“Olivia, this is your eighth failed pregnancy test in less than twelve months,” the doctor sighed. "We’ve tried almost everything. Maybe we can-”
“I’m having a baby,” I said firmly. My jaw was set, but my eyes were watery.
One year. An entire year of pills that gave me nausea and mood swings, injections that left me with bruises, and doctor’s visits full of nothing but disappointment—and I had nothing to show for it. Again.
What kind of Luna couldn’t provide an heir? What kind of woman couldn’t have a child?
Doctor Suman put his hands up to stop me. “I’m not saying you can’t,” he said, almost begging me. “Your test scores are perfect, there’s nothing abnormal about your reproductive anatomy, and your hormone levels are healthy. Maybe your fertility problems are caused by your dormant wolf.”
I’d been living with this fear for years. Ever since my wolf introduced herself to me, only to fall into some mysterious, coma-like sleep. No medications, therapies, or risky decisions so much as made her twitch.
“What I can say is that no woman has ever taken this many different fertility drugs back to back. For all we know we’ve strained your body so much that it’s preventing a pregnancy. Not to mention what it might be doing to the other systems in your body.”
My eyes burned. What he was saying made sense, but…
“One more,” I choked out. “We try one more treatment, and if it doesn’t work, we pause like you said.” Dr. Suman looked at me, then slumped a little. He could probably tell I couldn’t let go of this.
“…Alright,” he agreed reluctantly. “You recognize you’re acting against medical advice, correct?” I nodded, desperate and determined. One more try.
After the treatment, I drove home.By the time I pulled into our driveway, the cramping in my abdomen was almost constant. It was proof the infusion was working. It had forced ovulation, and while it wasn’t comfortable, my chances of conceiving would be sky high for the next 24 hours.
I breathed through my nose as the cramp slowly subsided, then keyed in the access code. I was so grateful the Moon Goddess blessed me with the perfect mate. I was sure anyone else would have run for the hills by now, if not because of my infertility, then because of the insane, erratic behavior the drugs always forced on me. He would be great at handling toddler tantrums.
My highest chances of conception were in the next couple of hours, so I was contemplating waking Damian from his ritual post-work power nap. He was probably pretty close to waking up on his own anyway; maybe I should peek into our room? If he was sleeping deeply I wouldn’t disturb him, but then again, I was sure he’d understand it would be better to make use of the time we had.
My feet padded across the carpet towards our room on autopilot. At least I’d get to see his sleeping face, even if I decided not to wake him—
I heard a dull thumping as I grew closer, and I froze in my place. My stomach dropped along with my heart, even as I tried to tell myself I didn’t know what was happening. It was true, too—the thumping could have been all kinds of things.
Maybe Damian was taking down those boxes in our closet? I’d been talking about finally unpacking them, it would be just like him to get do it for me while I was gone. Or he could be moving furniture, or jump-dancing along to a song…
But I knew. I’d never so much as considered the possibility before, but something in me knew.
These were the sounds of sex. Damian was having sex. Damian was cheating on me.
Damian was cheating on me with my stepsister.
“Yeah, baby? Yeah? You gonna be a good Luna and give me an heir?”
“Damian!” Louisa giggled, basking in the attention. She always loved to be better than me. It only made sense that she’d want to take this from me too. “What about Olivia?”
“C’mon, Lou,” Damian laughed breathily, “don’t talk about her! She’ll never be you. She’s probably getting one of those stupid shots right now, desperate to catch up to you.”
Louisa squealed in delight, and I stood there like stone—unmoving and unfeeling, just there. Was that all my treatments were to them? All my future baby was to them?
I could open the door. I could shout and scream and kick them out.
Or I could ruin them in front of everyone.
I closed the door silently and walked out into the sun, the words echoing mockingly in my head. Oh, he definitely wanted an heir, but now I could see that the only part of that equation that mattered was that it was his. I uncorked the bottle and took a deep swig.
He’d played a good game, I could admit that. He’d acted the part of a loving, doting mate so perfectly that I truly couldn’t see any signs, even looking back on our years together with new eyes. He’d fooled me.
But how the hell had he fooled the Moon Goddess?
Unless he hadn’t, and the Moon Goddess had decided this was the mate I deserved. I shook that thought off violently.
It couldn’t be possible though. We were Fated, I was made to be all he ever needed, all he ever wanted. I was made for him, so what could anyone else offer that I couldn’t?
Aside from a baby, a traitorous little voice reminded me. I chugged a little more booze.
Somehow I made it to the Yellow Chameleon, where my friend Antonia bartended. I hadn’t seen her in months, I’d been so busy with wedding planning—actually, I hadn’t seen much of anyone. The wine bottle was empty in my hand by the time I made it through the door.
Things were a bit of a blur from there. Antonia kept serving me drinks, and I kept downing them like they were water. Chances are that at some point they were.
I poured my heart out to her, probably making very little sense as I flip-flopped between grief and rage. Mostly, though, I raged. I plotted a thousand ways to ruin Damian and Louisa both, determined to destroy them completely.
Antonia agreed wholeheartedly at least a dozen times. She had never liked Damian, had always insisted he was untrustworthy and that I should marry someone who rose to my standards instead of forcing me to lower them. I wished I’d listened to her.
The television above the bar was broadcasting what little news it had about the new Alpha of the Eclipse pack, and it was nice to switch to mindless gossip. The new Alpha had a bad reputation, to put it lightly. He was said to be ruthless and domineering, more of a tyrant than a leader, and had supposedly killed his own father to take the Pack Alpha status. Antonia laughed.
“Hey, he’s looking for his Luna, you know?” she suggested, wiggling her eyebrows. “Even a man like that would be better than marrying Damian!”
All I could do was smile bitterly and slug another shot.
I remembered Antonia lightly directing me up the stairs, telling me she’d gotten me a gift to lift my spirits. I was still sober enough to understand that she really just wanted me to fall asleep so she could stop babysitting me, but a nap sounded really good so I went anyway. Wasn’t this door normally locked?
I walked right into a large, warm chest, and immediate calmness enveloped me. I had this sense of being wrapped up in something powerful and protective, and so masculine that just his aura was making my knees weak. My brain ticked through slowly, and the stranger just stood there like it was fine for me to be nuzzling into his sternum without so much as a hello.
My internal whirlwind slowed to a sedate breeze, and I sighed happily into the stranger’s chest. Was this…Antonia’s gift?
