
Beta Riven burst in, panic etched on his face.
“Alpha!
The Whitefang pack has attacked the border!” Kael stood at once and threw on his coat.
“Luna, stay here!” “My Lord,” Luna called out.
“Please be careful.” Kael paused and looked back.
For the first time, he did not answer with an insult.
He simply nodded, then left.
The night dragged on endlessly.
Luna could not sleep, praying over and over again.
At three in the morning, the door slammed open.
Kael stumbled in, his clothes soaked in blood, a deep gash running down his arm.
“My Lord!” Luna sprang to her feet.
“Stay back,” Kael gritted out.
“I am fine.” But he swayed unsteadily.
Luna rushed to support him, helping him to the bed.
As she cleaned his wound, her hands shook uncontrollably.
“Do not die,” Luna whispered.
“Please do not leave me and this child.” Kael opened his eyes and looked at her.
“You are worried?” Luna nodded.
Tears fell onto his wound.
Kael lifted his hand and brushed them away.
“Foolish,” he murmured.
“I am an Alpha.
I will not die from such a scratch.” He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.
“You and that child,” Kael whispered against her ear.
“Do not die either.” Luna wept into his shoulder.
Outside, the full moon watched over them.
Seventeen days remained until the deadline, but for the first time, Luna was not afraid.
Because she knew one thing for certain: the Cruel King was beginning to melt.