Carrying the Alpha’s Heir, Claimed by the Vampire King Chapter 12

Carrying the Alpha’s Heir, Claimed by the Vampire King Chapter 12

I was six weeks from my due date when Rhys called.

His voice was stripped bare. No swagger. No edge. Just fear.

“Elara. Kieran’s been shot

I gripped the counter.

“Ambush. The new Ashford Alpha. Revenge for the broken alliance. Three silver bullets and wolfsbane on the blades. He’s in surgery at the pack hospital.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“Because he’s dying. And the healers say he isn’t fighting. His wolf keeps slipping. Like he’s choosing to let

go.”

I closed my eyes.

“There’s more.” Rhys’s voice cracked. “Last month he changed his succession. Everything. The pack, the land, the Alpha line. It all passes to your son.”

My breath stopped.

“But he never sealed it in blood. If he dies before he does, the Ashfords will challenge. Your son inherits nothing. And they’ll hunt you both to make sure no Blackwood heir ever grows up to take it back.”

The words hung in the air like smoke.

If Kieran died, my baby became a target before he ever drew breath.

“I need to see those documents.”

“I’ll send a car.”

“No. I’ll find my own way.”

I called Lucien.

He answered on the first ring.

Kieran’s heen shut. He’s dying. My son is his heir, and if the succession isn’t sealed, the Ashfords will

Come for him.

Silence. Then:

“Do you want to go?”

“No. But I have to.”

“Then I’ll take you.”

“Lucien, you can’t. A vampire walking into a wolf stronghold, that’s an act of war-”

“I’m taking you, Elara. This isn’t a discussion.”

The drive to New York took three hours. Lucien drove through the dark in silence, one hand on the wheel.

Halfway there, I laid my hand over his on the console.

He didn’t look at me.

But his cold fingers curled around mine. Firm. Certain.

We stayed that way until the skyline rose in front of us.

The pack hospital was swarming with Blackwood wolves. Every one of them went rigid when Lucien stepped out of the car. I heard growls. Saw eyes flash gold.

Lucien didn’t even glance at them.

And one by one, they stepped back.

Rhys met us outside the ward. “He’s out of surgery. Barely stable. He won’t wake.”

He led us in.

My chest seized.

Gray skin. Machines beeping. Bandages stained black where the silver had burned. The smell of antiseptic and wolfsbane and endings.

This was the man who’d once carried me over our threshold laughing, spinning me until I was dizzy.

Now he looked half gone.

I stepped closer.

And my son kicked. Hard/ A fierce, furious drumbeat against my ribs.

The heart monitor spiked.

The healer looked up sharply. “His wolf just responded. Stay. Please. Just a few more minutes.”

So I stood beside the bed with my hand on my belly and let my son do what I couldn’t. Call to whatever

part of Kieran still wanted to live.

His eyes opened. Glassy. Unfocused. But they found me.

“Elara…”

“I’m here for the seal. Not for you.”

A tear slid down his hollow cheek. “I know.”

Rhys held out the succession parchment. Kieran pressed his bleeding thumb to it. The silver ink flared,

then settled.

Sealed.

His eyes dropped to my stomach. “Is he okay?”

“He’s perfect.”

“Does he have a name?”

I hesitated. Then:

“Rowan.”

His face crumpled. Rowan. His grandfather. The Alpha who’d built the Blackwood pack out of nothing. The

only person Kieran had ever truly loved.

Rowan, he whispered, breaking:

“I have to go.”

“I know.” He closed his eyes. “Thank you. For saving me. Even though don’t deserve it.”

I walked out. Past Rhys. Past the wolves. Past the flickering lights.

Straight into Lucien’s arms.

He held me without a word. No questions. No jealousy. Just the steady, unwavering certainty of a man

who knew that strength wasn’t possession.

It was presence.

Then his lips brushed my ear.

“Every wolf in this building just watched a vampire hold you,” he murmured. “By morning, the whole supernatural world will know.”

He pulled back just enough to look at me.

“There’s no going back now, Elara. Are you afraid?”