Chapter 2

The room smelled like antiseptic and dried herbs.

I blinked slowly, letting the harsh white light pull me back from the dark. My body ached all over. My leg was throbbing. My lips were cracked and dry. My throat burned.

“Where am I?” I croaked.

A warm hand gently pressed against my shoulder. “Take it easy.”

I turned my head and saw a woman in a white coat. Her expression was calm, reassuring.

“You’re at the hospital,” she said. “You were in a car accident.”

My memories flooded back like a dam had broken—the crash, the message, Andrew, the cold pavement, the headlights.

The woman.

The way they held each other.

I bolted upright. Pain shot through my side, but I didn’t care.

“My baby—” My voice broke. “Please—my baby, is it okay?”

“Calm down, the baby is safe,” she whispered and that was the only time my heartbeat slowed down. She helped me lie down while explaining. “The baby survived despite the seriousness of the crash. All the doctors who treated you were puzzled as well. You really had a strong baby inside you.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I touched my belly. Words cannot express how happy I was hearing that my baby was safe. But more than that, I felt proud that he was strong. There was nothing in this world that I desired the most than him giving birth to him healthy and happy. 

“But it’s still a high-risk pragnancy,” she went on, “You can’t afford to get stressed out anymore. You need to rest as much as possible. Any incident like this  and we are afraid you might lose your baby.”

Her words brought so much fear in me that I found myself nodding to her every word. After a while, she asked, “We didn’t find an ID when you were taken here. Can I get your name for documentation purposes?”

“Emma…Emma Campbell,” I answered. 

“Emma Campbell,” she whispered as she wrote my name on the file. “Wait. Are you the wife of Apha Andrew Campbell, the Alpha of Dark Desert Pack?” 

The word “wife” struck a chord in me but I tried my best not to show it. Instead, I just nodded and smiled faintly. 

“I’m sorry, Luna. I am new here so I didn’t recognize you,” she stated. I just nodded to let her know it was nothing. But then, she gave me a hesitant look. “Why hasn’t the Alpha come to see you? Was he not informed about the accident?”

Once again, her question pierced my heart. I bit my l1p and forced myself to stay calm. I asked another question instead of answering. “Who brought me to the hospital?

“One of the neighboring pack guards on duty,” she replied. “He said he found you lying at the side of the road with your cellphone on your side.” 

I smiled bitterly. So, Andrew didn’t even glance at my side. It was impossible he didn’t see the car wreck considering its distance to his direction. If he did, he might have been the one to actually save me. 

But instead, he left me there to die. 

I forced a weak smile. I thanked the doctor and asked to be left alone. She gladly gave me my needed space. It wasn’t that I was being rude. Rather, I just didn’t want her to see how much I was hurting knowing that Andrew hadn’t been the one to help me despite having the ability to do so. 

My heart tightened, but I pushed down the pain. Once again, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I wanted to hear his explanation. I wanted to hear straight from his mouth if he really didn’t see me or if he intentionally left me there to die. 

So, I pulled out my phone and dialed his number again. The call connected after a few rings. But then, it wasn’t him who answered it. It was Ruby. 

"Where the he-ll are you, woman? Why are you still not here? We need that file you are holding!"

I gritted my teeth but chose to calm down. I had no time to argue with her so I straight up tell her what I needed 

“Are you with the Alpha? Put him on the phone.”

“Yes, but he’s very busy with meetings,” she answered rudely. “He doesn’t have time for your tantrums. But you insist on disturbing him, I’ll hand him the phone.” 

Meeting? Wasn’t he kissing a woman on Route 58 a while ago? Was Ruby trying to make me think I just imagined what I saw?

No, it couldn’t be. I saw Andrew get out of his car and make out with another woman in public.  I knew what I saw. 

“Go ahead. Put him on the phone,” I challenged. 

Then, I heard another voice speaking. “Is that Emma?”

“Yes, Andrew. Do you want to take the call?” 

“No need,” he replied coldly, and Ruby hung up without another word.

I stared at the screen, feeling numb. Since when did Ruby start calling my husband by his first name? 

Why did she always act like she was Andrew’s wife and I was the secretary?

My hands shook as I tried to get her out of my head. I decided to scroll through social media to distract myself. I was browsing through a couple of videos when I stumbled upon Ruby’s latest post. It was dated last night. 

“Work is hectic, but lucky to have the best Alpha in the world by my side.” 

A picture was attached to the post. It was a photo of her and Andrew at a fancy restaurant. Her arm was subtly brushing his as they shared a private dinner. 

My stomach twisted painfully. 

So he wasn’t working late.

He wasn’t in his office doing some alpha-related tasks. 

Because in truth, he was out with Ruby and having dinner with her while I sat alone in our house eating by myself. 

Suddenly, two nurses came in to check my vitals. I slid my phone under my pillow and pretended to be asleep as they talked to each other. 

“Have you seen it? The Alpha Andrew’s secretary posted a picture of her and him having some intimate dinner together.”

I bit my lower l1p. So, everyone was talking about that post, huh? No wonder. Imagine having your alpha, who was MARRIED, having some intimate dinner with his secretary. I felt like a complete joke. 

“Yeah. She really had some nerve to do that,” the other nurse answered. “But come to think of it, Ruby looks like the Alpha’s first love, Jessica. I wonder if that’s the reason he hired her. Everyone knows Ruby svcks at her job.”

And then they left.

My thoughts raced. They were right, there was a big resemblance between Ruby and my adopted sister, Jessica. They had the same eye color, the same slender figure, and the same face shape. The only distinct difference was their hair color. Jessica had a blonde hair while Ruby had fiery red.

I got nervous. This was nearly just a coincidence. Maybe Andrew hired Ruby because she reminded him of his ex-girlfriend.  If so, why would he keep on tolerating her behavior even at my expense? 

Suddenly, the phone rang again. This time, I saw my mother’s name on the screen. I wiped my tears before answering.

“Mom…”

“Jessica is coming back to the pack tomorrow.” She didn’t bother with a greeting. “Make sure you bring Alpha Andrew with you for dinner.”