Freya

For a second, it felt like space closed in on me and the only sound that I could hear was the sound of my blood drumming in my ears and the doctor’s words that kept echoing through my mind.

“Congratulations, Miss Freya! You are pregnant with quadruplets!”

My eyes fluttered continuously, glancing at the doctor who stared at me with a straight expression on his face. And then, out of nowhere, I began laughing.

First of all, it started with a low chuckle that ended up escalating into full-blown, uncontrollable laughter.

The doctor’s face furrowed in confusion as he exchanged fleeting glances with the maid who stood at the door with confusion boldly written on her face.

This was absolutely absurd!

What the hell was happening to me?

What kind of twisted fate had I fallen into?

A disbelieving laugh escaped me as I placed the pregnancy report back on the doctor's desk. "Sir, I believe there must be some mistake," I said, keeping my voice measured despite the turmoil inside. "Given my medical condition, pregnancy simply isn't possible."

“We’ve conducted a series of tests before we came to this confirmation. Congratulations once again!”

Seeing how serious he looked, the smile on my face faded and my hands flew over my mouth as my lips slowly parted in shock. “What?!”

My mind raced as my heart kept thumping hard in my chest and different emotions crashed over me. My shoulders sagged and tears rushed into my eyes, pressing at the back of my eyelids as my mind drifted back to the conversation with Ann.

She said that my womb was damaged. She told me that I could never give birth anymore.

So, how was this possible?

This was nothing short of a miracle.

Not one but four babies!

But at that moment, when the image of Thorne popped up in my head, the building excitement swelling inside of me disappeared and darkness enveloped me.

I was carrying his children. I should be excited. I mean, I was excited that maybe Ann made a mistake but knowing that I was carrying Thorne babies that would be taken from me as soon as I was done nurturing them caused my stomach to tie a knot.

If my father ever found out that I was pregnant with Thorne’s children, then not only was he going to disown me but he was going to get rid of me.

Plus I needed to go back to Tyson and Ariel to teach them a lesson.

The only way I could leave this place was by hiding the truth about my pregnancy plus how was I sure that the doctor didn't make a mistake?

Cold shivers ran down my spine as I squirmed in my seat and fixed my gaze directly on the doctor while forcing out a smile as I leaned forward. “Sir, would it be possible to not let Mr Thorne know anything about the news of the pregnancy…”

The doctor cut in. “Why?”

I swallowed hard. “I feel like there must be a mistake and…”

I had barely completed my words when goosebumps spilled all over my body when a deep voice that reverberated off the walls, echoed through my ears, sending cold skated down my spine.

My heart turned cold in my chest as I slowly swung my head in the direction that the voice emanated. Piercing hazel irises raked over me before he locked eyes with mine, causing my heart to slam against my ribcage.

Thorne stood at the door and seeing him for the second time caused my pulse to speed up as my lips parted in shock. There was a glint of confusion in his eyes as he reiterated. “Why does he have to keep it a secret from me?”

I swallowed hard, tearing my gaze away from him while wishing that the ground could empty its contents and swallow me while m. It wasn't because I was scared that he had overheard our conversation, I was scared because of the way he looked at me.

His eyes were invasive, deep, and... I had to admit, dangerously beautiful.

The doctor stood up, lowering his head before him. “I think that she is shocked. Finding out that she would be having four babies must have been overwhelming for her and…”

Thorne raised his hand in halt and when he took a step forward, my heart raced like galloping horses. “I would like to hear from my breeder herself.” His voice was low and menacingly cold, yet there was a flicker of something else in his eyes.

Curiosity?

Standing to my feet, I folded my hands behind me as fear gnawed at my insides. Thorne stalked towards me and before I knew what was happening, he was a step away from closing the space between us.

As I glanced up at him, he said. “Did you think that I wasn't going to keep my promise of allowing you to leave after giving birth to the children?”

I ducked my head, squeezing my eyes shut when the reality hit me that I had a history with stillborns. There was a high chance that Doctor Ann could have made a mistake and the cycle of my stillborns would continue.

