SWNOVELS Chapter 24 - Mira
I woke up this morning and felt the flutters again; I went to bed and felt them, as if the baby was saying good morning and goodnight to me. I know this is normal, and I know this is supposed to happen but no one mentioned how attached I'd feel.
“Are you still having morning sickness, Mia?” My attention snaps to Dr. Lilah as she looks at the clipboard in her hand. “What about the dizzy spells and brain fog?”
I shake my head. “They've all eased up in the last two weeks or so, but I do feel more tired than usual.”
She nods. “All normal. Have you felt movement at all?”
Sighing, I look down at my belly and the baby does another flutter before I answer. “It started a day ago; light flutters.”
Dr. Lilah perks up and claps her hands together. “Oh, fantastic! That's the best news I've heard all month!” she gushes, writing down something else on her clipboard.
After this, she refills my vitamin prescription and I go on my way. My weekly check-ups have been stretched to monthly, so I don't see Dr. Lilah as often as I used to. I suppose it's good since I hate the way she eases my worries with a touch alone.
I walk the hallways with Josef, but he’s still refusing to speak with me. I gave up trying to talk to him again, so now I'm left alone with my own thoughts...and a baby moving in my belly.
Five months...I have just under five months left here if my father doesn't say anything about marrying Alpha Nikolaos. There's no room to get attached to anything or anyone here; I can make my own way without them.
However, as Josef opens my bedroom door and I see the outline of Alpha Nikolaos at my bedroom window, I know getting out of here soon isn't an option.
He's standing with his back to us wearing nothing but gray sweatpants, wearing no shirt, and showing off his muscled tattooed back. Every inch of his skin is covered in them, with flecks of silver-healed skin ruining the massive pair of black wings taking up his back. It matches, though - it looks like those wings were meant to be ruined.
“Breathe, Mia,” he whispers into my hair and I readily obey. I take a few calming breaths to steady myself, and my heartbeat starts to level out again. “That's it, breathe. I'm right here, I won't let anything happen to you.”
“I want to believe you,” I want to believe that he'll protect me from Mikhail, but I know how that man’s mind works. “I insulted him by stabbing that silver dagger through his eye, and now I'm pregnant with his enemy's child.”
“Trust me, Mia,” he whispers, running his hand through my hair at the nape of my neck. “Trust that I'll protect you; you're going to be my Luna, the most important person to me and you're pregnant with my child. I'll protect you with my life.”
My heart stills once more, and the silence after his admission makes my heartbeat pick up again but not in fear this time. He doesn't let go of me, instead, I feel him kissing the side of my head.
That flutter in my belly makes me gasp and he lets go of me, looking at me with a frown. “Did I hold you too tight?” he asks with concern in his cold green eyes.
I shake my head and a blush covers my cheeks. “No...it's just...the baby has started moving and it always catches me off guard,” the way I say it makes it seem as if I don't care, but the way he held me coupled with the movement in my belly made all the fear dissipate.
Alpha Nikolaos looks down at my stomach, and I see his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallows hard. “May 1?" he asks, flooring me.
“By all means,” I give him a wan smile, trying not to seem nervous. “But he stops moving as soon as someone else touches my bump.”
"He?" There's a ghost of a smile on his lips when he asks this and places his large palm on my stomach. “You think it's a boy?”
I chuckle. “Oh, we're not sure yet-" my words are cut short when the baby moves like crazy underneath the Alpha’s hand. The smile drops from his face, and every bit of arrogance leaves his body as he peers down at me.
The look of wonder in his eyes has my heart gripped tight in those tendrils of hope again. The baby moves once more and the smile on his face knocks the wind out of me.
“Is he...are they supposed to move this much so soon?” he asks as he caresses my belly.
“Before it was simply fluttering, now it's full-on movements. It could be that he knows it's his father. Perhaps he knows your voice?” I say, making assumptions when I shouldn't be.
Alpha Nikolaos doesn't answer, he simply continues to hold my belly and look at it with wonder, as if it's precious to him. I never thought he would ever have this look on his face, and the painful squeezing of my heart is not making it any easier on me.
And what he does next cements that hope, and I'm not sure if I should be happy...or scared to death.
He drops to his knees, lifts up my tank top, and places a kiss on my bare skin. “My Luna...” he breathes out sending a shiver shooting right up my spine.
No...this isn’t supposed to happen! We're not supposed to get attached like this!
When he peers up at me with that same look, I know that I am not getting out of this without my heart being broken. Acting like I'm in love with him is one thing, but now I know I might not just be acting.
I lift my hand and place it on his head, running my fingers through his hair and watching as his eyes close at my touch. He groans and rests his head against my stomach, breathing out a sigh as if it feels like home.
He places another kiss on my stomach, then gets to his feet and takes my left hand before kissing the ring there. “I'll protect you, Mia. I'll protect both of you,” he says before walking out of my bedroom and leaving me with a full heart.
Mia...he still calls me Mia and I love the sound of it. It's not lost on me that I had the most powerful Alpha on his knees in front of me, and that alone makes me feel like I can face whatever comes next week.