Grace's POV
A gentle jolt stirred me from my sleep.
As I sat up, the realization hit me swiftly—the boat was swaying back and forth, creating a discomforting churn in my stomach. Anticipating a potential bout of seasickness, I clung to the hope that I might be one of the fortunate few spared from it.
"Ugh…" I groaned, dragging myself to the bathroom.
A teasing voice interrupted my misery. "Look at you, what a mess!"
I turned to find Boone Carlyle, the Gamma of the Black Wolf Pack, leaning casually in the doorway.
"What's the matter?" I said coldly.
"Don't forget who got you out of there, Grace. You shouldn't talk to me like that," Boone reminded me as he strolled into the room and took a seat.
Suppressing my irritation, I pursed my lips and closed my eyes; this was still a far cry from Bonnatown, the Black Wolf Pack's territory.
"So, my ally, I need to know what our next move is," Boone squinted at me, his gaze briefly cold as it fell on the small figure on my bed.
I walked over, blocking his view. "I need you to take me and this child back to the Black Wolf Pack."
"What?" Boone frowned, visibly displeased. "I helped you because of your brother Alex's friendship with me, but it doesn't mean I'm eager to get myself into trouble."
"If that's how you really felt," I shot back, giving Boone a cold look, "you wouldn't have come over asking about our plans. Instead, you would have left us without a word."
Boone examined me and then broke into a smile. "You're smart, Grace. I like that."
"Things aren't looking good for the Black Wolf Pack, right?" I added, continuing our conversation.
Boone snorted disdainfully, "That's a given. If it weren't for your brother's foolish actions, how would the Black Wolf Pack have ended up in this situation?"
Since Alex and Robert's demise, the Black Wolf Pack had been left without an Alpha leader, making it an attractive target for neighboring packs.
Numerous packs had begun to encroach, eager to seize control and absorb the Black Wolf Pack.
I glanced at Boone's face, still bearing scars from the previous battle. It seemed he had endured considerable hardship during this period.
"This child is Kingsley's offspring!" I blurted out weakly.
"What?" Boone exclaimed in shock. "Geez! I should never have trusted you. I knew you were as foolish as your brother! How dare you take Kingsley's child! This will spell the end of our pack!"
I calmly took a sip of my coffee in the midst of Boone's panic.
"What's there to fear? Listen to me! The crucial point is that this child carries Alpha blood!" I snapped.
Boone froze, but soon, he grasped the significance of my words, and his eyes lit up with a peculiar intensity.
"You mean..."
"Yes, that's right! I will bring this child back to the Black Wolf Pack and assert that he is Robert's offspring with the Alpha bloodline. This way, the child becomes the next heir of the Black Wolf Pack. Thus, we, the Black Wolf Pack, won't decline into extinction due to the absence of an Alpha."
I didn't divulge much more.
Initially, my plan was simple – to seize and eliminate Freya's child during childbirth, subjecting her and Kingsley to the agony of losing their family.
However, I hadn't anticipated Freya giving birth to twins.
In that moment, disguised as one of the caretakers, a sinister idea crossed my mind as I observed the unconscious Freya.
I would take one of the children, nurture him as the future Alpha of the Black Wolf Pack, and feed him the fabricated narrative that he was Robert's child, with Kingsley being his father's murderer.
This way, when Kingsley's two children grew up, they would start harming each other.
I was sure Kingsley and Freya would be even more heartbroken when they witnessed such a scene!
The room fell silent, and Boone and I contemplated our thoughts in quietude.
Suddenly, the baby on my bed cried out with a sound that suggested hunger.
Boone spoke up abruptly, "Since he is the next Alphas of the Black Wolf Pack, we should take good care of this baby."
I frowned and was about to say something when the baby let out a cry, followed by a prolonged silence.
Boone shuddered and said with a worried expression, "What's wrong? Could it be that it fainted from hunger?"
I replied coldly, "It wouldn't be dead anyway."
Afterwards, I walked to the bedside, picked up Kingsley's child, and exited the room.
Boone followed me and asked, "Where are you taking the baby?"
"To the kitchen to get the baby something to eat, of course."
Boone trailed behind me and called out, "He's still a baby; you've got to give him milk first."
I mused, "Of course, I know I should give him milk, but where are we going to find it for him at a time like this?"
"Wait!" Boone thought for a moment and suddenly said, "When I was on board, I saw a circus, and it seems that one of the leopards they keep has just given birth to two cubs; I'll go and borrow the leopard from them."
After a while, Boone approached with a huge leopard, followed by the keeper in charge of taming the leopard.
Boone stroked the top of its head and smiled, "We'll ask you to be a nursemaid for a while, and we won't harm your life."
I picked up the baby and placed it on the leopard's breast. The keeper was carefully calming the leopard.
The baby was already so hungry that it opened its little mouth and ate. The mother leopard had a lot of milk, and in no time, the baby was full, and closed its eyes to sleep.
Boone and I watched as the baby fell asleep, our eyes never leaving his cute little face. We saw a slight smile on his face as he slept. Then, I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Boone.
I held out my hand to pick up the baby. Boone thanked the keeper and then went with the keeper to return the leopard.
As I looked at the baby's cute face, my heart was moved, and I couldn't help but hum a song under my breath, patting him to sleep with one hand.