"You didn't let me finish. What I meant, is that I think the father is a werewolf."
"Oh." I nod my head. "Do you know who exactly it is?" I knew who it is, she told me.
"Yeah. I think it's the rogue... Slade? I'm not too sure what his name is. He keeps to himself, doesn't cause any trouble so there isn't any reason to do too much of a background check. I believe he is powerful, more so than my beta, most likely. My father said he came here on peaceful terms but that's all my father said about it." We finally make it to the room. When we enter, there is already a doctor there.
"You are 12 weeks, correct?" he asks us after telling me to sit on the table and Rane in a chair.
"Correct." Rane answers for us.
"Well then I believe that we might be able to tell the sex of the baby, if you like?" I gasp.
"I do!" I tell him.
"Well then lay back and we will see today."
Chapter 19
"It's a bit cold..."
I shiver at the coolness of the gel he sticks on my stomach. It's a sticky bluish substance. As soon as the little white machine thing hits my stomach, a picture pops up onto the screen.
"There it is." The doctor looks over at us, beaming. Rane had told me he was a werewolf and it was very exciting for him to be the doctor with us through the pregnancy considering it was the future alpha's baby. His glasses are slightly skewed but his brown eyes are bright with happiness.
I feel Rane's hand squeeze mine. I didn't look over at him, I was entranced with the picture in front of me. I could slightly see the form of my - our - baby. My eyes widen and tear up.
"You can see the head and parts of the body right now..." Dr. Valentine, the doctor, traced the outline of the baby on the computer. I tore my eyes away from the screen to look at Rane who was hovering above me. His eyes were wide in excitement and joy. He was beaming.
He looked beautiful in that moment, just like the picture of the baby does on the screen. I look back to Dr. Valentine.
"Can you tell the sex of the baby?" I ask, hope filling my voice. The doctor nods.
"I can. Would you like to know?"
"Yes." I'm the only one who answers as Rane is still slack jawed staring at the picture of our baby. I smile thinking about it - our baby.
He then starts talking in big technical words.
"Can you just say if it’s a boy or girl?" I sigh, I have no patience. I feel Rane's hand tighten on my hand. We stare in each other's eyes while we wait.
"It's a baby girl." Rane's smile is huge. I squeal. I actually wanted a boy... but I know I will love this little girl. I look at Rane now and smirk.
Poor boy... she'll have him wrapped around her little finger.
I feel a happy tear leak out. It's all so exciting. I look at Rane and smile wide, just like he is. He looks proud and happy. I sit up straight.
"I have to tell Layla!" I yell, sliding out of the hospital bed.
"Wait - Elaina!" Rane calls after me. I turn around and glare at him.
"No. I'm going." I glare at him, challenging him to deny me. He holds his hands up in surrender, his eyes wide. He smirks, though, clearly amused.
"Women." the doctor mutters and walks off. I frown after him. I shrug my shoulders to myself and walk out the door.
Rane drops me off. He goes back to talk to his father on an update with the rogues.
I just walk on in her house, calling her name. She comes running down the stairs, tackling me when she gets in a close range. I squeak and freeze for a second until I realize she is being careful of my stomach.
Then Jayden comes walking down the stairs. My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion and I look quizzically to Layla. An eyebrow lifts in an 'explain' gesture. She smiles wide.
"I'm so happy that I can tell you everything now."
"What?"
"Well," she points to Jayden. "He is my mate and..."
"Mate! You're a werewolf?" I shake my head slightly, this was too much at once.
"Well, not exactly." Then what the hell was she?!?
"Then what are you?"
"A witch."
Chapter 20
"A... A witch?" I ask, disbelievingly. We had been friends for so long and I had never known.
"Yup." she says, her hair swinging as she nods. I look at Jayden and then her.
"How did you not know that he was your mate?" I ask, referring to the time she was going to seduce him. "Wouldn't he already want you since he was your mate? What is he?" The questions just pour out. Layla sighs and looks heavenwards before answering.
