Chapter 2 002

• Serenya’s POV
• “What I’m talking about is that I am a hunter, Serenya Lopes,” he says it again, each word cutting through me. My chest tightens. I stare at him, unable to speak. Every moment of my life here, every smile, every touch, now feels like a lie I’ve been living beside him.
• He keeps his voice calm, almost bored. “You are Alpha princess of the BlueRidge pack. A werewolf. Something that shouldn’t exist here.”
• I can’t breathe. My secret, the one I’ve carried for four years, the reason I ran from everything and everyone I knew, is out. I clutch my stomach, feeling the baby move in sudden, sharp kicks. My life has narrowed to it and the fear inside me.
• “I found out who you are a year ago,” he continues, his eyes fixed somewhere beyond me. “You fled your pack and came here to hide. But this town… it’s full of hunters. Did you really think I wouldn’t figure it out?”
• I shake my head, trying to make sense of his words. “I… I hid it because I didn’t want that life anymore. I didn’t want to marry the man my father picked. I wanted freedom. I wanted… I wanted you.” My voice breaks halfway, choked and raw.
• He doesn’t react or move. Tears sting my eyes but I force myself to meet his gaze. “So what now?” I ask, my voice trembling. “You spent a year and a half with me just… what? To win some stupid prize?”
• He doesn’t answer.
• I can’t help the bitter laugh that escapes me. “All this time… everything… it was part of your plan, wasn’t it? Even this baby… it was all practice for you?” I ask
• But he bends slowly and pulls a dagger from his boot. My heart stops. My legs stiffen. I stumble backward, my now hands over my stomach, clutching it as if sheer pressure can keep the baby safe.
• “No. No, Jade, don’t.” I can barely speak, my voice cracking. “I’m sorry I hid it. But I love you. I’m carrying your baby. Please… please don’t do this.”
• Maya watches silently behind him. Her perfect smile twists into a frown, and her eyes flick to my stomach. “That monster inside you dies with you,” she says, cold.
• I shake my head violently, tears running freely. My chest feels tight, like it’s about to break. “No… please… not my baby.”
• And just then, the lights in the room goes off suddenly. Darkness swallows the room. I can’t see, can’t move properly. My hands fly to my belly, pressing against it shakily. My heart hammers so hard I can hear it in my ears.
• And then the sharp pain hits as I felt a sharp stab directly on my stomach, hot, deep. My scream tears out of me before I can even think. “AHHH!”
• I collapse to the ground, my knees giving out and clinging to his arm. “Jade! Stop! Please! Please, it’s me! Serenya! Please!”
• “Die,” he hisses, close enough that I can smell the cologne I bought him for Christmas.
• He gives me another stab much deeper. Pain blooms and twists in my stomach. I choke on a sob. My hands are slick with blood, possibly sweat. I can’t tell. I can’t focus on anything except the searing pain and the baby inside me, who is now moving frantically, struggling inside the same body that’s failing to protect it.
• The lights in the room comes back on.
• The room seems unreal as I watch their faces stare at me—not shocked, not horrified but smiling. Applauding. Cheering. Hunters.
• Every single one of them was hunters.
• “Congratulations on your first mission, Jade Owens!” someone shouts.
• I gag on my own blood. My baby. My baby. I feel warmth spreading downwards, wrong and foreign. My hands clutch my stomach tighter. “No… no, please… don’t… don’t let me lose my baby,” I manage to whisper, my voice broken.
• Tears blur my vision. I try to crawl backward but the floor is slick and wet and red. Too much red with my blood already pooling around.
• Jade stands over me, the dagger dripping with my blood. His expression is calm. Proud. Like he’s just completed a task and succeeded.
• I try to laugh, but it comes out twisted “Congratulations, Jade on your first successful mission.”
• They keep clapping. Everyone. Smiling. Watching.
• Maya tilts her head, looking down at me with fake pity. “It’s better this way,” she says softly, almost like a statement of fact.
• Better for who? I rasp in my head, my blood bubbling up in my throat.
• For this… game they’ve played with my life?”
• I shake violently, tears flowing, trying to push myself upright. My stomach burns. Every muscle in me wants to run, but I can’t. I can only sit here, exposed and helpless.
• “I gave you everything, Jade,” I manage to stutter out a word. “I gave you love. I gave you my loyalty. I gave you… this child.”
• He doesn’t move instead he smirks.
• “Oh God…” I whisper, my head pressing to the floor. “Goddess, please. Help me.”
• The cheering grows. My heartbeat slows. My ears ring. I reach weakly toward him as blood drips from my fingers.
• “And this is what I get?” My voice cracks, jagged.
• My lips shake as my belly now feels hollow, like the life inside me is slipping through my fingers.
• “Oh God… my baby…” A sob rips from my chest, ugly, broken.
• Darkness creeps at the edges of my vision. My body is cold now. The applause fades to a distant muffled hum.
• I stare at Jade one last time. His face is shining with pride. I loved that face. I trusted it and now, I hate it.
• I open my mouth, but no words come out. Only blood that I coughed out —more blood.
• But just then, a voice slices through the room.
• “STOP!”
• The world tilts. The cheers vanish but it is too late for me.