Pregnant by The Fake Mate

01- Madson P.O.V

I made a new sketch on the blank sheet, creating a wave of shadows in the drawing. My butt ached from sitting under the rock for so long, but it didn't matter as much now. "What the hell was I drawing?" I asked myself mentally as I looked at the sheet again before tearing it in two and moving on to the new one below. The images from the previous night rushed back into my mind like a sledgehammer, but the sketch of the stranger who had watched me in the clearing seemed just that, an unknown being and nothing more. "Who are you?" I wondered, trying to recall any details that might help me. My mind kept pushing me further, as if it had forgotten something that should be of utmost importance about him.

The noise below me, beneath the clearing, seemed louder, especially because I was sitting on the edge of a rock, observing the activity with my sketchbook in hand while the others worked. Even torn in two, the drawing still gave me an unsettling feeling, as if that shadow were still watching me closely from behind, in the darkness of the trees beyond.

I felt a long twinge in my belly, but I tried to quickly ignore that sensation as I refocused on the blank sheet. Which wasn't possible, after all, it was a sign from Mother Nature, a warning. And it could only mean one thing: my "full moon" was approaching, the worst time for my wolf, which insisted on participating in Lupercalia. By some damn luck, for the first time in two years, I would end up spending the end of the full moon in a fertile period, which would make any lone wolf within three kilometers see me as pure aphrodisiac in front of them when my peak arrived. I would have trouble this year rejecting everyone who dared to get close, in case the contraceptive didn't work as expected. For regular humans, contraception only prevented pregnancy, but for lycans like me, it helped me get through the full moon period without attracting the attention of single males. "It will work, you've been taking the contraceptive regularly every year. This won't be different from the last two years," I reminded myself, in a somewhat reassuring manner.

But before I could think of anything else or draw anything else, any little detail that caught my attention about the supposed stalker from the previous night on the new sheet, the sound of loud and hysterical laughter distracted me abruptly. The last thing I expected to see today was a bunch of fangirls during the Lupercalia organization in the clearing. It didn't make sense to have them here; today was specifically for setting up the environment and not for outings and picnics. I turned to see a group of excited girls not far from me, gathered around a tall and muscular male who was heading towards the organization to do something. But he wasn't just any male; he was none other than our Alpha, Dylan Palatino. I had never seen him here before, well, not during the festival's organization at least. The Alpha usually sent his beta or gamma to check on the preparations, especially when there were so many of us involved in the event. So why now? Was our beta not fulfilling his duties in the pack, and the Alpha had to come in person? Or did he also dream of a supernatural being chasing him right here and came to check? I tried to ignore this silly thought; after all, it's not like our Alpha was some kind of "dumb girl" with bizarre dreams haunting him at night. But I was grateful to have found this high rock; it created a private space with a view away from the pack's commotion, a place where I wasn't just another member but where I was just me, Madison, an elementary school teacher and visual arts teacher. A seemingly normal 20-year-old girl with deceased parents and a mentally unstable supernatural family. All absolutely normal, it seemed.

The Alpha walked slowly towards the mini-lake with his hands in his jeans' pockets, ignoring the flock of girls following him like rats at his heels while he assessed the structure of the artificial lake, which had been adapted this year to the center of the clearing next to the bonfire. "Something classy, something elegant," my aunt suggested, proposing the idea during the organizing committee. After all, it was her idea to have something so flashy for the festival, which I honestly thought was in poor taste. But she kept complaining to my uncle the whole time, insisting that the organization needed more "glamour" and "elegant touches," and he complied. The Alpha seemed bothered, but I couldn't tell if it was because of the fangirls following him or the unnecessary expense of something as superfluous as the artificial lake my uncle had created. The scowl on his face made it clear he wanted to be left alone to check out this year's improvements for the festival, such as the padded chairs and other leisure details that other pack members were adding. This piqued my curiosity, as I observed him attentively from a distance as if I were looking at a live painting. I grabbed my pencil and started working on the blank sheet, aware that it was a huge risk to draw an Alpha, especially this particular Alpha, who was so private and reserved. But how could I resist? Something about him called me to do it, something inside me demanded it. The way his face conveyed discomfort with the presence of others, the dissatisfaction of being accompanied even when he wanted to be alone, that I could understand and wished to capture in detail. Even if it was something I should burn later. Like an image full of meanings. I quickly began sketching him, feeling the graphite of the pencil squeak on the sheet. Standing at 1.99 meters tall, with short black hair and dark golden eyes that seemed to change to a denser shade every time his scowl deepened. I had started working on his eyes when he turned his head and sniffed the air. I breathed with difficulty, feeling pure ice in my veins as I froze in place. Completely immobilized by fear. If he discovered me now, drawing him just a few meters away, I could end up in a shallow grave. "Damn! I told you not to do this!" my wolf barked. If he saw me now, if he saw what I was drawing... To my relief and luck, he knelt down and turned his attention back to the water of the lake, plucking a lotus flower that had stuck to the edge of the lake. Getting lost again in some thought that left me incredibly curious to find out. Even surrounded by others, the Alpha seemed completely alone. So I drew him alone, adding details to the artificial lake, the lotus flower he was arranging in the water, and the trees behind him, while his face turned forward in some dark thought that consumed him. But nothing more, nothing beyond the natural surroundings. In the two years I've been part of this pack, I've always observed him from afar, and with caution. First, to understand the kind of place they were putting me in, since my family preferred to raise me and die far away rather than stay in this pack. I had never been this close to him before, just a few meters away, but now I could see how his biceps bulged from his shirt, how his posture exuded authority even with his almost two meters of height, which was intimidating enough for any sane person. The Alpha leaned forward, his eyes searching for something, like those of a wild animal with a golden glint. In this case, he seemed already halfway to his wolf side, which was in defensive mode. A man, yes. More than that, a werewolf. An Alpha. His wild beauty reminded me that Lupercalia was approaching rapidly. It was the time of year when every werewolf aged 18 and above went insane with lust, the season when everyone, and I mean everyone, copulated like crazy to satisfy their wolf's desires. Once or twice a year, this unpredictable hunger, this physical need, infected all of my kind to the bone like a plague that needed to be exterminated. Those who didn't have destined mates found a temporary partner to have fun with until the Lupercalia festival passed and they returned to their sane werewolf selves. In other words, there was no one in the pack over 18 who hadn't participated in the festival. "Except you, who still refuse to join! Damn human," my wolf barked, growling. "It's not the kind of thing that interests me, and you know that!" I replied. "You can't mourn Josh forever!" she retorted, needling me. I swallowed hard the pain that his name brought me, avoiding any memories of that fateful day. I blinked, trying to change the subject. And there, now looking at a grumpy Alpha, I wondered if the rumors circulating about him were really true. If maybe that was why he was here, ignoring the girls, reflecting by the adapted lake as if he were looking at some strange static within the water. No, it seemed more like he was looking for someone in that water. Someone he had lost, perhaps? Some of the girls were pushing each other, trying to get one of them to muster the courage to approach him with some trivial topic unrelated to the preparations.