Blowing out a breath, my eyes flew open and I muttered. “It just seemed too good to be true.”

Thorne was about to speak when a blonde-haired woman with a pretty smile on her face strutted in. She was majestic, elegant, and extremely beautiful.

Who was she?

As she exchanged pleasantries with the doctor who treated her with respect, she stood next to Thorne, slipping her hand through his arm while he was smiling.

When her gaze landed on me, her eyes lit up and she removed her hands from that of Thorne, took a step forward, closed the space between us, and swooned me in a hug.

Almost suffocating me to death, Thorne stared at me with intense scrutiny like he was trying to read through me. In a matter of seconds, the woman cupped my face and kissed me on the cheeks.

“Hi, I am Celeste.”

As confusion swamped my mind, I responded. “I am Fre…”

Before I could complete my words, she interjected. “I know. Freya Finnegan. I am Thorne’s Fiancee and he has already told me about you. I was the one who made him choose a breeder. He never wanted anything like that, but he loves me too much to refuse me anything.”

Then she took me aback when she bent slightly and pressed her head against my stomach. “I can feel my babies already.”

Only if she knew that they would be stillborn.

Despite that sad reminder, her calling them her babies never made sense to me. They were mine and not “hers”!

“Your babies?” my voice was barely above a whisper.

While I spoke, unease surged at the depth of my stomach because of Thorne’s eyes that shot lasers into my face. Glancing at him caused my heart to skip a bit as my stomach tied a knot.

Why was he staring at me like he had murderous intent? Could he have discovered my identity already?

Celeste pursed her lips slightly as she glanced at Thorne. “Angel, didn't you tell her that the babies would be ours?”

Angel? Did she just call Thorne an “Angel”?

He was more like a demon to me.

Throne shifted his gaze from my face, flashing her a smile. “I did.”

Celeste then turned to look at me, cupping my face while beaming with a smile. “You have nothing to worry about darling. I will take good care of you and take care of the babies as well. We can call them our babies for now.”

I forced out a smile that didn't reach my eyes. “Yeah…”

I couldn't wait to leave this place! Every second here made me feel more suffocated.

She smiled at me, her expression all too sweet. “Tomorrow is our wedding, I would like to invite you to our wedding and…” Before I could even open my mouth to object, she cut me off, “ You can't say no. I want you to come, dear.” She pinched my cheeks.

Thorne seemed more like he wasn't having it but Celeste acting sweet made him accept.

Only if he knew how badly I didn't want to be there. The last place I wanted to be was anywhere near him.

Celeste jolted me out of my thoughts. “Don't worry, I will send your clothes tomorrow. Please do attend. It would mean so much to me.”

“Okay,” I forced out a smile.

She waved at me as she grabbed Thorne’s hands. “See you tomorrow. Let’s go, baby.”

While they turned, the reality of my situation began to dawn on me as I stared at them in horror. Then Throne turned, shooting me a glare that made my heart skip a bit.

For a second, fear gnawed at me then when he turned away, relief flooded through me because, in the end, the babies would be stillborn like always— I wasn’t being a pessimist, it was the truth.

That has always been my truth.

I hated that I got excited about the pregnancy for a second and loathed that I forgot about my sad fate.

I heaved an exasperated sigh, waves of emotions crashing over the other inside of me like a storm but then my heart turned into ice when Thorne flashed through my mind.

He made me feel a certain type of way and I knew that I was scared of him and definitely don’t want to cross paths with him but the condescending way in which he had reduced me to nothing but a breeder?

No.

Even though I had been cloistered all my life, Thorne put me at the edge. Every minute was like a Russian roulette, one wrong breath from disaster. I hated it because before anything, I was the Lycan Princess.

But then again, it didn’t matter here. The last thing I wanted was for him to know who I really was. If he found out, he’d make sure I was out of his life for good.

I could hardly wait for all of this to be over, for the chance to escape this nightmare and never see Thorne’s face again. He was just another ghost from a past I’d burn if I could.

But fate, as it often does, always had other plans in store for me...