Selling My Soul For the past hour, I've been holed up in the bathroom, staring at the pregnancy test. Two faint red lines stare back at me. A knot has formed in my stomach and it won't go away. It shouldn't be possible. In three years of marriage, Cameron and I only had sex twice. And that was in the first year. From then on, Sarah made certain he spent every night over at hers. Only now did it come back to me. That drunken night a month and a half ago. Sarah and Cameron had a fight. It seemed to have happened often because he would come home to me, completely devastated. I would clean him up, comfort him and put him to bed. But that night had been different... Cameron was wasted. My heat had just come. Things... happened, beyond our control. And now... I'm pregnant. I'm carrying the child of the man who just divorced and banished me from his pack. In this moment, the betrayal hits the hardest. A sob is stuck in my throat and the tears I've been suppressing break free. I'm not sure how long I've been in here. But it must have been long enough. "Laila." Kael calls from the door. "Come out." I don't respond. "I don't repeat myself." He says. Somehow, I know he means it and I don't want to find out what he'll do if I don't comply. I unlock the door and step out. Brushing past him. He lingers, probably glancing at the test strip on the washbasin. And then he follows after me to the living room, taking a seat across from me. I break down crying again and Kael just stares at me like I've grown a second head. "Will you...tell him?" I break the silence, my voice hoarse. "I can't let you run off with a Blackwood baby, can I?" I wince. My heart sinks. "Please... I'll do anything." Kael scoffs. "If you were going to be pathetic, you should have begged Cameron on your knees, before he tossed you out to the streets." Anger surges through my veins at his words and I jump to my feet. "I don't need your sympathy! I don't need anything from you Blackwoods!" "All you know how to do is use, and hurt others. And I'll get back at you...him, all of you!" I vow venomously. Kael leans back into the couch and for the first time ever, I see what might have been a ghost of a smile on his lips. It passed too fast for me to determine if it had even been there. However his next words banished any thoughts I might have had that Kael is anything but insane. "Laila, I have a proposal. Let's get married." "What...?" He leans forward slightly. "What if I told you that the doctor who administered your vitamins before the blood transfusion purchased some grams of wolfsbane two days ago, and is also an old acquaintance of Sarah's?" A cold chill runs down my spine. "What...?" He leans back. "I intend to make you my wife, Laila." He continues without hesitation. "And with me, you won't have to think...to remember every time I bend that body beneath me." "It'll be imprinted in your memory. As my name will be on your lips." I'm stunned speechless. - By the next morning, my decision was made. "You have to comply with Cameron's banishment, it works in your favor if you want to keep the baby a secret. I've made arrangements. A plane ticket and someone to pick you up when you get to Ridgeway." "What about you?" I ask. "Aren't you coming with me?" Kael shrugs. "I only just got to Thorneville. I'll conclude my business here before heading back. You'll be safe in Ridgeway." I nod slowly. When Kael proposed a marriage contract, I didn't think he'd actually draw up a legally binding contract. But I'm once again proven wrong as he slides it across the coffee table. Beside it, there's a small black ring box. I don't remember seeing it earlier. He must have picked it up when he stepped out in the morning. "I don't get a proposal this time, huh?" I ask halfheartedly. "I'm not proposing, Laila. I'm hiring you." Kael clarifies coldly. "And the ring is your employment badge." "The terms of our contract are simple. I will ruin Cameron, and make sure he loses everything... until he has nothing left but you, until he's desperate and seeks you out." His eyes are dark and terrifying. "And when he comes to you begging for your love again, you'll push him off the edge." A cold chill runs down my spine. Cameron and Kael have always had their differences, but I had no idea Kael hated his brother this much. "But until then, I will protect you... the two of you. From him, and anyone else that may try to harm you. You have my word." Our situation may not be conventional, but I believe him. "In exchange, I will perform all relevant duties as your wife...except, sex. And fulfill my end of the bargain, when the time comes." "There's just one clause I must highlight." Kael adds, his tone is serious. "I don't care if you're still in love with him. While we're married, I expect you to do everything a wife does... and I mean everything." I gulp audibly. I know what he's referring to. But we already agreed we wouldn't discuss it till after the baby is born. "The moment you hold my hand...you won't ever be able to go back to him. Not even if he grovels." "If you break this clause... I will kill you. And him. But you first." Cameron's rise or ruin is no longer my business. That ended when I signed the divorce papers. I can't return home to my pack, that option flew out the window the moment I discovered my pregnancy. My Dad will ship me back to Cameron if he finds out about the baby. And the Blackwood family has many enemies. If they discover I'm pregnant, I won't be able to keep my baby. Sarah will raise my child, like I was forced to raise Kelly. Only a rogue Blackwood like Kael will be able to keep me safe. And I will do anything for this baby. Even if it means holding hands with his father's enemy. I pick up the pen and sign yet another life changing decision compressed into a piece of paper. Kael doesn't even glance at the contract as he files it and places it aside. But why does it feel like I just sold my soul to the devil?