Chapter 0004

*Rose*

I am naked, on a bed, and my legs are spread wide open. This is how I wait for the doctor. How attractive….

The lovely nurse from before has just left. She came into the examination room to check on me, saying that she wasn’t sure I could manage by myself since, clearly, I have rocks for brains, and when she arrived, she said that the doctor would be in in a moment, so I may as well go ahead and put my feet in the stirrups.

That was at least five minutes ago.

Thankfully, I have a sheet draped over my legs, and the gown I have on covers the top of me.

I stare up at a bright light, wondering if this might burn my corneas if I have to stay here much longer. That would be a great excuse to use to get sent away. Maybe then, I’ll have the opportunity to run away and strike out on my own.

I am imagining the doctor will be an eighty-year-old man with cold hands and the same attitude that the nurse had. That would be my luck.

Why is it that no one who works at the castle is nice?

Tristan and Mark are nice…. Mark was quiet, but not in a rude way. And Tristan was overly friendly. I like them both, but they aren’t workers here, it seems. Perhaps in another life, we could be friends–or something.

I can’t help the physical reaction that happens inside of me when I think about either one of them. I start to feel myself becoming damper and damper between my spread thighs, and a tiny ache begins low beneath my belly.

Realizing I don’t want the doctor to catch me in such a state, I decide to think about something else–anything else. The last thing I need is for the doctor to realize something has me excited.

I envision myself back at the sewage treatment facility and how embarrassing it was the day that I threw up.

There, that does the trick. No matter what happens, I must keep my mind off of those two guys I bumped into until this examination is over so the doctor won’t see the evidence of my true feelings.

A few moments after I’ve steeled my resolve, I hear the curtain fly open. “Hello!” a friendly female voice says, and I look up to see a small woman, perhaps only about five feet tall, with dark hair pulled back in a bun and small spectacles balanced on the end of her nose. She is wearing a lab coat and carrying a clipboard.

“Hi,” I manage to get out of my dry mouth. Talking is not my strong suit today.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, dear. I’m Dr. Pendergan. How are you, honey?” She smiles down at me, standing near my head.

I don’t know how to answer that, so I finally give her the truth. “Terrified.”

“Oh, dear!” she says, patting my shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I know this isn’t easy. But I’ll try to have you out of here as quickly as possible, all right?”

I am beginning to think I have gone into the wrong examination room because she is awfully nice, and so far, I haven’t had the sort of luck that brings me nice people. Well, other than the two muscle men.

“Okay,” I say, hoping she’s telling the truth so I can leave.

“Now, I just need to check a few things, dear, make sure you’re in good shape if the king decides to make you our lucky winner.” She smiles at me like I am here for some sort of a contest and not as a favor to my entire pack. But then… I suppose most of the other girls would think of themselves as winners if they are chosen.

Not me. That would make me the biggest loser.

“All right. First I’m going to do a physical exam, and then I’ll use the ultrasound machine. I’ll have Nurse Nancy come in to observe so you can feel comfortable that everything is fine, all right dear?”

I nod, but if Nurse Nancy was the mean lady I’d met before, I don’t want her in here.

Dr. Pendergan sticks her head out of the curtain and calls for Nurse Nancy. A moment later, another older woman walks in. It isn’t the same nurse as before, thank the Moon Goddess.

“All right,” the doctor says, and I focus my eyes on the ceiling trying to put myself somewhere else as she goes about her physical examination.

It’s not as bad as I think it’s going to be. She basically just checks to see whether or not I am a virgin. Satisfied that I am, she moves on.

“Now, this ultrasound machine will just give us a good look at your reproductive organs,” she says. “Sorry the gel is cold.”

My gown is pulled up, but the sheet is still over my bottom portion, and she’s told me I can take my feet out of the stirrups, thank goodness.

She’s right–the gel is cold. She rubs it all over my stomach with a wand, and then the machine comes to life, and her eyes are glued on that as she moves the wand around.

After a few moments, Dr. Pendergan makes a sound like she’s trying to suck all of the oxygen out of the room.

Alarmed, I turn my eyes to the screen. I hadn’t been watching before because I have no idea what I should be looking at. I still don’t.

“Nurse Nancy, do you see what I see?” Dr. Pendergan says, her voice a sharp whisper.

Nurse Nancy comes over next to me and stares at the little screen. She inhales loudly too.

“That’s… amazing!” she says.

“I know!” Dr. Pendergan agrees. “One in a million!”

