Chapter 198
Chapter 198
ALEXANDER
I heard the rhythmic thud long before I reached the doorway.
Faye always had a particular energy when she moved–light, precise, never wasting energy, even when she was distracted or frustrated. I knew it so well that the moment I stepped into the hallway leading to the training room, I could picture her inside before I even saw her. And for some reason, the idea alone eased something in my chest. It always did.
But today, it also made me feel something else.
Because now… she wasn’t just Faye.
She was Faye carrying our child.
I don’t know how long I stayed standing in the doorway, saying nothing, doing nothing–just watching the rise and fall of her body as she moved. The way her ponytail swung like a pendulum. The faint sheen of sweat on the back of her neck. The tiny breaths she released between each controlled movement. She wasn’t doing anything extreme–no lifting heavy weights, no harsh movements. Just simple strength exercises, steady and grounded. But still … something inside me reacted in a way I wasn’t prepared for.
Protectiveness had been a part of me long before I became Alpha, but ever since I found out she was pregnant, it had become something else entirely–deeper, rooted somewhere in my bones. I couldn’t shake it, and honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
She was so focused she didn’t even notice me at first. It gave me the strange, guilty pleasure of studying her without interruption–her form, her determination, the slight tremble in her arms the longer she held the plank position. Too long for my comfort.
I shouldn’t have been staring at her like that.
But she was mine.
After a moment, she finally noticed me when she shifted from plank to her feet and reached for her water bottle. Her gaze lifted, landing on me, and that smile–soft, warm, real–spread across her lips.
“Hey there.”
My chest did that ridiculous tightening again. I stepped inside the training room slowly, my hands shoved into my pockets because, for some reason, they suddenly felt restless.
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