Chapter 8 The Vanishing Bite Mark And Morning Sickness

• Aria’s POV
• When I woke up, the sharp scent of fir trees was still lingering around my nose.
• I shifted my body and realized I was wearing the black shirt Valen had shoved on me last night.
• The loose fabric covered my thighs, and it felt like the shirt still held the heat of that man’s possessive body.
• Barefoot, I walked into the bathroom and stood in front of the half-length mirror.
• When I saw myself clearly, my breath hitched.
• Trembling, I pushed my long hair away from the back of my neck—where there used to be a dark red, ugly bite mark.
• Five years ago, Lucas had sunk his teeth into my neck, marking me like some trophy to satisfy his twisted possessiveness. That “scar” had been a shame I carried all these years.
• But now... it was fading.
• That deep, bone-deep mark was healing right before my eyes.
• It was my awakened wolf spirit. It was using its fierce self-healing power to erase what it saw as “trash.”
• Staring at the fresh skin in the mirror, I couldn’t help but laugh. And then, my eyes welled up with tears.
• That idiot Lucas would never dream that the moment my true wolf spirit woke up, the first thing it would do was wipe out his mark.
• Just then, my phone on the sink buzzed.
• An anonymous MMS. No sender name, but I knew it was from Selina.
• The video popped up.
• The background was the Blackwood master bedroom—the same bed I’d slept in for five years.
• Lucas looked pale and weak, leaning against the headboard. Selina, in a revealing red lace nightgown, straddled his thigh like a snake.
• “Lucas, time to take your medicine…”
• Selina took a sip of dark red blood soup and bent down to feed it mouth-to-mouth to Lucas.
• What made me sick to my stomach was that Lucas didn’t push her away. The man who kept saying he wanted to win me back had his eyes closed, his hand—still wearing the wedding ring—skilled and greedy on Selina’s waist as he swallowed hungrily. Their lips tangled together.
• At the end of the video, the camera zoomed in on fresh kiss marks on Lucas’s neck, along with a line of text:
• (Sis, see that? His bed, his arms—he’s mine now.)
• A wave of pure, physical nausea hit me like a freight train.
• So filthy.
• That hand had held me before. That mouth had whispered sweet nothings to me.
• I threw my phone away and lunged for the toilet.
• “Ugh—”
• I vomited like hell, my stomach churning violently, my body curling up from the dry heaves.
• The bathroom door slammed open.
• “Aria!”
• ```
• Valen burst in like a storm, panic dripping from his voice like I’d never heard before. Barefoot, he grabbed me just as I was about to collapse, his big hands steadying me while he gently patted my back, pouring warmth into me.
• “What’s wrong? Where do you hurt?”
• Usually so laid-back, the wolf king dropped to one knee, his dark golden eyes wide with fear. He grabbed my wrist hard.
• “Did you catch a cold last night? Damn it, I shouldn’t have let you sleep alone!”
• I weakly shook my head, trying to explain, but another wave of dry heaving hit me.
• Valen’s face changed in an instant.
• He stared at my pale face, his eyes shifting from worry to shock. His hand holding mine started trembling.
• “Aria, you’re not…”
• His gaze dropped to my belly, his Adam’s apple bobbing violently.
• “Pregnant?”
• “What?” I almost choked on my own shock, staring at him in disbelief.
• “No… no way…” I pushed him away in a panic. “Not that fast… and we didn’t even…”
• “Then why? Your reaction’s exactly like it.” Valen kept staring at me, tense as hell.
• I took a deep breath and pointed to the phone on the floor.
• “It’s from nausea.”
• “Nausea?” Valen blinked, confused.
• He followed my gaze. The video was still looping, Selina’s breathy moans and Lucas’s swallowing echoing in the cramped space.
• Valen glanced at it once.
• *Snap.*
• That expensive phone turned to dust in his hands.
• He tossed the remains into the trash with a smooth flick, the murderous vibe radiating off him making my skin crawl.
• “So that’s what made you puke like this?”
• He spun around, voice cold as an icebox, but his eyes held a tenderness that made my heart skip.
• I rinsed my mouth, leaning awkwardly into his chest. “Just thinking about having slept in the same bed with some filthy bastard makes me feel… dirty beyond cleaning.”
• Valen said nothing.
• He bent down, scooped me up like I weighed nothing, and strode out of the bathroom. He laid me gently on the bed and tucked me in.
• Then he dropped to one knee by the bed, reaching out to wipe the tears from my cheeks.
• “Aria, listen.”
• His voice was low and steady. “You’re not dirty. They are.”
• He stood up, calmly rolling his sleeves, a flash of bloodthirsty red lighting up his eyes.
• “If this thing’s making you this miserable… then I’ll make sure he disappears for good.”
• At that moment, the nausea inside me vanished like magic.
• “Valen,” I grabbed the edge of his shirt, “don’t kill him.”
• Valen raised an eyebrow, clearly not thrilled with my plea.
• “Don’t get me wrong,” I said, locking eyes with him and smirking coldly. “Death’s way too easy for him. I want him to watch everything he’s ever been proud of crumble piece by piece.”
• Valen paused for a second, then let out a low chuckle.
• He leaned down and kissed my forehead.
• “As you command, my queen.”
• ```