Chapter Three: Who's the Father?

~Hazel~

 I ran until I couldn’t feel my legs anymore. That should have been enough to take away the agony that I felt, but it wasn’t. My chest felt constricted, and now, the pain was more blinding.

I couldn’t tell if this was more painful because my fated mate didn’t totally reject me before marking another girl as his luna, or if it was just because my fated mate might be under the sheets with someone else.

Ryder.

How much I hate him. I hate him for making me this pathetic. I hated him for humiliating me in this manner, and I hate him even more for leading me on and then dumping me in the gutter after he was done…

“Why did you have to touch me in those breathtaking ways? Why did you have to take my breath away in the nicest way possible if you had no intentions of bringing me back to life?” I cried to no one in particular.

I took a deep, shaky breath and straightened my spine. If the moon goddess thought that her game to destroy me was going to work, then she had something else coming for her. I’ll show her that I’m also a master gamer.

No other man is allowed to touch me indeed. We’ll see about that.

Picking up myself, I cleaned my tears and found my way to the nearest bar. Once I was there, I ordered shots of whisky. I didn’t have any money on me, and I had no idea how I was going to pay, but all I knew was that I needed to drink to go through with the pain that I had.

Seven shots down and I could barely recognize my environment. Everywhere was starting to spin, and the bartender was already about to drag me away for being a nuisance.

That was when he came.

He was huge, tall, and had deep blue eyes that stared into the soul—eyes that felt like they were going to snatch my soul away. He sat beside me and signaled to the bartender to let me be.

“Aren’t you too pretty to be having a bad day?”

I giggled, the alcohol taking its course in my body. “Did you just call me pretty? Does that mean that you deem me desirable?” I slurred.

“How much have you had to drink?” he said, taking the last shot of alcohol that I ordered.

“Not enough to blur out the memories of what happened to me tonight. And nearly enough to give me the boldness to do this”

I grabbed the handsome stranger and connected my lips to his. When I pulled away, he had a bemused look on his face.

“What was that about? Do you know the consequences of what you just did?”

I grabbed him once again and traced a hand down his shirt. Even with the shirt on, I could tell that he was rock-hard underneath. I could feel the ridges of his abs. “I don’t care about the consequences. I just want to be desired. I just want to be seen. You see me, and you desire me, don’t you?” I drawled, biting down gently on my lower lip.

He took a sharp breath. “You’re the most beautiful girl that I’ve ever set my eyes on”

“Then prove it. Make love to me”

“Do you know what you’re asking of me?” he whispered, his hands crawling to my back and pushing me to him.

I wrapped my hands around him and brushed his lips with mine. “Very sure. I want you to make love to me. I want you to get this virginity off me”

To prove my point, I kissed him again, this time even deeper. He was the perfect person for the job, and I didn’t think I’d have the courage to approach some other man for this.

“Fine” he growled and grabbed my hand. “Follow me”

As we stumbled into the hotel room, my heart raced—not from the alcohol, but from the anticipation of what was about to happen. He closed the door behind us, his tall frame towering over me. His eyes, now darker and more intense, locked onto mine as he approached.

“You’re sure about this?” he asked one last time, his voice low and rumbling like thunder.

Instead of answering, I closed the distance between us, pressing my lips against his with a hunger I didn’t know I had. He guided me to the bed, his touch both tender and possessive as his hands roamed my body. His fingers found the hem of my dress and began to lift it slowly, his lips never leaving mine. When the fabric finally slipped over my head, he pulled back, his gaze raking over me with unbridled desire.

“You’re stunning,” he murmured, his hands trailing down my bare skin, sending shivers in their wake.

I reached for his shirt, eager to feel the warmth of his skin beneath my palms. He helped me remove it, revealing a body that looked like it had been sculpted by the gods. My breath hitched as I ran my hands over his chest, marveling at the hardness of his muscles.

He leaned in, his lips finding the sensitive spot on my neck, and I couldn’t stop the soft moan that escaped me. His hands moved to the clasp of my bra, pausing for a moment as if waiting for my consent. I nodded, and he unhooked it, tossing it aside and capturing one of my nipples in his mouth. The sensation was electric, sending waves of pleasure coursing through me.

He took his time exploring every inch of my body, his touch igniting a fire within me that only he could quench. When his hands moved to the waistband of my panties, I hesitated for a fraction of a second.

“You’re safe with me,” he said, his voice gentle and reassuring.

I nodded again, letting him slide the last barrier away. He kissed me deeply, his hand slipping between my thighs, his fingers exploring me with a skill that made me gasp. My body responded to him instinctively, arching into his touch, craving more.

When he finally rid himself of his pants, my eyes widened at the sight of him. He was big—bigger than I’d expected. He seemed to notice my hesitation and cupped my face, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.

“We’ll go slow,” he promised, and I believed him.

He guided me onto the bed, positioning himself carefully. His movements were deliberate and patient, allowing me to adjust as he eased into me. The initial pain was sharp, but he was there, whispering soothing words and kissing away my discomfort.

Soon, the pain gave way to a fullness that left me breathless, and as he began to move, a new kind of pleasure blossomed within me. His thrusts were slow and steady at first, building a rhythm that had me clinging to him, moaning inaudible words like a prayer.

“Look at me,” he murmured, and when our eyes met, the intensity in his gaze sent me over the edge. My body trembled beneath him as wave after wave of ecstasy crashed over me.

He followed shortly after, his movements becoming erratic as he reached his release, burying his face in the crook of my neck.

As we lay tangled in the sheets, our breaths mingling in the quiet room, I realized I’d given a part of myself to him that I could never take back. And in that moment, I didn’t regret.

After everything, he bathed me and allowed me to sleep in his arms. But when I woke up the next morning, he was gone. No contact, no name, and no memory of how he looked.

I got home that morning and went about my normal business, trying to avoid Ryder as much as I could. I pretended not to notice the side glances he gave me whenever we were in range, or how he tried to be in the same space with me.

Very bold of him to attempt after that stunt he pulled. I wondered if he felt the same pain I felt when he got intimate with Freya after finding out that we were mates. And I hoped that if he indeed felt it, it would be a hundred times more painful for him.

Over the next few weeks, I started feeling some sort of way. I noticed that I got tired too often, and I easily dozed off in unusual places. But I managed to hold myself together, not until the day I fainted while cleaning the alpha’s room.

I’d opened my eyes to see myself in the interrogation room, filled with the members of the Packs. My step-parents, Freya, and the alpha were present as well. I heard murmuring and curse words of every kind, words filled with anger like they were ready to tear me in pieces.

“The slut is awake” I heard someone say.

“With the way she’s been behaving, you’d think that she has never kissed anyone in her life. Who would have known that she was fucking every man that came her way?” another voice said.

“No wonder she tried to seduce the alpha. She wanted to pin the pregnancy on him”

I opened my eyes at the last word.

Pregnant? What pregnancy?

“You whore!” my stepmother stepped forward and gave me a loud slap that made me see stars. “How dare you try to rub dirt on the face of this family?”

I held my cheek, still not understanding what was going on. I turned to face the alpha, and the look on his face was deadly.

“Doctor” he called on the middle-aged man in white scrubs, “Repeat what you just said”

“The patient here is two weeks pregnant, alpha.”

The murmurs rose again and shouts of whore and sluts filled the air.

Hold on.

I am pregnant?

I gasped, my hands going instinctively to my belly. No, no, no. This cannot be happening. How could I be pregnant for a stranger who I didn’t even know his name or what he looked like?

“Omega” the alpha called me in the cold tone which he used to use with me. “Who got you pregnant? Who is the father of that bastard in your womb?”