"Lyall, wait..." He stops my voice with another kiss. More forceful this time. With more necessity.

"Lyall–" It's already hard enough for me to keep breathing between his kisses. It's almost impossible to slip a word in. Each of his kisses keeps getting more intense. Electricity courses from my fingertips to my spine. My body feels weak to move, so all I can do is grip his shirt so tightly for support.

Now and then, my resolve sways, and I melt with his hot lips. Now and then, I want to just bask in his warm embrace and return his kisses. But every time I surrender to the flow deep within, my stomach churns, and it begins to hurt. It burns.

Lyall has torn my pants almost completely, baring my legs to the chillness of the room. Yet his body heat envelops me with warmth. At moments, I think to myself that all I need is his body heat and I would be fine. And that's the scariest of it all.

That I've gotten too comfortable with his touch. That I almost surrender completely.

"Marsha," he whispers to my skin, "I've dreamt to have you since I saw you." His lips trail down from my chin to my neck and then to my collarbone. At the same time, he rips the collar of my scrub so easily, exposing my neck and chest. "But I held back because you never really seemed ready and I don't want to force you."

"I..." Again. He stops my voice with kisses from his hot lips, making me out of breath and unable to form words. How can I? How can anyone think when the lycan king is worshipping your body?

His lips hover on Ed's mark, on that one spot just above my collarbone. "It's fine if you're not ready for me to mark you," he whispers electrifying words to my skin, "But if you'll let me have you completely, I..."

I may not be a lycan, but werewolves also live with hierarchy. The Alpha is like a king to us. Whatever the alpha says, we do. It's natural instinct for us to feel obliged to do whatever he tells us to.

That was why it was so hard to make the decision to leave my pack. It's actually a foreign feeling for a werewolf to want to break free from a pack, to the one community we grew up thinking is our entire world. It took a while for me to break the mold they have cast in my mind since I was young.

But that instinct stays, even if it's deep under the surface.

So when the lycan king starts kissing me, deep down, my instinct tells me to surrender to him. Even Sash, my wolf, demands I just give up my resolve and let Lyall takes us both, body and soul.

I gather the courage to push his body away, but he snakes his fingers behind my head, keeping me in place as he claims my lips. Yes, again. It's like he could never have enough of it.

The way he kisses me... I don't think there are words to describe it. He sucks and pulls my lips as if they are honey. Sometimes he would bite my lower lip slightly, which then I can't control the slight groan coming out of my throat. I can see his lips quirking up a bit every time I moan because of him and then he deepens his kiss, prying open my lips so his tongue can meet mine in a dance of passion.

Ed never kissed me like this. This deep... this passionate.

The way he tastes my mouth makes me dizzy. As if fireworks explode in my brain, melting away all thoughts from inside me. If someone asks what's my name at that moment, I would have forgotten how to answer.

Not only that, the way he grabs a fistful of my hair with one hand while keeping me from pulling away from his kisses... I don't know how he can be so firm yet gentle at the same time. I don't feel pain at all. And knowing this little detail, that he restrains his force with me, makes me feel safe... it makes me want to surrender even more.

And then the way his fingers caress my inner thigh, teasing my core for what's about to come if I would just give myself completely. I can't control the wetness down there and I know he can sniff it. That's why he keeps advancing with his touches. He can smell how badly I want him, too. My body can't lie.

It's not fair.

'Can't you let us both have this?' Sasha begs.

'It's not me Sash,' I tell her in my mind, "It's the baby...'

Even though my body wants it, my body also carries another soul. And that soul seems to hate the idea of me being intimate with another man. Because I'm feeling nauseous right now.

Normally pregnant women would have morning sickness. But actually, nausea can happen at any time of the day for expecting women. I thought today is a lucky break for me because I didn't have my usual morning sickness when Nari came early in the morning.

Well, it's not the case now.

What terrible timing. The baby just has to choose the time when I am with the lycan king to make me feel nauseous. It's like she wants to make it obvious that I am pregnant to Lyall because she doesn't want me spending the night with another man.

I can't take it anymore. My stomach has reached its limit. My head is so dizzy from both Lyall's kisses and from nausea.

With all my strength, I push the lycan king away. But before I can stop myself, my gut has beaten me at speed. I vomit on Lyall's shoulder.

I repeat.

I vomit on Lyall's shoulder. On. The. Lycan. King's. Shoulder.