"He is a werewolf, Rane's beta. I didn't know he was my mate and nor did he know I was his. It wasn't until we touched, skin on skin, that we knew. I am a witch, not all witches get mates. I thought I was an unlucky one so I was going to go on ahead and lose my virginity. I just didn't know I was going to pick my mate." she cuddles up next to Jayden and smiles up at him.
I shake my head slightly, suddenly tired. "I'm going to go home. I just... I need a nap." I say and start my journey to the door. It seems so far away.
"Wait!" I hear her call out I slowly turn around, my eyebrows together in confusion. She runs up to me, hugging me I hug her back. "Don't go in the woods tonight." she whispers in my ear, pulling away to look in my face seriously.
I glance back at Jayden and he has the same serious look on his face. I slowly nod. "Okay..."
What was so bad that I couldn't go in the woods?
That kept playing, over and over, in my head as I walked home. She's never warned me about it before... Why now?
What was going to happen?
I finally made it home, darkness crowding in overhead. I walked in, going for the kitchen. Linda, Shane's mom, was nowhere to be found but Shane ran up to me as soon as I entered. I lowered down next to him.
"Hey, bud. What's up?" I smiled at him. He smiled too, his front two teeth missing.
"I'm hungry. Can you make me something?" he asks with wide innocent eyes.
"Yeah, did Mom not make anything?" I still kept up the act of her as my "mother", for his sake. I stood up from my crouched position, the air whooshing out of my lungs as I did. Shane shakes his head no.
Why am I not surprised?
Shane sits on a counter stool, slowly spinning himself, as I make him spaghetti. He said he wanted it and I was suddenly craving it, sleepiness gone.
"How do you feel about being an Uncle?" I turned to look at him as I asked it, waiting for his reaction. At first his eyebrows were scrunched together in confusion.
"Does that mean you have a baby in your tummy?" he asked, eyes wide in wonder as he stares at my stomach. I nod my head a move closer to him.
"Yup. A little girl." I step in front of his now still chair. "Want to feel my stomach?" I ask as he raises his hand. He smiles big up at me and touches my stomach, I feel a light pressure.
"It's hard." he whispers. He looks up at me in curiosity. "Can she hear me?" I shrug my shoulders.
"Why don't you see?" he nods his head, blond hair swinging. His hand is still on my slight bump. He leans in close, as if to tell her a secret.
"Umm... hi?" it comes out as a question and I have to hold in a laugh. When nothing happens, he pouts. "She didn't do anything back."
"It's okay." I tell him while rubbing his hair. "Why don't we eat? Maybe in a couple weeks, she will be big enough to talk or do something back?" I tell him while getting plates out. He nods, his eyes bright.
Throughout dinner, he talks about the baby. He tells me that he will protect her with all his heart... and muscles. He even holds his arms out and flexes. I laugh at his show of machoness.
"Oh yes. You will definitely be able to protect her with those muscles." I reassure him. He agrees and keeps on eating.
When he finishes, I bathe him and get him dressed. He gets in his own bed this time and I tuck him in.
"Night, Shane." I say and kiss him on the forehead.
"Read me a story?" I turn back to him and nod. As I read 'The B
oy Who Cried Wolf', I realize that maybe I could do this, care for the baby. I practically raised Shane myself.
I shower and get in pajama shorts and a big t-shirt. I throw my wet hair up in a braid. I am on my way to my bed when I hear a scream.
I immediately freeze and look towards the window, where I heard it come from. I hear it again and don't waste any time in running out the door.
I run until I get to the wood's edge, where I stop. I suddenly remember Layla's warning.
Don't go in the woods tonight.
I look uncertainly at my house back to the woods. Making my mind, I run into the forest.
Stupid? Yes.
Brave? Probably not.
Do I care? Nope.
