Chapter 0004

“I’m sorry.”I had to get out. “I don’t know what I’m doing here. I shouldn’t be here.”

I dropped my number slip into the trash and ran to the door.

Outside, with the hospital doors sliding closed behind me, I shut my eyes and finally allowed myself to breathe again.

Now I was connected with my baby by some kind of almost-spiritual bond. I could feel their presence growing inside of me. To purposefully cut that connection now… I wouldn’t be able to recover.

No, I would never get an abortion. I couldn’t.

But there were other things I could do. When Nancy had spoken of options, one of them was adoption. With adoption, I could take my time considering it, and work to find the right family for my baby. I wouldn’t have to decide anything right now.

My breathing came easier.

Next, I opened a text to Joseph. He still hadn’t replied from the night before. I knew now he wouldn’t, but even so, he deserved to know what I had decided.

I typed, I’m going to have the baby.

I hit send before I could regret it, and clicked off the screen of my phone.

The phone immediately buzzed in my hand.

It was from Joseph.

It read, Come to my room as soon as you can. Let’s talk.

 

Hope coiled in my heart as Joseph let me into his dorm room. I ignored looking at the bed, last night’s hurt still raw within me. Instead I kept my eyes on him.

He closed the door and faced me, but his gaze avoided mine. He looked at the ceiling and then the floor, but never at me.

Yet even with his shifty eyes, that he had invited me here at all felt like a positive step. It gave me the courage to ask, “Does this mean you’ll help with our baby?”

He huffed a sharp breath. Voice sharp as a dagger, he asked, “How can you be so sure it’s mine?”

I stood very still as the world blurred around me. I could only see him, and the way he finally looked at me, like I was a pest to be rid of.

“How can you ask me that?” I whispered, having lost the strength in my voice. My legs felt soon to follow.

He hugged his arms over his chest, clutching at his elbows. “Just have an abortion, Cynthia. You’re young enough to have a quick recovery. It’ll be like it never happened. Then you can have the kids you want later.”

“No,” I said. “I tried to. I-I can’t.”

His face added disgust, looking much as it had the night before when he had kicked me out of this same room. Instinctively, I inched a half-step backwards.

He followed. “Can’t or won’t?”

I didn’t reply, and that seemed to confirm his worst assumptions.

“I didn’t force you to have sex,” he said, his voice low now. Predatory. “You begged me for it. And now, what? You are trying to push this off on me?”

He unhooked his arms and held them down at his sides, taut as bowstrings, hands like claws.

“What do you want from me, Cynthia? Are you trying to blackmail me? Are you trying to get money for the abortion?”

“N-no, I –”

“Do you have any idea what would happen if word got out about this? To me? To you? If your brother knew, he would hate you. If the cheerleaders found out, you’d be kicked to the side.”

I could barely breathe from the fury and fear and heartbreak that choked at my throat. How could I never have noticed that Joseph was so full of bitter hatred?

How could he ever think so low of me, that I would try to blackmail him? Why did it sound so much like he was trying to blackmail me?

My baby deserved better than this. Than him.

“You d-don’t to worry,” I said, breaking only once. “I’ll take care of the baby on my own. You don’t have to be involved. We won’t bother you.”

He stepped closer to me, and I was running out of room to back away. Every inch of his posture, his posture, and his words felt like a threat.

“You’re still going to have it?” he spat out the words.

I nodded.

“You! Brazen little bitch!”

He pounced without warning, slamming me onto the ground. Only his hands gripping fiercely in the front my shirt kept my head from hitting the floor.

He crouched over me, feet planted at either side of my hips. He yanked me forward by my shirt until his face was directly in front of mine.

“You were only ever trying to steal my sperm, weren’t you?” he shouted. His eyes were wild and dangerous. I’d never seen anyone so furious.

I clawed at his wrists, trying to loosen his hold. He only gripped harder, ripping holes into my shirt.

“After an Alpha’s son, weren’t you? Any would do, to fuck a kid into you. Then you’d soak up the reward, right? Guaranteed money and glory because you trapped me with your damn womb!”

He was so angry, I half-expected him to shift into his wolf at any moment.

My own wolf had not yet appeared to me, but I could feel her in the low whimpering in my throat.

I slid my hands from his wrists down around my waist to cover my belly. I wanted to fight back, but I couldn’t risk it. I couldn’t do much of anything like this, but I would give all I had to protect my baby.

“You don’t deserve to bear my blood!” he yelled in my face.

Suddenly a sharp, visceral hatred sparked within me for this man. I thought I knew hatred before, but that had been nothing compared to this.

He dare Joseph threaten me? More, how dare he threaten my child?

He released my shirt, and my back hit the floor. His hands found my shoulders instead. His fingers dug deep into my skin.

Clutching my belly, I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Get away from her!” A feral voice roared from the doorway.

In an instant, Joseph was ripped from atop me and sent flying into the wall. He landed on his desk and rolled onto the floor.

A pair of strong arms curled around me and plucked me from the floor into a bridal carry. I was held against a muscled chest and looked up into the piercing eyes of my savior.

Asher.

I blinked, but he didn’t disappear. He was really here.

I didn’t understand. He was aloof, cold as an iceberg, and distant. Yet here he was, arriving just in time as if I’d dreamed him.

On the ground, Joseph stirred, groaning.

Looking at him, Asher growled deep in his throat. I could feel it vibrating where my hand pressed against his chest. Asher held me closer. He cradled my body gently, like I was someone precious.

Someone fragile.

I glanced over his shoulder to the door. It had been kicked in with such force, the wood had splintered. Chunks of it littered the floor.

Asher must have been furious to do that kind of damage. What could have triggered him to use his werewolf strength?

At once, the blood drained from my face so fast, I felt lightheaded.

Joseph had been yelling. You don’t deserve to bear my blood!

How much had Asher overheard?