Claimed by My Mafia Alpha King

Chapter 170: Chapter 170

Irina’s POV

The piercing wail of the baby was like a physical hook dragging me forward.

I didn’t care about the cold morning wind. I didn’t care about the dirty concrete. I didn’t even care about the pathetic, fragile human woman currently trying to block my path. I stepped heavily onto the rotting wooden porch, my expensive leather boots completely crushing the dark wool blanket Irina had just abandoned.

Mia immediately moved to block the front door.

She stood her ground. Her face was completely twisted into a deep, incredibly hostile scowl. She glared up at me with absolute, unfiltered defiance. She looked like a feral, starving stray cat trying to intimidate a full-grown, bloodthirsty lion. She had absolutely no idea how close to death she was standing.

"You can’t just barge in here!" she snapped. Her voice was sharp and loud. "This is my house! You need to leave!"

I didn’t even look down at her.

I completely ignored her existence. I walked straight past her, moving effortlessly through the doorway. My massive shoulder brushed lightly against the cheap doorframe. The flimsy wood actually groaned and splintered under my sheer physical weight.

Mia gasped, stumbling back against the wall. She was still cursing at me, still glaring at my back with absolute venom, but she didn’t dare try to physically touch me again.

I stepped into the narrow, dark hallway.

The air inside the house was incredibly suffocating. The ceiling was entirely too low. My imposing frame practically swallowed the tiny, cramped space. The air smelled awful. It was a disgusting mix of stale cooking grease, cheap laundry detergent, and damp, rotting drywall.

I stopped walking for a fraction of a second. I scanned the tiny, run-down living room.

My dark brows pulled heavily together. I frowned deeply.

The room was absolutely pathetic. The furniture was clearly thrifted, mismatched, and heavily stained. The cheap laminate floors were terribly scuffed and peeling up at the edges. The wallpaper was yellowing in the corners of the ceiling, clearly hiding water damage and mold. It was a dirty, freezing, dilapidated human slum.

A violent, unhinged rage instantly boiled in the very center of my chest.

This was where she lived. This was where my queen had been hiding from me.

My fated mate—the woman who was meant to sit on a throne of wealth and absolute power—was sleeping in this disgusting squalor. My heir, a royal bloodline, was breathing in this toxic, dirty air. I wanted to tear the entire building down with my bare hands. I wanted to brutally rip the landlord’s head off. I wanted to burn this entire wretched neighborhood to the ground for daring to house what was mine in such extreme poverty.

She chose this. She chose to live like a starving rat just to get away from me.

That realization was a jagged, rusted blade twisting viciously into my gut. The guilt and the fury warred fiercely inside my veins.

But then, the crying pulled me deeper into the house.

Beneath the overwhelming stench of cheap cleaning supplies and damp walls, a new scent hit me. It completely hijacked my senses. It was a scent so incredibly pure and sweet that it made my chest physically ache. Warm milk, fresh baby powder, and a tiny, undeniable hint of dark rain.

My rain. My blood.

I started moving again. I walked slowly down the cramped, dark hallway. Mia was trailing closely behind me. I could feel her hostile, angry glare burning a physical hole into my back. She was still watching me like I was a monster about to slaughter her entire family. I completely ignored her.

I stopped perfectly still in the open doorway of the tiny bedroom.

The room was barely big enough to fit a cheap twin bed and a flimsy, plastic crib. The walls were painted a faded, ugly yellow. But I didn’t care about the room anymore. The entire world around me completely faded away.

My pitch-black eyes locked instantly onto Irina.

She was standing nervously right next to the crib. Her fragile back was to me. She was holding a tiny, bundled blanket tightly against her chest. She was rocking frantically back and forth on her freezing, bare feet. She completely ignored her own bruised, shivering body. She only cared about soothing the baby.

"Shh, shh, mommy’s here. I’m right here, my sweet baby," she cooed softly.

Her beautiful voice was shaking terribly. It was thick with heavy, unshed tears, but it was incredibly gentle. It was the voice of a mother completely devoted to her child.

The baby’s desperate, high-pitched wails slowly turned into soft, jagged hiccups.

My heart completely stopped in my chest.

My breath hitched violently in my throat. My massive, calloused hands—hands that had ended countless lives without a single tremor—were suddenly shaking. I couldn’t breathe. The oxygen completely evaporated from the tiny yellow bedroom.

I had missed it.

I missed the entire pregnancy. I missed her belly swelling with my child. I missed the dangerous, terrifying birth. I wasn’t there to hold her hand. I wasn’t there to protect her when she was at her most vulnerable. The agonizing pain of that lost time crushed my lungs.

Mia stood defensively in the hallway right behind me, crossing her arms, her face still heavily twisted in a furious scowl.

I took a slow, heavy step into the room.

I walked up right behind Irina. I was completely silent, but my overwhelming, dominant presence filled every single inch of the small space.

Irina immediately stiffened.

She could feel my oppressive, suffocating heat radiating fiercely against her back. She stopped rocking. Her tiny, delicate shoulders tensed violently. She pulled the bundled baby even tighter to her chest, curling her body protectively over the child. She was absolutely terrified I was going to violently rip the baby from her arms.

"Nicholas," she whispered. Her voice was completely broken. "Please."

I didn’t speak. I couldn’t speak. My throat was entirely closed up with raw, heavy emotion. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

I slowly moved around to her side. I didn’t reach out to touch her. I didn’t try to take the baby. I just stood over her, casting a massive, protective shadow over the both of them.

I looked down.

My gaze fell heavily upon the small bundle in her trembling arms.

He was so incredibly tiny. He was so fragile. He was wrapped in a cheap, faded blue blanket. He had a thick head of messy, dark hair. His little, chubby face was bright red from crying so hard. His tiny, delicate fists were clutching fiercely onto the edge of Irina’s dirty, oversized t-shirt.

My chest heaved. A strange, burning pressure built up heavily behind my eyes. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Then, the baby took a deep, shaky breath. He stopped hiccuping.

He slowly turned his tiny head toward me.

He opened his eyes.

The breath was violently punched right out of my lungs.

They weren’t Irina’s beautiful, oceanic blue. They weren’t a generic, murky newborn brown.

They were pitch-black. They were deep, endless, and entirely piercing. They were the exact same dark, stormy, intimidating eyes that stared back at me in the mirror every single day. They were the eyes of an Alpha. My eyes.

A fat, wet tear rolled slowly down the boy’s chubby, red cheek, clinging heavily to his dark eyelashes.

He looked right at me.

A massive, terrifying electric shockwave exploded violently through my entire body. It shattered every single wall I had ever built. It tore straight through my dark soul. The familial bond snapped into place with a terrifying, absolute, violently loud crack.

My flesh. My blood. My son.

In the dark, primal corners of my mind, my beast completely lost his mind. He didn’t just pace. He didn’t just growl.

My massive, lethal wolf threw his massive head back and let out a deafening, earth-shattering, maddening howl.

Ours!!!