003: Death

FIVE YEARS LATER

MAYA

“You're pregnant, Maya…” She paused and let the words sink in like pins to my heart, then continued in a small, trembling voice. “Congratulations.”

What?

Who was she talking about? I sat up from the bed with my mouth slightly ajar because I was sure I didn't grasp what the Pack's doctor had said.

Even her smile faltered when she saw the expression I wore. Pregnant?

Pregnant!?

All that morning sickness and vomiting wasn't from the spoilt food I was served all week long?

“What?” I echoed with furrowed brows, my claws extending as I gripped the edge of the bed tightly, waiting for her to repeat what she'd just said to me.

Doctor Clarissa sat down and crossed her legs, smiling sadly at me because we both knew that it was more bad news than good. There was no way in hell I wanted to bring a child into this hell that I was living.

No way!

“Wha— what d-did you say?” I asked in a shaky whisper, my eyes already glistening in tears as I looked up at her and hoped that the words would change.

Again, she looked at me right in the eyes and repeated it. “Maya, you're carrying the Alpha's child. Isn't that a good thing?”

Oh, no.

No. No. No!

A child was growing inside of me.

ARZHEL'S CHILD!

Right there and then, I swallowed my own heart and time seemed to pause. I heard a ringing in my head that almost deafened me. All the voices in my headspace seemed to want to talk at the same time.

I was pregnant?

Pregnant?!

For the same man who'd kept me by his side as his ‘royal concubine’ and had treated me less than trash for five years.

Five long, torturous years.

“Oh my god….” I drawled, fixing my fingers in my hair and almost tearing it out. “I- I can't be! I can't be pregnant! I'm not bringing a child into this world, into this wretched life!” I cried out, tears flowing from my eyes and Clarissa stood up to comfort me.

She'd been the closest thing I had to a friend after Alpha Arzhel picked Elenore over me, announcing that she was his mate and I was left in deep shit, glad to even be alive and not banished out of the pack.

But living every day was torture. He hated me so much, threw me in a leaking room in the basement, and only needed me for the nights his wolf called out for mating.

And I still loved him!

Every single time he'd made me understand that I was the trickster, the fraud who cajoled him into marking me. No one cared about my truth.

No one!

“Maya…”

Words would do nothing to ease my pain right now. I might as well be going mad! What am I supposed to do?

My hands subconsciously crawled up my lower abdomen and it kept replaying in my head. Another human was growing inside of me right now.

“Maya! Listen to me. What if…it's a good thing?” Clarissa said with a half-shrug, a glint of hope in her round brown eyes that I almost fell for it and thought it was true. “What if this is what brings the Alpha close to you? You love him, don't you? What if this is all it takes?”

I leaped to my feet. “Clarissa, I'm…pregnant!” I enunciated in disgust, tasting my own salty tears. “Imagine a child in all these! I live in a basement, Clarissa! A leaking basement and I get moldy bread for breakfast, and sour soup for dinner! A child is not what I need right now!”

“Just think about it…” She said, backing away slowly. “I'll leave you to be by yourself for a while. Also…I think you should tell him. This is an advantage, Maya. You can give him what he wants. The letter's on the table.”

***

I'd been standing at the door for the past ten minutes because I didn't know how to go in there and spill the news.

Alpha Arzhel hated me, so why would he care for my child? I wanted him to love me and care for me like he did Elenore but I also wanted him to do it willingly.

It seemed like that was never going to happen.

I inhaled deeply and pushed the doors open without knocking. They creaked loudly and I stepped into Alpha Arzhel's huge room. I was a stranger to it, except on nights when his cock needed a warm hole.

Immediately, I caught sight of two of them tangled in bed. My heart could deal with this much, I'd been hurt way more than this in the past.

I'd walked in on them doing the deed a few years ago and passed out from the pain it brought to Sage.