From Chapter 11, A dream of Elaina's:
My bare feet run across the green grass without a sound. They pad carefully through the thicket of twigs and leaves. Darkness caresses my skin and surroundings. The only light was from the full moon, peeking through the trees that tower above my head.
I was not yet tired, I would soon though. I was not a werewolf, but a witch. I couldn't continue running as long as they could.
I hear footfalls behind me, they get louder and louder. I turn my head a fraction and catch sight of a black wolf and a light brown one. They are big, way bigger than normal wolves. I know they are werewolves and I doubt that I can outrun them.
Brown hair flutters over my eyes briefly and I almost trip over my own feet. I manage to keep upright but they are closer now.
My hands slap branches and leaves from my face. My legs are getting cut by the briars that stick up from the ground, making me bleed.
I squint my eyes when I think I see a flash of blond hair. I shake my head and pray that she isn't here, that the blond wasn't from her hair. I would die for her, I've been alive way too long now anyway. She has yet to live.
I know that my praying has gone to waste when she yells my name. She says it three times, I count.
The way her voice carries on the wind tells me that she is in my path, my only way to freedom.
I turn back around and face the wolves.
I can't bring them to her.
"Please! Answer me!" she yells at the top of her lungs yet I won't say anything.
As the wolves barrel down on me, I can't control the scream that rips from my throat as they prepare to jump...
Chapter 21
I run through the forest, my breathing heavy. I swear that the scream had come from this way. I also knew, somehow, that it was from Layla.
Was this why she didn't want me to go in the woods tonight?
I shook my head and screamed her name out.
"LAYLA!!"
I didn't hear an answer. I look around wildly. I wasn't even sure what I was looking for, something to pop out at me, maybe? Something that had answers.
I didn't know where I was either. I was too intent on finding where the scream was coming from. I hadn't heard a scream in a while though.
"LAYLA!!"
I didn't know what was worse, not hearing a scream or hearing one.
I call her name again, that making three times.
"LAYLA!!"
My breathing comes in pants, getting harder each second. I turn in circles until I hear growling.
I still, frozen to the spot. There are at least three wolves close by. Is Layla being chased by them?
I run to where I think the growls come from. I realize something. I have never been that smart these past months.
I mean...
I went out to a party.
I got drunk.
I had sex with a stranger.
That stranger being a werewolf - even if I didn't know it at the time.
I got pregnant by it.
Now here I am - chasing after wolves.
"Please! Answer me!" I yell out, hoping she would actually obey my plea. She didn't. I heard and saw something worse.
I see Layla run out slightly to where I can see her. I see that she plans to try and detour the wolves into following her instead of seeing me but it doesn't work.
I run to her yet I won’t be fast enough. I scream out at the same time she does.
The wolves are preparing to pounce on her. Our screams bound around in the woods, shrill and high. I know someone had to have heard it.
The lead wolf starts to jump as another turn to me. I slowly back away, shaking in fear. I know that they can all smell it yet I don't care. I'm not even scared for me.
I'm scared for Layla and my baby. My arms circle ,y waist in a protective manner as the rogue stalks after me.
I can tell that they are all rogues, they have red eyes full of bloodlust. The third wolf watches from the shadows, silent but deadly.
I feel ready to cry as I see the big black wolf, the leader, jump. But I almost fall to my knees in relief as more wolves start to pour out of the forest. Rane is there too, I recognize his blue eyes on his silver wolf. He is beautiful.
A mix between dark and light brown fur suddenly hits the leader of the rogues. I know this is Jayden, he is protecting his mate.
While looking at the scene of the wolves, Jayden, and Rane, I don't see the light brown rogue in front of me. I should have. I didn't. I also didn't see the man creeping up behind me, read to knock me out.
It was really too bad that Rane was too far away... for he could have saved me.
Chapter 22
The last thing I saw was Rane, his outraged wolf sprinting towards me. I heard the scream of Layla just before I was hit in the head. I immediately fell to the ground, crying out.
