Page 154 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
“You can’t harm me,” Alezya retorted. “You can’t risk me losing the child.”
“I can harm your other bastard.”
“Touch a hair on her head, and I swear I will stab myself. I will stab my womb and kill the child you want with it.”
Her father stared in shock for a few doubtful seconds. A man like him couldn’t possibly imagine that she would go as far as harming herself to protect her child, but Alezya would have done this and worse without a doubt. He had no idea how much she had already sacrificed for Lumie’s sake. Harming her own body or taking her own life felt almost too easy in comparison. She would have never wanted to harm a child conceived with Kassein, but since there was no child, she need not worry about that.
“You belong to this clan,” he hissed. “I am your Clan Chief, your only duty is to—”
“My only duty is to my child,” Alezya spat back. “I stopped belonging to this clan a long time ago, Father, and we both know it. Only Lumie matters to me now. So bring my child to me unharmed, and I will give you the secrets of the Dragon Clan. Otherwise, you won’t be getting anything from me.”
Her father’s fury was seeping out of him, but he could still see she was telling the truth; Alezya had been consistent about caring about nothing but Lumie.
She would have left this clan a long time ago for the way they had treated her if she hadn’t had her child with her. She might have had better chances elsewhere, and little did he know that she now did, for certain. Kassein had cared for her far beyond what she could have hoped; it was for the best that her father couldn’t conceive how blessed she would be to get back to the Dragon Clan. He might have thought she had run away and escaped somehow, but he would never know she had left unwillingly.
The second Lumie was away and safe, Alezya would be ready to go back to Kassein or die trying. But first, she had to get her baby out of there.
“Alezya?”
Her father stepped away, and she saw her cousin, along with her husband, carefully holding Lumie in her arms. Alezya’s crying resumed as soon as her eyes found her baby girl’s, and Lumie’s clear eyes lit up in delight upon recognizing her mom.
It didn’t even take a second before the little girl’s arms were stretched toward her. Much to Alezya’s relief, her cousin barely gave her father a glance before bringing her child to her without waiting for approval.
Her father stepped back as if the child carried some awful disease, glaring at Lumie with sheer disgust on his face.
“Mama,” Lumie cooed, visibly delighted.
Her baby girl grabbed Alezya’s long strands of raven hair first thing, and Alezya cried her first tears of joy in a long while upon feeling her daughter’s body pressed against hers, the curves of their bodies melding together like they were always meant to.
“Oh, my Lumie,” Alezya cried, holding her tight.
Lumie had grown quite a bit, but thankfully, she looked completely healthy and quite happy too. She giggled at her mom’s hair tickling her skin and nuzzled herself in Alezya’s neck as she was pressed against her skin.
“She’s fine,” Zenia whispered, a sorry look in her eyes. “She’s been... really good.”
Alezya lifted her eyes from Lumie for a second to look at her cousin. She hadn’t seen Zenia in a while, and she was surprised to see that expression in her cousin’s eyes, almost as if the other young mother looked apologetic. Her husband had a hand on Zenia’s nape and was standing somewhat between the two women and their Clan Chief.
“You alright?” he asked in a whisper, his eyes landing on Alezya’s nice coat.
She gave them a little nod, taken aback by their concern.
She had already sensed Suolk had been kind to Lumie the last time she had seen him, but now, it seemed like Zenia wasn’t reluctant toward her daughter anymore either. Even if she couldn’t confirm it, Alezya would have bet they had simply taken to Lumie’s easy and cheerful nature. Her daughter was a good girl, easy to love, and sweeter than most.
She pressed a kiss against her baby’s cheek, happy to still find it full, making her giggle.
“Mama,” Lumie chuckled again.
“Yes, my snowflake,” she whispered. “Mama is here. Don’t worry, Mama will take care of you, my love.”
After a second, Alezya took a deep breath and quickly took off her necklace to put it around her baby’s neck.
“Alezya?” Zenia whispered. “What are you–”
“That’s enough,” their Clan Chief interrupted them.
Alezya’s grip tightened around Lumie, but her cousin and her husband stepped aside, Suolk giving Alezya a nervous glance.
“You have the child now,” he hissed. “Start talking.”
