The Forbidden Pregnancy

~Elsa~

Since that unforgettable night, I could not stop thinking about Jacob. Even if the vigil had not ended well because of Seraphina’s mistake, one part of that night still remained precious to me.

I had awakened a mate bond. Yet, learning more about Lucien’s detached nature only left me increasingly uncomfortable.

It had not been easy trying to calm Seraphina after everything that happened. She was utterly furious. The humiliation of that moment had been unbearable for her.

Eventually, she returned to college, and I hoped distance would help her forget about it all. She remained disgusted by Lucien’s cold behavior and by Seth’s excessive submissiveness toward him.

“Why would a man make you feel less like an Alpha just because he’s tall?” Seraphina had openly challenged Dad one evening in our room.

It was only the three of us present. No one else.

Apparently, Seraphina had decided Lucien’s height was the reason Father acted intimidated around him.

“Seraphina, like I told you before, we have to tread carefully with the Draegor Pack. They are far greater than us, and there is nothing to gain from hostility,” Seth advised patiently.

“I’m never accepting that, Dad. He walked into our home like he was some perfect being while everyone practically worshipped him. How is that normal?” Seraphina growled.

“I’ll repeat myself. The Draegor Pack has been respected by nearly every pack across Hoston for years. Do not speak that way, young woman. You are still too young to understand history,” Seth explained.

But Seraphina suddenly exploded and rose to her feet.

“I don’t care what history says, Dad! Just tell that street-pole not to make my father look like his servant. I will never tolerate that!” she yelled.

Seth went quiet after that.

He knew Seraphina meant every word. She hated anything that made our father appear weak or beneath others. The moment she attempted storming out of the house, Seth quickly reached for her wrist and pulled her into a tight embrace. I joined them almost immediately, wanting to ease the tension somehow because I was always the gentler one between us. I could never imagine confronting Father the way Seraphina did.

“I’m sorry. I’m doing this for us too,” Seth whispered softly.

“He can’t call us dirt. He can’t make you look like a slave,” Seraphina said again, though her voice had weakened with emotion.

“I’m sorry. Everything will be alright, my love,” Seth whispered once more.

Meanwhile, I kept my own sin buried inside me.

Truthfully, I was deeply disturbed about what had happened between Jacob and me. I desperately needed someone to talk to. Unfortunately, Jacob had never left any contact behind before departing. There was no possible way to reach him. All he left me with was a promise that he would return regarding the mate bond.

Still, something else troubled me even more. A some weeks after our intimacy, I began feeling strange. Sick.

At first, I ignored it. But the symptoms gradually became impossible to dismiss.

Seth was the person I trusted most, yet I feared speaking to him. He would immediately suspect something was wrong if I said the wrong thing. And Father had a frightening habit of uncovering truths no matter how carefully someone tried hiding them.

Thankfully, after graduating from college, I had managed to secure a job within Hoston City. The work kept me away from home most days. I worked as a secretary in a company, and the salary had been surprisingly decent. It supported our household well enough and even helped Seraphina pay her school fees.

The truth about the Vance Pack was simple. We were small in numbers, and our financial stability reflected that.

Seth was only a fisherman, and recently his boat had become damaged beyond repair. Until my next salary arrived, he had no choice but to remain at home. 

The remaining pack members, Dennison, Harry, Percy, and Oliver, all contributed what they could as well. They were cousins who had lost their parents years ago and eventually came to live with us. Dennison, Harry, and Oliver worked at a manufacturing company while Percy mostly assisted Seth.

A few months later, after Seraphina returned to college, life within the Vance Pack slowly resumed its normal rhythm again. Everyone returned to work and daily routines.

But the illness never truly left me.

That particular morning at work, the fatigue became unbearable. The headache throbbed violently through my temples until organizing client files became nearly impossible. During break hour, Rimon noticed immediately.

“Are you alright, Elsa?” he asked with concern as he pulled a chair beside my desk.

