Rebecca’s POV
Kaden collapsed against me, his heavy body pressing mine into the mattress as we both struggled to catch our breath. For a few seconds, neither of us moved. Then, as if suddenly remembering my pregnancy, he quickly shifted his massive frame away from me, sliding out of me and rolling onto his back beside me.
The room fell quiet except for our uneven breathing.
I turned onto my back, panting softly while the cool air from the AC washed over my heated, sweat-slick skin, my muscles still trembling from the residual waves of the orgasm. Before I could even gather my thoughts, Kaden moved closer and wrapped a thick arm around my waist, pulling me tight against his warm chest until there was no space left between us.
I went willingly.
My head settled against his broad chest, and he released the deepest, most satisfied sigh I had ever heard from him, pressing his lips to my hair as though he couldn’t stop himself from touching me.
"Fuck," he breathed, a faint, disbelieving smile touching his lips.
I laughed weakly. "What?"
"That was..." He stopped, shaking his head as though he couldn’t find the right word. "I don’t even fucking know."
He leaned down and kissed me. It wasn’t desperate this time. It was a slow, lingering kiss, completely different from everything that had happened minutes earlier.
When he pulled away, he lay back against the pillows, bringing me with him so I settled comfortably over his pounding heart again. My fingers moved absentmindedly across the warm expanse of his stomach, feeling the tight rise and fall of his belly with every breath, while his hand traced lazy circles over my bare back.
Neither of us spoke.
And strangely, I liked the silence.
I liked being here. In his arms.
That realization frightened me. This wasn’t supposed to feel like this. I had come into this room with one purpose: I needed the pin. Everything else was supposed to be part of the plan. But lying against Kaden while the cool air slowly dried the sweat from our skin, I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t enjoyed being close to him.
Not only physically. This sex was gentle, intense, and terrifyingly real. It was slipping past the guards I had spent weeks building up, and every second in his arms was making it harder to remember why I needed to run. I loved the quiet afterward, his heartbeat beneath my cheek, and I didn’t know what the hell to do with that heavy knot twisting in my chest.
"Are you okay?" he suddenly asked softly, his fingers gently tracing patterns along my bare shoulder.
I lifted my head slightly. "Yes," I murmured.
"Sure?"
"Yes, Kaden."
He hummed in satisfaction, his chest vibrating beneath my cheek, and pulled me closer.
Then, without warning, he shifted downward, lowering himself down the mattress until he was resting on his forearms right beside my hip.
I frowned, my whole body locking up in instant panic. "What are you doing?"
Kaden didn’t answer. He lowered his face level with my stomach and gently pressed a tender, lingering kiss directly against my still-flat belly, right over my womb.
A sharp gasp tore from my throat, my entire body stiffening into violent tension.
Kaden looked up at me, a soft, reassuring smile gracing his face as his dark eyes locked onto mine. "This child is mine anyway."
My heart stopped dead in my chest. My eyes widened, the blood draining from my face as sheer terror seized my lungs.
"What?" My voice came out far too sharply.
Kaden’s eyebrows lifted.
For one terrifying second, I couldn’t breathe. Does he know? How could he possibly know about the pregnancy already? Had his wolf told him? Had touching my stomach earlier triggered something else? My mind was already racing through every possible disaster when Kaden chuckled softly.
"Biologically, I mean."
I stared at him, my heart hammering against my ribs.
"Kane and I are identical twins." He kissed my stomach again, then lowered himself to rest beside me. "Same blood. Same DNA, the wolf... it’s the exact same lineage. I’m the baby’s father."
Air rushed back into my lungs. I let out a shaky breath, covering my panic with a scoff as I lightly pushed at his shoulder. "That’s not how fatherhood works."
"Close enough."
"No, it isn’t."
"It is now."
I rolled my eyes, but Kaden’s smile disappeared as he looked down at my stomach again, his palm settling gently against it.
My breathing immediately became shallow. After what had happened in his study, I didn’t like him touching my stomach for too long. His wolf had already recognized something, and I didn’t need him testing that connection again.
Thankfully, Kaden didn’t seem to notice my tension. He reached up, cupping my jaw gently as he looked down at me with an intensity that made my stomach twist.
