#Chapter 1: The End

Annie’s POV

“You’re pregnant,” the doctor says.

“I’m pregnant,” I whisper in awe more so to myself than the doctor. I instinctively bring my hand to my belly.

"Yes, you are. Congratulations." He hands me the B-Ultrasound picture. I study the small black blob on the granny photo and I can’t help but let the tears fall from my eyes. The picture indicates so much more than a baby. They are my future and past staring back at me; my future with Eric and the pack, and my past as his unrequited lover.

My throat struggles to form the necessary sounds to tell the doctor that I has waited for this moment since Eric’s cold, careless eyes stared deep into mine and chose me. “Thank you,” I manage in a breathy whisper. The doctor is quite handsome—, not like Eric, but close enough.

I wonders briefly what our child would look like. I hope he or she would have Eric’s eyes, so beautiful and green they hurt to look at. I carefully place the photo in my bag and am ready to surprise him at our anniversary dinner tonight.

The hallway is busy with nurses and rolling carts, but I hardly notice any of it. I am flying.

Then, I smell something familiar, and my heart stops.

Since birth, we all develop a specific scent that strengthens when we mate as a way to locate each other. I've been told my smell is lavender. Eric always smells like wood and vanilla in bourbon, my favorite perfume.

So why am I smelling him there? I cock my head to get a better scent. Yes—he is in the hospital, and close by.

Not just him, a different scent too, familiar and horrifying all at once. My heart drops into my stomach. I feel my skin prickle, and a low growl erupts at the base of my throat.

 I quickly bring my hand to my mouth, stifling a gasp. Is that Mia? She’s back in the pack?

But that isn’t what really caught my attention. I stare, open mouthed, at her swollen belly and the man carefully holding her, his deep green eyes gentle. It is Eric, my husband, and Mia, Eric’s first love.

All the nurses stop to stare at them, and it is no wonder. Together like this, they look like a couple in a magazine, so deeply in love that everything else fades around them. I dodge behind a plant and casually take out my phone to look busy. It’s not usually a good sign when a flock of medical professionals gather around something.

“So lucky to have found such a handsome husband,” One nurse says popping some bubble gum into her mouth. The rest of the nurses murmur in agreement and I wait to smell Eric’s guilt and expect to hear Eric refute their statements, but when the silence continues my jaw drops in shock.

I peer over the greenery and watch as Eric carefully supports Mia, having one arm scooped around her waist. My blood turns to ice. I should confront him now. But I don’t. As Luna, I know better than to make a scene and publicly embarrass my husband. My stomach twists. I place my hand over my mouth instinctively, willing my breakfast to stay inside.

So she's back now. Even though they aren't fated mates, Mia has always tried to make it work between them. Even she knows I’ve always had a crush on Eric. How could I not? Aside from the fact that’s he gorgeous, he’s a true leader. Above all, we actually are fated mates. When Mia left the pack and I felt like I could take a deep breath.

Eventually, Eric finally sought to kindle a relationship with me. He isn’t good at expressing himself, but his actions speak louder than words, which is why when he proposed I was ecstatic.  

Still, I’ve always wondered if he was just waiting for Mia to come back and only married me out of duty. I’ve been able to push those thoughts down and assumed if I behaved as the perfect wife, and now mother, he would come to see that fated relationships are a blessing.

But seeing them together now. Well, they look like a happy couple. I leave the hospital, never even being noticed by either of them and walk the rest of the way home in a daze. What did I just see?

I open our familiar, red-paneled front door and toss my keys on the foyer table and bring my hands to my temple and rub. My head throbs. I feel as if the reality I’ve been living in has just started to crumble like I’m sleepwalking. No. It can't be true.

I head up the stairs to take a cold shower, something to give me a good slap in the face. I open the door to the master bedroom and startle myself. I almost forget I has decorated the room with rose petals for Eric. It has taken me all morning to decorate, but the joyous scene feels hollow after what I've seen. I breathe a heavy sigh into the silence of our home. My body refuses to relax.

The hair on the back of my neck is still raised, ready for a fight. For a sickening moment, that image of Mia, nestled into Eric’s arms at the hospital flashed inside my mind.

----

A creak--The bedroom door opens. Eric stands in the doorway, his broad build, filling up the frame. Despite knowing what I saw, my heart still flutters when I see him. Damn him for being so handsome. It’s painful.

I watch him as he scans the room realizing the romantic gesture I had set up for him. I can’t tell if he likes it, and I could kick myself for hoping that he does.

I always thought if I was kind to him, he’d warm up to me just like he had with Mia, but the icy chill only grew stronger. In my bedroom, I suddenly understand why. He never loves me for me.

I touch my belly, feeling the small bump with my fingertips. What about the baby? My hands make the decision for me. I hide the pregnancy picture in a drawer, my heart hammering in my chest. I can smell him before I see him. My heart lurches in my chest. Even after everything, I still love him. His mouth-watering scent grows stronger as his shadow walks closer to me.

Without saying a word, he slips his arm around my waist and cups my body into his. He presses his warm lips against the curve of my neck and rather than melt in to him as I usually do I go cold at the realization he’s only ever interested in me before we make love. Either uncaring or unaware of my lack of interest, Eric pulls away ever so slightly, and dangling from his free hand is a large amulet. Without asking if I even like it, he slips the jewelry around my neck and begins to undo his shirt.

There’s no love, no warmth and no, I am not giving him any sensual energy to work with either. But he doesn’t seem to even care.

As he comes towards me for another kiss, I turn my head.

 “What’s wrong?” Eric asks more curious than concerned. He hates to be disturbed, and I am not in the mood to fight. Before I can think of an excuse to say something, his phone buzzed, and his eyes lit up. He leaves the room in a hurry, but not before I see the caller ID.

Mia. My stomach swoops again.

“She’s pregnant with your child, isn’t she?” I call out. Eric is halfway into the kitchen. I can see the beautiful, shapely muscles in his back tense.

His eyes are cold, but his scent tells a different story. There is a hint of emotion in it, but I can't tell if the feeling is guilt or love.

“It’s none of your business,” he says. Something raged inside of me. I deserves better than this. He makes me do this.

I stand, my heart leaping into my throat. But my words are unbreakable.

“I want a divorce.”