I slumped down to sit on the hard floor. I closed my eyes as my head fell back against the stone wall that separated my cell from Rider’s. I winced as I tried to tend to my wrist, the pain forcing me to take short, panting breaths.

I looked down at the veil and headdress still clutched in my uninjured hand. I lifted the veil until it blocked the light streaming in from my window. Even though the material was light, it felt like a stifling mask of burden.

My cheek throbbed. I dropped the veil, watching the silky material flutter to the floor. I quickly picked it back up, knowing I had to wear it at all times.

“Harmony?” A hushed, rough voice was calling my name.

I tried to sniff back my emotions, but I could not stop the despair from chasing away my strength. “My name is nothing. Just as I am nothing.” My chest caved into a hollow pit as I replayed the meeting with the prophet in my mind.

“Harmony?” Rider said, louder and more firmly. “What happened? What is wrong?”

I dragged in the humid air through my dry lips and succumbed to the fear that had threatened me for days. “My name means nothing. I am devil-created, perfectly designed to make men sin. I am sin personified. I am the magnet to the evil that hides deep inside . . . ” I trailed off, almost choking on the words I didn’t want to say. But I did say them. The prophet had seen me. There was no mistaking the truth.

Inhaling one more time, I turned my head in the direction of the gap in the cement. “I am the devil’s greatest tool . . . I am a Cursed woman of Eve. The very worst creation on earth.”

Chapter Five

Styx

“ . . . and there’s the heartbeat.”

I stared at the screen to the side of Mae and watched as a tiny dot began to flutter. The sound of a rapid heartbeat filled the room.

I almost fucking burst apart.

My body didn’t move as I sat, leaning forward, Mae’s hand wrapped tightly in mine. I focused on the tiny outline of our baby’s body.

I couldn’t fucking move.

“River,” Mae whispered, bringing our joined hands to her mouth. I blinked and blinked again as my vision blurred. Coughing, I turned to Mae, only to see her wolf eyes flooded with tears.

Real happy fucking tears.

“Baby.” She pulled on my hand for me to go to her. I did; I always fucking did as she asked. Standing, I leaned over her chest and crushed my mouth to hers. I took her mouth exactly how I wanted—hard. I didn’t give a fuck what the sonographer beside us thought. This was my woman and that was our fucking baby. Anyone else could fuck off.

I broke away. Mae lay back on the bed, breathless. A huge smile spread across her flawless face. As always, it stole my fucking breath.

The sonographer cleared her throat. I stood and faced her, and her skin paled. She shakily handed me a small photograph.

“You can get dressed now,” she said to Mae. “I’ll give you some privacy.” She scurried out of the room like her ass was on fire, not once looking back. Mae laughed quietly. She kicked her legs over the side of the bed and looked back over her shoulder. For a second I was taken aback by how fucking beautiful she was. She was mine, had been mine for a fucking while now, but I still couldn’t believe how the hell I landed someone like her. I was a fucking retard mute. She was a damn angel made in heaven.

But maybe she was handcrafted just for me.

I circled the bed and opened her thighs, stepping between them. “W-what’re y-you l-l-laughin’ at?”

Mae shook her head and placed her hand on my chest. “You, terrifying the nurses. From the moment we entered this hospital every single person has cleared a path for us and stared at you with wide, fearful eyes.” Her finger tapped the “Prez” patch on my cut. “I think that title may have something to do with it. That and the devil on your back.”

“Y-you th-think, babe?” I joked dryly and Mae laughed again. Needing to take her lips once more, I did, wrapping my hand in her long black hair. Mae moaned into my mouth and her hot tongue met mine. My cock throbbed in my jeans, and I had to force myself to pull away or I’d be taking Mae on that bed. Not that any fucker in this hospital would stop us, they wouldn’t dare, but Mae wouldn’t want to be embarrassed. She was still pure. Still somehow uncorrupted by this fucking outlaw life.

Pulling away, I pressed my forehead to hers and breathed deeply. “I . . . I fuckin’ l-l-love you.” I lifted up the photograph. “That’s our f-fuckin’ b-baby.”

Eyes glistening, Mae took hold of the photo and stared at the image. Her finger ran over the curve of our baby’s head and body. “He or she is so beautiful,” she said. I could already hear the love for him or her in her voice. She sighed. “I wonder if it is a girl or a boy?”

My head raced with the same question. Mae looked at me and I shrugged. She laid her hand on my cheek. “A little boy who looks just like his papa. Hazel eyes and dark hair. Handsome and strong. A born leader.”

I swallowed and stepped back. I knew I wouldn’t be able to speak without stuttering through every damn word, so I signed, “Or a little girl like you. Black hair and wolf eyes. Most fuckin’ beautiful girl in the world, besides her mama.” My damn black heart missed a beat at that thought. Another little Mae. She’d wreck me the second I met her.

Two fucking women to worry about.

Mae’s smile faded. She looked at the picture again, a small frown on her face. “W-What?” I asked. Mae took a deep breath. She didn’t say anything, so I lifted her head with my hands and demanded, “T-Talk to m-me.”

Mae’s eyes closed for a moment. “I just think it is safer in the world if you are born a boy. If we had a girl, if she looked like me . . . ” My chest tightened. I understood where she was going with this crock of shit. “I would look at her and worry about someone hurting her.” Mae’s face paled. “I could not bear that, Styx. I could not bear our baby to be hurt. If she was beautiful . . . the sinful thoughts some men have . . . ”

My hands shook as I lifted them to sign. “It’d never fuckin’ happen. I’d kill any fucker that tried to touch a damn hair on her head. I’d rip off their sick cocks if they even glanced at her. I’m the fuckin’ prez of the hardest fuckin’ club in the States. She’d have an army of protectors ‘round her.”