Baby after One Night with the Prince

Tanya's POV.

What I learn from my family and old pack members is that the Lycan King has started imposing harsh sanctions on my pack. Using methods such as increasing taxes, restricting imports and exports, all to displace the economy and profits my pack earns to maintain a comfortable living for its residents.

They have all come to the capital to find me after the King set an ultimatum. That if I'm to divorce Marco, then he'd undo all the restrictions and sanctions. Despite their cries, I find it all so difficult to process. My fingers wriggle nervously with the hem of my shirt in considerable discomfort.

I was a nobody before I married Marco, declared an abomination and a worthless lost caused that no one cared for. My father didn't see me as his daughter, and my stepsister pretended to care despite her betrayal by sleeping with my boyfriend.

"Please Tanya, the King's sanctions have left us in a deficit. In months' time, we will have no money," says my father, showing more humility in this very moment than I have seen in years.

"Why should I?" my eyes well up with tears, barely able to articulate my words as I wish to sink deeper and deeper into myself. I'm finally receiving the love I have been pleading for, only to realize it's because my life affects there's, and it hurts to realize this. "You wanted to sell me to a perverted old man! Why should I care?"

My father is still kneeling at my feet as he says, "Well then think of the rest of your pack. Not just us. Malik won't be able to run his store for much longer with all the sanctions."

My eyes flicker to see the man I previously worked for, one of the few whom treated me kindly. "It's true Tanya, if the King continues with this plan, I won't have the money to run my store, I'll go bankrupt."

My chest hurts, my heart throbbing with anguish to my terrible fate. I used to be insignificant. I have just finally established myself as a talented perfumer after ongoing rigorous setbacks caused by Lily, and Marco has devoted and expressed his true love for me.

And now... I have to choose to sacrifice all those things for the greater good. I know I couldn't selfishly watch my pack wither away into POV.erty, but it means I have to give up everything I hold dear to me and return to a life I wish never to go back it.

With a heavy heart ripping at the seams, I loose hold of my tears that spill from my eyes. Pushing past my pack, I rush home in despair, crying all the way there.

I quickly swab away my tears upon returning to the house, pressing a cloth against my cheeks to wipe the wetness away and hide my sadness before Marco can see it. He usually greets me right away when I enter the house, but thankfully today he doesn't, and I have time to look less of a mess.

What alerts me though is glass that lays shattered beneath the kitchen table. I hesitantly move towards it, eyeing the spilt liquid and the splinters of glass that eerily spread across the wooden flooring. Almost as if someone had been setting it down on the table but somehow missed the edge, letting the object plummet straight down to the ground.

While still in the midst of my thoughts, I hear the identifiable sound of a large object colliding with another in a loud thump. The noises that follow suit are erratic and change with each second. I take a careful step forward, the floorboards creaking loudly beneath me that only escalate my confusion and alarm. And just before I can react, a bestial roar rips its way through the air around me. Marco...

Immediately I rush to our bedroom, slamming the door open to see my husband writhing in indescribable pain. Although still human, he fails to see me as he fights with himself. Thrashing into the walls uncontrollably, tugging at his hair, scratching his sharpened nails down the length of his arms, and scraping the skin that covers his ribs. It's almost as if the Lycan within is trying to push its way out, putting pressure on all his body parts from within that meld in a reckoning force that has Marco desperate for release.

My body jolts in fright as Marco bashes a rage filled fist into the wall, denting the cement with his strength. His breathing harbors a monstrous undertone reminiscent of the beast. Without warning, his skull snaps to look in my direction, eyes dripping in a blood red that does not bear any resemblance to my lover.

He stalks towards me in predatory pursuit, almost reaching me when the pain strikes him again. He screams, crumbling to the floor on all fours, looking up at me as I finally see a fragment of the Marco I know, his face staring at me in agony. Desperate, I attempt to walk towards him.

"NO!" His shout has me stricken with terror.

"Tanya get out! Run! Lock the door!" his growl triggers the transformation, and I watch in horror as his body shifts and morphs uncontrollably. Bones crack and bend in all the wrong places, skin stretches to accommodate for the next form and transcends into a blackish hue that sprouts wolfish fur.

Marco's legs elongate into stocky legs and claws, as his hands do too. His face reshapes, snout protruding through his skin into a menacing muzzle with a dangerous row of canine teeth.

To save my own life, I pull myself out of my terrified trance, slamming the door shut and locking it, able to still hear his monstrous thrashing and bashing from behind the door.

I grab my phone, hands shaking vigorously as I have trouble trying to dial the number. Finally, I press call, Oliver immediately picking up the line. "Oliver, you have to get here quick! It's Marco."

I don't have to say anything else as he hangs up. A couple of minutes later Oliver finds me sitting on the floor by the door, twitching with panic as I have sat listening to Marco's bestial growls as he paces the room. I'm thankful as Oliver pulls me away, and we sit on the couch in an agonizing wait for Marco to return back to his human state.

I barely sleep, Marco's transformation lasting a day and a night as Oliver stays with me throughout the duration. Finally, when it thinks it's safe, we step into the trashed room. I find Marco slumped against one of the walls, naked and drenched in sweat, the silver line on his arm still visible, now even longer than before, as it stretches up to reach his bicep.

The doctor arrives quickly, and it takes him one look to conclude that Marco's curse has become severe.

Under the order of the King, we rush to the palace that evening so Marco can be under the watchful care of the best doctors in the capital... but none of them can relieve the symptoms of his curse.

The attacks become more frequent and unbearable to witness. My husband is placed in a sealed room so that he can be monitored as well as to protect himself and everyone else within the vicinity. I barely eat, barely sleep. I sit frozen by his door despite his pleading for me to leave and look after myself during the stages that he is human.

I stay by his side, making sure I'm awake whenever he is human so I can go in and see him. However, today, the doctor comes in with me, checking Marco's vitals before sighing in uncertainty at the silver vein that trails higher and higher. Marco still appears incredibly tired from the repeated transformations, so we step out of the room to let him rest.

"What is it, doctor?"

"I'm sorry. But if this line reaches his neck, Marco will probably die." my face falls, completely astonished, my heart crumbling from within as I hear the news. "I've explained this to Marco years ago. There's not much we can do." Trying to maintain my composure, even if I'm losing all ability to cope, I excuse myself from the doctor to go freshen up, feeling completely numb and disconnected, unable to accept a life without Marco. However, as I make my way I'm stopped by the presence of the King.

"I understand that you love him Tanya, but this is a matter of reputation and noble right. You're just not meant to be royalty, it would look 'wrong'." I don't have the strength to dispute with him. I hang my head with a tired gaze. He takes a moment, before saying, "Also, Lily is his fated mate, and she has found a way to cure his curse, but it's under the conditions that you leave the capital and Marco forever."