"Don’t worry about anything, Ruby," he said quietly.
I frowned. "What?"
He lifted his dark eyes to mine. "If things between you and Kane don’t work out..." He paused, his expression becoming completely serious. "You and this baby won’t be alone. If Kane has decided he wants another woman, then that’s his decision. But I’m not going to watch you raise his child alone because my brother couldn’t get his shit together."
My throat tightened, the lump almost choking me. "Kaden..."
"I mean it."
"You don’t have to say that."
"I know." His hand remained warm and protective over my stomach. "I’ll be a father to this baby if that’s what it takes. I won’t let Kane’s mistakes mess up your life or this baby’s future. Okay?"
My chest hurt with a brutal, burning guilt. I stared at him, genuinely unable to speak.
Who was this man? How could he stand here, offering me everything, offering to protect a baby he thought belonged to his brother, while I was actively planning to betray him? This was the same Alpha King who had once believed I murdered his wife, the same man who had put the choker around my neck. Yet now he was lying beside me, promising to raise a child he didn’t even know was actually his own.
I swallowed hard and looked away before he could see the guilt burning in my eyes.
Thankfully, Kaden suddenly became distracted. His eyes shifted toward the clock across the room, his jaw tightening as his mind clearly drifted somewhere far away from this room. His brows pulled together as he seemed to remember something.
"Shit."
"What?"
He sat up, swinging his broad legs over the side of the bed. "I forgot about something."
I pulled the heavy duvet up to my chin, covering my bare body as I watched him reach for his clothes. "What?"
"An urgent pack matter Logan sent me earlier," he said, dressing in quick, efficient movements as he pulled his trousers on and grabbed his shirt. "I told him I’d deal with it after my meeting, but then you walked into my study and completely destroyed what little concentration I had left."
Despite the heavy guilt in my chest, a small smile touched my lips. "So this is my fault?"
"Entirely." He pulled his top on and looked down at me, his expression softening completely. "I’m sorry, Ruby, but I have to leave you for about ten minutes. An urgent case needs my immediate attention down the hall."
My heartbeat immediately changed its rhythm.
Ten minutes? Alone in his private suite?
I forced my voice to stay completely steady, keeping my eyes locked on his face so I wouldn’t accidentally glance toward the far side of the room. "Okay."
"You can stay here?" he asked, buttoning his shirt.
I nodded casually. "Where else would I go?"
Kaden gave me a suspicious, playful look before laughing softly. "Good point."
He walked back toward the edge of the bed, leaned down, and captured my lips in one final, warm kiss. "Stay right here and rest. I’ll be back soon, okay?"
"I will," I managed to murmur.
"One more thing."
I frowned. "What?"
His mouth curved into a faint, handsome smile. "Don’t fall asleep."
"Why?"
"Because I’m not finished spending time with you."
Heat rushed into my cheeks. "Kaden, go."
He laughed softly, kissed my forehead, and finally turned toward the heavy doors. I watched his broad back as he walked across the quiet room. He opened the double doors, stepped outside into the private corridor, and pulled them shut behind him.
Click.
The lock engaged with a solid, echoey thud, cutting the room off from the rest of the pack house.
I didn’t move. Not immediately. I remained frozen beneath the heavy blanket, staring at the closed door while my heart began pounding harder and harder against my ribs like a trapped bird.
Five seconds. Ten seconds. Twenty.
I held my breath, listening with every nerve ending pulled taut.
Silence. He was gone.
My entire body snapped into immediate action. I threw the heavy blanket aside, sitting upright on the edge of the mattress, my bare skin suddenly cold in the air-conditioned room.
The pin. Holy shit.
I had spent all this time agonizing over how I would get Kaden to fall asleep after sex, how I would carefully sneak out of his arms without waking his protective wolf, how I would somehow glide across the room in total darkness without making a sound.
And now, he had simply left me entirely alone. For ten whole minutes.
My gaze shot across the dimly lit suite, locking directly onto the wooden vanity near the wall, right beside where his spare jacket hung on a hook.
There it was. Hanging quietly from the key ring.
My pulse spiked to a deafening roar in my ears. This wasn’t just a lucky break; it was the ultimate opportunity, staring me right in the face. My freedom was less than twenty feet away.
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