Chapter 10

I trudged home after pulling a double shift, collapsing into bed without even considering a shower. I was too wiped out to even entertain the thought.

Then, my phone buzzed.

Christopher

The bed feels too big without you. I’d sleep better with you here.

I hadn’t saved the number, but I didn’t need to. I knew who it was.

Scarlett

How did you get my number, Alpha?

His response was immediate.

Christopher

You work at a hospital in my pack. It wasn’t hard.

My heart fluttered, realizing he cared enough to find me—to get my number and call me, just to chat.

That was just the start. He seemed to call whenever he had a spare moment. And it became harder and harder not to think about him, either because he was constantly talking to me or because my feelings for him were growing. I tried to hide it, but I was falling for him.

Every time I came home after a shift, I’d try to slip into the house and into my room, avoiding any personal conversations. But I knew I couldn’t avoid it forever.

After another grueling day working two shifts, I opened the front door to immediately hear my mother.

“Scarlett! Dinner’s ready,” I forced myself to head to the kitchen, my stomach growling.

I said hello to everyone, scanning the room. My dad, Bob, and Tiff were all there helping my mom with dinner.

“So, how was it at Tyler’s?” Dad asked. “You haven’t been home since then.”

He was used to our hectic medical schedules, but even for a doctor, I was working too much and spending too little time at home.

“It was awful, actually,” I said, grabbing a plate and serving myself. “I caught Mathew cheating on me. We’re not together anymore,” I said. My mom looked shocked. Clearly, Karen hadn’t told her anything, and I preferred it that way, at least for now.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Dad said, genuinely upset. “I’m going to punch that jerk.”

“No, Dad. For now, I just want to distance myself from him,” I said, meaning every word.

The next few moments were filled with silence. My family didn’t know what to say to comfort me. It was my mom who broke the silence.

“How many more days will the alpha be at the council?” Mom asked. I nearly choked on my food at her question. I stared at her, looking for any sign that she knew something, but she didn’t seem suspicious.

“Three more days,” Dad said. That’s when I realized Mom wasn’t talking to me.

“But he was oddly cheerful before leaving for this trip,” Dad said. “He was incredibly stressed until the day he left, but then suddenly he was fine.”

I felt a wave of relief. At least Christopher wasn’t lying. He had told me he would be gone for another three days.

Was I the reason for his good mood?

The next day I woke up to a photo from Alpha. It was a plate with a croissant.

Christopher: I thought of you.

The message made me smile. I got up, put on his slippers that I had, took a photo, and sent it back.

Scarlett: Me too.

Christopher: I miss every inch of you.

His message made my heart soar.

Christopher: Just three more days…

I went downstairs but didn’t feel like eating breakfast. I had been feeling a bit sick all morning. I spent the day resting and switched my shift to work at night again. It was a busy night, so all I wanted to do when I got home was sleep. But that morning, the nausea hit again. This wasn’t normal for me.

When I went to work that night, I felt fine. But the nausea from the past two mornings was concerning. “You know, Bertha, I’ve never been sick in my life. But I haven’t been able to eat anything in the morning for two days. I keep waking up feeling nauseous.”

Bertha turned to me with a smile.

“You’re not pregnant, are you?”

Her question made me freeze in fear. I widened my eyes, but it couldn’t be true, could it?

I knew that wolves became fertile on the day of the full moon. That was the day of the ball, when I had sex with Mathew, with coitus interruptus, which isn’t a reliable contraceptive method. And two days later I had sex twice with Alpha, who didn’t use any contraception.

I’d definitely had sex during the fertile period. But it couldn’t be. I didn’t even have a mate. Mathew was a jerk, and what was Christopher? A fling?

“No, Bertha, of course not,” I replied, trying to hide the panic I felt inside.

But she had planted the idea in my head. It couldn’t be true; it just couldn’t. I tried to forget what Bertha suggested. I slept all day, but that night I didn’t have a shift to work. I also couldn’t sleep after sleeping all day. I spent the night thinking about it. Christopher had sent some messages and even called me once, but I ignored him. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to talk to him.

The next morning my eyes were surrounded by dark circles that looked like two black holes; they were so deep. And again, I felt sick, but at that moment I didn’t know if it was physiological or psychological.

I threw myself into work. I had been doing this lately. I didn’t take any days off; I worked overtime on top of overtime and extra shifts on top of my normal shifts. That day I hoped that my work would distract me, but at the end of the day, before leaving, Bertha walked into my room with a small bag.

“Scarlett, darling, I’m worried about you,” Bertha said. “Do yourself a favor and take a test. If it’s negative, at least you’ll be able to sleep.”

She knew from the dark circles under my eyes and my absence from breakfast in the morning that I was in the hospital. It was a croissant day, and I simply didn’t go. Just thinking about it made me want to vomit. Bertha handed me the bag, and inside was a pregnancy test.

“Thank you, Bertha,” I responded. “I promise I’ll do it first thing when I get home.” I didn’t want to be vulnerable like that there at the clinic.

Bertha left, and I gathered my things and headed home. I tried to eat something before taking the test; I knew that if it were positive I wouldn’t be able to eat anything, but nothing would go down. My nerves were so high that I felt like I was going to explode.

How did my life go from being so incredible to such a huge disaster in just a matter of days?

I made my way to the bathroom, picked up the test, and took a deep breath. I collected the sample, inserted the test, and then I waited. Those five minutes felt like the longest of my life, and when that second line appeared, I was stunned into silence.

I was carrying a child.

As my world seemed to crumble around me, I felt a strange sensation, like my blood was draining from my limbs. But amidst the shock, I also felt the weight of responsibility. There was a life growing inside me, and I had to keep my cool.

But the question that haunted me was, who was the father?

Could it be Mathew?

Or could it be the alpha?

One of the perks of being a wolf was that I didn’t have to wait nine months to find out. A pregnant woman gives off a unique scent, a blend of the parents’ smells. I needed to focus, to tap into that. I took advantage of the privacy in the bathroom, slipped a finger inside myself, and brought it up to my nose. I was trembling, terrified that the scent might belong to Mathew.

As the tip of my finger neared my nostrils, I couldn’t believe what I was smelling.