Victor kept release himself inside Helena, because he really wants to have a baby with her, he wants to mark her as his Luna, his real mate.

He wants to impregnate her as the Alpha King of the pack , not just some half breed that is forced into an arrangement like this. He’s going to be a king, and no one would dare try anything if he had someone by his side that would be willing to die for him.

That’s what Victor will do when he finally has a Luna by his side, that’s why he keeps himself locked away in the castle, why he keeps Helena locked up as well because she’s a Luna too, and she might get hurt.

She has been staying behind in the village for a week now, doing whatever it was Luna women usually did in their spare time while they waited for their pups.

Victor doesn’t understand why she is taking so long to come back from her little excursion, but he knows that Luna women are very independent creatures and don’t need anyone to watch over them.

So Victor waits patiently in his room, watching the door and hoping against hope that Helena will walk through it.

He’s still waiting when the door finally opens to reveal his mate, and Victor’s heart stops at the sight. She’s carrying some sort of basket in her arms and her hair is tied up in a bun on top of her head.

The moment that they make eye contact, Helena smiles at Victor and says “Hey handsome.” Her voice sounds husky and her cheeks are flushed red.

Victor feels butterflies in his stomach again at the sound of her voice, at the thought of being called beautiful by her.

“You’re here early, I didn’t expect you for another day.”

Victor grins at her and stands up, moving towards her and putting a hand on her hip.

He leans down and kisses her softly before he asks, “What were you up to today? You said that you wanted to see something new.” He looks around the house, curious, and then adds

“Are you done already? It must have taken a lot out of you to carry all those things across the border, right?” He tries hard to keep his voice gentle so that she won’t feel bad about her work, because she shouldn’t.

She should feel proud that she can do her job without any help from him, even though she shouldn’t have to.

If it were possible, he’d make sure that every child born to the people of this land had someone who loved them so much, no matter whether they were a son or daughter or grandson, and no matter whether they were a hybrid or a human or both.

But there’s nothing he can say to reassure Helena that everything will be alright, so he lets her tell her own tale instead.

“Yeah, it took me quite some time, but I got it done. There’s a market near the town, and I figured that since I’ve been working so hard I might as well treat myself to some fresh fruit,” she explains as she walks past him and puts her basket on the table.

Victor frowns when she mentions the market, because she never goes to the marketplace anymore, not unless it involves buying clothes.

They used to go together, to shop and spend time together, but now Victor rarely sees her outside of the castle, only at night, when she visits the village to meet with the other Luna women.

The first time Victor had asked her about it, Helena had looked embarrassed, which had made him even more confused. But he’d let it slide after that, because his mate deserved privacy and he didn’t want to push too hard.

But he always felt worried about her, so when he hears about her leaving the castle for the markets, he immediately makes the decision to accompany her tomorrow morning before breakfast so that she wouldn’t have to be alone.

Victor knows that his wife hates it when he does that, that she complains every morning and every night that he makes her stay at home to rest, but he loves her too much to care, especially when she works herself to exhaustion to provide for his needs.

“How about we grab a bite to eat at the inn?” he suggests, smiling at her. “Maybe you could even tell me where you went, since your scent is still lingering inside the castle,” he adds.

He has learned that whenever he starts asking questions to her, she becomes uncomfortable, so he changes course as soon as he notices it.

But sometimes he thinks he gets a hint of a smile out of her. Sometimes. Not always.

Helena nods enthusiastically. “Great idea! Let me just change my clothes and put some food on the stove, then we can leave,” she agrees.

Victor is relieved that she agreed, because he hasn’t eaten anything since dinner yesterday evening, and he knows that she hadn’t either. They’ll have a lovely lunch together in the market before returning home.

Then they can relax on the sofa until late evening, when Helena goes back to bed and Victor decides to return home to sleep.

It’s easy to fall asleep after that, because Victor knows that Helena will wake him up in an hour or two, ready to go to the market. Even if it means that he will miss a few hours of sleep.

But Victor doesn’t mind that, he prefers to sleep in anyways. When Victor wakes up, he smells freshly baked bread and coffee, and he’s hungry again.

When he wakes up in Helena’s embrace, they’re lying on the sofa again, facing each other and Victor is feeling warm and content.

Helena’s hair is splayed out around her like golden silk and her blue eyes seem to glow under the dim light from the fireplace. Victor sighs happily.

He can smell the coffee brewing and he’s grateful for the fact that he doesn’t need to eat, because it probably tastes amazing. When Helena wakes up fully, she turns towards Victor and smiles shyly.