Nothing can compare to the horror setting inside me as soon as I realize what I just did. My hands go straight to my mouth at the same time Lyall leans back to process what just happened. He finally lets me go and is now blinking a few times with a blank face.

"I'm so sor–" before I can finish my sentence, my stomach acts up and I just have to step out of the bed before I puke on Lyall for the second time. My feet thunder to the bathroom, where I immediately drop my face above the toilet to let my guts out.

My throat feels burnt as I let out what's left inside my gut to the toilet. It's quite watery and I am thankful that my hair is tied to the back because of Nari. I think I grip the toilet seat as if my life depends on it.

I only realize that Lyall has been rubbing my back for a while when I have stopped puking. His warm hand massages the back of my neck and, at the same time, supports it while I hover above the toilet.

"Lyall, I'm so sorry," I croak while I flush the toilet, keeping my eyes to the swirling water because I don't dare to see how Lyall would look at me right now. With staggering feet, I rise to the sink to wash my entire face. I stumble a few times, but Lyall keeps me steady with his hand. That's when I also realize that he is shirtless now because I puked on his shirt.

"I'm so so so–"

"Shh." Lyall cuts me off with a hush as he helps me turn off the faucet. "Don't apologize. I'm sorry I didn't realize you weren't feeling well. What did you eat for lunch?"

I blink. With surprise painted on my face, I turn to face Lyall. His emerald gaze only shows concern.

And it does make my feet feel like melting to the floor.

"You're not angry?" My voice is still hoarse from all the vomiting.

"Why should I?" he asks as if I just asked him a dumb question. "I've called Ganesh here to check up on you. You're resting in this room for a few days. No academy, no doing anything. And you don't get to pull on a long face because it won't sway me."

I blink again.

Honestly, I am just amazed that I just puked on the lycan king and he thinks nothing of it. He instead tells me to rest.

"Do you understand what I am saying, Mars?" he asks with a darker yet still worried tone. It's like he's threatening me to rest. And that itself is actually... sweet.

"Yes."

As soon as I answer yes, he smiles at me. Dear Goddess, he looks like an ordinary young boy when he smiles.

As if his smile is not enough, he shocks me with a gentle kiss on my forehead. "Cool. I'll go get Ganesh. The old man walks fast but he can get easily distracted along the way."

Without waiting for my answer, Lyall steps out of the bathroom and out of the room, leaving me alone to ponder what just happened? I thought for sure that he will be mad at me for spilling my guts on him.

Will he be as sweet if I tell him about my pregnancy?

'Just tell him,' Sasha encourages me, 'Even if he's upset, he won't discard you. The way he kissed you is like he needs you, Mars.'

I really hope that is true. Because it will be a tremendous burden off my shoulder if I can just let out this secret. And to have the king's protection, even with my pregnancy, would be the best scenario for me.

'That's decided then,' my wolf tells me, 'You're telling him once he gets back.'

My heart sings yes. Yes, I will tell him today. I have to. And hope that he will keep that smile on his face.

But just then, a familiar voice comes from the bathroom door, "How far along are you with the pregnancy?" I swing my head to see the boy as I jump in surprise. He must have appeared right after Lyall is gone from the room.

"Goddess, Sky!" I cry out, "You keep scaring me in the bathroom."

Sky's red eyes appear a darker shade than usual. His gaze that roams from my hair to my toes seems to burn me. That's when I realize that I'm not wearing any pants at all. Luckily, my scrub is a bit oversized, and it's long enough to cover my panties, but the collar has been ripped.

"You look like you've been raped, too," Sky says with a sneer.

I can only stare at him with wide eyes. His expression is unreadable. "Sky–"

"Don't tell Father about your pregnancy," he says, "He'll kill your baby."

Then he adds with a lower tone, "He almost killed me when I was born. He thinks I'm already dead."

Could I have been wrong about Lyall?

"He hates children."

When I don't answer, he continues, "Just keep hiding your pregnancy as long as you can. I can help mask the scent, but when it starts to show, we have to figure out ways to keep you away from the lycan king's sight."

"But..."

"He might act sweet now," Sky cuts me off again, "But things change when a baby is born. Especially when it's someone else's baby. You know how werewolves and lycans are possessive about what is theirs."

I become quiet with more words coming out of his mouth. Sasha also becomes quiet.

"Are you not Lyall's real son?" is all I can ask for now as I process more of his words.

–to be continued–