The sun hitting my face forced me to open my eyes. The sterile smell of antiseptic assailed my nostrils and made me wrinkle my nose. The hospital remained one of the worst places for me. It reminded me of the many long hours I used to spend in fertility clinics trying to conceive. I touched my stomach or I tried to. One of my hands felt numb and the other was gripped in someone else’s hand.I took a deep breath to calm myself as a flood of memories passed through me. It was as if I was being held at knifepoint again and my heart trembled. My lips pursed and tears rapidly filled my eyes. I’d been so scared, goddess, I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I’d been as scared as I was then. My life had flashed before my eyes and I saw everything I was about to lose.I tried to breathe but my chest felt like it was caving in on me and I could still feel a hand around my neck choking the breath out of me. The nightmare was over but the scars it left were permanent. As I lay there in bed
“Uggh,” I sighed as I collapsed onto the sofa. “I’m tired of being pregnant,” I muttered as I sank deeper into the new sofa. I was a few weeks away from delivery and I felt huge, as in HUGE. There were times when I saw doors and I was scared I wouldn’t be able to fit through. Of course, it always ended up being my imagination but my back was killing me and my feet were now atrociously large. Most of all, I was more than eager to meet my babies. “We’re done, Luna,” the pack members who’d come to help Valens and me move into our new home announced. I’d been looking forward to this day for a long time and it was finally here. The house was fully decorated and we’d set up the babies’ room a while back. Everything was perfect. Life was awesome. We hadn’t moved all those months ago because aside from having to decorate the house, I didn’t think it was right to leave the pack house when the pack was still grieving. Redville had not experienced a battle in decades and although there were a
Climbing a mountain was no easy feat but dragging a frightened deer with me made the exercise more daunting. The sun beat down on me and my stomach rumbled but I gritted my teeth and continued to climb up the mountain of miracles. The ‘priestesses’ leading me up the mountain paused at intervals to give me withering glares that seemed to reproach me, reminding me that I could not be lazy if I wanted a child. Until I had a child, there would be no reprieve for me. “Goddess, please,” I muttered to myself, “please, just one child – one baby – please –“After five years of being mated to an Alpha without birthing an heir or even getting pregnant once, people no longer spoke behind my back; they called me barren to my face. The only way I could save myself and my marriage was to get pregnant as soon as possible.My legs ached as I climbed, my hands were injured from pulling on the rope attached to the deer. The sun roasted my skin and my vision turned white every ten minutes but I continu
I woke up to my phone ringing the next morning and the bed cold beside me.“Hello?” I croaked into the phone, rubbing my eyes with my fingers.“Did I wake you?” A snide voice made me sit up in alert. The sleep vanished from my eyes and I steeled my heart against the onslaught of insults about to come.“N – No – I was awake,” I stuttered, getting out of bed like a guilty child.“Oh ho, you think you can lie to me?” My mate’s mother snorted. “This is why you do not have a child. What responsible woman sleeps till nine in the morning?” She exclaimed and I winced, pulling the phone from my ear.“Mum –“ I tried to explain but she cut me off.“No. No! Let me finish! I heard you visited another fraudster yesterday so tell me, are you pregnant yet?” My throat tightened. I wanted to hide under the bed from the shame that washed over me. “Have you received a magical baby now?” She mocked. My throat dried up and my chest constricted.“Mum –“ I started again but she cut me off with a growl that s
I opened my eyes in a sterile white room and the first splash of colour I saw was a mop of sandy blonde hair.“Jackson –“ I croaked, my throat burning as I did.“Luna, you are awake.” The owner of the mop of sandy blonde hair similar to my mate’s gave me an awkward smile. The woman beside him mirrored his smile. “I am Doctor Fabian. We have met before, if you remember,” he said.“My mate?” I looked around the room that was empty save for the doctor and nurse giving me awkward smiles.“We’ve contacted the Alpha. He will be here as soon as he can,” the doctor assured me. “We contacted him a few hours ago so he should be here soon,” he added.“How long was I out?” I asked.“About four hours now. You seem to be suffering from both fatigue and food poisoning. May I ask what you have eaten in the past twenty-four hours? Can you remember? Has there been any change in your diet?” I avoided his gaze and swallowed.Heat crept up my neck as I thought back to the previous day. My hands curled at
“We are having a baby,” Irene said with a grin, wrapping her hand around Jackson’s waist and leaning against him. They looked like a picture-perfect couple. My jaw hurt from how hard I ground my teeth.“Rena, can you give us a minute?” Jackson asked, stroking her hair. I watched everything with wide eyes and a sharp pain in my chest.A part of me refused to believe all this was happening. It was almost impossible for me to come to terms with. This was my mate of five years, a man I loved with every fibre of my being, a man I believed would love me forever – he was holding another woman, expecting a child with another woman!“I – but – but I don’t want to.” Irene stomped her foot, pouting. Her eyes filled with tears and my mate leaned down to kiss her lips. Right in my presence.“It will only take a short time, I promise. Please, baby,” he pleaded and I blinked, once and then again, disbelief, anger and anguish warring inside me. Irene gave me a secret smile before she pouted again and
I packed my things.When I started decorating this house, I decorated it as my home. I never dreamt I would leave my home, especially not like this.Pausing for a minute, I took a final look around the room I shared with my mate for the last five years. This room had been my safe space, a place filled with laughter and warmth. Now, it was a place I could not call mine anymore. I could not even take a proper look at the bed I once shared with my mate as it was now stamped with infidelity.I loaded everything I owned into two suitcases, making sure not to leave anything behind. This space was for Irene now and I could not bear the thought of her using my things or even throwing them out in scorn.As I zipped up the second suitcase, the bedroom door opened and I stiffened.“Are you upset?” I raised my head to see Irene smirking down at me. Ignoring her, I went back to closing my suitcase but she refused to be ignored. “How does it feel to lose to me?” She asked but I continued to ignore
In the minute it took me to process what my eyes were seeing, Irene screamed and pushed Jackson’s Beta away. In the blink of an eye, she was smoothing down her skirt and Todd, the Beta, was buttoning his jeans. He was Jackson’s best friend and yet -“What are you doing here?” Irene growled, glaring at me.“The baby –“ I looked at her stomach and burst into laughter.“You crazy bitch!” Her eyes whipped to Todd who was red in the face. “Why are you –“ I clutched my stomach and doubled over, wheezing as tears rolled down my cheeks. I laughed until my chest hurt and breathing became too difficult.My mate threw me out for this woman. The same woman getting slutted out by his best friend.“Todd, do something!” She exclaimed and the Beta started towards me with eyes filled with anxiety.“Is it even his?” I asked, my voice hoarse.“Of course, it’s his!” Irene screeched. “Todd – You fool, we have to get rid of her!” She yelled at the beta.I choked as he grabbed my neck. Then we heard the unm