Chapter 4
Samantha's Pov Three weeks ago, I got rejected by my mate, but I had not accepted the rejection. Being rejected almost killed me, and healing was almost impossible, and now, it caused me morning sickness. I could feel my stepfather, Jack, hanging by the corner as he watched me throw up for the third time this morning. I hated the way my body felt, but even this wasn't comparable to the pain I experienced that very day. Still, something needed to be done about my morning sickness. I had waited for Alaric to show up at my door every day, to apologize and take back his rejection, but each day I was met with disappointment, and Jack's patience was running out. I had lied that I hadn't been mated that night, but he seemed to doubt me because my mood had changed ever since. He was convinced that I was keeping something from him. While I was throwing up, I heard a loud bang by the door. I knew it was Jack's doing; he was angry, and now I could hear his feet striding aggressively towards me. A groan left my throat the moment I felt his hand on my hair. He held a fistful of it as he dragged my head out of the sink. "Jack, let me go!" I yelled amidst the pain he was inflicting. "Jack!" I yelled again as he began dragging me away from the sink. I fell on the ground with a loud thud as he pushed me hard against it. "What is wrong with you!" I yelled as I looked at him. He was standing above me, fuming in anger, and a hand pointed at me. "I couldn't wait to get rid of you, yet you came back without a mate? And now you're what? Sick?" he yelled angrily, throwing things across the place. I hissed as one of the pieces sliced through my skin. It wasn't a deep cut, so I was able to heal faster. He had every right, as an abusive drunk, to be mad at me. My mum had abandoned us the year I turned thirteen, and according to the pack laws, since he was my stepfather, he was mandated to take care of me until I turned 18, and the mating season was three months over. It wasn't up to three months after the mating night, so I was still stuck with him. "It's not my fault that I wasn't gifted a mate," I defended. "Nonsense!" he yelled again, startling me. He came at me again, dragging me by the collar. "You better not be lying, because if I find out that you did, you're going to pay dearly for it," he said and pushed me away forcefully. It should have been an easy decision to leave Jack, but he was good at gambling, so he got money for food at least. I had worked part-time jobs, but I was saving all the money I could get for college, so I had to endure living under his roof. "Get your ass downstairs, we are going to Doctor Adams," he said, and my heart skipped. Jack would have never cared to take me to the doctor, so it was strange to see him offer to take me to the pack's doctor. He had left angrily, and I knew better than to sour his mood any further, so I rushed back to the sink to clean my mouth before joining him downstairs. The journey was awfully silent; not once did Jack stop frowning. He was very mad at me, and I knew living my last three months with him wasn't going to be easy. We finally got to the pack's hospital, where we met Doctor Adams. Jack had dragged me all the way up, making sure he elongated his claws and allowed them to pierce through my skin. Each time blood came out, he pulled his hand out, knowing it would heal quickly. Strangely enough, I healed faster than normal werewolves. It was something he didn't want to discuss, and I didn't know if intentionally hurting me was because he hated me or because he wanted to figure out the mystery behind it. When we got to Doctor Adams' office, we were asked to wait for a few minutes since he was attending to some high-profile pack members. As the daughter of a rogue with an Omega as a stepfather, I normally wouldn't have been able to meet Adams, but he was almost like family to me. He was the one who rescued my mum when pack warriors shot her down for crossing the pack's border, and according to rumors, he was the only one that knew my mum's true identity. I was hoping that one day he would share that secret with me and help me find my birth father and the pack I belonged to originally. "Mr. Jack Phillips and Samantha Phillips, Doctor Adams will see you now," Dr. Adams' secretary said. There were, of course, murmurs as Dr. Adams had skipped some patients just to attend to us. He never broke protocol despite his obvious care for me, so it was surprising that he did this time. We got in and sat before him. He was a middle-aged man, with curly short hair with some grey already appearing at several spots on his skull. He watched us for some seconds, giving me a look of concern before trailing his gaze to Jack. "Mr. Phillip, how may I help you today?" he asked, and Jack shifted in his seat. Adams' gaze lingered on me once more, as if assessing me, then his eyes twitched with suspicion. "She didn't get a mate," Jack blurted, sounding annoyed at the same time. He eyed me dangerously, like if he had the chance he would kill me. Adams squinted in confusion, and I nodded in agreement before he could ask if it was true. "The mating season isn't over yet, she could still get her mate, besides it's not something a doctor can help out with." "She hasn't stopped messing my house up with her continuous vomits. My house stinks of it!" he said, raising his voice, which startled me. Doctor Adams didn't move; he was very calm about it, then he smiled in a way that was soothing. "I'm guessing you want her tested. It's not a problem, Mr. Phillip. We will run some tests on her right now." That seemed to calm Jack down, but my heart kept beating for a reason I didn't even want to admit. My blood sample was taken, and it felt like an excruciating time to wait for the results. Jack wouldn't stop cursing at me to the point that everyone around us got uncomfortable. A nurse had to tell him to bring his voice down. My wait was finally over when a nurse called me in. Jack insisted to come along since he was still my guardian. Dr. Adams couldn't refuse either; he would be faulted by the pack's council if the matter were taken up, despite how unnecessary it might seem. The look on Adams' face almost made me want to disappear. I never thought I had seen him this serious before. He looked greatly concerned for me, and the envelope in his hand, which he held onto tightly, scared me even more. "What is wrong with her, Doctor?" Jack asked, feeling very impatient. Doctor Adams had tried to give a prep talk, but Jack quickly snatched the envelope, to our shock. He went through it, and if I thought I had seen Jack furious before, I was wrong, because the look on his face now could almost kill me, and before me or Dr. Adams could say anything, I found myself forcefully pushed against the wall. "Jack!" Adams yelled, trying