The Lycan Kingpin's Captive: A Baby For The Beast

Chapter 24 - Mira

I woke up this morning and felt the flutters again; I went to bed and felt them, as if the baby was saying

good morning and goodnight to me. I know this is normal, and I know this is supposed to happen but

no one mentioned how attached I’d feel.

“Are you still having morning sickness, Mia?” My attention snaps to Dr. Lilah as she looks at the

clipboard in her hand. “What about the dizzy spells and brain fog?”

I shake my head. “They’ve all eased up in the last two weeks or so, but I do feel more tired than usual.”

She nods. “All normal. Have you felt movement at all?”

Sighing, I look down at my belly and the baby does another flutter before I answer. “It started a day

ago; light flutters.”

Dr. Lilah perks up and claps her hands together. “Oh, fantastic! That’s the best news I’ve heard all

month!” she gushes, writing down something else on her clipboard.

After this, she refills my vitamin prescription and I go on my way. My weekly check-ups have been

stretched to monthly, so I don’t see Dr. Lilah as often as I used to. I suppose it’s good since I hate the

way she eases my worries with a touch alone.

I walk the hallways with Josef, but he’s still refusing to speak with me. I gave up trying to talk to him

again, so now I’m left alone with my own thoughts…and a baby moving in my belly.

Five months…I have just under five months left here if my father doesn’t say anything about marrying

Alpha Nikolaos. There’s no room to get attached to anything or anyone here; I can make my own way

without them.

However, as Josef opens my bedroom door and I see the outline of Alpha Nikolaos at my bedroom

window, I know getting out of here soon isn’t an option.

He’s standing with his back to us wearing nothing but gray sweatpants, wearing no shirt, and showing

off his muscled tattooed back. Every inch of his skin is covered in them, with flecks of silver-healed skin

ruining the massive pair of black wings taking up his back. It matches, though - it looks like those wings

were meant to be ruined.

How can someone so dangerous look so beautiful?

“You can leave, Josef,” he says, still not turning around. Josef then walks out and closes the door

behind him and that’s when Alpha Nikolaos turns around to face me.

His usually slicked back hair is hanging loose, not something I am used to seeing. Like this, he looks

less like the fearsome mafia leader and more animalistic, especially when his eyes briefly flash

crimson.

“You’re back,” I breathe out, still rooted in place by the sight of this man bare-chested in my room.

He smiles and my heart does a little flip. “I am, but I have news…something you might not be happy

with,” he says, walking over to me with his hands in the pockets of his sweats.

I knew it already. He wouldn’t have come to me right after getting home and cleaning up if it wasn’t

important. The question remains, what did my father tell him?

“You don’t look too happy about what this could be,” I say as I take in the way his jaw clenches, then he

shakes his head.

“I’m not too thrilled at what Giovanni is making me do, but if it means his death, I will do it,” he says,

coming to a stop in front of me.

I peer up at him, his spicy leather scent causing my head to swim and my heart to beat faster. Alpha

Nikolaos frowns, then he draws his hand to my chin and strokes it with the pad of his thumb.

“Your heart is beating faster the more you look at me. Do I still scare you, little rabbit?” he asks with an

arched eyebrow, and I shake my head.

“No, you’re just…overwhelming me right now, Alpha,” I admit while still looking into his eyes.

He chuckles, a low thrum in his chest and it makes my stomach coil tight. “Apologies, I don’t mean to

be…overwhelming. I’ve come to give you this,” he says, then he takes my left hand and slides

something onto my finger.

The world comes to a stop and I look down to see a beautiful gold band with a simple diamond in the

middle and red and blue smaller gemstones accents…on my ring finger - an engagement ring.

I suck in a breath and my other hand goes to my mouth. “My father?”

Alpha Nikolaos nods. “He wants to make it official at his wife’s birthday banquet next week…and he

wants me to bring you along as he announces it.”

I feel as if a cold bucket of ice has been toppled over my head, and that excitement now gives way to

fear. “He…wants…” I trail off as something else occurs to me. “No! No, Mikhail will be there! I can’t do

that! I can’t-!”

“Shh, kouneláki,” he tries to soothe me and cups my face with both of his hands. “I won’t let anything

happen to you, I promise. You’ll be at my side at all times, I will not let you out of my sight.”

