*Maddox*Suitcases. On the bed. Packed.Isla. In her mother’s arms.After the discussion I just had with her father, I can’t believe that her mother is encouraging her to leave the castle. Did Daniel not mean a word of what he was saying when he told me that Isla’s parents would encourage her to stay so long as I could assure him that she wouldn’t have to worry about any of these other women?Of course, she doesn’t have to worry about them. They are white noise. Only here to serve the specific purpose of getting these other Alphas off of my back. I have told her that a dozen times, but she will not listen to me.Now, it seems she is listening to her mother, and the message Constance is telling her is not the same one I just heard from her husband’s mouth.The Luna turns around and stares at me with a mix of surprise and anger in her eyes, possibly a touch of hurt. “I was trying to convince MY baby not to leave, that she needs to stay here and see this through, thank you very much. You

*Isla*“Everything looks wonderful,” Mystica says as she finishes examining me. “The baby is a bit small for when we think the child was conceived, but other than that, the heartbeat is strong, everything is proportionate, the rest of the organs are developing on track as well, and movement is right on track. I think we shall have a healthy child in a few months, despite my apprehension earlier. Congratulations to the pair of you!” She stands at the foot of the examination table with her hands clasped together and a big grin on her face.“Thank you,” I tell her. “Do you have any indication yet of the sex of the baby?”Mystica looks from me to the king, and Maddox nods. He wants to know, too.“Well, I do,” she says. “Let me show you on the machine. I think that will be better.”She’s already done an ultrasound to measure everything, but while she was doing all of that, she looked like she was concentrating so hard, I didn’t even want to interrupt her to ask this question. Also, she is

*Isla*“Well, who was it from?”Poppy’s voice is too chipper for me. I’ve only just woken up from a long nap, and blinking a few times, I try to get my bearings, wondering what the hell she is talking about. Where is Maddox? I glance at the clock and see it’s almost 6:00. He’s usually done working by now.“Isla?” Poppy is fluffing the pillows on the bed next to my head. Why is she in here? Did she wake me up? “You can’t sleep all day! I know you’re growing a human, but that requires food, too. You didn’t eat any lunch before you went to sleep. So why don’t you eat the snack I had the cook prepare while you tell me about the letter? I heard that King Maddox has had Seth in his office for a few hours, so who knows when he’ll be done.”I sit up, feeling groggy. Whenever I don’t wake up naturally from a nap, I am always a grump. My stomach is rumbling, though, and when I glance over at the table, I see that Poppy has brought some of my favorites, including toast with cheese and sliced gre

*Isla*The six girls standing between me and the exit to the library swivel around at the sound of Trinity’s voice, their mouths dropping open when they saw the woman standing there that they all revere as the front runner in this stupid contest.The blonde who had been such a bitch to me immediately changes her tune. “Oh, Trinity. Hi,” she says, stammering a little. “We were just… playing around with Iris here.”“Isla,” Trinity corrects her. “And I don’t think that’s true, Veronica. I think the six of you were going to try to hurt her. Do you honestly think that would be a good idea? Do you think that Alpha King Maddox will even let you stay in the castle now? You’ve threatened to hurt another contestant, you stupid bitches.”All of the girls stare at her wide-eyed, and it seems evident to me that Trinity knows all of their names and can identify them for Maddox.“I didn’t do anything!” a dark-haired girl standing near the bag blurts out. “All I did was stand here! Iris can attest to

*Isla*Lying in bed next to Maddox, my fingers trailing over his bare arm, I try to catch my breath. We’d made love so ferociously, it reminded me of that first night, when he came into my room, and I thought he was going to claim me, but he didn’t. It was so animalistic and raw. If I wasn’t pregnant, who knows how much more wild it might’ve gotten.But I think somewhere within the thoughtless thrusting, it occurred to Maddox that he needed to be more careful with me, and he slowed down a bit. Now, we are lying here, glistening in the moonlight, looking into each other’s eyes, and I want to know what has motivated him to become so fierce tonight.Does he know about what happened in the library?I think I saw little flecks of red on his clothing when I was peeling it off of him earlier. I wasn’t sure, but it looked like it might’ve been blood.Is it possible Trinity told him already?Maddox lifts a hand and smooths my cheek. “You should’ve told me.” His voice is soft, just above a whis