Ch. 3

Olivia’s PoV.

After I drifted back to sorrowful and painful sleep. I didn’t know for how long, until I was awakened by Dr. Chloe.

I opened my eyes to find her next to me. "Luna Olivia, how are you feeling?" She asked gently, but with the same pitiful look as Katherine’s. Goddess.

"Worse than I look," I answered. My throat was parched and I felt so frail. I felt ancient.

My body already felt as if it were withering by the minute, shriveling from the inside out without Vanilla to sustain me. Vanilla, my heart squeezed every time I thought of her. The hollow pain in my chest was unbearable. Each breath came weaker than the last, and even the simple act of existing was agony.

Dr. Chloe looked nervous. "Luna, you need to talk to Alpha Damien. Your results came in... you're pregnant." She whispered nervously. Everyone was afraid of Damian somehow.

The words took the air out of my lungs. For a fleeting moment, warmth bloomed in my chest—hope, joy, life. But just as quickly, the weight of reality crushed it. Pregnant. At such a time. Under such circumstances. Is my child suffering like I am? Dr. Chloe must have sensed my thoughts and responded to my question.

"Your current condition is not safe for the fetus. If you want your child to have a safe delivery, Alpha Damien needs to lift the curse.”

Lift it? But he felt justified. He felt it was his duty.

"Luna you're pregnant?!" Katherine spoke with excitement from the door. "You need to talk to Alpha Damian. I'm sure he..."

I shook my head, stopping her from continuing. "I will talk to him. Please don't mention it to anyone." I said firmly, but I was still shaking.

Chloe and Katherine shared a look.

"As you wish Luna. Of course," Both of them agreed.

“I still think you should tell him soon. I’m sure he would not want to endanger his heir.” Katherine remarked, her eyes softening as she looked at my hands curled on my stomach.

Later I was discharged. Damian was still a no-show. I was not prescribed anything except some simple painkillers. There was no medicine against witchcraft. Only the vague hope that Damian would take pity on me and lift the curse, before it was too late.

Katherine took me back home. She stayed with me for a while. We didn’t speak, but just her presence was comfort enough. I asked her to leave me in the living room, before she left.

Just as she was leaving, Katherine’s phone rang. She picked it up and kept walking. "Hey, Adam..." That was Katherine’s brother. Levi's former Beta. He had moved to the Craw Pack three years ago when Damian relieved his brother Levi from the Alpha title. Their voices drifted away.

I just curled up on the sofa. The pain in my chest was not receding. I waited for Damien from dawn to dusk. Foolishly hoping he had a change of mind, that his love for me would win. But what if his love had already died?

It was a long time before Damian finally came home. I had drifted into an uneasy sleep on the sofa, only to be stirred awake when I felt strong arms lifting me.

He was carrying me upstairs.

“Damian,” I said weakly as I leaned against his chest, finding comfort in his scent. He lay me on the bed arranging my pillows gently as if he still cared, but I knew better than to let him fool me anymore. The knot in my chest tightened.

“Did you eat?” Damian finally asked. I nodded, but the truth is I couldn’t even if I tried. There was a constant lump in my throat.

“Damien…” He started getting ready for bed as I spoke. “We haven’t been using birth control, and I was thinking. What if I’m pregnant? Would you lift the spell?”

He rose from the bed abruptly.” Nonsense! What makes you think that you’re pregnant?” His eyes narrowed. He was alarmed.

I swallowed, afraid. “It only came to mind because I heard that you have already proclaimed Vivian’s child as your heir. What about our children, Damian? Don’t you think that would be unfair for them?” I asked. “Would you choose her child instead of ours?”

His eyes flashed with anger. “Goddess, Olivia. Do you hear yourself?! My brother sacrificed his life for me. Have you seen Vivian and how miserable she is right now? My brother was her fated mate. If my brother hadn’t saved me, it would have been you in her place!”

My eyes glistened. He had never been this cruel with me before, he had never yelled at me, much less for another woman. He softened and put his hands on my shoulders looking affectionately at me, but his words were poison.

“Olivia, even if you were pregnant, I couldn’t lift the curse. It would endanger Vivian and her child. I can’t let anything happen to them. My duty is to protect my only brother’s bloodline. You need to keep your jealousy in check. It is uncalled for.” Then he hugged me kissing my temple, making me feel repulsed.

“We will have many children in the future, a child for us right now couldn’t arrive at the worst moment.”

I shook, with anger and a chill ran deep through my bones. How can Damien be so cruel? Willing to sacrifice not only his fated mate but his own child.

A vague but increasingly firm idea appeared in my mind.

I needed to leave him. To escape.

And for that, I would need help. My family. The Alpha King’s blood ran through my veins. I have left them once. But now—for me, and for my child—I would have to return.