Konstantin: The Heartless Beta novel Chapter 23

Lily

A sense of calm has come over me since meeting my mother again. She tells me stories about how life was after leaving my father, how she’s always had to look over her shoulder even after changing her appearance. My father is more evil than Fenriz could ever be by the sounds of things, but Fenriz has definitely got the temper from him.

Especially the thirst for killing Maiden Lunas.

My babies stir as my mother places her hand on my stomach, and she lets out a squeal.

“Oh, he’s saying hello to me!” she gushes, rubbing my swollen belly gently.

I giggle at this and pop another cube of raw beef into my mouth; it seems the twins have been craving it lately, and it’s understandable. One is a carnivore after all, and the other… well….

“I can’t wait to meet him,” she croons and kisses my stomach.

“You mean them, you can’t wait to meet them,” I correct her, but she shakes her head.

This again. Every time I mention two babies, she rejects the idea and only talks about one. And it's always ‘him’, as if she knows the sex of the children already.

She suddenly sits up and looks at me. “Have you thought of a name yet, Lilith?” she asks.

I blink at this question. “To be honest, no, I haven’t. Stefan has made it clear that I would be dead when I gave birth to his child.” I say.

Tienette shakes her head again. “I’m alive after giving birth to you, aren’t I?” she says with a smile and sits up.

“You didn’t give birth to a pure Succubus, Tienette. I’m half-wolf, remember?” I reply to this, but she only dismisses me with a wave.

“I’ll teach you a way to survive your birth and how to control him once he’s out. But first, we need a name!”

How can I make her understand that I have no intention of naming this beast inside of me? That would mean I’ve become attached to it, and there is no way I will ever love this creature! I’ll die once I give birth, and that’s it. I’ve come to terms with my impending demise, and I’m fine with it, but the excited look on her face makes me relent.

“Okay, but I have no idea what to call them,” I say, forcing out a smile.

“Him, just one, and I have the perfect name!”

I look at my mother, still confused as to why she rejects my other baby and why she would get excited over a name. “Okay?”

“Asmodeus,” she says with such pride that I just look at her.

Asmodeus? There’s no way I would ever call my child that name. Not only is it a shitty name, but it’s the name of a Demon. Did I actually have a choice in this, though? There’s no way I will survive the birth of a pure Demon.

“Well?” she prods when I stay quiet for too long, and I force out a smile.

“Okay, I’ll think about it-”

“I knew you’d love it!” she exclaims and throws her arms around me.

I’ll never get used to this, something is entirely off about this woman, but I just can’t put my finger on it. It might be because she’s only just made an appearance in my life after I get knocked up with one of her friends’ spawns, or it could be that for the last few months, I’ve known nothing but misery.

Either way, I don’t trust this woman calling herself Tienette Vega.

She looks at me after she breaks off the hug. “I have to go for now, but I’ll be back in two days’ time.”