Moana
“If you don’t mind me asking, what made Edrick suddenly decide to have a public relationship and announce you as Ella’s biological mother?” My eyes widened at Ethan’s sudden question. It was rather unexpected and, despite the gentle and curious tone of voice he used and the innocent redness in his soft cheeks, I found his question downright creepy. After everything that had happened with Ethan both leading up to and during the last party when he kissed me without my consent, I didn’t think for a moment that any sort of question like that wasn’t loaded in some way or another. The fact alone that he suddenly showed up at my place of work — and I didn’t even fully know how he knew that I worked here yet — was enough of a cause for concern. “Um… I mean, I am pregnant with his child,” I responded with a bit of a nervous laugh, and gestured at my belly — which had grown a bit since I last saw Ethan and now couldn’t be hidden terribly well underMoanaI went home after work that day with an odd feeling in my stomach after my conversation with Ethan.All of it felt so… contrived. At first, I thought that he was just trying to make amends for what happened at the family party. But when the strange questions began, it became obvious to me that he was either fishing for information or he was trying to drive another wedge between Edrick and I. Maybe it was both of those things, or maybe it was neither. Either way, I didn’t know what to do.I didn’t know if I should tell Edrick about it or if I should just pretend it didn’t happen. Part of me felt as though the right thing to do would be to tell Edrick that Ethan had suddenly shown up in my classroom, but at the same time I was worried that he would tell me that I shouldn’t be teaching there anymore. Even though it had only been a week since I had begun my new job, I loved every moment of it and it felt as though my dreams were finally
MoanaAs I listened to Edrick playing the piano, I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. I wished that I could see him, but if it made him too nervous, then I was happy to just listen. He played beautifully, and I hoped that I could always hear his music from then on.The song that he was playing came to an end, and was followed by silence. I didn’t realize it, but I had shut my eyes as I lost myself listening to the music. I opened them again and turned, expecting him to still be sitting at the piano, but he wasn’t.He was standing right behind me, looking down at me with those glowing silver eyes.Edrick was so close to me that I could smell his cologne coming off of his shirt and could feel his warm breath on my face. Being this close to him made me tremble, but only in a good way.“Edrick…” I whispered, looking up to meet his gaze.He stared down at me silently, with only his glowing silver eye
Edrick“I want to know the real reason behind why you find it so abhorrent to be intimate with me,” Moana said, chasing after me and grabbing my arm as I tried to storm out.What I said next was a mistake. I knew that as soon as the cruel words came out of my mouth, and I wished that I could take them back when I saw the look on Moana’s soft face.“Because!” I said, whirling around to face Moana. “I will never marry you! Not you, and not anyone, and I don’t want to give you the wrong idea! I don’t care that you’re my mate. The mate bond means nothing.”Moana’s eyes widened. She released her grip on my arm and covered her mouth with her hand, taking a step back. We stared at each other in shocked silence for several long moments before she suddenly brushed past me and ran out of the room.“God dammit, Edrick,” I whispered to myself once she was gone. I slapped my hand on the wall and cursed under my breath. I felt like
MoanaThat night, I tried to fight the tears. But no matter how hard I fought and tried to keep my head up, I couldn’t entirely stop myself from crying just a little bit.After all, I had just discovered that Edrick not only knew all along that I was his mate, but that he also still didn’t plan on ever being with me despite this. The thought of it made me feel incredibly sick, and I felt helpless. All I ever wanted was to give my baby the happy home life with two loving parents that I never got to have, and yet I had somehow managed to be the fated mate of someone who simply couldn’t even bear the thought of being with me. Was there something wrong with me? Was that why I had such bad luck in love?My wolf, however, was surprisingly quiet throughout all of this. Even though she supposedly released her scent and that was what made Edrick “lose control” and kiss me passionately, I didn’t feel much from her. In fact, when I reached out and tried t
Edrick“Oh, good. He’s waking up.”The first thing I noticed when I came back to consciousness was a splitting headache pounding in my skull. When I finally cracked open my eyes, squinting against even the dim light of my bedside table, I saw three figures bent over me. And, judging from the hardness under my back and the position I was lying in, I quickly realized that I was laid out on the floor rather than my bed.“Wh…What happened?” I muttered, noticing the distinct feeling of nausea rolling around in my stomach as though I had had too many drinks the night before and was now hungover.“Shh. You’re alright,” a male voice said. My eyes slowly came into focus, and the blurriness in my vision faded enough for me to see that my doctor was standing over me with a concerned look on his face and his stethoscope in his ears. Behind him, I could see Selina standing there with her arms folded across her chest and disappointment in her ey
MoanaThe relief I felt when the doctor said that Edrick would be okay couldn’t even possibly be put into words.“Well, I think you’ll be okay now,” the doctor said as Edrick got up to his feet with no trouble. “Rest today and you’ll be fine by tomorrow.”Edrick nodded. Both of us watched as Selina and the doctor walked out of the room, leaving Edrick and I alone once more. Instantly, I turned toward him with a frown.“Don’t scare me like that,” I said in a scolding, yet quiet voice. Before Edrick could answer, I ushered him over to the bed and forced him to lie down, just as the doctor ordered.“Geez,” Edrick said, lying down. “I get it. You don’t need to worry about me now, though.”I shook my head and frowned even more. There was so much I wanted to say; I wanted to tell him that he was a bloody fool for pushing me away. I wanted to ask him if he realized now that he needed me after all, and that it was
MoanaThe rest of the weekend went by too quickly. I spent all of Sunday with Ella to make up for not seeing her on Saturday, and soon enough Monday morning came around.However, I noticed something over the weekend as well as the first few days of the week: Mina’s sleepiness wasn’t getting any better. In fact, it only seemed to be getting worse, and it was making me nervous. At first, I thought it was just the pregnancy, but now I was beginning to think otherwise.And in fact, there was something especially odd about it.Mina seemed to get better at nighttime. She still had very little energy during that time, but it was an obvious improvement nonetheless. This slightly heightened energy would go on through the night and the early morning, but then she would get extremely sleepy again whenever I drank my morning coffee.By Thursday, I was beginning to get suspicious. I decided then to try an experiment; on Thursday mo
MoanaAs I held Olivia’s business card in my shaking hand, I wondered if I should call her.I needed to know if she, too, had experienced these sort of strange occurrences. Although I couldn’t imagine why Edrick would ever want to give me something that would make my wolf sick, if someone really was intentionally poisoning me, then I needed to get out and get my baby to safety. However, I still had no way of knowing for sure, and I was afraid to ask Edrick or Selina about my wolf’s symptoms in case either of them were in on it and got suspicious of me.But I still couldn’t be sure. Not only was I unsure of the situation with my wolf, but I was also still unsure of Olivia. I still couldn’t help but wonder if she really was an actress hired by Michael or someone else to get between Edrick and I, and so with a sigh I slipped the business card back into my purse and decided not to call her yet.After all, Edrick had never really