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CHAPTER 4: One Night's Big Surprise

Freya's POV

**Three Weeks Later**

“Hello…? Earth to Freya… are you still alive?!”

The loud knocking on the supply room door jerked me back to reality so fast I nearly dropped the box of bandages I was holding. 

I blinked hard, rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand and tried to look normal. 

Elena Ramon stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised, arms crossed like she’d caught me stealing cookies. Her dark curls were pulled back in a messy ponytail and that big grin of hers was already spreading across her face. 

“You okay in there, girl?” she asked, stepping inside. “You were staring at that shelf like it owed you money. What’s going on?”

I let out a shaky laugh and set the box down before I really did drop it. My head felt like it was spinning on a merry-go-round that wouldn’t stop. 

“Sorry, Elena. I zoned out. I’m… really feeling dizzy today. Like the room won’t stay still. I don’t know if I should even be here working right now.”

Elena’s smile faded a little but she still sounded like the best friend I’d made in the last three weeks. 

She was one of the few persons in this human clinic who made me feel like I wasn’t completely alone. 

“Dizzy again? You’ve been off for days. Take it up with Doctor Carver. He’s the one who sent for you just now, anyway. Said he needs you in his office pronto.”

My stomach did a little flip but not from the dizziness. Doctor Owen Carver never called me in unless it was important. 

“He did? Okay. I’m going.” I smoothed down my pale blue scrubs and tried to walk straight even though the floor felt a little wobbly under my feet.

Elena fell into step beside me, bumping my shoulder lightly. 

“You better tell him the truth. No tough-girl act. And if you need me to cover your shift,

 just say the word. I’ve got your back Freya. Always.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled, meaning it more than she knew. 

Three weeks ago I was dumped in the woods like yesterday’s trash... banished, marked and broke. Now I had a friend, a job and a roof over my head. Small wins but they kept me going.

I knocked twice on Doctor Carver’s door then pushed it open when he called, “Come in!”

Doctor Owen Carver looked up from his desk, glasses perched on the end of his nose, white coat crisp as always. 

He was the reason I wasn’t dead or worse right now. He’d carried me back to his house, fed me and never once asked why a girl with a weird bite mark on her neck had no ID, no phone and no story. I told him I’d had a bad breakup and needed a fresh start and he respected it. 

“Freya,” he said, smiling kindly. “Good, you’re here. I need you to run over to the pharmacy and pick up some samples for me. The new antibiotic shipment... ”

He stopped mid-sentence, eyes narrowing as he really looked at me. 

“Whoa. You look pale. Sit down for a second.”

I sank into the chair across from him, grateful because my knees felt like jelly. 

“Doctor Carver… I’m sorry. I’m feeling dizzy and kinda sick. I didn’t want to say anything but it’s been like this all morning. Maybe I should just go home and rest.”

He leaned back, tapping his pen on the desk. The lines around his eyes softened. 

“You’ve been a godsend these past three weeks, you know that? Started as my assistant and already handling half the patient charts like you were born to be a doctor. The way you calmed Mrs. Ellis yesterday during her panic attack? Textbook; But right now you’re no good to anyone if you’re about to fall over.”

I felt my cheeks warm. 

“I just… I like the work. It keeps my mind off stuff.”

He nodded like he understood there was more I wasn’t saying. 

“I know. And I’m not prying. But dizzy and sick? That’s not nothing. Forget the errand. I’m sending you down to see Dr. Patel in exam room three. Basic blood work and a quick check and we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

I opened my mouth to argue but he held up a hand. 

“Doctor’s orders, Freya. Go.”

***

Ten minutes later I was sitting in the little waiting area outside exam room three, swinging my legs like a kid. 

I kept replaying the last three weeks in my head to keep from throwing up from nerves. Doctor Carver finding me half-dead in the dirt. Him bringing me home, letting me crash on his couch until I could stand without wobbling. Giving me this job even though I had zero paperwork. Me throwing myself into learning everything... bandages, vitals, even helping with simple stitches... because if I stayed busy, I didn’t have to think about that masked stranger.

I touched the mark on my neck, hidden under my collar. That one stupid, amazing night. Best sex of my life, and look where it got me... banished, alone, and now dizzy in a human clinic. I almost laughed at myself. 

Way to go, Freya. One hot stranger, one quickie in the woods and now you’re the pack’s biggest embarrassment. Classic.

The door opened and Dr. Patel, a short woman with a gentle smile stepped out holding a clipboard. 

“Freya? Results are back. Come on in.”

My heart pounded as I followed her. She sat on the edge of the desk and looked at me straight. 

“Everything else is normal, but… the pregnancy test came back positive. You’re pregnant, Freya...”

***

Gideon’s POV

“It’s all my fault. I did this to her.”

I muttered the words under my breath, staring at my reflection in the full-length mirror. 

The black suit fit perfect, tie straight, hair combed back. Alpha Gideon Forrester, ready to claim his mate in front of the whole damn pack. Except it wasn’t the mate I wanted.

Beta Julian stood a few feet away, hands clasped behind his back, looking worried. 

“Alpha? What are you saying? Who did you do what to?”

I didn’t answer. Just clenched my jaw and kept staring at myself like the guy in the mirror might have answers. 

Today was supposed to be the big day. The mating ceremony the pack had been waiting for. 

Everyone gathered outside under the lights, music playing, flowers everywhere. And the girl waiting for me at the end of that aisle? Not the one I’d marked by mistake three weeks ago at my own masquerade party. Not the sweet, nervous and kind girl whose eyes who’d made me lose my mind against that tree.

I’d come back from dealing with that rival Alpha Damon Lancaster and heard the gossip... Freya Donovan banished for getting marked by some stranger. 

My stomach had dropped straight through the floor. It was her! The girl I couldn’t stop thinking about.. I should’ve stepped up right then and claimed her.. told everyone the truth. But I didn’t. 

I was embarrassed. Alpha of Willow Ridge, marked an Omega without even mating her properly? The pack would’ve laughed me out of my own title. So I kept my mouth shut and let them throw her out..

Now here I was, about to mark Cassandra Donovan instead. Freya’s own stepsister. The council pushed it with talks of strong bloodlines and all. 

Cassandra was all smiles and perfect hair but she wasn’t the one who made my wolf howl.

I straightened my cuffs and forced my feet to move. 

“Let’s get this over with,” I muttered.

Julian cleared his throat. 

“Alpha, if something’s wrong…”

“Nothing’s wrong,” I lied and pushed open the big doors.

The crowd cheered as I stepped out and lights flashed. 

Cassandra stood at the front in a white dress, looking smug as hell. She smiled at me like she’d already won the prize. 

My stomach twisted.. this wasn’t right. Freya was out there somewhere... alone, hurt, probably hating me and I was about to bite another woman’s neck like it meant something.

I walked down the aisle, every step heavier than the last and Cassandra took my hands, squeezing too tight. 

“Finally,” she whispered, all sweet and fake. “My big strong Alpha.”

When the time came, I leaned in with teeth grazing her skin while my wolf fought me the whole way. 

Not her.. Not her..

Then it hit... dizziness and then a harp pain behind my eyes, burning down my neck where I’d left my mark on Freya. My knees buckled and the world tilted.

Cassandra gasped. 

“Alpha Gideon?!”

I heard Julian shout, “Alpha!” and the crowd erupt into screams as I collapsed hard onto the grass with everything going black…