<b>4:33 </b>PM P P .


    Chapter 179 Leave


    Chapter 179 Leave


    TESSA


    0


    It was like my chest had been crushed under invisible hands, and my stomach felt like it was being ripped apart.


    s


    A sharp pain shot through me, leaving me clutching my abdomen. What the hell was happening? My knees buckled, and I felt myself sliding against the wall, desperately trying to hold on.


    I saw a familiar figure and called him out without any hesitation. “Owen!”


    He instantly turned around, freezing in rm the moment he saw me on the floor.


    “Tessa!” he eximed urgently. Then, he ran to where I was and kneeled right next to me. “What’s happening?”


    I shook my head, gasping. “It hurts,” I managed to say, my hand pressed to my stomach.


    The panic in his face hardened. “Shit,” he cursed.


    I tried to reach out to him, but another wave of pain ripped through me. My entire body felt like it was splitting apart from the inside. I folded forward, my hands shaking. Owen didn’t wait another second. He crouched down, hooked his arms under me with ease, and lifted me like I weighed nothing at all.


    “Hold on,” he muttered. “Just hold on, Tessa.”


    I couldn’t even answer. My head felt so heavy, and the world kept tilting sideways. The sound of his footsteps pounding against the ground was thest thing I heard before everything around me went dark.


    <b>*** </b>


    When I opened my eyes again, it wasn’t to darkness–it was to the white of a hospital ceiling and the antiseptic smell in the air. All I could do was blink, slow and sluggish, until my ears caught the voices near me.


    “She’s six weeks pregnant,” the doctor was saying.


    “Six weeks?” Owen’s voice echoed, as though he couldn’t believe it.


    “Yes. And this is a crucial time,” the doctor continued. “She’s not been getting enough rest or proper nutrition. Add the stress to that–it’s dangerous. A werewolf pregnancy isn’t exactly like a human’s. It can run three to five months at most. Any longer or shorter than that, and there are risks. Right now, her body is warning us. She needs care. A lot of care.”


    There was silence for a few seconds. Then the sound of the doctor gathering papers filled the room. “I’ll leave for now.”


    you with her


    I shut my eyes again before the door opened and closed, not wanting either of them to see that <b>I </b>had been awake through that whole conversation. But when the room finally quieted down, I couldn’t help it. My hand moved instinctively, trembling as I ced it over my


    stomach.


    A weak sob escaped me. The thought that I put my baby through such a hard time made me want to cry again.


    “Tessa?”


    I turned my head. Owen was standing by the chair beside my bed. He looked like he’d aged years in thest hour. His sigh was heavy, filled with things he didn’t say. “You heard it, right?”


    Inodded faintly. My throat was too tight to speak.


    His


    eyes


    searched mine. “Did you finally tell Rowan?<b>” </b>


    “No,” I muttered, my voice hoarse. My gaze dropped to my stomach again, my hand still protectively pressed there. “I can’t.”


    I bit my lip, and he shook his head slowly, disbelief seen across his features.


    “Why not?” he asked, his tone carrying both frustration and confusion.


    <b>4:33 </b>PM PP.


    Chapter 179 Leave


    “Because,” I started, “I think he wouldn’t want it. He doesn’t want me.”


    s


    “Our past is…plicated, and it dictates our future.”


    Owen’s gaze softened, his brow furrowing with concern. “I’m sure it wasn’t your fault,” he said firmly.


    “You’re not the type.”


    His reassurance only made me let out a deep breath. I looked away, staring at the pale walls of the hospital room. “It doesn’t matter now,” I whispered.


    I pressed my palm gently against the spot just above my abdomen, holding on as if my touch alone could protect the tiny life within me. “I want to take care of myself better,” I said, my voice firmer this time. Then the words I hadn’t even admitted to myself slipped out before I could stop them. “I want to… leave.”


    Owen’s eyes widened. He straightened his posture. “What are you talking about? Leave? Where?”


    “I don’t know.” My voice trembled, but I didn’t look away. “But not here. Not in Fenra.” I shook my head, strands of my hair falling over my face as I lowered it. “I just know that being here will only make me miserable, and I won’t be the best mother to my child if I stay.”


    The truth cut through me even as I said it.


    Rowan’s shadow lingered in every corner of thisnd. His indifference, his cold rejection–it poisoned the air I breathed. How could I bring a child into that?


    Owen bit his lip, his jaw clenching like he was fighting himself. His hands curled into fists before he let out a low exhale. “Should I tell this to Arden?”


    The words sent a jolt of panic through me. “No!” I eximed. The sound of it echoed off the sterile walls. My heart thudded, and I shook my head vehemently. “She can’t. She can’t know.”


    Arden would only sway me. I loved her so much that she had the capacity to make me stay.


    She was the only one I trusted fully, the only one who could still touch the soft parts of me I thought I’d buried. But staying for Arden’s sake would mean destroying myself slowly. And I couldn’t do that. Not when I had someone else to live for.


    My chest ached with guilt. “It would break her too,” I whispered, lowering my gaze to the floor.


    “Then what?” Owen asked quietly.


    I looked up at him, my eyes wet. “Please,” I said. “Let’s keep this between us. You’re the only one who knows. If you could help


    me…”


    Silence stretched between us, the only sound the faint beeping of a monitor nearby. I could see the battle in his eyes.


    Finally<i>, </i>Owen sighed heavily, dragging his hand through his hair. He nced at me again.


    “There is a ce I know,” he muttered after a long pause.


    “rc.”