Claudia Lockwood-Mikaelson

Chapter 53 - That's impossible

I wake up as sunlight hits my face which rests on the soft pillow. Rolling over, I groan and stretch before sitting up. My mate is sat upright too with his back resting against the headboard, it doesn't look as though he's slept at all.

His furious eyes bore into mine and I'm taken aback. What on earth have I done now? I thought he enjoyed last night's chase as much as I did, maybe even more.

"Where were you last week when you came home late? The one time you slipped out without me for a few hours, when I spoke to Rebekah on the phone."

My forehead creases in confusion. "I went to feed, I told you that at the time. This was ages ago now."

"You cheated on me," he accuses sharply, his blood boiling.

"What?" I nearly laugh at his silly sentence. Where has this come from?

"You've been with someone else," his jaw tightens and I notice his hands are trembling. "Admit it."

His shouting makes me pause. He's never shouted quite like this at me before, whether I've been with or without emotions. Why is he so adamant that I've cheated? What thoughts are echoing in his head to make him convinced of this betrayal?

"What are you talking about?" I start to question but he interrupts, glaring at me.

"Listen..."

I do. We fall silent and I listen for something that will give me an indication of what Nik is so angry about. For what has him looking positively murderous.

Filtering through all the rubbish floating in from outside, I hone in on the sounds in this room. Tuning out the buzzing lights above and the water flowing through the plumbing system below us, I move from one sound to the next, not quite sure what I'm listening for. Until one particular faint noise stops me dead in my tracks.

Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Thud-thud.

It's the sound of a heartbeat. One that's not mine nor Nik's.

My initial thought is that there's someone here with us, maybe in the bathroom, but I quickly eliminate that possibility when I can't hear their breathing from the other side of the door. It's me. The sound is coming from me.

I blink slowly as I piece everything together. I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant. Like I've always wanted. I don't understand how, but I'm pregnant. With my mate's child.

"That's impossible, I'm pregnant," I say in awe and wonder at the knowledge that there is a life growing within me.

The biggest smile lights up my face as my emotions return, crashing into me like waves powerfully colliding with the shore. I gasp at the overwhelming surge of feelings again. It's like I've come back to life.

"I'm pregnant Nik," I repeat in happy astonishment. Reality hasn't set in for me yet but I'm overjoyed. I've never felt this ecstatic, my mate and I are having a child like I've always wanted. It's a dream come true. Everything is perfect.

"Don't call me Nik," he says coldly and my previously unfeeling heart clenches in pain. "That is reserved for family only."

"You're a liar and a cheat. I want nothing to do with you. Don't come crawling back to me and my family when that disgusting child of yours needs something. I cannot have children, that child is not mine. And you're no longer my mate. I don't want you now you're knocked up with another man's child. How revolting."

Something within me breaks. Tears rush to my eyes but Nik turns his back on me, not seeing them. My throat is all choked up meaning I'm unable to respond. How can he discard me so easily? Throw me to the side like I'm nothing? Decide our baby isn't his?