Page 120 of Eclipse Sector

“If you tell me to knot you, Vana, I won’t be able to ignore the need to bite you. I will claim you, even if in just name alone, and I will challenge any Alpha who tries to take you from me.”

Hisvoice rolled through my mind, making me snort aloud now.

Because he’dlied.

Just another act of pity,I thought angrily.

“Well, fuck him,” I rasped out, my throat raw from days of fucking and screaming.

The Alpha had left some water beside the bed, but I hadn’t wanted to touch it. I didn’t want anything from him. Not anymore.

Done.I pushed myself upward to a seated position.I. Am. Done.

But I had to think about more than myself.

For you, I’ll get up and eat, I told my little one.For you, I’ll do everything.

My limbs protested as I moved, my inner thighs particularly sore.

“This is going to take some getting used to,” I told myself, wincing as my feet met the ground.

Being a V-Clan shifter typically allowed me to heal almost instantly.

But I was pregnant.

And pregnancy came with a whole slew of fun complications.

“It’ll be worth it, though,” I told my unborn baby, my palm finding my belly again as I glanced down at my naked form.

I was surprised to find that I was actually pretty clean, suggesting the Alpha had bathed me recently.Well, that was kind of you, I suppose, I thought darkly at him.

Not that he could hear me.

I’d put up another wall, this one reinforced with every mental block I could imagine.

He couldn’t expect me to remain open to him after he tricked me into claiming him, impregnated me, and then punctuated my lack of importance by just leaving me while still weak from my heat cycle.

No.

Done, I repeated as I forced myself into the bathroom for a quick shower.

The hot spray against my shoulders felt nice, the muscles along my arms seeming to loosen slightly.

Myquickshower turned into alongshower as I just stood there, staring at the marbled tile wall.

But eventually the pang in my belly reminded me of why I’d left the nest.

“Fine, fine,” I grumbled before grabbing a towel.

I didn’t bother with clothes, just headed into the kitchen. Then growled at the empty contents of my fridge.

The Alpha had cleaned me out, probably to feed us both during my heat. I supposed I wouldn’t have had much in my kitchen anyway since I’d just been in Glacier Sector before this.

A frown taunted my mouth.How did Cil—the Alpha—feed me during my estrus?

I remembered fresh fruit.

A sandwich.