to come to my aid, but then Jack was stronger since Adams was also an omega and older in age. He moved back to his seat, and my guess was that he went to dial security. I groaned in pain as my head hit hard against the wall. Jack was choking me now, while I struggled to free myself from him. He held the paper up against my face. His eyes flashed red at me with rage, then he spat at me with the words I couldn't believe. "Who is the father?" My eyes bulged in great shock, wondering what he was talking about. He pushed me harder against the wall again. "I said, who is the father of the child you're carrying?" I was shaken to my core. My memories refreshing to the sweetness of that passionate night I shared with Alpha Ric. How he and I bonded and made love to each other. His cold eyes when he rejected me, the excruciating pain that almost killed me, and now I was pregnant?Samantha's PovI got up by five in the morning, took some clothes I would change into after I had shifted and ran but I didn't know if I'd be needing them, I only hoped so."Ariana, let's do this. Please." I begged my wolf as I stood before the thick woods before me. I felt nothing, no pain, not even a slight cracking of bone. " Just this once please, I need to vent. Let me shift." Still nothing, Ariana had gone silent like she always did each time I needed to shift.I broke down in tears feeling lonely. Anger, pain, it all surged back into my heart and yet, there was nothing I could do about it.Adrain wasn't the only secret I had kept all these years. I had been unable to shift after Ric's rejection. Ariana was hurt as much as I was, she had been present, speaking to me whenever I needed her but she never let us shift.It was heartbreaking not being able to feel the warmth of my wolf or experience the excitement that came with the morning run. I could never join the pack's seasonal
Samantha's POVI bit hard on my inner lips and tried to maintain eye contact with him. I braced myself and parted my lips to speak."Why do you want Adrain to be your son so bad? Wouldn't that affect your relationship with Lily?" I asked out of frustration. "Or don't you care if she knows, just like you didn't care that night?" I asked, remembering when we consummated our mate bond, how he, completely aware without his wolf's control, said he didn't care if Lily rejected her mate for him."If he's my son, I deserve the right to know," Alaric said, his voice cold with an air of possession. "He belongs here and not in Arcana Hills." He said. I was reminded of the idea that Ric could take Adrain away from me if he eventually found the truth.My chest squeezed painfully at the thought of losing my son to him. Adrain was my life, my everything; I could not imagine living without him. I'd give everything up just to be with him."He's not yours! How many times do I have to tell you?" I yelle
Samantha's PovAfter the dance I couldn't endure staying one more second in that hall, so I told Julian that I was going back to my room."I can't thank you enough for today Julian." I said once we were outside the hall. Julian looked unsettled, like something was bothering him." I don't think you are being smart about this entire situation Samantha." He said and I sucked in a breath, bracing myself for whatever he was about to say next. "Alaric could easily find out that you were lying, one call to Arcana Hills and they could be pressured to reveal the truth about you and he could find out that my eye colour is fake." He said. " Adams already took care of that. He made sure to settle them on never revealing anything about my pregnancy to this pack when he first brought me to the academy." Besides, Arcana Hills will never give information about their students especially one as sensitive as this to outsiders." I said and Julian sighed, he didn't seem satisfied even though he already
Samantha's POV "Will you do me the honor?" he asked, and my gaze trailed to Lily, standing in a distance from us. Her expression was very expected. I wasn't her favorite person, not in the past, not even now. Knowing how obsessed she was with Ric, I knew she wouldn't like the idea of me dancing with him. Did she even allow this? Because she looked really angry.I didn't want to dance with Ric, but I couldn't refuse the alpha a dance in front of everyone. Julian gave me the go-ahead nod and went to ask Lily for a dance, who had to accept. He was going to keep her busy enough. I appreciated that. I didn't need her angry gaze carving a hole in my skin, but right now I was faced with someone more challenging:Alaric.I gave him my hand, and the moment our hands touched, I felt light in the head, my breath seized, and came down with a rapid heartbeat all over again. The chills that ran through my skin were so out of this world. I had never felt like this with anyone. It was just him.I fo
Samantha's POVOn the dance floor, Julian held me while my free hand rested on his shoulder. He curled the second around my waist, which he used to pull me close to him. His eyes remained fixed on me as he led me through the slow dance in sync with the instrumental.I smiled at him, still doing my best to put up a fake chemistry between us. He was playing his part well too. Too well that I noticed my own failure. I shamefully kept glancing at Alpha Ric and Lily as they danced amongst the crowd.My heart skipped each time I looked their way. I really wanted to focus on Julian, but curiosity ate me up deep enough to keep stealing glances."What are you looking at?" I startled as Julian's voice brought my attention back to him. I was caught in the act, and I felt so embarrassed."Huh?" I found myself humming, feeling nervous that he'd confront me fully. He looked amused as he gave me a knowing look."What are you doing staring at another man while I'm dancing with you?" he said in a teas
FLASHBACK: Seven years ago.Alaric: 17. Samantha: 17Samantha's POV I stayed curled up on the floor of the wooden house that belonged to alpha Alaric, drenched in rain water and shivering from the cold.There wasn't anything much in this wooden house except for the bed where Alaric laid on whenever he came here.I was in tears, heartbroken and angry at how I had been treated by those pack bullies. This was a norm but I never got used to being bullied all because I was the daughter of a rogue but today the reason was different and it had everything to do with Alaric.I had been warned to stay away from him because of a certain girl I didn't even realize he was interested in. A group of four guys tied me to a tree, stripped me naked and took turns slapping my face and hitting my belly. They had all spat on me even with the heavy downpour.I had cried for someone to save me but everyone that came across us turned around and acted like we were invisible. My mouth was sealed with a rope