Chapter 1

Willow’s POV 

“Congratulations, Willow. You’re pregnant.”

Hearing those words from the healer caused a wide smile to spread across my face.

I sat there for a moment, just staring at the healer. My hands were trembling from the excitement. I pressed them against my thighs so she wouldn’t notice.

“Are you alright?” Healer Maren asked, watching me carefully.

“Yes.” I nodded quickly. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m — yes.”

She smiled at me softly. “You’re about six weeks along. It’s still early. You’ll need to come back in two weeks so I can monitor the pup’s growth properly.” She began writing something in her record book. “Are you currently under any unusual stress? Your heartbeat was a little elevated when you came in.”

I almost laughed. What kind of question was that?

Unusual stress. I was a wolfless omega living in an alpha’s house, surviving on the little scraps I could get from them, while working tirelessly. Stress was like the air I breathed.

“I’m fine,” I said again.

For the past few days, my body had felt strange. I had been tired and dizzy constantly. I had nearly collapsed while carrying laundry from the upper floor of the alpha quarters this morning.

I thought I was sick.

But this was good.

NOAH was going to be so happy.

My smile widened at the thought of HIM. 

The healer rose from her seat and walked toward a shelf filled with herbs and small bottles. “You must avoid stress as much as possible,” she said while preparing something. “And eat properly. Your body is already weak enough.”

I nodded quickly, though I barely heard half of what she was saying.

All I could think about was Noah.

How would I tell him?

Would he smile first or just stare at me in shock?

Maybe he would lift me off the ground the way he sometimes did when he got excited.

The thought alone made warmth spread through my chest.

The healer handed me a small pouch. “Herbs. Boil them before sleeping.”

“Thank you,” I said softly, clutching the pouch carefully.

She studied me for a second before sighing. “Does the father know?”

Heat rushed to my cheeks immediately.

“N-no.”

“You should tell him soon.”

“I will,” I whispered.

Because Noah loved me.

Even if our relationship had to stay hidden and everyone else looked down on me.

Noah always told me none of that mattered.

I still remember the first time he kissed me.

“You matter to me, Willow.” He had whispered softly.

My chest tightened at the memory.

Maybe now… maybe this child would finally mean I mattered for real.

Excitement still buzzed through me as I walked out the door.

I could barely stop smiling.

Goddess.

I was really pregnant

I pressed my hand against my stomach, right there in the hallway, not even caring if anyone walked past and saw me. Noah’s baby had been growing quietly inside me for six weeks and I hadn’t known.

I thought about his face when I told him. The way his eyes would go wide first, then soften—that rare softness he only ever showed when it was just the two of us, when there were no other wolves around to see the future alpha of the Pinecrest Pack looking at a wolfless omega like she was something more.

He would be happy. I was sure of it.

We had been careful, always careful, hiding what we were to each other because the pack couldn’t know. I understood that. I had always understood that. But a child changed things. A fated mate’s child changed everything.

This was it. This was the thing that would finally make him realize that we needed to become public.

I was already planning what I would say when I spotted him.

Noah was at the other end of the hallway, near one of the private consultation rooms. His back was facing me, but I would recognize those broad shoulders and brown hair anywhere.

I started to raise my hand.

Then I saw who he was with.

Stacey.

Stacey Holt. The gamma’s daughter. The girl who had made it her personal mission to make my life a living hell every chance she got. The worst of all the bullies I had in this pack.

I stopped walking.

Noah hated Stacey. He had told me that himself. ‘She’s so fake,’ he had said several times. ‘Nothing like you.’ I had believed him.

So what was he doing here with her?

‘It was probably nothing.’ I told myself that as I watched him lean slightly toward her to say something low, and she tilted her head back and laughed, her red hair shining as always.

My feet moved before I could think.

I followed them.

I kept enough distance so that they couldn’t notice me, and when they entered into one of the private rooms, I stood just outside it.

I don’t know what I expected. Maybe I thought I would see something that made sense.

The door wasn’t fully closed, so I could hear and see everything.

“Congratulations. She’s about eight weeks along.”

Confusion moved through me slowly as I furrowed my brows. Why was Noah in there for Stacey’s consultation? Why would he — what would he —

They were seated side by side on the clinic bed.

And they were holding hands.

Noah’s thumb was moving slowly over her knuckles like it was a habit for him.

I felt the floor shift under me.

“Eight weeks.” His voice was different. It was the same voice he used with me when he thought nobody else could hear. “And the pup?”

“The pup is developing well,” the healer confirmed. “Everything looks healthy.”

And then Noah did something that stopped my heart completely.

He reached over and placed his other hand on Stacey’s stomach carefully and protectively.

The exact same way I had imagined he would touch me after hearing my news.

“I’m going to be a father,” he murmured, a soft smile spreading across his face as his eyes lit with a happiness I had never seen before. 

The words hit me harder than any blade ever could.