Chapter 255 - 0255

Kaelen POV

"I missed you too," I growled against her lips, kissing her more deeply as she let out a needy moan, her fingers tangling in my hair as she pressed herself closer.

I was seconds away from losing control and carrying her straight to the bed when something caught my eye.

There were five empty glass bottles on the nightstand. The thick white residue clinging to the inside made it obvious what they had contained.

Milk.

My blood ran cold.

A strange uneasiness twisted in my gut, and I immediately broke the kiss, pulling back to look at her properly.

Lorelei whimpered at the sudden loss of contact and moved closer, her arms still wrapped around my neck.

"Why did you stop?" she asked softly.

"What is that?" I asked, my brows furrowing as I gestured toward the nightstand. "Those empty bottles..."

Lorelei glanced at the nightstand before looking back at me with an innocent expression. "Oh..." She shrugged lightly. "I was bored, so I started rummaging through your things and found the fertility supplements. I decided to take some."

My eyes widened in shock, and I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at her.

"All of these?!" I choked out, my eyes fixed on the five empty glasses lined up on the nightstand. Five fucking glasses, each one probably containing enough supplements to last her a week.

She blinked at me, clearly confused by my reaction. "Why does it matter? It’s not like I don’t already take them every night."

But that wasn’t the problem. It was the fact that she had just drunk five whole glasses of milk mixed with concentrated fertility herbs. Only the Moon Goddess knew how much powder she had added to each glass.

The only reason I’d left the supplement tin in my room was that Lorelei already knew about it, so I hadn’t thought there was any need to hide it. Now, I realized how badly I’d misjudged the situation.

"Lorelei, you can’t take all of this at once!" I said, gripping her shoulders as panic crept into my voice. "It’s dangerous. You could hurt yourself!"

"How else am I supposed to get pregnant?" she replied calmly.

Her words caught me completely off guard. She said them so casually, as though she couldn’t understand why I was worried, but they struck me right in the chest. My heart clenched painfully as I stared at her, struggling to process what she’d just said.

She was putting so much pressure on herself that she’d gone as far as drinking five glasses of those supplements at once, all because she wanted to get pregnant.

"Lorelei... but..." I began, at a loss for words.

I wanted to tell her that I didn’t care about having an heir right now. That she didn’t have to put herself through any of this just to give me a child. Nothing was worth risking her health, especially not something I could wait for.

"Let’s just have sex," she interrupted softly, her hands sliding down my waist and reaching greedily for the belt of my pants. "I’m so fucking horny right now."

Her touch sent a shiver through me, but this time, instead of giving in to my lust, I gently caught her hands, stopping her.

I forced a reassuring smile and tried to distract her. "Didn’t you say you wanted to hang out with Selene?"

Lorelei blinked, clearly surprised by the sudden change in conversation. "What?"

"She’s coming over tomorrow," I said softly, giving her a small nod.

I hadn’t actually contacted Selene yet, but arranging a visit on such short notice was something I could easily do as the Alpha King.

Her eyes immediately lit up with excitement. "Really?"

"Really," I assured her, keeping the lie to myself.

"What about Emily?" she asked, her excitement growing.

"She’s coming too," I promised, making a mental note to have Darius arrange her travel first thing in the morning.

I gently brushed my fingers through her hair before leaning down to kiss her forehead. "So, you need to go to bed now, alright? You need to get some rest so you’ll have enough energy to enjoy yourself with them tomorrow."

Lorelei let out a soft sigh and wrapped her arms around my torso, hugging me tightly. "Thank you," she murmured against my chest.

My heart was still pounding as I glanced at the row of empty glasses on the nightstand. I tightened my arms around her, holding her close as I tried to push my growing worry aside.

"You’re welcome," I whispered into her hair. "So... do you see why we can’t have sex tonight?"

She nodded gently against my chest, and I guided her toward the bed. Once we were settled beneath the covers, I pulled her close, wrapping my arms around her small frame.

I stroked her hair slowly, listening as she began telling me about her day. She complained about only getting to speak with Emily briefly over the phone because Raven and Skye had been busy with something and had to cut their call short.

She also admitted that she hadn’t even considered calling Nala because she felt intimidated by the fact that she was a royal princess.

Instead, she had spent almost the entire day buried in books, studying relentlessly because she wanted to become a better queen for me.

Every word she said made my heart ache. She was pushing herself so hard, taking far too many fertility supplements, studying until she was exhausted, and constantly worrying that she wasn’t good enough for me.

I didn’t know what else to do. I just kept pressing soft kisses to her temple and forehead, murmuring words of comfort until her breathing finally slowed and she drifted off to sleep.

Once her grip around me loosened, I carefully slipped out of her embrace.

I left my chambers and quietly shut the door behind me.

The truth was, I no longer trusted myself around her that night. Between the worsening curse and my overwhelming need to protect her, I felt like I was barely holding myself together.

I walked out of the estate and into the freezing night air, making my way to a secluded corner of the grounds. Once there, I slumped against a cold stone wall, crouching in the shadows.

I buried my face in my hands and ran my fingers through my messy hair.

I felt completely exhausted, hopeless, and crushed under the weight of everything I was dealing with.

I was so tired.

So fucking tired of always having to be strong.