[Almira’s Pov]
[One Month Later]
I should’ve known better. The discrimination against Omegas within the packs was something the Alphas allowed to persist. Even though we’ve lived in the human community for so long, nothing has changed. When I woke up in Alpha Lysander’s bed after our one-night stand, I was so terrified that I ran away.
I was scared. My ex-boyfriend, Liam, was just a Beta from a small pack, but even he treated me like I wasn’t worthy of love. How could I expect the Alpha of the most powerful pack in North America to accept me as his Luna?
It was just a one-night stand, a way to get back at Liam for his infidelity. That’s all it was. I didn’t expect anything more from it. I believed he felt the same way. I thought my rejection would show him my pride—that I wasn’t the kind of woman who used her body to gain privileges.
I refused his help. I believed I could handle my problems on my own. But then he insulted me, fired me, as if he regretted what happened between us. It hurt me more deeply than Liam’s betrayal, though I didn’t know why.
I still didn’t have a wolf, so I couldn’t be sure if this was the pull of a mate. It couldn’t be. My mind refused to accept it. My mate was an Alpha, and the only possible outcome was that he’d reject me again. I didn’t want to be made a fool of in front of everyone at the mall.
Well, he proved me right. I was glad I ran away and refused his help. He was just a selfish, arrogant Alpha bastard!
Quitting that damn job was what I wanted anyway. It wasn’t so bad. But what was worse was that my parents suddenly disappeared.
Luckily, they left me some money.
Beep… beep… beep…
I bit my lower lip, tapping my fingers impatiently on the table.
I’d lost count of how many times I’d called my parents, but they never answered. A few days ago, I went to their house, but no one was home. They didn’t even tell me where they were going. This wasn’t like them.
I’d been having headaches and nausea for a month now. I thought it would go away after a while, but it seemed to be getting worse.
“The number you have dialed is unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone.”
Shit.
“Mom? Where are you? Why aren’t you answering my calls? Dad’s phone is dead, and I can’t reach you. If you were going to abandon me, you should’ve done it when I was twelve!”
Yes, I knew I sounded like a spoiled brat.
This was how I usually talked to my parents, and they never found it offensive. In fact, I was the one who felt offended that they’d left their only daughter without a word.
Was there some family vacation I didn’t know about? Were they going to the Maldives or something? They could’ve just told me they wanted some time alone. Why make me worry like this?
I hung up helplessly.
Since the embarrassing incident at the mall, I hadn’t tried to leave the house. I was afraid of running into my colleagues at work. The last thing I wanted was to be interviewed about how I had a one-night stand with the CEO of my company.
Besides, the strange changes in my body were starting to worry me. It wasn’t just that my hair color had changed. My senses were becoming sharper—probably a wolf trait—but I knew this was different because I’d been an Omega for so long, and I’d never smelled the corn from my neighbor’s house across the street before.
Speaking of corn…
What was even stranger was that I’d started craving foods I’d never craved before. Like right now, I wanted corn, but it had to be pink with green.
I should get this checked out, right?
Buzz! Buzz!
My phone vibrated, and I quickly picked it up.
[We’re on a business trip. I’ll call you as soon as we’re done here, okay?]
A business trip?
Since when were they entrepreneurs?
I shrugged. Whatever. It seemed like I’d have to face this problem on my own this time. I was worried that the nausea and food cravings were exactly what I thought they were.
I’d better go visit my doctor friend.
“Miss Harper?” the nurse called out at the reception. I stood up and raised my hand in response. “Dr. Perez can see you now.”
I followed her to his office and found my doctor friend inside. He was busy looking through some files. I waited for the nurse to leave before clearing my throat to get his attention.
He smiled when he saw me. “Mila?”
I rolled my eyes.
He was the only one who called me by that nickname. I couldn’t even deny that I missed being called that.
“What brings you here?”
Richie offered me a seat, and I gladly took it.
“I don’t know. Pizza?” I answered sarcastically, making him laugh.
“You’ve come to the right place. This OB-GYN certainly knows how to knead the dough well.”
He winked.
“Shut up. You’re disgusting!”
“Hahaha!”
I laughed.
He hadn’t changed a bit. Even in his doctor’s white coat, he was still a damn pervert.
“Seriously, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
I looked at him seriously.
“I think… I think I might be pregnant.”
The joy on his face quickly disappeared. After a few minutes of silence, he finally decided to confirm what I’d said.
“Did I hear that right?”
I nodded.
“Does your boyfriend know?”
I sighed, not wanting to talk about how I’d ended up in this situation. He really didn’t know about my love life. Since we’d both gotten busy with our own lives, we’d quietly forgotten about each other.
“Just do your job for now, Doctor.”
Richie apologized and then pulled out a pen and paper for me to fill out my information. He started asking me about my symptoms—the nausea and food cravings. The more I answered, the more certain I became that I might be pregnant.
“It’s too early to confirm the pregnancy with an ultrasound. For now, you can use this pregnancy test.”
I stared at the little box he handed me.
“Do you know how to use it?”
I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not stupid, Richie.”
He laughed.
“The restroom is at the end of the hall. It might take 3-10 minutes to get the results. Let me know if you need help.”
I nervously went to the restroom to take the test. I collected a urine sample, dropped a bit into the test kit, and waited for the results. It didn’t take five minutes before two clear lines appeared. “It’s positive…” I muttered in disbelief.
I stared at the stick.
I was so screwed.
Back in the office, I showed the results to Richie. He looked at me with concern. I was sure he understood the situation the moment he saw the look on my face when I got the positive result.
“You didn’t expect this,” he said, his voice full of worry.
I nodded. “No, I didn’t.”
I buried my face in my hands in frustration.
“What do I do, Richie? I can’t be pregnant. This wasn’t planned. I just can’t. I’m not ready for this kind of responsibility.”
He held my hand.
“Okay. First, we’ll need to confirm this with a blood test, but beyond that… have you talked to the father about this?”
Insightful.
“No. I… I haven’t even figured it out myself.”
“The father of your child should know, Mila. You can’t do this alone. You need someone to support you—to comfort you. We’re talking about a life inside you.”
“I know… but we’re not together.”
How was I supposed to tell the most influential Alpha in the werewolf world that I was carrying his child? I couldn’t even imagine facing him again—not after everything we’d said to each other last time.
“I don’t want this, Richie.”
“So, do you want to get an abortion?”
“No!” I frowned, shocked by his professional suggestion. He looked at me seriously. I sighed wearily. “I mean… I don’t know. He might not even remember me.”
“Can you contact him?”
I nodded reluctantly.
“Then tell him,” he said firmly, looking at me seriously. “He has the right to know that he’s the one who got you pregnant. Whether it was a one-night stand or something else. He’s the father of the life inside you. He has the right to know, Mila.”
I covered my face.
I didn’t even remember mentioning the one-night stand. Was it that obvious? Richie knew me too well—he could easily tell what was wrong just by looking at my face.
But…
Maybe he was right.
I should tell Lysander Hitwell about our child.