Forced To Have The Alpha's Baby

Chapter 7

~ARTHUR~

"Emily," I whisper. "I know how this might look to you and I don't know what my father told you but believe me I can explain. It isn't as bad as it looks."

"Isn't as bad as it looks?" She demands with tears streaming down her face. "You actually accepted your father's wishes and you're trying to get another woman pregnant and that doesn't look bad? You knew just how much it would hurt me if you agreed to do something like this. You knew how much it pained me when I couldn't have your baby and how useless as a woman it made me feel. Then why Arthur, why would you accept something like this from your father?"

Her words hurt me and I still don't have an answer for her. I don't know how to explain why I listen to everything that my father tells me to do. I don't know how to make her understand my ways especially when it wasn't always good.

All I know is that I've never once turned down any of my father's wishes. I've always lived my life pleasing him. That was the way that my brothers and I were all grown up. We listen to him without asking any questions. His wishes always came before anyone else's.

I look up at Emily after finding the courage to do so and she's still staring at me with a broken look on her face. I can see the hope in her eyes slowly begin to fade when I don't answer her question. I take another step towards her and she takes one back. It's the first time she's ever done this and it's painful to watch.

"Please Emily, just listen to what I have to say and you wouldn't have to feel this way . . . I promise."

Her eyes narrows and she takes a step closer to me. The look on her face shows the disgust she feels for me right now and it's like a punch in the face. "I will not stay with someone that doesn't show me the respect that I deserve. I've always seen you as this amazing man but now I don't know what to think of you. You're not the same Arthur I thought you were."

"Emily wait—

"Arthur." My father shouts. I stop moving immediately at his call. I didn't even realize that he was standing a little distance away from me.

"Come here." He orders.

I know that I have to do as he says and instead of going after Emily, I watch as she slowly disappears from my view.

I turn to my father with a rage impossible to hide. He's looking at me with both hands folded and I can see that he's waiting for me to ask the one question digging into my mind.

"Why did you tell her?" I demand from him.

"Did you not say that you would tell her?" He asks me. "I just made it easier for you. I told her for you; wouldn't that have been the best thing? I thought it would have been."

I can't believe his words. I can't believe that my father could be this cold and heartless towards my own feelings. I know that he's trying to make me just as cold as him and it may actually work if he continues this way.

"Is there anything else that you want to say to me?" He asks me as I stand there glaring at him.

"No."

"Good." He mumbles as he motions for me to join him in his chambers. My body feels numb as I walk into the room with him.

"There is something that I want you to look into for me." He says.

"What is that?"

His eyes are dark as if he just remembered something that made him angry.

"Find out where Nathan has been going every night this past week."

I frown. "Nathan has not been going anywhere, I always see him around here. I think you're mistaken about this father."

"Clearly you haven't been paying attention. You definitely need to work on those skills Arthur; you need to be aware of what's happening around you. Your brother has been disappearing lately and I want to know where he's been running off to." He snaps at me.

His words are again like a slap to the face. He's constantly reminding me of what I do wrong, never what I do right. This time however, I'm not here to listen to this. I can sense my brother's distress and now that I know what the mate pull feels like, I don't want to bring him more pain.

"Father, Nathan has been going through a lot lately. He's still been listening to your every word despite the pain that he's been feeling. I think that you should give him this time to come to terms with everything. Forcing him to listen to you will only push him further away." I try to make him see my view on this but again my words only seemed to anger him more.

"I never said I wasn't giving your brother any time. Look at how many times he's postponed this engagement and I've been letting him but enough is enough. He should not be needing all of this time." He snarled. "Just do as I say, I do not want to discuss this matter anymore."

"Yes father." I answer without thinking twice.

"And while you're at it, find out where Lucas has disappeared to. I have too many things to see about right now or I would have seen to it myself but I'm trusting these matters into your hands. I need to see how well you handle them; it will prove to me whether or not you'll be able to take over after me when that time is right."

I feel a heavy weight on my shoulders as I walk out of the room. I don't want to do what my father has asked me to but I know that I must.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

"Fuck." I hiss as the twig under my feet makes a noise that could possibly alert Nathan to my presence.

It's been an hour now and I've been following him without stopping for a second. I think I know where he's going and this will not be good news to take back to my father. He was heading in the direction of Hunter's home and most likely he was going to see Esma.

When had any of this even started happening? As far as I knew, Esma believed that Nathan hated her. So what exactly was going on between the two of them for Nathan to be heading in her direction every night for the past week . . . Which was according to my dad's words.

A few minutes into the walk and I was proven right. Nathan stopped exactly where Hunter's home came into view. I watched as he climbed a tree effortlessly and positioned himself on one of the branches and leaned back.

What exactly was he doing? Was he waiting for her to come out here?

I stayed completely silent and out of his view while he continued to look at something. Suddenly I saw him go still and for a second I wondered if he'd finally sensed that he was being watched.

But then I saw his eyes widen a bit and I followed his gaze to see what he was looking at. It was Esma. She'd come out onto her balcony and was looking in his direction. She couldn't see him from where she was . . . I was sure of it. He was definitely getting a good view of her however.

I sigh and turn around with my eyes closed. How was I supposed to tell this to my father? He would make Nathan's life miserable the minute he learnt what he was up to. A Blackner sneaking out from home to gaze at his mate from afar? People would laugh if they ever heard about this and my father would not take that kind of embarrassment lightly.

I stiffen when I hear something behind of me and I turn just in time to see my brother standing in front of me. We are both silent as we stare at each other and I wait for him to say something.

He knows the situation I've found him in and he understands that I'll have to tell this to father.

Nathan breaks the stare and leans against a tree while pushing his hands into his pockets.

"Did father send you to spy on me?" He asks me as he stares off into a distance.

I nod my head slowly.

He sighs. "I knew I couldn't keep this up for long but a part of me didn't really care. I just wanted to get a few last looks at her before I gave her up for good and went ahead with the engagement."

I watch him closely. "Do you mean to tell me that you've been coming all the way over here just to stare at her?"

Nathan laughs. "It's pathetic isn't it?" He asks me. "I never thought that this would be me one day but here I am."

Gabriella comes into my mind then and I immediately understand what my brother is saying. Even now I want to go to her and just simply stare.

"You don’t need to explain yourself, I understand how you feel."

Nathan turns to me. "You do?"

I nod. He's taken aback by my confession but he doesn't comment further on it.

"I guess you're going to tell father about what you saw here." He says without a hint of a question in his voice.

I ponder on his words for a few minutes. I’m not even sure what I was about to do.

What was the right thing?

Should I be honest with my father or should I protect my brother?