Vengeance in His Bed

Himelda’s face flushed to a furious crimson, her jaw tightening until her teeth ground together. Without offering a single word in response, she spun on her heel as she marched furiously back toward her quarters, slamming the corridor doors behind her.

Guron didn’t even watch her leave. His gaze slowly drifted across Jannah’s frame, tracking the physical lines of her posture until his eyes suddenly locked onto the side of her neck. The pale skin was discolored, a swollen mark radiating a biological energy.

A wide, delighted grin shattered Guron’s stern expression. He swung his gaze toward his son, letting out a loud, roaring laugh that vibrated through the ceilings.

"Ha! Dorrent, look at that!" Guron roared with delight, slapping his palm against his son’s shoulder. "Did you actually manage to mark the little omega last night?"

Dorrent’s lips curled into an arrogant smirk, his eyes flashing with triumph as he glanced at Jannah’s rigid form. He tilted his head with a casual, chilling indifference. "Of course, Father," he murmured, his voice dipping into a register that made Jannah’s stomach twist in humiliation. "How could I not with my charms? The girl’s treacherous body couldn’t help itself."

"A bond means absolutely nothing at all!" Jannah suddenly shrieked, her voice cracking with anger as she stepped forward, her hands clenching into tight fists against her thighs. Her face was flushed with humiliation, her pupils dilating as she glared at the two dominant Alphas. "It is nothing but a primitive, disgusting trap of evolutionary biology! It does not change my mind, it does not change my hatred, and it will never mean anything to me!"

Dorrent’s smirk only widened into a cruel, amused smile. He took a step closer to her, his towering physique blocking out the morning light, burying her completely in his shadow. "You can keep telling yourself that, little physician," he whispered, his hot breath washing over her ears, his nostrils flaring as he caught the sudden spike of her omega pheromones responding to his proximity.

Suddenly, Dorrent’s expression hardened back into authority. He looked down at her. "Now, stay in this house. Don’t even think about stepping one foot outside this estate today. The bogs are off-limits to a fragile girl like you."

"There is no way I am staying behind!" Jannah spat back, her eyes flashing with madness as she stared into his eyes. She refused to back down, her chest heaving against his posture. "I am coming with you! I must know the truth myself with my own eyes—just incase you distort the findings of the investigation and brand yourself innocent to clear your name!"

Dorrent’s brow furrowed, anger flaring within him. He reached out, his hand hovering near her slim waist, his voice dropping into a threatening rumble. "Do not worry your small head over things you cannot control, Jannah. And more importantly... do not dare to disturb the kid you’re currently carrying inside that womb of yours."

Jannah’s heart shattered against her ribs, panic and rage choking her throat. "Stop talking nonsense, you unhinged beast!" she screamed at him, her voice trembling as she shook her head in disbelief. "I am not pregnant! Stop projecting your disgusting, delusional fantasies onto my body!"

"Ha! That is exactly the kind of good news I wanted to hear this morning!" Guron roared from behind them, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction as he adjusted his robe. "The metrics are moving perfectly ahead of schedule!"

"I know my own biology, Jannah," Dorrent delivered flatly. He stepped closer, his eyes narrowing into predatory slits as he tracked the erratic rhythm of her heartbeat. "I know I have impregnated you. I felt it; I felt your furnace walls clamping around my seed. You are carrying my bloodline right now, and you don’t even know it yet."

"Curse you!" Jannah choked out, a tear of rage spilling down her cheek as she spat the words at his chest. "Continue dreaming, you arrogant monster! Keep constructing your pathetic lies! I am tagging along on this investigation whether you like it or not! I will not stay behind in this cage while you meddle with my family’s graves! Besides... I know the structural layout of those slums a thousand times better than you ever will. I will be the one taking you around those alleys!"

She took a sharp breath, her voice suddenly shifting into a murmur that made Dorrent’s frame go completely rigid. She looked up through the dark mass of her hair, her eyes burning with a terrifying resolve. "Let me tell you this, Dorrent... if you force your security people to lock me inside this place today... if you leave me behind... I swear to God I will surely harm myself before the sun sets. You might not find me alive at all when you return to this mansion."

Shadron let out a gasp of shock, his eyes widening as he looked between them. "Dorrent... Jesus Christ, she’s so stubborn, she’s completely serious. She might actually do it."

Dorrent stood still, his eyes locking dead onto the sharp tilt of her jaw. Worry cut through his pride. He tracked the chaotic frequency rolling off her small shoulders, and a terrifying realization settled into his mind—she wasn’t bluffing. Her stubbornness was a weapon, and she was fully capable of destroying her own flesh just to spite him.

His jaw clenched until the muscles in his neck stood out in relief. He took a heavy breath, his chest expanding as he finally relented.

"Fine," Dorrent growled out. "You can tag along, little physician. But let me make this rule absolute—you stay close to me the whole time. You do not move an inch away from me without me by your side."

"I am not a child, Dorrent!" Jannah hissed, her knuckles whitening as she turned her back on him, her breath shallow.

"Okay, wifey," Dorrent murmured behind her, a cruel, mocking glint returning to his eyes as he watched her rigid form walk toward the exit. "Whatever you say. You’re a grown, pregnant woman who needs to watch her step."

"Go to hell!" Jannah screamed, as she headed towards the damp morning air of the courtyard.