CHAPTER 5~ALONE~

||*JADE*||

Days blurred into nights, and night into day. Hunter stayed true to his words by taking my things out of our bedroom. There was nothing I could say to change his mind, not even the fact that I was pregnant with his child.

 

I had tried to make him go to the pack clinic with me, or even at least call the pack doctor over to confirm that I wasn’t lying, but he didn’t even care.

 

He doesn’t think it’s his child because he believes I had to have slept with other men aside from Darren that he didn’t know about, and he is convinced that if I am truly pregnant, then the child belongs to one of them.

 

But the child was his, even though he didn’t believe me. I know I should’ve told him before this happened, but I wasn't sure that I was pregnant because getting pregnant as a beta was almost impossible. Unlike omegas, a beta wolf like myself isn't always lucky to be blessed with a child. I'm not sure what the goddess has against us, but a beta’s chance of reproducing was almost next to none. That and all the weird pills my aunt had me swallowing back in Manila.

 

I never once pictured myself and thought I’d end up being a mother. Sure, I loved the idea, but I knew the chances of me ever getting pregnant were thin. That and the fact that I didn’t think I was worthy of being loved by any man until Hunter came along, and the past two years with him, I would always pray and hope the goddess blesses me with a child, knowing I only had one chance because of his bloodline. And I knew giving him an heir would make him love me more and his parents more accepting of me.

 

I had been excited when I realised the sickness, and my late period was because I had conceived a child for my mate, but I still wanted to be sure and had made plans to see the pack doctor. I had even told Arya about my suspicions. I told her my plans to see the pack doctor and hopefully surprise Hunter with the news. Then she had talked about wanting to move with Darren and had invited me to that party, which she claimed was a send-off party, and everything else went to sh*t afterwards.

 

Despite how hard I’ve tried to remember what happened after drinking that water, my memory keeps coming back blank. Nothing made sense, because I know I didn’t taste even a drop of alcohol, yet what the hell happened to me and how did I black out? It made no sense that I blacked out from drinking water—water that my sister offered to me. Could it be that she...

 

No!

 

I shook my head at the thought—the possibility that Arya had something to do with what happened. It makes no sense; why would she drug me? What does she stand to gain? I know my sister and I have had our differences ever since I came back to the pack, and that made sense to me because we spent twelve years of our lives apart. I can’t fault her for thinking of me as a stranger who’s here to take her place in our parents hearts, or whatever it was she said two years ago. Still, I made efforts to get along with her, even on days when she was being unnecessarily hostile. I may never understand why, but would she really go to such extreme lengths as to drug me? Perhaps Darren did.

 

And even if he did, how do I prove that to the council when they finally call me to stand trial? It’s been five days since Hunter rejected me, and I still haven’t been called to stand trial. I don’t know why, but a part of me hopes whatever is delaying the trial lasts a while so I can get my mate to see the reasons with me. Even though all my efforts to get through him have been futile,

 

I can count on one finger how many times he’s been home for the past five days. He has been avoiding me like a plague, and when he doesn’t, his words cut deeper than a knife. And not only him; the entire pack seems to be avoiding me like I am a disease. I made the mistake of stepping out two days ago because I wanted to talk to my parents, and I couldn’t shake off the disdain I got from everyone I met on my way to my parents house.

Even my parents used the excuse of having somewhere to be to get me out of their house. I was left standing outside on the porch as the feeling of loss and being unwanted washed over me. Just like it did every time my aunt would put me out of the hostel because I didn’t bring in enough tips for the night. I had thought coming back here was the fresh start that I needed, and for two years I had a home, a pack that I thought loved me, and a man I could call mine, only for all that to change overnight, and now my life is no more than a nightmare.

 

My heart ached at the thought of everything, and I wrapped my hands around my lower half as bile rose in the pits of my stomach. Another wave of nausea hit me, and I closed my eyes to push down the urge, knowing I had nothing else in me but stomach acid to throw up.

 

-You need to eat, at least for the baby.-

 

I almost jumped out of my skin at the unexpected sound of my wolf’s voice.

 

-What do you care, Lev? Didn’t you also abandon me- 

 

I bit back harshly, unable to hold back the bitterness in my voice, wincing as another bolt of pain jabbed at my heart.

 

-I would never abandon you, Jade. You know that.- 

 

Levana’s voice was small, almost as weak as mine. It confused me because I haven’t heard from her for the past five days, right since the horrible morning that changed everything in my life. She had been silent, almost like she wasn’t even a part of me, and it had just made everything worse because I couldn’t shake the thought that even my wolf had abandoned me, like everyone else.

 

-I’m not sure if I know anything any more. I needed you, and you weren’t there. I needed you, Lev, and you just... Just like everyone else.- 

 

I choked up, my eyes stung with unshed tears as I manoeuvred out of the bed in the guest room and made my way down the hallway leading to the kitchen.

