3. Eighteen

The decision to enter room 216 was taken away from me as the handle turned the door swung open and a nurse came out. 

My tense muscles relaxed and I released a deep breath as I realized that it wasn't someone whom I was dreading meeting with. 

The nurse walked past me but I remained rooted in front of the semi-closed door of room 216, debating between two options, of walking inside and dunning away. Truth be told, I had no idea what I was doing there. Why was I standing here right now? There were so many places I'd rather be right then, but I couldn't just find it in myself to turn around and walk away. 

My palms were becoming sweaty the more I stood there, not being able to come to a decision. I could just turn around and walk away and this was exactly what was good for me but I knew that I was just running from the inevitable.

Sooner or later, I was going to come face-to-face with Natalie and her baby boy. If not today, then maybe tomorrow or a week from now. I couldn't just evade them both for the next eighteen years of Harper's son. 

And if it had to be done, I should just get it over with as soon as I possibly could. Put all this drama behind me. Move on with my life. With that brave, yet somehow stupid thought in my mind, I put my hand around the handle of the door and pushed it open. 

It was a private room, just like I had expected. There was no Natalie in the room, so I didn't have to deal with her at the moment. I was somewhat glad because honestly, I had no idea what I would say to her if we should ever come face to face. 

The baby was in the small bassinet though, fast asleep and Samantha was watching over him. I could see her muscles tense when she realized that I was in the room. All this time I was worrying about coming face to face with Natalie and her baby, I never even considered the dramatic awkwardness that would come with meeting Samantha and Aiden. I had already met up with Aiden back at the pack house when he acted like I was some random girl he knew and not one of his friends. I was curious to know how Samantha would act when meeting me.

I couldn't exactly see the baby because the wooden structure of the bassinet obscured my vision and I had a sudden urge to walk up and see him for myself. 

Sam looked up from the baby, her face completely blank when her eyes met mine. I swallowed nervously because I had no idea what to say. I knew that I was the one who went away without so much as a goodbye and I knew that must have hurt. There was no communication between us for more than four months because I wanted to move on. Even though I knew Samantha was understanding, I knew that she must have been hurt. To get away from all the hurt and the pain, I had pushed away both Harper and Natalie. To do that, I pushed away Samantha, Aiden, and a lot of other people. I wondered if there could have been a way to push Harper and Natalie away but keep in touch with Sam and Aiden at the same time. If I had figured it out then, I wouldn't have been standing like this right now. I wish I had. Because I missed my friends and there was no one to blame for their cold treatment but myself. 

"Zara, you're here." Samantha seemed surprised that I was there. Honestly, I was too. 

"I am here," I said, unsure what to do. My gaze traveled the room, casually hovering over the small decorations. An uncomfortable silence ensued between us. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. What do you say to your lifelong best friend with whom you had suddenly cut all sorts of contacts and disappeared for months, even though they had done nothing wrong?

"How have you been?" I cringed as soon as the words left my mouth. It all seemed so awkward. 

"I have been good. How is everything with you?" 

"Good. Good. You look good." She did. She seemed to be glowing. She looked healthy and happy and I was glad. My eyes moved to her neck when I spotted the mating mark on her neck. "Oh my god, Aiden marked you."

Her hand moved to her neck and she blushed deep to her roots. "Well, yeah. Aiden marked me months ago. I took up the beta female duties three months ago."

"Oh." What do I say to that? So much had changed while I was away. Samantha was the beta female now. If I had had the insight to keep in touch with her, I would have known about the important milestones in her life. Best friends are supposed to do that, aren't they? 

"His name is Mason Sebastian Cain." She said and looked down at the baby. I took a few steps closer to the bassinet as if there was some bomb in the bassinet and not a baby. The baby boy was beautiful, there was no other word for it. He had the cute little eyelashes, the pinkest cheeks I had ever seen, the perkiest nose I had ever seen, and the most beautiful lips I had ever seen on any boy. Just by looking at him, I knew that he was going to be a heartbreaker. And if he inherited Harper's green eyes, which I had a gut feeling that he did, girls would fawn over him all his life. 