I shake my head, my heart feeling as if it’s about to explode out of my chest. Mikhail used to scare me

before, but now as I realize that I might come face to face with him again, that fear gives way to terror.

That man did things to me that I never thought another person was capable of. He ruined every shred

of my self-worth and made me think whatever he did to me was my own fault. The beatings, the whips,

the sexual assault - it was all my fault because I asked for it.

“I can’t…Nikolaos, I can’t face that man again!” I exclaim, feeling tears streaming down my face. Ever

since I felt the baby move, I’ve been nothing but a ball of tears. Now this…this has just pushed me over

the edge.

There’s a rumble in his chest and he draws me closer, wrapping his arms around me and holding me

close to him. His one arm is around my waist while the other holds the back of my head.

Being this close to him calms me down somehow, and my anxiety eases up as his scent fills my head.

“Breathe, Mia,” he whispers into my hair and I readily obey. I take a few calming breaths to steady

myself, and my heartbeat starts to level out again. “That’s it, breathe. I’m right here, I won’t let anything

happen to you.”

“I want to believe you,” I want to believe that he’ll protect me from Mikhail, but I know how that man’s

mind works. “I insulted him by stabbing that silver dagger through his eye, and now I’m pregnant with

his enemy’s child.”

“Trust me, Mia,” he whispers, running his hand through my hair at the nape of my neck. “Trust that I’ll

protect you; you’re going to be my Luna, the most important person to me and you’re pregnant with my

child. I’ll protect you with my life.”

My heart stills once more, and the silence after his admission makes my heartbeat pick up again but

not in fear this time. He doesn’t let go of me, instead, I feel him kissing the side of my head.

That flutter in my belly makes me gasp and he lets go of me, looking at me with a frown. “Did I hold you

too tight?” he asks with concern in his cold green eyes.

I shake my head and a blush covers my cheeks. “No…it’s just…the baby has started moving and it

always catches me off guard,” the way I say it makes it seem as if I don’t care, but the way he held me

coupled with the movement in my belly made all the fear dissipate.

Alpha Nikolaos looks down at my stomach, and I see his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows hard.

“May I?” he asks, flooring me.

“By all means,” I give him a wan smile, trying not to seem nervous. “But he stops moving as soon as

someone else touches my bump.”

“He?” There's a ghost of a smile on his lips when he asks this and places his large palm on my

stomach. “You think it’s a boy?”

I chuckle. “Oh, we’re not sure yet-” my words are cut short when the baby moves like crazy underneath

the Alpha’s hand. The smile drops from his face, and every bit of arrogance leaves his body as he

peers down at me.

The look of wonder in his eyes has my heart gripped tight in those tendrils of hope again. The baby

moves once more and the smile on his face knocks the wind out of me.

“Is he…are they supposed to move this much so soon?” he asks as he caresses my belly.

“Before it was simply fluttering, now it’s full-on movements. It could be that he knows it’s his father.

Perhaps he knows your voice?” I say, making assumptions when I shouldn’t be.

Alpha Nikolaos doesn’t answer, he simply continues to hold my belly and look at it with wonder, as if it’s

precious to him. I never thought he would ever have this look on his face, and the painful squeezing of

my heart is not making it any easier on me.

And what he does next cements that hope, and I’m not sure if I should be happy…or scared to death.

He drops to his knees, lifts up my tank top, and places a kiss on my bare skin. “My Luna…” he

breathes out sending a shiver shooting right up my spine.

No…this isn’t supposed to happen! We’re not supposed to get attached like this!

When he peers up at me with that same look, I know that I am not getting out of this without my heart

being broken. Acting like I’m in love with him is one thing, but now I know I might not just be acting.

I lift my hand and place it on his head, running my fingers through his hair and watching as his eyes

close at my touch. He groans and rests his head against my stomach, breathing out a sigh as if it feels

like home.

He places another kiss on my stomach, then gets to his feet and takes my left hand before kissing the

ring there. “I’ll protect you, Mia. I’ll protect both of you,” he says before walking out of my bedroom and

leaving me with a full heart.

Mia…he still calls me Mia and I love the sound of it. It’s not lost on me that I had the most powerful

Alpha on his knees in front of me, and that alone makes me feel like I can face whatever comes next

week.