<h4>Chapter 98: The Heartbeat</h4>


    <strong>Evaline:</strong>


    I let out a deep sigh and stood up to stretch my body.


    It was Sunday and River was absent again.


    Not that I was surprised.


    He hadn’t shown his face since the weekend warriors went missing, and every time I came in for work, it felt like walking into a fog that refused to lift. The assignments he gave me through his secretary were straightforward and dry - sorting documents, updating reports, rewriting summaries.


    There was no mentions of ssified cases. No warriors. Just paper and silence.


    Though I did spentst night pondering on the matter, I eventually decided to put away the matter as it had nothing to do with me.


    By four in the afternoon, I was done with my work. It wasn’t that I was rushing, I just worked faster when I wanted to be somewhere else.


    And today, I <i>did</i> want to be somewhere else.


    I grabbed my bag and headed downstairs, finding the familiar ck SUV in the parking just as it had been every weekend for the past month.


    Kieran’s man had been taking me to and from the Council headquarters for weeks now, even after I insisted I could just take the bus.


    "You don’t need to keep doing this," I had told him during the second weekend. "Really. I’m not new0 anymore."


    But he had only said in his usual monotone, "Orders from Alpha Kieran."


    Today, however, I wasn’t going back to the Academy.


    I hesitated outside the car for a second before getting in. Once the doors were shut and the tinted ss sealed us off from the world, I spoke softly.


    "Can you drop me in Mapleton Town today?"


    He didn’t ask why. Didn’t raise a brow or look suspicious.


    "Understood," was all he said as the engine came to life.


    The drive to Mapleton took about an hour. Thendscape blurred past the windows - endless rows of forest, glimpses of farms, and quiet towns that had the same sleepy charm every small ce did.


    I sat still the entire way, one hand on my belly.


    I was more than three months along now.


    <fndd81> ?????? ???? Find[F]ovel</fndd81>


    I knew I couldn’t dy this any longer. I needed to get checked. I needed to know everything was okay. Not just for me. For the life growing inside me.


    When we reached the edge of Mapleton Town, I tapped his shoulder gently. "You can drop me off here. I’ll manage from here."


    He looked at me through the rearview mirror but said nothing. Just nodded once and parked by a corner near a quiet row of shops.


    "Thank you," I said. "I’ll call one of my friends. You don’t have to wait."


    "Very well," he replied.


    As the car pulled away, I waited until it was out of sight. Only then did I pull out a ck cap from my bag and tuck all of my silver-white hair beneath it. The strands were always a dead giveaway, shimmering like moonlight even under shadow.


    Next came the mask. I slipped it over my face and tucked the edges beneath my ears.


    My reflection in the nearby store ss showed a girl who looked like any other in town. Not a she-wolf. Not a student. Not someone caught in theplicated web of Rogue Alphas and secrets.


    Just a girl.


    That’s all I wanted to be today.


    I walked down the quiet main street, scanning the signs until I found what I was looking for: <i>Willow Creek Community Clinic</i>.


    It looked clean and small. Exactly the kind of ce that wouldn’t ask too many questions if you came in with a mask and didn’t give your real name.


    I stepped inside, inhaling the faint scent of disinfectant andvender that was filling the air. A receptionist looked up from her desk and smiled politely.


    "Good afternoon. Do you have an appointment?"


    "No," I replied. My voice slightly muffled behind the mask. "But I was hoping to see someone for... a check-up."


    The receptionist’s gaze lingered a bit, probably trying to guess my age behind the mask and cap, but she didn’t pry.


    "Alright. Please fill this out. You are in luck. One of our OB doctors is avable today."


    I took the clipboard and sat in the corner of the waiting area. For a long moment, I just stared at the form. Name. Age. Reason for visit. Contact details.


    I filled in what I could with vague but believable information, using my mother’s old surname instead of Greystone.


    The wait was short. Fifteen minutester, I was in a small examination room with light blue curtains and soft overhead lights.


    The doctor was a woman in her mid-forties with soft eyes and no-nonsense energy. She even gave me a kind look.


    "I’ll just ask a few questions first," she said. "How far along are you, dear?"


    "Thirteen weeks," I replied quietly.


    "Any major symptoms? Bleeding, cramping, nausea?"


    "No bleeding or cramps. Just fatigue and some nausea in the mornings, but it’s been getting better."


    She nodded and jotted things down. "Good. We’ll do a quick ultrasound, check for heartbeat, measurements, and general development."


    Iy down on the table as she prepared the machine.


    I didn’t know I was holding my breath until I saw it.


    A flicker of motion on the screen.


    It was a small shape, curled and moving faintly. And then... came the sound.


    It was the heartbeat. Fast, steady.


    I blinked rapidly, feeling my eyes suddenly bing warm.


    "There’s your little one," the doctor said with a warm smile. "Heartbeat is strong. Measurements are all within range. Everything looks good so far."


    I nodded as I was unable to speak for a moment.


    It was real.


    It was alive.


    This wasn’t some strange nightmare I was going to wake up from. This was my baby.


    The doctor printed out the sonogram and handed it to me. "We’ll need to do another check-up in four weeks, but for now, I would rmend plenty of rest, small frequent meals, and avoid stress as much as possible."


    I wanted tough. <i>Avoid stress</i>, she said. If only she knew the chaos of my world.


    But I thanked her anyway and promised to follow the advice.