The one I’d gotten from my father.
“No…” I whispered, the blood draining from my face.
“Yes,” he replied, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on my shoulder. He wiggled his finger in the baby’s face. “Yes, Sage.”
“But… how…”
“The doctors told me pregnancy was too high-risk for you. So I found a surrogate to carry our child.”
Oh Hecara… theOvessra… the pain and the exhaustion…
And Accalia…shewas the surrogate.
He lifted my chin, forcing me to turn my head and look up at him. “Our child,” he repeated, his eyes glistening. “Isn’t he beautiful?”
27
A Daring Escape
Ibroke out in a cold sweat as I waited for the screen to light up. When Accalia had given me the phone, she’d made sure to save her number in my phone book, too, in case of emergency.
And this was most definitely an emergency, because Victor was officially insane, and I couldn’t stay here a second longer. There was no going back, no forgiveness for what he’d done to both me and his wife.
Did she know Alaric wasn’t biologically hers?
If she didn’t, I certainly wasn’t going to tell her. As far as I was concerned, that was her baby, and he could do no better for a mother—an alpha werewolf with means and a conscience.
I had texted her right at three, with the code phrase she’d told me meant “call me back immediately:”
Your dental appointment is today at 5:00 a.m. If you have yetto confirm, please reply Y. If you have to cancel, please call us back at…
She called back within five minutes.
“Yes, hi, this is Accalia Corvane, I’m afraid I’ll have to reschedule…”
The sound of a door snicking closed came next, followed by her whisper. “Is everything alright?”
I had the lie on my tongue, ready to go.
“Victor’s going to move me,” I said, my nails digging into my palm as I clenched my fist. “He told me he thinks this location has been compromised, that… that he wants me somewhere more secure. I can’t do it, Accalia, I can’t—”
“Shh,” she soothed. “It’s alright, I’ll think of something. Do you know when this is going to happen?”
Her voice was sweet and gentle, reinforcing my decision to keep the truth hidden. Victor had said I was a natural when holding Alaric, but it was just his wishful thinking, him twisting the reality in front of him once again to fit his narrative. I’d never been more awkward and upset in my life, unable to shut down because I was afraid of dropping the baby.
“I don’t know exactly. I think I have a couple of weeks at least. Maybe a month.”
She inhaled deeply as she listened. “Okay, that gives me some time. Do whatever you can to stall him, and I’ll get to work on a plan. I won’t text back until the day of. We can’t risk Victor getting a hold of your phone and learning about this.”
I nodded in agreement, even though she couldn’t see me. “Yes, that’s smart.”
“And of course, if anything changes, let me know. Just use the same code to text me.”
“Thank you,” I sniffed. “Really. Um,” I swallowed, gathering my courage. “How are you? How’s t-the baby?”
She was silent for a moment, and then whispered. “He’s the best thing Victor ever gave me.”
My face scrunched as I kept myself from sobbing out loud, letting the wave of grief and pain wash over me until I could speak normally again. “Good. I’m… I’m glad. And congratulations. He sounds like a very lucky baby to have you as a mom.”
