Once Betrayed Never Forgotten

Chapter 116: Mircea’s Miracle

“Oh

my god, I blurt out the words before I can stop myself, unable to contain my shock as I stare at Mircea’s swollen helly. “You’re pregnant?!”

I

Mircea laughs, her eyes sparkling with happiness. “Yes, I’m with child. It was a surprise to me too. To both of us, actually…

She looks over to Luka with a quick smile, and he gazes back at her grinning from ear to ear, his silver eyes sparkling with joy.

with this new reality. Luka and Mirces… a couple? Expecting a baby? It’s almost too much to take

I’m stunned into silence, my mind racing to catch up w

in

I have a million questions, and I don’t know what to ask first. I guess there were clues the way she’d sometimes look at him, her protectiveness over him – but still. This is a major surprise.

Pregnancy definitely suits her Mircea looks utterly beautiful, more beautiful than ever before. She’s filled out slightly, and her skin is practically glowing, a healthy rosy Bush across her cheeks, And Luka looks energized, vibrant, and confident in a way I never realized he lacked before. They look good together perfect, even

Laka’s grin is as wide as I’ve ever seen it. “We wanted to tell you sooner, but…well, you’ve been a bit busy.”

I can’t help but laugh at that, despite the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside me. “I’m so happy for you both,” I say, meaning every word despite the shock. This is wonderful. Incredible.”

“She’s our miracle,” Mircea says, gazing down lovingh at her belly

She? 1 can’t even begin to imagine Mircea, who grew up in the mediaeval village below the mountain, agreeing to an ultrasound to determine the baby’s gender. I guess it tracks that Mircea, being a witch and magic medicine woman, would know the gender of her unbom child even without the aid of modern technology. She has a mystic intuition, after all.

“And when exactly did you two uh…” I struggle for the right word: “When did you two hook up?”

It must have been super soon after I left the Castle of Endless Night to go back to California, just a few months ago. She’s visibly pregnant, at least four or five months, I’d guess.

It clearly didn’t take Luka much time to move on from me. I guess after the mate bond was severed, his intense feelings for me faded away too – which is a relief, to be honest. I was never in love with Luka, more like, I was “in lust” with him–and this new situation makes everything a hell of a lot

“Luka and I realised our feelings for eachother about half a year after we last saw you,” Mircea says with a gentle smile. “It’s something that grew over time, I suppose you could say. Friendship that developed into something more.” Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Something wonderfull,” Luka says, his face glowing with pride and he gazes at Mircea like the sun

shines out of her face.

I can’t have heard her correctly–did she really just say that they hooked up six months after I left? But I only left the Castle of Endless night three months ago, at most… plus, she looks like four or five months pregnant. What the hell?

“I think I misheard you…. do you say that you became a couple six months after I left?” I ask, now puzzled.

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Luka and Mircea nod, seemingly unsure of what the confusion is.

“But I only left here in September, and I was at college for two months, and I was in the Fiery Realm for, well…

It was just a few weeks, right?

“You were gone for over a year, Arianna,” my mom says, her voice tinged with sadness as she grabs my hand and squeezes it, as if to check that I’m real, I’m really, truly here now.

I assumed she’d stayed with Konstantin and Anya on the outdoor balcony after Seraphina led the rest of us away into the castle, but she must have followed behind, probably desperate not to let me out of her sight, not to lose me again.

“Mom, please say that again,” I say, her words still ringing in my ears, impossible to believe.

“You were missing for over a year, thirteen months and two days, to be exact,” my mom says, her beautiful green eyes immediately filling with tears.

Chipie 116 Mircea’s Miracle

“Every single day has been hell. I’ve kept count.”

Over a year? Impossible.

Time moves differently in the Fiery Realm,” Pyra says, stepping forward as she explains. “What we experienced there as days, they experienced here in the Night realm as weeks, months.”

Time hums rapidly in that infern, like a wildfire devouring everything in its path, Aleksandr says, his eyes suddenly growing dark. “I’ve been looking for you for such a long time. When I find that bitch Tatiana, I’ll rip her in two.

“I’ll gladly help you with that,” Luka says, and Mircea nods.

“I always knew that Tatiana was bad news,” Seraphina says with a grimace. “Ripping her in two is much too quick. She better hope you get to her before I do. I plan to take my time with her. Centuries of torment is less than she deserves.”

Her pretty eyes are sparkling with malice, which sends a shiver down my spine. How can such a sweet little girl, with her lovely angelic face and cute black braided pigtails and frilly doll–like dress, harbour such evil intent? She’s like a twisted cherubs straight out of a nightmare.

“Come, you must tell us all about how you escaped from the Fiery Realm,” Mircea says with a smile. “Should we go to the dining hall to catch up over a meal? This baby in my belly is ravenous at all hours, I can tell you that. She clearly takes after her father.”

Luka chuckles at that, and I feel had that I have to nain this special reunion with bad news.

“Actually, there won’t be time for that,” I say. “The leaders of all six realms will be assembling in the Council Room, soon now. We all have to be there.”

“What?” Luka asks, his handsome face suddenly creasing with concern. “Why?”

“It’s a long story, wolf boy,” Kieran says, stepping forward and patting Luka on the shoulder. “One you’ll hear in full soon enough.”

And with that, we make our way through the winding corridors of the castle, the weight of the coming meeting settling over us like a heavy shroud.

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