 

-I would never do that to you; I would never abandon you. I don’t know what happened; we were at the party, and everything went blank. I was thrust into darkness, and I couldn’t feel you. I kept trying to reach behind our mental walls, but you weren’t there. And then Hunter, rejecting us, struck so hard that I couldn’t even push against the mental barriers to reach you until today. You know I’ll never leave you to suffer alone.- 

Levana explained, choking up as she spoke, and I sighed. I know she wouldn’t just leave me on my own, yet it was hard to fight the thought that maybe she had also gotten tired of me and my problems. I would be fed up too if I were her and stuck with a useless excuse of a human who has done nothing but brought both of us pain.

-Do you remember what happened?- 

 

I asked with high hopes, even though I somehow knew what her answer would be.

 

-The only thing I remember is Arya rushing to bring you water when you choked.- 

 

-Hunter caught me in bed with Darren. He thinks I cheated on him. He won’t listen to me, and he rejected us- 

 

My voice thinned out with every word I said as I tried to fill her in.

 

-I know. You’re not doing so well with putting a mental barrier around your thoughts. I can hear everything; I know what happened. I’m sorry.- 

 

-None of this is your fault; there’s no one to blame but myself. If I had been extra careful, maybe if I hadn’t gone to the party and just stayed home like the perfect mate I was supposed to be, then none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have ended up sleeping with Darren and causing our mate to reject us.- 

 

-You didn’t have sex with Darren, and there’s no fault in going to your sister’s party when she invited it.- 

 

Levana bites out in a low growl.

 

-You don’t know that. I thought nothing happened, but now I’m not so sure. Maybe I don’t remember because of whatever made me black out. It’s not like I haven’t been in this position before; back in the clubhouse, most of the pills made me black out. I’d wake up in bed with four men—five—and have no recollection of what happened. Maybe it happened with Darren, and I don’t just remember. And Hunter was right—once a whore, always a whore.-

-You are not a whore.- 

 

Levana growled so loudly that it tumbled through my head, and I stopped short in the middle of the kitchen at the intensity of the anger behind her growl.

 

-You are not a whore, Jade. You were a victim, and right now you’re a victim once again. Just because you don’t remember what happened doesn’t make you guilty of infidelity.

 

She gritted out in a tight voice, and I shook my head, blinking the tears away as I walked over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water and a glass cup from the cup cabinet.

 

-How can you be so sure?- 

 

I asked, despite my resolve.

 

-You are a mated, I am a mated wolf; if you had sex with Darren, Hunter should’ve felt it.- 

 

Levana tries to explain,

 

-What if he couldn’t feel it because we blacked out? Maybe-

 

-No!- She gave me zero chance to complete my sentence. -Stop trying to find reasons to make yourself guilty when you aren’t- 

 

I prepared to answer her when a cold shudder rushed up my body and my spine stiffened.

 

“What is... Dear moon.” I let out a half-choked cry as sharp pain pierced through my heart. The glass cup I was holding slipped out of my grip as my hand trembled, and I doubled over on my knee with a loud cry in agony as another wave of pain shot up my spine.

 

“Oh goddess. Dear goddess… Arghhhh.” I let out an ear-shattering cry. My knee gave out, my heart slammed so hard against my ribcage that it felt like it was trying to escape out of my body, and my lungs tightened in pain as breathing suddenly became impossible.

“What the fuck is going on?" I howled as a sudden heat wave barreled down my spine and through my entire body, and I let out another shrill cry as an unexplainable pain knotted in my stomach.

 

-Hunter!-

 

Levana growled in a pain-stricken voice. I crumbled against the wet kitchen floor. Pain shot up my arm as the broken glass cut through my palm.

 

“Oh goddess, I can't... I can't... Why?"

I had no idea what I was asking, but I couldn’t form coherent words anymore. Not with the sudden flame of pain burning through my entire body. Nor could I keep back the tears that freely flowed down my cheeks as my other hand wrapped instinctively against my stomach while I writhed against the kitchen flow in agony.

 

_You didn’t accept his rejection. Hunter is having sex with someone else_

Levana whispered so lowly that I could barely hear her.

He had told me this morning he’d make me suffer because I refused to accept his rejection. I was foolishly holding onto hope that we could work things out and that maybe the council would prove my innocence and make Hunter take back his rejection. Or that my mate would finally believe me and change his mind. I knew it was foolish, yet I held onto what was left of our bond, refusing to accept his rejection.

Another bolt of pain and a searing heat flashed through my body. My stomach felt like there were a hundred and fifty pins stabbing at it all at once, and I coiled into myself.

“My baby.” I whispered weakly, hot tears rushing down my cheeks as the pain shot through my head and darkness consumed me.