Chapter 4

Samantha

Three weeks ago, I got rejected by my mate, but I had not accepted the rejection. Being rejected almost killed me, and healing was almost impossible, and now, it caused me morning sickness.

I could feel my stepfather, Jack, hanging by the corner as he watched me throw up for the third time this morning. I hated the way my body felt, but even this wasn't comparable to the pain I experienced that very day. Still, something needed to be done about my morning sickness.

I had waited for Alaric to show up at my door every day, to apologize and take back his rejection, but each day I was met with disappointment, and Jack's patience was running out.

I had lied that I hadn't been mated that night, but he seemed to doubt me because my mood had changed ever since. He was convinced that I was keeping something from him.

While I was throwing up, I heard a loud bang by the door. I knew it was Jack's doing; he was angry, and now I could hear his feet striding aggressively towards me.

A groan left my throat the moment I felt his hand on my hair. He held a fistful of it as he dragged my head out of the sink.

"Jack, let me go!" I yelled amidst the pain he was inflicting. "Jack!" I yelled again as he began dragging me away from the sink. I fell on the ground with a loud thud as he pushed me hard against it.

"What is wrong with you!" I yelled as I looked at him. He was standing above me, fuming in anger, and a hand pointed at me.

"I couldn't wait to get rid of you, yet you came back without a mate? And now you're what? Sick?" he yelled angrily, throwing things across the place. I hissed as one of the pieces sliced through my skin. It wasn't a deep cut, so I was able to heal faster.

He had every right, as an abusive drunk, to be mad at me. My mum had abandoned us the year I turned thirteen, and according to the pack laws, since he was my stepfather, he was mandated to take care of me until I turned 18, and the mating season was three months over.

It wasn't up to three months after the mating night, so I was still stuck with him.

"It's not my fault that I wasn't gifted a mate," I defended.

"Nonsense!" he yelled again, startling me. He came at me again, dragging me by the collar. "You better not be lying, because if I find out that you did, you're going to pay dearly for it," he said and pushed me away forcefully.

It should have been an easy decision to leave Jack, but he was good at gambling, so he got money for food at least. I had worked part-time jobs, but I was saving all the money I could get for college, so I had to endure living under his roof.

"Get your ass downstairs, we are going to Doctor Adams," he said, and my heart skipped. Jack would have never cared to take me to the doctor, so it was strange to see him offer to take me to the pack's doctor.

He had left angrily, and I knew better than to sour his mood any further, so I rushed back to the sink to clean my mouth before joining him downstairs.

The journey was awfully silent; not once did Jack stop frowning. He was very mad at me, and I knew living my last three months with him wasn't going to be easy.

We finally got to the pack's hospital, where we met Doctor Adams. Jack had dragged me all the way up, making sure he elongated his claws and allowed them to pierce through my skin. Each time blood came out, he pulled his hand out, knowing it would heal quickly. Strangely enough, I healed faster than normal werewolves.

It was something he didn't want to discuss, and I didn't know if intentionally hurting me was because he hated me or because he wanted to figure out the mystery behind it.

When we got to Doctor Adams' office, we were asked to wait for a few minutes since he was attending to some high-profile pack members.

As the daughter of a rogue with an Omega as a stepfather, I normally wouldn't have been able to meet Adams, but he was almost like family to me. He was the one who rescued my mum when pack warriors shot her down for crossing the pack's border, and according to rumors, he was the only one that knew my mum's true identity.

I was hoping that one day he would share that secret with me and help me find my birth father and the pack I belonged to originally.

"Mr. Jack Phillips and Samantha Phillips, Doctor Adams will see you now," Dr. Adams' secretary said.

There were, of course, murmurs as Dr. Adams had skipped some patients just to attend to us. He never broke protocol despite his obvious care for me, so it was surprising that he did this time.

We got in and sat before him. He was a middle-aged man, with curly short hair with some grey already appearing at several spots on his skull. He watched us for some seconds, giving me a look of concern before trailing his gaze to Jack.

"Mr. Phillip, how may I help you today?" he asked, and Jack shifted in his seat. Adams' gaze lingered on me once more, as if assessing me, then his eyes twitched with suspicion.

"She didn't get a mate," Jack blurted, sounding annoyed at the same time. He eyed me dangerously, like if he had the chance he would kill me. Adams squinted in confusion, and I nodded in agreement before he could ask if it was true.

"The mating season isn't over yet, she could still get her mate, besides it's not something a doctor can help out with."

"She hasn't stopped messing my house up with her continuous spewing. My house stinks of vomit!" he said, raising his voice, which startled me. Doctor Adams didn't move; he was very calm about it, then he smiled in a way that was soothing.

"I'm guessing you want her tested. It's not a problem, Mr. Phillip. We will run some tests on her right now."

That seemed to calm Jack down, but my heart kept beating for a reason I didn't even want to admit. My blood sample was taken, and it felt like an excruciating time to wait for the results. Jack wouldn't stop cursing at me to the point that everyone around us got uncomfortable. A nurse had to tell him to bring his voice down.

My wait was finally over when a nurse called me in. Jack insisted to come along since he was still my guardian. Dr. Adams couldn't refuse either; he would be faulted by the council if the matter were taken up, despite how unnecessary it might seem.

The look on Adams' face almost made me want to disappear. I never thought I had seen him this serious before. He looked greatly concerned for me, and the envelope in his hand, which he held onto tightly, scared me even more.

"What is wrong with her, Doctor?" Jack asked, feeling very impatient. Doctor Robert had tried to give a prep talk, but Jack quickly snatched the envelope, to our shock. He went through it, and if I thought I had seen Jack furious before, I was wrong, because the look on his face now could almost kill me, and before me or Dr. Adams could say anything, I found myself forcefully pushed against the wall.

"Jack!" Adams yelled, trying to come to my aid, but then Jack was stronger since Adams was also an omega and older in age. He moved back to his seat, and my guess was that he went to dial security.

I groaned in pain as my head hit hard against the wall. Jack was choking me now, while I struggled to free myself from him. He held the paper up against my face. His eyes flashed red at me with rage, then he spat at me with the words I couldn't believe.

"Who is the father?"

My eyes bulged in great shock, wondering what he was talking about. He pushed me harder against the wall. "I said, who is the father of the child you're carrying?"

I was shaken to my core. My memories refreshing to the sweetness of that passionate night I shared with Alpha Ric. How he and I bonded and made love to each other. His cold eyes when he rejected me, the excruciating pain that almost killed me, and now I was pregnant?