My hands didn't go to my head but my stomach, to protect it. The pain wasn't enough to damage me much or knock me out, but to disorient myself.
Behind my eyelids, pink sparkles dance like the flames in a fire, wisps of blue and red float up in the air. Shadows slither around the edges, twirling and laughing in joy of my pain. The pain has its own beat, thump thump thumping in my head, a constant drum in my ears.
I watched through narrowed eyes as more wolves poured out, but this time they were against us. Rogues. They attacked Rane and his pack. I heard a low evil laugh behind me just as the man layed a hand on my shoulder. I wince and flinch away from him, disgusted.
He leans close to me ear and with a rancid breath whispers, "Your mother is here. She came just for you." he hisses the last part. He points with a gnarled old finger, right at the light brown wolf in front of me. I gasp and scoot away from it.
I didn't know what Linda would do to me yet I still hissed, "She's not my mother." The wolf growls lowly at me and steps forward, her hair standing on end. Her fangs glitter in the moonlight. I cower a bit into the man behind me, him seeming less scary compared to her.
We seem to be in our own little bubble, everyone fighting yet here we sit, talking. I look at the fight again to see we are losing. Rane's father had been right, they didn't have many to fight with from the last battle they had. We were losing.
I whimper when I see Rane trapped by five or so rogues, all seemingly older and more experienced. He didn't cower and he looked like a strong fighter but against five? He didn't have much of a chance.
I feel my eyes water. What was I to do?
I'm only human...
Then I realized something else, I don't know who my parents are. Didn't know anything about my life at all, really. All I know is that I was just a girl in a family that wasn't her own... an imposter. I didn't know how I got here or why. All I know is that I wanted to find out.
And that meant living.
As human as I was, I still had a brain. I made my eyes roll in the back of my head, pretending to pass out. My body slumped too. I had my breathing even out and deepen.
So maybe that was a stupid plan, but what else could I do?
"Did she just faint?" I heard the guy ask. Linda huffs and growls. It's like I can see her shake her head, denying.
I silently curse and hope that they think I am out like a light. I don't even know where I'm going with th
is, just winging it and hoping for the best.
Then the evil guy says something that makes my eyes snap open.
"Kill him."
And I know who he was talking about. He was the one still standing, trapped by five or so rogues. I see his leg bleeding and I freeze.
"Oh god... no." I whisper, my voice faint.
Ignoring my protesting body, I stand up and try running to him. My leg aches in different places and my head swims. I stumble a bit, but keep on going.
"NO!!!" I scream out as I feel myself being jerked back by my arm. Tears pour down my face.
"No. NO NO NO NO NO! Please, god no!" I yell but it’s no use. Mr. Evil chuckles and says, "Do it."
Chapter 23
I scream, bite, scratch, kick, wiggle, and anything else you can think of but Mr. Evil holds on tighter to my arm. When he reaches for my stomach, I immediately stop my struggles.
Even if I got out of his grip, what was I to do? I couldn't kill all of those rogues by myself. I whimper and fall to the ground, screaming. I always seem to mess up and not know what to do.
I keep screaming until a hand is slapped over my mouth. I don't even stop then, it’s just muffled now. I only stop when I hear helicopters and the sound of many feet running through the forest. My eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.
Who could be coming?
Everyone stops to see the newcomers. I notice Mr. Evil is a bit distracted so I take my chance to sprint to Rane.
I feel the air almost holding me back, pushing against me. My breath is harsh and slightly panicked. I had never been much of a runner and now here I was, sprinting like I was in a marathon. My heart beats erratically and pounds against my chest, ready to break free.
My thighs burn and my feet ache. The twigs and rocks cutting into them. I whimper and push the pain away, storing it away for later.
I wish I had done track...
Was the random thought to pass through my head as everyone turns to me now. I manage to dodge some but it’s really hard. Rogues jump in front of me as I run and I feel as if I'm in an obstacle course. Rane runs to me also, sprinting and dodging.
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