Page 30 of Owned By Shadows

“AND SO IT BEGINS” BY KLERGY

SERGI

“Explain,” I demand as I stare at the picture in my hand. It’s black and white, grainy, but it is, without doubt, an image of a foetus.

The reason as to why I am holding it is a mystery to me, until my man hands me CCTV images of a very pregnant looking Iris, her three Shadows, and Andrei fucking Mikhailov, one of my son’s men, in a hospital in Russia. I don’t miss the fact that both Kent twins are present and very much alive, despite my son having shot one of them for me.

My teeth grind, an edgy, twitchy feeling washing over me as I think about the betrayal of my own flesh and blood.

“Sir,” my man says, no hesitation even though I know that he fears my reaction by the way his breathing quickens when I snap my gaze up to him. “The girl, Iris, the doctor said she was six months pregnant.”

I freeze. Six months.

When she arrived she was on her period, I know because it didn’t stop me fucking her but it was messier than I usually like, and then...nothing. She was only with me for three weeks, but that was six months ago.

This baby is mine. My property.

“Boy or girl?” I snap, looking back down at the image with fresh eyes. If it’s a girl, well, there are always alliances to be made, perhaps a marriage with the Volkovs, since clearly Nikolai is not in Russia to deal with them. And if it’s a boy...well, then I have a new heir and can rid myself of the disappointment my first has turned into.

“A boy, sir.”

A smile lifts my lips, my eyes travelling over the unborn child. My son.

“And where are they all now?” I question, glancing up at my man, who flinches ever so slightly. I’ll allow it, though usually he would earn a beating for showing such weakness, but I’m in a forgiving mood, having just discovered that I am soon to be a father.

“Still in the hospital, but I believe all being well, she will be discharged soon and they will return to the cabin they’ve been staying in.”

I chuckle, the sound dark and full of amusement. Nikolai thought that he hid his Russian cabin away, that I didn’t know about it. Stupid boy. He should have learned that I am always one step ahead of him. That I know everything.

“Good. Why don’t we organise a welcoming party for them, hmm?” I order, and his lips quirk into a devious smile as he gives me a nod.

“Yes, sir.”

I flick my fingers at him in dismissal, my gaze going back down to the image of my son.

The Fallen may have made it clear that any move on my part against Iris would jeopardise my connection with them and the Society, but they said nothing about the baby, my baby and my property by rights.

Anushka may have gotten away, may have slipped through my fingers all those years ago, taking my first child with her, but I will not let that happen again.

This child belongs to me, even if I have to carve him from his mother’s womb when the time comes.

“BAD DREAMS - STRIPPED” BY FAOUZIA

HUNTER

Vibrations jar me awake, and I blink my eyes open just as they stop, only to start up again. The antiseptic smell hits my nose, reminding me we are still in the hospital, waiting for the doctors to give Iris and the baby the all-clear.

I reach for my phone, which I placed on the small table next to Iris’s bedside before I wrapped her in my arms and we fell asleep. My brows dip when I see the name on the screen.

“Hunter?” Kai Matthews asks, and suddenly I’m wide awake, wondering what shit is about to hit the fan now.

“Kai? What’s up? Is Lilly and the baby okay?” I ask, my voice husky from sleep as I gently extract myself from the bed, Iris staying asleep and snuggling into Nik’s side. His eyes are open, his brows drawn down as he watches me.

“Yes, they’re fine. It’s you that I’m worried about,” he says, and my heart thunders as I reach for the door, peering out beforestepping from the room and shutting it behind me. I don’t move away, I can’t be that far from my family, not if the tone of Kai’s voice is any indication. “Well, Iris and her baby technically.”

“How the fuck do you know about that, Kai?” I ask, wracking my brain to try and remember if we mentioned Iris’s pregnancy to the Knights but coming up blank.

“That really doesn’t matter right now, Hunter. What does matter is Sergi knows, and he’s waiting for you back at that hidden cabin of Nikolai’s,” Kai tells me, and all the blood freezes in my veins. Fuck. “He also has eyes on the hospital.”

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