Chapter 97

Dylan POV

"Ok..." I couldn't tear my eyes away from my fidgeting hands, and my pointer fingers nail once again found itself between my teeth as I anxiously began to nibble at it. "Please, just please don't judge me..." I took a deep breath before looking him in the eye and blurting out the thought most prominent on my mind. "I'm pregnant."

I swear the man had even stopped breathing for moment as he allowed my words to sink in. Eventually after a minute of just staring he managed to utter a question, in the form of a single word.

"What?!" His fist tightened around the grass that lay next to him as he looked over the lake we had just gotten out of. It was just a guess but I was fairly certain that he wasn't exactly expecting me to say that. "How do you know?"

I swallowed thickly and shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know for sure, but there's not really any other explanation. I knew it would happen sooner or later, King Josh never thought about using any form of protection against it, whenever he would..." I cut my own words off, feeling bile rise in my throat at the mere thought of the kings abuse. "He just wasn't very careful when it came down to it."

There was a long pause as his eyes swam with all the possibilities, it was as if he was imagining me pregnant, and everything that would follow. Eventually his gaze left the lake and looked me in the eye again as we continued to freeze on the grass. Well, I was freezing, he was a wolf with natural body heat.

"Alright..." The man was calm, but even if you didn't know him the quiet unexpressed rage he was showing in his eyes was evident enough. Was he mad at me? He shouldn't be. I couldn't stop the king from doing anything, no matter how hard I tried. There was genuinely no way of preventing this from happening. "For now, Let's not jump to any conclusions, we can see the doctor first thing tomorrow and get him to take a look at you. You should technically have had a physical examination upon your arrival anyway, given everything that has happened." Why was he saying we? Did he intend to help me through the pregnancy? Or did he, at the very least want to be with me for the inevitable decision I'd have to make. "Don't worry too much until we know for sure. Ok? And if it's discovered that you are, then we will discuss your options and then you can decide on how to proceed. Please don't stress just yet."

His response to my news was everything I didn't know I wanted. I was shocked at how calm and understanding he was, I thought he would judge me for not accepting the king, I thought he would tell me I had to return to the palace immediately. Instead he saw my point of view, and knew that whatever happened, it would be my decision to make, he was my rock to lean on when the weight of the world got too much for me.

Without thinking I turned my body to face him and wrapped my arms around the man's neck, resting my chin on his shoulder in a tight embrace. I had been carrying the thought of pregnancy alone for weeks and only now had I felt close enough to someone to be able to voice it.

Not only that, but he was nothing but supportive, there was no distain or judgement, only support. He would never know how grateful I was for that.

My arms tightened around him slightly when his own wrapped around my thin waist. I was freezing from the water, but his embrace warmed me up ten fold and gave me a certain sense of strength I didn't actually realize I had. I felt like I could conquer anything as long as I stayed in his arms.

"Will you go with me?" I whispered, afraid to hear the words no, but instead he gently released my body and pushed me away from him slightly, before cupping one of my cheeks with his palm.

"Of course I will... I will never let you go through anything else alone. I'm here, Dyl. Even if you don't want me, I will always be here." If I was ever able to feel content, if I was ever allowed the time to feel safe or free, if I was ever allowed to choose who I could be with, then the only thing I would ever want in this miserable world, would be him. "Sorry... I shouldn't have shortened your name, I know you prefer Dylan."

"No, it's actually ok. You can call me Dyl." I liked it, I actually did like it, only from his lips though. To everyone else I would only accept Dylan. "I've been worrying about this for so long." I admitted to him which caused the man to frown deeply.

"Just How long exactly have you suspected it?" I wasn't completely sure but it had been over a month. "It's just, I can't pick up any fetal movement or a heartbeat, If it has been a while us lycans would definitely have been able to at least sense something if not hear it." He had a point. Even I was confused why king Josh hadn't said anything to me in regards to my monthly cycle. I was sure he would have clicked on to something.

"I haven't come on in a while though, being pregnant is the only thing that makes sense." He looked at me and smiled sadly, did he know something that I didn't?

"First thing tomorrow we will go and see the doctor, but it could be the result of something as simple as stress. Please, try to not give your mind anything else to worry about." That was much easier said than done, I was scared, more so here than I was actually with the king.

What I had realized was, that while I was trapped with that narcissistic asshole, my mind didn't have as much time to wander, whereas here, I could do nothing but let my thoughts interrupt every minute I had alone. In the palace, king Josh physically tortured my body... now that I was here in the rebellion he was tormenting my mind.

"Thank you." I couldn't help but allow a shiver to take over my body, my teeth began to chatter while I mentally kicked myself for not taking my clothes off before entering the water. Yes I may have stayed modest, but now I had nothing dry to change into.

"You are absolutely freezing. Here..." He quickly held his jacket up again for me and I sighed. If I was to get warm I had to take my top off, but I had nothing on underneath it. I think he could sense my unease and so he held his jacket up a bit higher. "I promise... I won't look."

I was grateful, I slipped the tshirt off quickly and slid my arms into Lewis's jacket with a slight wince due to the single lash I took from his grace a couple of days ago. The scent of Lewis though instantly hit my nose and eased my mind slightly as I folded the fabric tightly around my thin body.

“We should probably go and dry off properly. We also need to get you some dinner and then some actual sleep. You look exhausted.” Instantly my heart rate quickened.

I couldn’t go into the dining tent again, my anxiety wouldn’t let me, I don’t think my body would even move close to it after what had happened this morning. There was just too many people here, and everyone knew my face, and what I had been through. They looked at me too much, imaginations always ran wild whenever I was around.

“Hey, Dylan… calm down.” I hadn’t noticed my body had begun trembling again. My panic attacks were becoming too frequent and too uncontrollable. “Tell me what’s wrong and I can fix it…”

I shook my head and began doing some deep breaths before my episode could get any worse.

“There’s nothing to fix…” I my voice sounded so depressed. “I’m just tired.” It wasn’t a lie, unfortunately there was nothing he could do anymore. I was just broken, my anxiety was just a part of me now, and no amount of laughing with Lewis was going to change the fact that I was famous, not to mention that I was so for being the worlds biggest victim. “You’re right, I need sleep… food can wait.” I stood up slowly wrapping the jacket around me tighter than before, and smiling at Lewis slightly. “Thank you… for giving me some company.” I swallowed thickly and began to walk away from him, leaving the man sat on the side of the lake.

The only thing I was thinking as I slowly made my way back to the RV I woke up in was, that tomorrow I would really know for sure, if I was truly pregnant or not.

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