BELOW ZERO: THE FORBIDDEN WOLF VOL 2 (Cregan Stark X OC) *COMPLETE*

Chapter Thirty-Six (Alana)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Alana

Harrenhal

Silverwing snorted a grunt the moment she saw Cregan approaching as I walked toward her to grab my satchel from the saddle. I didn't even take the time to grab any of my belongings because the moment I landed I saw a woman holding my husband's hands.

Cregan tried to smile at Silverwing but neither she nor myself were truly happy in this moment. Because somehow all the joy I felt knowing I was going to be reunited with my husband had been stripped away the moment I saw him with another woman who I then find out is my aunt? An aunt that my father never once decided to tell me about?

My anger should not reside with Cregan in this moment but right now everything is a mess. This is my first taste of freedom in months and I'm far from happy to be here. I feel Cregan reach for my braid which is not as good as when Baela did my hair for me.

I miss Baela more than anything in this moment. She'd comfort me and probably would have punched Cregan out cold before I'd even gotten the chance to slap him for being so close up with another woman.

Although I start to ease myself with mine own guilt. How hypocritical of me to be upset with Cregan over holding another woman's hands when I'd done far worse with Criston Cole. Asking for him to hug me shirtless and then having him hold me all night long before thinking we'd reach our unavoidable deaths. Worse...

When he kissed me I did not feel my skin itching like I needed to claw my way out of a gown that was made of a scratchy fabric. My bones did not tense and my stomach stayed put as it should.

I knew when I asked Criston to hug me that there was a chance it could have been all men or just Aemond that my body would reject. But when Criston kissed me I expected myself to recoil from him and feel that same unclean and discomfort in my veins and on my skin from each time Aemond would find his way to my chambers.

But I didn't.

And that kiss from Criston Cole is the reason that I was okay when Cregan kissed me, that was until I could not believe my very eyes. I had reason to allow a man to graze my skin and even when Criston had kissed me I did not give in to the desires. I only allowed it thinking I was going to die. I did not want to die scared of being touched anymore. But to see Cregan comfortably touching another woman... It pained me.

As I threw my satchel over my shoulder Cregan's hand drifted from holding my braid in his hand to my abdomen. His palm cupping the entirety of it and a small kick hitting him right in the center of his hand. He grinned at me but it was a sad grin.

"You've missed a lot." I tell him as I swallow down every ounce of guilt that's been boiling inside of me. Ready to overflow and spill off my tongue at any moment. If I thought the punch he threw at Criston Cole for simply trying to calm me down was bad... Imagine the damage that Cregan would do if he knew what had happened in that prison I was in.

Cregan nods and sighs. No smile on his face at all anymore.

"You shouldn't be riding in your condition. It isn't good for the uh.. For the babe." He says in a low grumble. Silverwing responds immediately by the huffing her warm breath from her nostrils at him in a snort.

He's not wrong, Silvie... Relax.

"Can't you teach her the common tongue?" Cregan rolls his eyes and she nudges him with her nose so that he almost loses his footing. "I don't think she likes me."

Silverwing... Relax. Obey me and relax. I turn to Cregan and notice he now is looking down and refusing to meet my eyes. I don't push the boundary that he's clearly set between the two of us now.

"It's been a lot... I apologize, Cregan. She's been in chains in the dragon pit and mistreated as well as I have been."

Cregan scoffs. "Sure."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I step toward him and he steps toward me. For a moment my breath escapes me and the fear that I had pushed away for so long thinking it had been gone for days now... Was back.

I did not back down as Cregan towered over me.

"You clearly had someone to take care of you. You seem fine to me." He says. "I didn't expect you to bring him here with you-"

"He is my sworn sword and saved my fucking life more than once, Cregan! You should be on your knees groveling at his feet and kissing his boot for all he fucking did, Cregan! I'd be dead or worse-"

"What is worse than death, Alana? A life without you... There is nothing worse than that." He replies as he goes to touch my hair again but I dodge his touch. "I am not the villain here, Alana. I would never hurt you."

I didn't want to do this. Not now. Not ever...

Cregan seeing my imprisonment as some type of relaxing getaway is not like him at all... Where is the man who would burn down cities and cut the throat of any man who stood in his way? Where is the man who wanted to kill Aemond himself, I-

Suddenly it occurred to me that he has no idea what Aemond has done. He has not an ounce of a clue the true torment that demon put me through for weeks while I had to conceal my pregnancy from the Greens.

"I am not making you a villain, Cregan. You are not Aemond." I tell him in a soft huff of a breath. "You would never do to me the things he has done."

Cregan freezes like a lake in the heart of winter. His body stiff and it takes him a few moments before he even blinks as the revelation hits him. I do not budge. I do not cower away in fear. The sound of the troops around us do not keep me from telling my husband what he needs to know.

Silverwing can feel my pain and she nudges me with her wing, wanting to wrap it around me to protect me from the hurt and devastation that I've felt for months. Since the moment that Aemond broke through the protection set in place by Aegon for me. Since Alicent allowed for her son to become such an evil monster... Since Rhaena had betrayed us all.

"He hurt you..." Cregan mutters.

I nod. "I only ever told Criston about our baby because I did not want Aemond to cut it from my womb... I cannot lose this babe, Cregan... I cannot lost you either. But you need to understand what happened to me or else we cannot move forth."

"How did he-"

My father walked up with a smile on his face and his hand on the hilt of his sword. Raising his arms above his head as he cheered my name. He must have been on the other side of the came and just made his way here now when he saw me land on Silvie.

"My beautiful girl!" Ser Harwin gleamed with pride. "You're here! My Gods!" He wrapped his arms around me and then placed his hands onto my shoulders and stood back. "Wait a minute.." He examines my figure and tears well in his eyes. "A baby..."

I smile and look over his shoulder at Cregan who still has no moved a muscle.

"My baby is having a baby of her own..." He says softly. "Did my eyes play a trick on me or did I see Criston Cole come off that silver beauty with you?"

"You saw that right.. He saved me, Daddy. You owe him your kindness. Please." I tell him truthfully. He moves my braid to my back and see a scar on my neck from the tip of a knife.

"Aemond.." I whisper.

"I'll kill him." Harwin replies.

"No." Cregan growls. "I'm killing him."

Ser Criston approaches with a long stride and looks to the sky as the men blow all start screaming in terror as flames burst from behind the clouds. "You best get that sword ready, Lord Cregan... Because Aemond is here."