Total pages in book: 20
Estimated words: 17648 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 88(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17648 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 88(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
I cried out, my body aching in every single cell, my eyes squeezed shut as I clenched my fists in the furs and rode out the contraction. It felt like I was changing right along with everything else in my world.
“The child is coming,” one healer rasped, its voice a hollow echo, her eyes glowing a bright white. “Prepare,” it snapped to the other healers.
The pressure mounted. The pain blinded. And then, in a rush of time and heat and blood, I delivered my baby into this dark world.
For a moment, everything stopped. There was nothing but this pressure in the air, this silence all around us. Then came a sound so pure and beautiful it cut through everything else, just washed away all the awful things that I’d dealt with in my life.
The noise was like a beam of light—my baby’s cry.
“A boy. A prince,” the healer murmured.
Blaylock’s massive and imposing body was right by me, these low, rhythmic sounds leaving him, as if he purred. I looked at him, his normal expression was like carved stone. However, now, pure awe covered his face as the healer wrapped our son in a fur and placed him in my king’s enormous hands.
I shifted on the bed as I stared at my monster holding our son. Our baby was perfect.
He had gray skin like his father and tiny nubs of horns poking through tufts of pale blond hair—the same shade as mine.
His eyes opened, and my heart stopped. Bright blue. My baby boy had my eyes.
He blinked up at Blaylock first, his cries softening, settling instantly because he knew the monster cradling him was his protector. Blaylock whispered in his mother tongue, and our son calmed even further.
“He is strong,” one of the elder healers murmured as the creature stood by the bedroom door with the others, knowing it was their time to leave. “A true heir to the Dark Realm of Shadow Vale. A hybrid. The first of his kind in this world.” And then they left us to enjoy this moment, just the three of us.
The start of my new family.
I watched Blaylock lower his head, his huge hands supporting our son’s tiny body and making him seem even smaller. This monster, a beast who was feared by all and ruler of this land of shadows, had a reverent look on his face.
After a few minutes, he handed me our boy. I curled around the baby protectively, breathing in his scent and smiling at how wild, new, and mine he was.
Is this how I smelled to Blaylock? Instant love and devotion?
“Yes,” he murmured, as if reading my mind.
Blaylock gently brushed a clawed finger down the baby’s cheek. “He has your fire,” he said, voice rough with emotion. “Your perseverance. I can sense it. He’s a strong little one.”
I smiled, exhausted but complete. “And your strength, too.”
We sat like that for a long time, just the three of us—monster, human, and the perfect creature born of both.
“What shall we name him?” Blaylock asked quietly, his gaze never leaving our son.
I looked down at the little bundle nestled in my arms. I thought about what a perfect little creature like this could be named that would suit him well.
“Lochner,” he whispered. “It means the future.”
“Lock for short.” I smiled at the baby, loving the nickname because it reminded me of my husband.
I looked at my monster husband. Blaylock leaned in, his horned forehead resting gently against mine. “Perfect. Like you.”
At that moment, I knew this was my life now—my future. Never again a captive. No longer broken.
I was queen of the Dark Realm of Shadow Vale. And our perfect baby? He was the future.
A new beginning.
For everyone.
Years Later
The wind was sharp atop the battlements, carrying a warm breeze that was ever-present in the Dark Realm of Shadow Vale.
I stood by my husband, my king, and the love of my life. Blaylock had his arm around me, and I rested my temple on his chest.