I swallow hard. I have no idea what they’re talking about, but it sounds like they are happy about it. All I can think about is that whatever is on that screen is probably not helping me earn my ticket out of this awful place.

Dr. Pendergan puts the wand down, clicks off the machine, pulls out a few photographs she’s apparently printed, and turns to me as Nurse Nancy wipes the gel off of my skin. “Have you ever had an exam like this before, dear?”

I shake my head. No words are coming out of my mouth.

“Well, you have a very unusual anatomical trait that most women do not have. You have two uterine horns, dear, like a wolf. Most shifters only have one uterus, like a human.”

“Ookay,” I mutter. “So… what does that mean?”

“It means your chances of conceiving are very, very good,” she says with a wide smile.

I can only stare at her.

Selfishly, this is terrible news for me.

There’s a bustle around me as they discuss what to do. I am in a trance, wondering exactly what this means for me.

“Get dressed, dear,” Dr. Pendergan tells me, and then they both leave. And I am alone.

With my two uterine horns….

I pull myself up off of the table and get dressed, sitting back down to hook my shoes. A few moments later, Dr. Pendergan calls, “Are you dressed, dear?”

“Yes,” I tell her, and she pulls the curtain open.

“The king would like to see you immediately, honey. I will walk with you.”

My head rocks back and forth, and I press my feet to start moving like I’m some sort of automaton or zombie.

Dr. Pendergan is overjoyed as she walks down the hallway with me. She is practically humming with excitement. I don’t know what to think about any of this. Perhaps King Gene will think I am some sort of an abomination from how I’m walking and send me straight home.

We do not enter the king’s office as I expected. Instead, we head towards a large auditorium, and Dr. Pendergan walks me up on stage.

Bright lights shine into my eyes, but as I look out at the crowd, I can tell that there are dozens, maybe hundreds of people out there. I can’t see many faces, but I can see the front row. I recognize the red-headed girl I spoke to before and that blonde who was so stuck up.

Why are all of these people here?

Why am I here?

“This is her?” King Gene says to the doctor as we walk over to him. He looks shocked to see me again so soon.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she says and hands him the pictures.

He looks at them and makes the same annoying ‘ahh’ sound like the doctor and nurse had done. “Very well,” he says. “Thank you, Doctor.”

Dr. Pendergan nods her head, and then steps back beside me as King Gene quiets the crowd.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and all citizens of the kingdom,” he begins as the crowd quiets to a hum, and I find myself looking out at the audience as well. “It is with great pleasure that I announce to you that our Breeder has been found!”

I look around. Is there another woman on the stage? Who is she?

Then… he answers the question for me. “Rose Forrest of Elm pack!”

He is gesturing at me….

I’m the Breeder? Because of my stupid abnormal uterus? That’s all it takes? Really?!

I don’t even know how to react. My knees are threatening to give way. All I want to do is to run down off of the stage and hide somewhere–anywhere.

But I’m here, and I can’t. There are guards for one thing. Also, my parents would murder me if I came home now. News travels fast here and when they found out I had been selected and had managed to outrun the king’s guard, they wouldn’t accept me back in their house. They would beat me out in the streets like a stray dog caught stealing food.

I try to refocus my attention on the room around me. Many people in the crowd are clapping and cheering, but on some of the other girls’ faces, I see outrage.

“What?” I hear a voice shriek, and I look out to see it is the blonde from before. “No fucking way!” she screams.

“Calm down, Kerry,” a brunette next to her says, looking around to see if the guards are moving in on Kerry. The brunette has to rub Kerry’s back to stop the girl’s hyperventilating.

I know who she is now. Cheryl Bush, from Brush pack. Her father, Alpha Martin, is one of the most powerful Alphas in the kingdom.

It’s no wonder she’s mad. She probably feels she deserves to be the one to carry the future heir and maybe even marry the next king.

They won’t expect me to do that, will they?

I can’t even think about what all of this means….

Cheryl is escorted from the auditorium, along with a few other angry girls who are interrupting the king. I wonder if they will be punished for getting out of line, but I doubt it. They should be given some leniency for coming all this way and not getting what they’d hoped for. Like some sort of participation award that says, ‘Breeder Tournament: Runner-Up.’

Now that’s something tangible I can brag about. Not two uterine horns….

“Thank you all for coming,” King Gene continues. “Now… you may all go!”

For a moment, I hope that I am somehow included in that statement.

But it doesn't last. He turns to me and says, “Except for you, of course.” A wicked smile pulls

back his parted lips, and panic washes over me.

What have I gotten myself into?