Chapter 181
Annalise
I ran.
I didn’t think. I didn’t breathe. I just ran.
Lucien's shout echoed behind me, “Annalise, no!”
But I didn’t stop.
The woods blurred around me, the thick cloak tangling at my feet, the weight of the baby pulling me down with every step. I could barely make it more than a few strides before my body reminded me that I wasn’t who I used to be. I couldn't shift due to my pregnancy. I wasn’t the warrior I had trained to be all my life.
I was pregnant. With a child not born of love—but survival. And he was stealing my strength day by day.
My breath hitched as I pushed through a thorned hedge, praying Lucien wouldn’t catch up, praying—
He did.
One second he was behind me, the next he was flying across the clearing, grunting as he slammed into a tree with a c**