This was a piece of cake. Neither of them acknowledged my presence, except Elenore who umphed and I was so sure an insult would come in next.

“You dumb Scarface!” She hissed, “Isn't it basic courtesy to knock!?”

Her shoulders were bare and the rest of her body was wrapped in his blanket. She must be naked under that, and maybe he was too?

My eyes drifted to Alpha Arzhel and I found that he was already looking at me with the usual disgust.

I immediately looked away, clutching the test results tightly. I fell to my knees, as always whenever I wanted to address the Alpha. “My apologies. I have something important to tell you….” I let a moment of silence pass. “Alone.”

It was like my words lingered in the air and fell into the ears of no one. Elenore pulled the blanket to her chest while Alpha Arzhel remained still on the bed, not offering a single word to my presence.

I had never felt emptier. Should I just blurt it out then? Should I just announce it and stink the atmosphere more than it already does?

In a swift movement, Alpha Arzhel climbed out of bed. He stepped foot on the tiled floor and my eyes couldn't help but follow his every step. It was a shame that I still desired him.

That his bare skin still stirred up a storm within me even after all he'd done. I'd fallen in love with this bastard over the last couple of years and I despised myself for it.

I despised this bond and how it only affected me. He grabbed trousers and sat at the edge of the bed to put them on. A lump grew in my throat, choking out my next set of words.

“I said I—”

“I’ll have the guards check your leaking room, Tail-wolf,” He responded in the same icy tone he'd always addressed me with. “Leave and stop stinking up the place. Your presence upsets my stomach.”

Elenore giggled from her corner on the bed, filling me with even more spite.

In a quivering tone, I tried to defend myself. “That's not what I'm here for. This is more important, I swear!” I squeezed the letter tightly, desperately. “It's…very important and I need to tell you in private.”

He cocked his head in my direction and my heart thumped. His glare was deadly, fueled by dread and rage. He didn't hate me less.

“What are you cajoling your way up to this time? Let me guess? You're in heat? You want a fucking dragon's head this time? A castle on the wind? Why the hell were you sent to make my life such a living hell!”

He would never hate me less.

“I'll ask for you to be hung and have your head on display, woman!” Alpha Arzhel spat at me, voice venomous and filled with spite. “You are a shame to my name and it's already shameful enough that I keep a lowly thing like you around. Now—”

He was interrupted by the shrill ringing of his phone and he stood up when he took the car. I watched in horror, tears glistening in my eyes already.

This was the monster whose child I was carrying.

“I’m not in Semtle right now. Atlas? That fucking cunt! I'll be there! Let the construction hold off!”

In a rush, he grabbed his coat and threw it on, cussing out loudly with every second he spent doing so.

Elenore climbed out of bed— my mate's bed, concern etched on her face as she threw a robe on. “What's going on? Where are you headed?”

He flashed a knowing glance. “Semtle. I'll be back later than usual.” Arzhel's attention diverted to me. “Get out before I ask that you're locked in the cellar.”

Elenore kissed his cheek and he brushed past me without a single glance. The heaviness set in but it was nothing I wasn't used to. I picked myself up, a sigh pushing its way out of me.

It wasn't until I looked up I noticed Elenore's focus glare on me. I didn't want trouble, not when I had a potential one growing inside of me. I'd turn and leave if she hadn't said a thing, but when had that ever been Elenore?

“This is important, I swear! I have to tell you in secret!” Elenore mocked in a childish tone, clutching her chest and rolling her eyes! “I have to tell you! Alpha Arzhel, noo! Listen to me, please!” She let out a hysterical laughter and wiped the corner of her eyes. “You're so pathetic!”

Her eyes squeezed into a squint as she pulled closer to me. “I am curious though, what is so important you had to barge in here? How about you tell me? And I'll relay your message. After, I'm all he listens to.”

I clutched the letter tightly. “I'm good.” But she just wouldn't back off.

“Are you sure?”

