Defying the Rogue Alpha
Chapter 151: Impact

Chapter 151: Impact

Alaric took a subtle step back, as if bracing for impact. "Well, Your Highness..." he started carefully, measuring every word. "While I performed the spell last night... I noticed something. Another life hummed inside of her... another heartbeat."

Herod blinked, processing. Then his brow furrowed. "What exactly are you saying?"

"I’m saying..." Alaric inhaled deeply, adjusting his collar. "She is pregnant, Your Highness."

Herod dropped onto the sofa.

"Well," he said after a beat, "this just keeps getting more and more interesting."

He rubbed his temples, the beginnings of a migraine scratching at his royal brain. "Did she know before your ritual?"

"I... do not know," Alaric admitted, shrugging. "But regardless, it may work in our favor."

Herod looked up sharply. "Favor?"

Alaric lifted one finger. "It can be yours. A royal child. Heir to the throne. Proof of your bond. Think about it. And whatever we claim your relationship to Ava is now, it’ll be far more believable."

Herod considered it for a long moment. "You’re saying I can... emotionally manipulate her with the child and tell her we were soulmates?"

Alaric gave him a tight-lipped nod. "Exactly."

Herod leaned back with a dramatic sigh.

"But first," Herod said, standing again with the energy of a man plotting two murders before dinner, "I’ll be visiting the borders today. Her mate will come. I can feel it in my bones. I have to make sure the perimeter is locked down."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Alaric replied.

"Oh! and get me Dorian. I need that annoying brain of his once more."

Alaric’s smile twitched at the corners. He bowed again with visible restraint.

*****

Ava sat propped up in bed, her hands resting in her lap, eyeing the grand banquet-style breakfast in front of her.

A mountain of food. Freshly baked pastries, eggs, melon. There was a side of roast meat. She blinked at the spread.

Every time she moved, her body gave her a reminder that something wasn’t right. There was a deep, pulling ache in her core. Not painful, but strange.

Her mind felt like someone had erased it. Some things were still visible underneath, but mostly, there was a gray blur of confusion. Like she remembered everything and nothing at the same time. It was maddening.

There was something missing. A key detail. One piece of the puzzle that refused to click into place.

A name kept bouncing around her mind. Lucas. Why that name? Why did her heart do a weird flutter every time it came up in her thoughts?

"Lucas, Lucas..." she whispered. The name felt important. Heavy. It tugged at her ribs.

She remembered Leon. She remembered being taken to... to...

Her brows furrowed as if she could force clarity through sheer concentration. There! Something was missing. Her memory danced just out of reach. She remembered Dennis and Zoe. Zoe had been getting ready for her engagement party to Dennis, and Ava had been helping her pick the perfect dress. She could remember the sound of laughter, the feeling of excitement.

Then... blackness. Again, something was missing. There was a blank space in her mind where someone should be.

The door creaked open gently, and a tall figure stepped in with a confident, almost smug smile. His presence was familiar, but the familiarity came with static.

Was this... Lucas?

"Hey, Angel," the man said warmly.

She blinked.

"Hi," Ava replied, unsure whether to smile or duck under the covers.

"How do you feel?" Herod asked as he approached her bed.

"The headache is gone, but this food is a lot," she said, gesturing to the absurdly luxurious breakfast tray. "Are we feeding a small army or just trying to put me in a food coma?"

Herod chuckled lightly, taking her hand. "Can I ask a question?" Ava said softly.

"Of course, anything," he said, drawing closer, his hand tightening slightly on hers.

"Where is Lucas?"

Herod’s jaw tensed, the smile flickering. "Why do you keep asking for him?" he asked.

"I... don’t know." Ava frowned, bringing her hand to her temple. "It’s like something is slippery in my mind. Like I’m trying to grab a dream after waking up."

"That’s because he did that to you," Herod said. "He kidnapped you. Tried to erase everything about us. Tried to destroy your memories of our life together."

Ava gasped, eyes wide. "What? Oh my god... I’m so sorry. We’re... together?"

Herod nodded. Then, smooth as syrup, he moved even closer and placed a hand gently on her stomach.

"We are having a child together."

Ava’s eyes ballooned with shock. "Oh my..." Her fingers instinctively covered his. "Really?" she giggled, the sound bright and sudden. It was pure and sincere.

Herod watched her laughter with an almost childlike fascination. There was something about the way she lit up that made him pause. His heart did a weird little flip. She was beautiful when confused. He liked her like this. He liked her vulnerable. It made his lies feel like love letters.

"Do you want to take a walk with me?" he asked softly. "We can stop by the palace clinic on our way. I want them to check on our little one."

Ava hesitated. That "our" didn’t quite sit right.

Still, she nodded. "Yes... a walk sounds nice."

Ava gently lifted the heavy breakfast tray from her lap and placed it on the bedside table.

Herod watched her. His eyes tracked her every move as she got to her feet with a quick, sudden grace that made him momentarily forget his villainous agenda. She crossed the room and threw open the closet doors with more purpose than he expected.

"Do you need something?" he asked casually, folding his arms.

"I could’ve sworn I had some clothes in your closet," Ava replied, puzzled.

But Herod knew exactly what had happened. She meant Lucas’s closet. Not his. They shared a room?

No wonder she was pregnant.

"Right," he said smoothly, crafting a memory. "I moved your things back to your own bedroom after you were kidnapped. It reminded me of how much I missed you."

Nice save, he thought smugly.

"Okay. I’ll just go over there and change." Ava gave a stiff smile that didn’t reach her eyes and all but fled the room.

As the door clicked shut behind her, Herod exhaled. That had been close. If she started connecting dots faster than he could erase them, then they had a problem.

*****

Lucas and Dennis had arrived in the North alone, keeping a low profile.

They needed to study the lay of the land before their soldiers arrived. Kade was in charge of bringing the men in batches. They had a week, so they had to work fast.

They blended in with the locals, slipping into marketplaces with forced cheerfulness.

One thing became painfully clear. Rebellion was already bubbling. The people were tired. The streets told the story.

The poor begged in the streets, clutching bowls. The rich turned their noses up so high they practically sniffed clouds. And the king? Well, he might as well have been a ghost. Herod never left the palace. Never addressed the people. He ruled like a man watching his empire from a soundproof tower.

Which meant, Lucas thought grimly, the raid had to happen in the palace.

Dennis had always believed, perhaps naively, that the best place to gather intel was a anywhere you find half-drunk soldiers. Lucas figured the best place would be a bar. A popular one.

So when they asked around and were pointed toward The Bleeding Ladies, Dennis immediately knew two things: one, they were definitely in the right place, and two, he was going to hate every second of it.

The moment their asses found chairs, four women pounced. Lucas barely blinked. Dennis, however, looked like he’d just stepped into a battlefield.

They were surrounded with breasts and lace. Lucas sat back in his chair, the picture of composed debauchery, not planning on enjoying the attention, but ready to use it to pry out every ounce of information he could. The woman in his lap twirled.

Dennis, on the other hand, sat stiff as a sword, a smile frozen on his face. A petite brunette in fishnet stockings slid onto his lap. His whole body flinched. Touching was... not his thing. Not when it wasn’t Zoe.

He looked at Lucas in a silent scream of help me, but Lucas gave him the classic sibling shrug of you’re on your own, bro. Anything to get his girl back.

"You... you girls don’t waste time, uhn?" Dennis stammered.

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