Chapter2

Nadia's POV 

A few lion clan members beside Callan started to argue with me, but Callan stopped them.

Zane quickly stepped in front of everyone, attempting to calm the chaos.“Nadia is just pregnant, and her emotions have been all over the place lately. I’m sorry, Callan. I didn’t mean for this misunderstanding to ruin such a rare gathering for everyone.” 

His attention first went to the wine stains on Callan’s face. He gently wiped them away with a tissue, silently showing his concern for her.

I looked at him, and only then did I finally realize that I had never been the one he was truly worried about.

I lowered my gaze to my slightly swollen belly.

“Zane.” My voice was soft, but disappointment weighed heavily in it. “I’m carrying our cub. I’ve endured all the discomfort my body has gone through to take care of you and your friends. I prepared food for them, served them drinks, and never once complained. But what about you?”

“But you did those intimate things with your ‘good friend’ right in front of everyone.”

“Have you ever thought about what our cub would think if he found out one day that his father treated his mother this way?”

I looked at him and suddenly felt exhausted.

A few days ago, he told me he wanted to share the news of our cub’s arrival with pride and have his friends bless our child.

I had even looked forward to him holding my hand  and telling everyone that I was his mate. But now, I merely felt like I didn’t belong.

“If even helping someone of the opposite sex masturbate can be called a joke… …” I wiped away the tears at the corner of my eyes. “Then I don’t know what truly counts as crossing the line.”

Zane frowned. “You really aren’t like the old you anymore. You’ve become way too sensitive.”

His words felt like a thorn stabbing into me.

What was I like before? Did he believe he could simply ignore my feelings because of everything I was once willing to endure? I didn’t argue anymore. I turned around and walked toward the exit.

I felt a dull ache from within my belly, and wondered if my baby was protesting.

“Where are you going?” Zane reached out and grabbed my wrist. “If you leave now, you’ll only make things harder for Calla.”

I looked down at his hand. After a few seconds, I slowly pushed it away. “So in your heart, her feelings matter more than mine?”

Zane’s expression changed. He lowered his voice, and reigned in  his anger. “Do you really have to make a scene like this in front of everyone? Over a joke, you’re going to make me lose face in front of my brothers?”

I looked at him and suddenly found it ridiculous.

Zane gritted his teeth. “If you really walk out today, then don’t expect me to comfort you like I used to.”

The surroundings became silent, as everyone watched us.

I stared into his eyes and slowly lifted my chin.

“Fine.Then let’s leave it at that.”

“Let’s see if I can survive without your protection.”

Zane stood there, his expression grim. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

The air grew heavy, and no one dared to interrupt.

Just then, Calla stood up from her seat. She walked over to Zane and lightly nudged him. “What are you still standing here for? Apologize to Nadia.”

Then she turned to me, wearing a gentle yet helpless smile.“Nadia, you might have really misunderstood. Zane and I grew up together. We trained together. We’ve always just been friends.”

She paused, as if she was trying hard to explain things for me.

“When we were kids, we even peed in the ocean together, but that doesn’t mean there was anything special between us. Even if I took all my clothes off, Zane wouldn’t be interested. Don’t misunderstand our relationship because of what happened today.”

She said it so casually, as if she was the one who was considering my feelings, the understanding and generous friend who was only trying to help me.

Then she let go of Zane’s hand, took his, and gently placed it in front of me.

“It’s all my fault. I should have known you’d get jealous over something so trivial. If I had known, I never would have gotten so close to Zane. Zane, apologize to her. After all, Nadia is still carrying your cub. If today’s incident affects her, all of us will blame ourselves.”

In just a few words, she successfully became the understanding, considerate person who cared about the bigger picture. And I became the unreasonable one who was making a scene.

People around us started whispering. Those contemptuous gazes slowly fell on me. There was some sympathy, but more of it was confusion and blame.

“She’s so conservative and boring—no wonder Zane can’t get it up for her.”

“Calla is beautiful, understanding, and generous. If only she were our pride leader’s mate.”

The mind-link surrounding us lit up again. Everyone was praising how understanding Calla was, saying she was generous and considerate.

Zane finally walked over to me, and spoke with a low voice. “I’m sorry. Is that enough?”

“Wow, Zane really listens to Calla. They look like they’re the ones who were meant to be together.”

When Calla heard Zane’s friend say that, she couldn’t hide the smile tugging at the corners of her lips, but she still pretended to be generous.

She waved her hand and laughed lightly. “Don’t say that. Nadia will just get mad again later.”

I rolled my eyes inwardly. I didn’t want my emotions to affect my cub. Everything here made me feel sick.

Before leaving, I looked at them coldly. “How you want to play your games is your business. But don’t drag me into this kind of game again. ”

“Next time, I’ll slap Calla across the face.”

After saying that, I pushed open the door and walked out.

The night wind blew against me as I held my lower back and quickly walked away.

The discomfort in my abdomen grew more and more strong. I told myself I couldn’t fall down. Maybe then my cub wouldn’t have to know that his father was a shameless man. 

But I didn’t expect footsteps to come from behind me so soon. Zane had followed me out.

I thought he had finally realized how hurt I was. I was about to speak, but the next second, he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the car parked outside.

The car door opened, and I was forced inside.

Zane closed the door and walked around to the driver’s seat. His expression was terrifyingly dark, and he didn’t give me a chance to speak.

“Do you need me to cut ties with everyone before you’ll finally feel satisfied?” His voice was filled with restrained fury. “Other women don’t act like this after they get pregnant.”

“Fine. Now you’ve driven everyone away. Are you happy?”

Zane tightened his grip on the steering wheel and took a deep breath.

“Calla is just a friend I grew up with. There’s nothing dirty between us like you imagine. If I really wanted to choose her, you wouldn’t even exist in my life.”

He turned to look at me, disappointment filling his eyes.

“I used to think you were just sensitive. But now I see that you’re simply too stupid to even tell right from wrong!”