Defying the Rogue Alpha
Chapter 203: Territory

Chapter 203: Territory

Then, Lucas turned his back to them.

"Now get the hell out of my territory," he said without turning around.

The councilmen stood, their chairs scraping awkwardly against the floor, unsure if they’d just witnessed the birth of rebellion.

As they left, Thorn muttered under his breath, "He’s going to be the death of us all."

Eryx adjusted his robes stiffly. "Only if we’re foolish enough to keep underestimating him."

Lucas, now alone, exhaled. His reflection in the glass was that of a man who had weathered a thousand storms and was ready for a thousand more. But deep in his heart, a quieter voice whispered one truth:

He wasn’t afraid of losing power.

He was afraid of losing her.

He would fight to protect the only person who had ever truly made him want peace. And if it meant giving up his title, and retiring somewhere peaceful, then so be it.

*****

"Lucas?" Ava’s voice floated softly through the chambers as she nudged the door open with her hip, one hand braced on the swell of her stomach. There was a furrow between her brows. "Is everything okay?"

Lucas, sprawled on the bed in a half-sulk, half-brood position, didn’t look up right away. His hands were behind his head, eyes fixed on the ceiling. "Yes. Why?" he replied too quickly, too casually.

"I don’t know," Ava murmured, stepping further inside, her eyes scanning his face. "Just a feeling. Something’s...off. Also, I think there are more guards following me around today."

Lucas sat up and patted his lap with exaggerated cheer. "Maybe they just love you as much as I do," he said, attempting a grin. He pulled her gently into his arms as she approached, settling her on his lap.

Ava arched an eyebrow. "That doesn’t even make sense."

Lucas grinned fully this time. "Doesn’t need to. I’m hot. People overlook the logic of what I say all the time."

"You’re impossible." She sighed, rolling her eyes but with affection that softened her features. Her body, tired from carrying a tiny rebellion in her belly, melted into the comfort of his hold. She shifted off his lap, curling onto the bed beside him, her back facing him like she knew he’d follow. She always knew. "You promise everything is okay?" she whispered, her voice heavy with fatigue.

Lucas’s hand paused mid-air above her hip, guilt punching him square in the gut. He hated lying to her. Hated the way it tasted like ash in his mouth every time he said, Everything’s fine when everything was far from it. But what else could he do? Tell her there was a political storm outside waiting to swallow them whole? That the High Council wanted to tear him down brick by brick?

No.

Not when she was carrying their child. Not when stress could harm her. Not when the last time he lost her almost tore him in two.

So, he kissed her shoulder as if it might absolve the sin he was about to commit. "Everything is fine," he whispered into her skin. Lie. But one he prayed would buy them peace just a little longer.

She made a small noise of contentment, but he could feel the thread of suspicion still humming quietly in her muscles. She wasn’t fooled easily.

To distract her, to shift the tone, he wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her closer, letting his breath warm the back of her neck. "Have you thought of names for the baby?" he asked.

"No. You?" Ava’s voice was soft, muffled by the pillow and the slow haze of impending sleep.

Lucas turned slightly to face her better, his arm still wrapped around her like a protective barrier between her and the entire damned world. "No..." he replied quietly, letting the silence between them stretch for a moment.

But then the silence got him thinking again and that was never good. His thoughts were louder these days. Bolder. "What would you say," he began slowly, "if I wasn’t Alpha anymore? If we just... packed up everything and left. Retired somewhere quiet. Relocated to the middle of nowhere. You, me, our baby. No fortress, no councils, no damn politics. Just peace."

He waited for her answer, anticipating some teasing quip or a joke. But none came.

He glanced over, and there she was, fast asleep, her breathing soft and rhythmic, her hand still loosely resting over her stomach like she was already shielding their unborn child in dreams. Her face had relaxed into a peacefulness he rarely saw when she was awake.

Lucas exhaled quietly, a bittersweet smile curving his lips. He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from her face. "The pregnancy’s really taking it out of you, huh?" he whispered.

He turned onto his back, staring up at the ceiling again. "I would give everything up to protect you," he said aloud, though mostly to himself. "The title, the territory... all of it. I’d trade the entire damn Eastern Empire just to make sure you wake up safe every day, my little virgin." He smiled faintly at the old nickname, a teasing echo of their beginning.

He closed his eyes, finally letting sleep pull him under, comforted only by the soft rhythm of her breathing beside him.

*****

It was the sound of the cock crowing in the distance that stirred Lucas but it wasn’t what pulled him fully out of sleep.

No, that honor belonged to the expert fingers that were currently sliding beneath the covers, wrapping around his very enthusiastic morning situation.

He hummed appreciatively low in his throat, and shifted slightly onto his side to give her better access. Still half-asleep, he didn’t open his eyes, why ruin the mystery? Let the goddess at work continue uninterrupted.

They hadn’t been having sex regularly, more by his choice than hers. Not because he didn’t want to. Oh, gods no. He wanted her constantly. Every time she walked past him in those oversized shirts that somehow still hugged her curves, every time she stretched and her belly peeked out, he was ready to combust. But ever since she started showing, he’d been walking on eggshells. Not because she wasn’t beautiful, she was radiant, untouchably divine but because of the fear.