“Get out of my way, Elenore. I'm not doing this with you.” I shoved her off and turned, but my grip around the letter must have faltered for a second.

Elenore grabbed it from my hold and retreated, taking a seat by the edge of the bed with a coy smirk gracing her expression. “A letter! I wonder…what this contains! A suicide note, perhaps?”

“Give it back right now!” I warned, running after her though she'd torn the little envelope open before I could snatch it back.

There was no use. She unfolded the letter in no time and I watched every stage of shock on her face as she took in the content. Elenore's hands slowly trembled and she looked up at me with dead eyes.

I'd never gotten a more frightening look from her. I swallowed hard, folding my arms across my chest. “Well, I did ask you to give it back.”

She rose slowly, carefully without tearing her gaze off me. Her lips quivered and she flailed the letter in my face. “I-is this real?”

“Is there a part of it that suggests otherwise?”

“I'm asking you, is this letter fucking real!?” She yelled, anger inking every syllable she uttered and eyes bloodshot. “You're…pregnant!? You?! H-how? W-w-why?!”

I stretched out my hand. “Give it back. I'm leaving.”

“I'm talking to you!”

I sighed and turned around to leave. Elenore was a small fraction of all the things about to go wrong. Before I could open the door, she caught up with me and yanked my hair harshly. Her frantic yell reverberated through the walls of the room.

“ANSWER ME!!”

“Let go!” I shoved her off me and she staggered back. “What? I can't get pregnant because you can't!?”

Her eyes widened and her breathing grew louder, more raggedy, and strained. I scoffed, pissed out of my mind.

“It's not a secret, Elenore. Everyone knows! The guards are aware and even the maids talk about it! Everyone knows you can't conceive and I don't fault you for it! For once! Stop being a child! Stop being a child!”

I turned around without a single word, listening to her mutter incoherently. I opened the door and slipped out, looking at the staircase ahead of me. I should head to the basement as always and wait for him to return.

Just then, before I could descend the stairs, the door slammed, followed by Elenore's approaching footfalls.

“Not before me!” She screeched, her voice echoing through the hallway. "You will not bear the Alpha’s child before I do! Over my dead body, Maya!”

I saw the desperation in her eyes. She was wild, unhinged, and her gaze was fixed on me with a fierce intensity. “Elenore, what—”

She came at me in a rush, her arms outstretched like claws, and I tried to step back, but it was too late.

Her hands hit me with a force that knocked the breath out of me. I felt a jolt of pain as her fingers dug into my shoulders, and then she pushed me with her core strength.

I stumbled backward, my feet scrambling for traction on the stairs, but it was no use.

I felt myself falling, my body weightless, and my stomach dropped as I realized I was going to hit the floor hard.

Somehow, I missed the railing and tumbled through the air, my arms flailing wildly as I tried to right myself.

I was going to die. It sank it. There were a thousand steps to go. I would fall and crack. I would…break. I: 'd lose everything!

Please.

I wouldn't survive this fall. My life flashed before my eyes and desperation pooled my soul.

Moon goddess, please.

One desperate wish. One frantic prayer. 'Please. I don't want to die.’

Then I landed.

I landed. And my eyes fluttered open as a gasp ripped out of my throat. I landed…

on a bed?

What the hell? The piercing beeps and whirs of equipment assaulted my ears, followed by the strong smell of antiseptic. Where was I?!

This wasn't Valtaria.

What the hell was going on? I remembered falling…down the stairs and not landing. What was going on?

Elenore! M-my baby.

I tried to sit up and noticed a man sitting next to me, his head buried in his hands, but that only lasted a second. In no time was he staring at me in the eyes, shock and a hint of relief painting his expression.

“Mara! Oh my goodness, thank god! I was so scared, I thought I lost you! Thank goodness you're awake!”

Mara? That wasn't my name. He tried to reach for me but I shuffled away fearfully, taking one long glance at the room.

“Where am I?”