I nodded faintly, and somehow the pain eased just a little.

“How are things with you?” I asked, though in truth, another question already lingered in my mind.

Rimon nodded once. “I’m alright.”

Then he revealed the small towel he had been carrying and handed it to me. “You should use this. It’s cold enough,” he offered kindly.

I slowly accepted it and pressed it against my forehead. The coolness immediately soothed the headache while I leaned deeper into my chair with relief.

“So… did you visit your fiancée’s parents last week?” I asked, remembering that Rimon and I were closer than most workers in the office.

Rimon nodded. “Parent actually. She only has her mother,” he corrected gently. “Everything moved pretty fast and now she’s carrying our first child. She keeps complaining about headaches, chest burns, fatigue, and all sorts of little illnesses.”

“Really?” I asked in surprise. “That happened quickly though. You’re a dangerous man.”

I winked jokingly, earning a laugh from him.

“So she’s pregnant now? And she’s having chest burns and headaches?” I asked again, this time far more carefully.

Something inside me had suddenly clicked.

Rimon gave another nod. “I think those are just the normal symptoms that come with pregnancy,” he suggested casually.

I froze slightly. Everything he described matched exactly what I had been experiencing for weeks. 

The headaches. The exhaustion. The strange sickness. Still, I refused to believe it.

There was simply no way I could be pregnant after only one encounter with Jacob. It sounded impossible. Besides, wolves were different from humans. Rimon and his fiancée were both human, so surely our bodies could not function exactly alike.

I convinced myself it was probably just a fever.

But as days passed, the illness became harder and harder to conceal.

I noticed Seth studying me every morning with narrowed eyes. He watched the way I walked. The way I moved around the house. I knew he suspected something was wrong.

I tried my best to appear healthy, but the sickness continued worsening.

Even Percy eventually asked if something was wrong with me. I quickly dismissed his concerns and insisted I was fine. Yet deep inside, I knew something was terribly wrong. I just could not fully admit it to myself.

When hiding it became impossible, I secretly summoned Cooper Joe, the pack’s doctor. I begged him not to mention anything to Seth or the others. Thankfully, Cooper was excellent at keeping secrets and answering urgent calls.

That morning, after Seth and the others had left for work, I stayed home. I phoned Rimon beforehand and asked him to explain my absence to the manager. I trusted him enough to handle it carefully.

When Cooper finally arrived, his old moustache still rested awkwardly beneath his nose as always. Thankfully, he had brought his medical case with him.

The moment he saw me, his already huge eyes widened even further while he grinned.

Honestly, I never understood why someone with eyes as enormous as Cooper’s still needed to widen them further. It looked humorously terrifying.

“A weak girl pretending to be strong,” Cooper teased while entering. “Seth would have discovered this sooner or later even if you didn’t call me. But now I’m curious. Why are you hiding your illness from your father and the rest of the pack?”

He had always teased Seraphina and me that way since childhood.

Truthfully, I didn’t fully understand why I was hiding this either. Maybe guilt had attached itself to the illness somehow, and I simply was not ready to face it.

Cooper picked up his stethoscope and approached the couch where I was laying weakly.

“How are you feeling, Alpha Elsa?” he asked while tilting his head.

“Terrible,” I admitted tiredly. “I’ve been vomiting constantly. I have headaches, and I feel exhausted all the time.”

Cooper’s gaze shifted toward my swollen legs before returning to my face.

His eyes widened again. Then he began examining me carefully.

Throughout the entire process, his expression kept changing strangely. His eyes widened repeatedly as if each discovery shocked him more than the last. I could not tell whether he was being dramatic or genuinely concerned.

The moment the examination ended, anxiety consumed me.

“What’s wrong, Cooper?” I asked impatiently.

Cooper sighed heavily, wearing an expression I had never seen on him before.

Then he hesitated.

“You’re nine weeks pregnant, Elsa,” he announced plainly.

The shock struck instantly. A violent chill swept through my entire body.