Chapter 258: 0258

Callista POV

I nearly rolled my eyes in his face.

Sorry? Was that supposed to make everything better? He’d just spent the night treating me like I was nothing more than a convenient outlet for his frustration, and now he thought a few sweet words would make me forget about it.

But I knew better than to let any of that show. Instead, I softened my expression and leaned into his touch, giving him the kind of look that would make any man believe he was loved and adored.

“It’s okay,” I said innocently, trying to soothe him. “I know you’re just stressed.”

I let the moment linger for a little longer before slipping in the one question that had been burning in the back of my mind.

“Any update on getting Lorelei back?”

The change in him was instantaneous.

Jaxen’s expression hardened, the brief flicker of softness disappearing from his face as if it had never been there. His hand dropped from my cheek, and he pulled away completely, taking a step back like my question had suddenly turned me into someone he didn’t want near him.

“The Alpha King isn’t backing down,” he said, his voice tight with barely restrained fury. “I thought if he saw the kind of person Lorelei really is, he’d let go of her. But can you believe he actually defended her? He threatened to go to war over her.”

My hands curled into tight fists at my sides, my nails digging into my palms.

Lorelei.

My sister. My curse. My eternal shadow.

Even now, she was still doing it. Somehow, even when she wasn’t here, she managed to take everything from me. She had the Alpha King’s loyalty, his protection, and a man willing to tear the realm apart rather than let anyone take her away from him.

And what did I have?

Jaxen, who could barely look at me without thinking about her.

The thought made something ugly twist inside my chest.

It wasn’t enough that Lorelei had always been the one everyone cared about.

Now, even the most powerful man in the realm was willing to go to war for her, while I was left collecting whatever scraps Jaxen was willing to give me.

My jaw tightened as I tried to swallow the bitterness rising in my throat.

How the hell was I supposed to turn him against her too when he was already willing to burn everything down just to keep her?

And now, of all fucking times, why did I have to be pregnant?

If I wasn’t carrying this godforsaken bastard in my womb, I wouldn’t have to deal with my body changing like this.

I would have been a hundred times more breathtaking than that useless bitch, and the Alpha King would have had a much harder time resisting me.

Hell, I could have been Queen of the entire empire by now, and the very first order I gave as Queen would have been Lorelei’s immediate execution.

But no. I had to get pregnant, and now it felt like that was all anyone could see when they looked at me.

A mother carrying a child.

Ugh, so fucking annoying.

My thoughts drifted back to the Beta, Darius, and my brows furrowed.

Something about the way he’d acted at the bar had been bothering me.

Everyone knew he was ruthless, cold, and just as lethal as Kaelen, if not worse. Yet when Jaxen had gotten rough with me, Darius had subtly stepped in and defended me.

It hadn’t made sense then, and it still didn’t.

Why would a man like him care enough to interfere?

Then I remembered something I’d overheard while eavesdropping on their conversation just as I was sent out of the room.

“…even if she somehow turns out to be the girl who saved you when you were a kid…”

I went still.

The girl who saved him?

I’d been so caught up in everything else that I hadn’t really thought about those words, but now I couldn’t get them out of my head.

Someone had saved Darius when he was a child, and whoever she was, he clearly hadn’t forgotten her.

My brows drew together as I tried to make sense of it.

It definitely wasn’t me.

I’d never saved anyone, and I would have remembered something like that.

I’d grown up as the spoiled, pampered daughter of a wealthy Beta, getting practically everything I wanted without having to lift a finger.

Why the hell would I have wandered into the woods to help some filthy stray boy?

I wouldn’t have.

Unless…

My thoughts abruptly stopped.

Could it have been Lorelei?

My stomach tightened as I considered the possibility.

We looked so remarkably alike that people could easily mistake one of us for the other.

If Lorelei had been the girl who saved Darius all those years ago, then maybe he’d seen her in me when we met at the bar. Maybe that was why he’d reacted the way he had when kaelen got rough with me.

Oh, my God.

The realization hit me so suddenly that I gasped.

If Darius had mistaken me for Lorelei because of what she’d done for him, then I might have just stumbled onto something I could use.

“What is it?” Jaxen asked sharply, his attention snapping to me. A flicker of panic crossed his face as he studied me, apparently thinking i was in physical pain.

I immediately shook my head, giving him a gentle, reassuring smile. “It’s fine, sweetie. The baby just kicked a little.”

Jaxen’s dark, tense expression softened instantly. He crouched in front of me, resting his large, warm hands against the heavy swell of my stomach as if he were holding something precious.

“Hey, little one,” he murmured, pressing his forehead against my belly. “I know you’re excited in there, but stop stressing your mother out and focus on coming out safely soon, okay?”

Ugh, this bastard was really excited about being a father.

If only he knew.