4 Chapter 4


    Seraphina’s POV 1


    One monthter


    I sat in the cramped waiting room of Whispering Valley’s only clinic, my hands trembling as I clutched the appointment slip. For the past month, I’d been staying at Ophelia’s ce.


    The morning sickness had started two weeks ago-violent waves of nausea that left me retching into Ophelia’s toilet bowl every even though I’d taken emergency contraception the day after my encounter with the mysterious stranger.


    Ophelia squeezed my hand, her own face pale with worry. “Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out together, okay?” 1


    sunrise,


    Dr. Matthews emerged from his office, a kind elderly man who was one of the few pack members still willing to treat omegas with basic


    dignity.


    “Seraphina,” he said softly, settling into the chair across from us. “Child, you’re pregnant.”


    Blood rushed to my head, creating a roaring sound in my ears that drowned out everything else. Pregnant. With the mystery man’s child.


    “What?!” Ophelia’s voice exploded beside me, her shock matching my own.


    “But… but we only had one night…” I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper.


    “One night is all it takes,” Dr. Matthews said gently, his eyes kind but serious.


    “You’re about six weeks along.” He leaned forward, studying my face with concern.


    I stumbled out of the clinic on unsteady legs, Ophelia’s arm wrapped around my waist to keep me upright. I was numb to everything except the thundering of my own heartbeat.


    Gradually, tears began spilling down my cheeks.


    “Ophelia, what am I going to do? I don’t even know who the father is. I never saw his face clearly, and I’m just an omega. If the pack finds


    out I’m carrying some stranger’s child…”


    “Stop,” Ophelia wiped my tears away with fierce determination. “First things first-we need to tell your parents. No matter what happened between you all, they need to know.”


    But when we arrived at the Knight residence, I was greeted by Victor’s explosive rage before I could even cross the threshold.


    “Where the hell have you been?!” His voice boomed across the front yard, drawing stares from neighbors. “You’ve been missing for an


    entire month! Do you have any idea how you embarrassed us by disappearing right before Valerie’s engagement ceremony? You selfish


    little brat!”


    I knew perfectly well that Valerie and Gabriel wouldn’t have dyed their precious engagement for me—they’d probably celebrated my


    absence. Fighting back a wave of nausea, I forced myself to meet his furious gaze,


    “I need to tell you something important,” I said, my voice stronger than I felt.


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    “You need to apologize is what you need to do!” Elizabeth appeared behind him, her face twisted with disgust. “Running off like somemon whore, making us look like fools in front of the entire pack.”


    “I’m pregnant,” I blurted out, the words falling like stones into sudden silence.


    Victor’s face went through a series of expressions-shock, disgust, then zing fury. In one swift motion, he grabbed my arm hard


    enough to bruise. “What did you just say?”


    “I said I’m pregnant.” I tried to pull free from his grip, but his fingers dug deeper into my flesh.


    “Enough!” Elizabeth’s voice cut through the air like a de. “We don’t care about your excuses. What we care about is that you’re


    carrying some bastard’s child and expecting us to deal with the consequences.”


    “You have two choices,” Victor snarled, his grip tightening until I gasped in pain. “Get rid of it, or get out of our house. We will not raise


    some stranger’s spawn or let you drag our family name through the mud any further.”


    “No!” I instinctively wrapped my free arm around my still-t stomach.


    “Then you can pack your things and leave, Elizabeth said coldly. “We won’t give you a penny. A pregnant omega with a bastard child?


    You’ll be theughingstock of every pack for miles.”


    They were right about one thing-I needed to leave. I couldn’t stay in this prison they called home, couldn’t subject my child to the same


    abuse I’d endured.


    “Fine,” I said quietly, yanking my arm free from Victor’s grasp. “I’ll leave.”


    I climbed the stairs to my tiny room for thest time, pulling out the battered suitcase I’d brought when they first adopted me ten years


    ago. There wasn’t much to pack-a few worn dresses, some books, the small savings I’d umted from my diner job.


    As I descended the stairs, suitcase in hand, Elizabeth and Victor watched me with expressions of cold satisfaction.


    “Don’t expect toe crawling back when reality hits,” Victor called out as I reached the door. “You made your bed with whatever


    random wolf you spread your legs for.”


    The words should have hurt, but I felt strangely numb. I walked out into the crisp evening air, leaving behind the only home I’d known


    since childhood. Ophelia was waiting by her car.


    “You’re staying with me now,” she announced before I could say anything. “No arguments. We’ll figure out the rest as we go.”


    “Ophelia, I can’t ask you to—”


    “You’re not asking. I’m telling.” She grabbed my suitcase and threw it in her trunk. “Besides, you think I’m letting my future godchild grow


    up without Aunt Ophelia spoiling them rotten?”


    Despite everything, I felt a smile tug at my lips. “Godchild?”


    “Damn right.” She paused, studying my face. “Though… we should probably think about what you want to do long-term. Whispering


    Valley isn’t exactly the most progressive ce for single omega mothers.”


    The memory of those mesmerizing blue-silver eyes shed through my mind, followed by the echo of whispered endearments in the


    09 16


    darkness.


    “We’re going to be okay, I murmured, not sure if I was talking to A, the baby, or myself. “We’ll figure it out. We have to.”