I had thought that when I would come face to face with this baby, I would feel nothing but hate towards him. Right now, I was feeling anything but. Sure, I wasn't bursting with love at the seams but I didn't hate him. It's really hard to hate adorable babies when you're mad at their parents. If anything, he was as innocent as me in this whole drama. I felt a smile tug at my lips when he hiccupped in his sleep. 

"He's not going to detonate, you know. You can pick him up." Samantha spoke up but I couldn't look up from the baby boy to look at her. "You don't have to be afraid of him." Samantha chuckled at her joke but I couldn't make myself laugh because it was true, wasn't it? I was afraid of the baby. I was afraid of everything that it represented. 

"Where's Natalie?" I asked, unsure if I wanted to know her whereabouts but at this point, I would talk about anything else than my fear of the baby. 

"Natalie had a rough delivery, so she is having some tests done," Samantha informed me. I kept looking at the baby when Samantha's loud voice broke me out of my thoughts. "Oh my god, you are afraid of the baby."

"I had wondered if you and Natalie remained friends after everything. I guess that answers my question." I whispered. 

"You're evading the topic. You are afraid of the baby. You're afraid of his parents coming together to raise him." I looked up at Samantha, amazed that she had caught onto my fears so quickly. She knew me so well. 

"How could I not? They're practically a family." Saying these words out loud hurt me so much. Voicing the fact out somehow cemented my fears and made them all the more real. 

"It doesn't matter what they are because you have already considered the three of them as a family. Not caring if they consider them as one." It was easier said than done. How could I not analyze the situation and consider every aspect of the messy triangle before taking any action?

"You know I never thought you and Natalie would remain friends after everything happened. You were always so big on loyalty. I thought you would be the first one to leave her." 

"After you went away, we had a big fight. I didn't speak to her for days. But then after much thought I went to her and told her I would stand with her through all her tough times." I looked up to see Samantha was already looking at me, gauging my reaction. 

"What made you change your mind?" 

Samantha sighed. "Zara, you weren't the only one who was going through a tough time, you know. We all were." She rubbed her hands and I knew she was contemplating if she wanted to tell me what was going through her mind. "Everyone knows that unmated wolves sleep with each other but no one bats an eye. Sure, it's frowned upon because it's ideal to wait for your mate but no one does nowadays. But getting pregnant with someone who's not your mate is something else entirely. It's not being frowned upon, it's against the rules of our kind. You are criticized, ostracized, and treated like vermin, even if you were carrying the pack's future heir."

Samantha pointedly looked at me and continued her story. "Harper is our alpha so he didn't exactly receive any backlash but Natalie did. Lots of it. She was ignored and ridiculed which wasn't good for her condition. I figured if the world was against her, maybe I could stand up beside her and help her through everything. Maybe my support would make some difference and the bullying would stop and it did, to some extent." 

"Wow! And here I thought you would have stuck with me." I snapped and Samantha leaned back in surprise.

"Stick by you? Zara, you weren't even here. Natalie was. She needed my support and I gave it to her. What else was I supposed to do? Stand by a friend who left without saying goodbye and didn't bother to let me know she was alive for months?" Samantha whisper-yelled. "Moreover, I don't just see Natalie and Harper as you do. I don't see them as a couple but you do and I don't even see them coming together to take care of their son in the future. You and I both know that Natalie has always hated Harper."

I stood up from the floor on numb legs and looked at Samantha for a few seconds. "You're forgetting something, Samantha. I hated Harper once upon a time too."

I turned around and hurriedly took the few steps that would take me out of the hospital room. It suddenly seemed too stifling and I was sure it was because of the occupants. 

Just as I opened the door, Samantha's voice called me back. "Zara, you and Harper are mates. You were meant to fall for each other. Natalie and Harper are not." 

Without turning around, I walked out of the room, a million thoughts running through my head.