Chapter 4: The Meeting

Scarlett

“What??”

I stared at Zara like she had completely lost her mind. She sighed dramatically and repeated herself more slowly this time.

“What if you just terminate the pregnancy?”

My jaw nearly hit the floor.

“Zara!”

“What?” She frowned.

“I’m serious, Scarlett. This whole thing is creepy as hell, you’re mysteriously pregnant despite being a virgin and now you’re having strange dreams with deep forest voices. This is literally horror movie behavior.”

I blinked at her in disbelief. “And your solution is abortion??”

“Well… yes?”

“Oh my God.”

She stood up and started pacing around the kitchen again.

“Look, I’m not trying to sound insensitive,” she explained quickly. “But maybe getting rid of the pregnancy is the safest option here and I know a place you can do it.”

“The safest option,” I repeated blankly.

“Yes! Especially since nobody even knows how it happened.” She replied and I stared at her for a long moment before narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

“Wait a minute… how do you even know where to terminate a pregnancy?” I asked, then she coughed awkwardly.

“Well…” she groaned dramatically and my eyes widened instantly.

“Oh my days!! Zara Phillips.”

“What?” She rolled her eyes and I laughed

“You’re a church girl, you literally post Bible verses every Sunday!” I said and she shrugged unapologetically.

“Yes, I believe in God but I’m still a girl with needs.” She argued and I nearly choked.

“Excuse me??”

“Oh please.” She rolled her eyes. “Not everybody is out here preserving themselves like an untouched Disney princess.”

“Wow.”

“Sometimes accidents happen,” she continued casually. “And sometimes those accidents need to quietly disappear because I’m very much enjoying my life and I refuse to ruin my modeling career over one stupid slip-up.”

I stared at her in complete shock before bursting into laughter until my stomach began to hurt a little.

“Don’t laugh at my trauma,” Zara murmured, pointing at me accusingly.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“At least I’m experienced.” She fired.

“Oh my God, stop talking.” I half yelled and we dissolved into another round of laughter and honestly… It felt good.

For a few seconds, I almost forgot how badly my life was falling apart, then the reality settled back into my chest again.

“I can’t do it,” I whispered and Zara stopped laughing immediately.

“What?”

“I can’t terminate it.”

“Why?” She asked, frowning slightly.

I opened my mouth but no words came out at first. Because honestly? I didn’t fully know why myself.

“I just…” I exhaled shakily. “I feel like it’d be a mistake.”

“A mistake?”

“I know it sounds crazy but… something about this doesn’t feel normal, Zara.”

“I mean obviously,” she muttered, her expression softening.

“I’m serious.” I looked down at my hands. “What if there’s something bigger happening here? What if trying to get rid of it puts my life at risk?”

The words sounded insane out loud, but somehow I still believed them. Because deep down inside of me, every instinct screamed not to touch this pregnancy, at least not yet.

“I just need answers first and until I figure out what’s happening to me… I don’t want to do anything drastic.” I said quietly.

Zara studied me for a moment before finally nodding slowly.

“Okay, that actually makes sense.” She said softly and I sighed in relief.

“Anyway,” she clapped her hands together. “That is enough emotional trauma for one morning, go shower because you look like shit right now.”

I blinked.

“What?”

“You heard me.” She grabbed my wrist dramatically and pulled me toward the hallway.

“You said you’re going for your shoot right? Perfect because I’m giving you one of my hot girl outfits today.” She said and I tried to protest but she hushed me.

“Don’t argue with me, and if you don’t start moving this minute, I’ll personally throw you into the shower myself.” She said and I sighed.

“Violence. Typical Christian behavior.”

“Move.” She said and I chuckled.

………..

An hour later, I walked into Vane Creative trying my absolute best to pretend my life wasn’t currently spiraling into supernatural chaos.

The building was as lively as any other shooting day with stylists rushing everywhere, models laughing loudly, assistants carrying racks of expensive clothes, and cameras flashing nonstop.

Mid-campaign season at Vane Creative was always madness.

Beautiful madness by the way because normally being here calmed me down.

“Scarlett! You’re late!” one of the makeup artists yelled dramatically.

“Blame emotional suffering,” I replied tiredly and she laughed, clearly assuming I was joking.

If only she knew.

I had barely taken two steps forward when I looked up instinctively and froze.

Lucas stood inside one of the glass-walled offices upstairs watching me. My stomach flipped embarrassingly hard as our eyes met.

God, this man was unfairly attractive with his dark hair, sharp jawline, and a face that could genuinely ruin lives.

I was still lost in his eyes when he suddenly waved at me to say hi and gave me one of those charming smiles of his.

My brain completely malfunctioned after that.

Wait.

What???

Did Lucas Vane just wave at me??

Before I could even process reality enough to wave back, he had already looked away and continued talking to someone beside him.

“Great job, Scarlett.” I mentally smacked myself because now he might probably think I ignored him on purpose.

Fantastic

I sighed quietly while heading toward makeup.

Would he still smile at me if he found out I was pregnant? Or worse, would he think I was some kind of freak after hearing how it happened?

Or technically… didn’t happen.

The thought made my chest ache slightly and I quickly shoved it away because today I was going to work, smile, and pretend my world wasn’t collapsing.

And surprisingly…

For a few hours, it actually worked.

The shoot ended close to evening and by then my entire body ached from exhaustion.

I had just changed out of my final outfit when one of the production assistants hurried toward me holding a bottle of water.

“Here,” she said kindly.

“Thank you,” I sighed gratefully before taking a long sip.

“Oh, and there are two men outside asking for you.” She added and I paused mid-swallow.

“What?” I asked.

“They said they know you.” She replied and every muscle in my body tensed instantly.

I wasn’t expecting anyone and frankly, Zara was my only friend because I preferred to keep a small circle so who exactly could be looking for me?

Was it one of those many acquaintances I made every other day?? I dismissed the assistant and tightened my grip on the water bottle before slowly making my way outside.

The evening air hit my skin immediately and then I saw them. Two men leaning casually against black luxury SUVs parked across the street.

They both looked really handsome and tall but it was the one on the right that instantly caught my attention because something about him felt strangely familiar.

The one on the left with the blonde hair noticed me first and immediately straightened with a smile.

They started walking toward me and the blonde man stopped first before stretching out his hand politely.

“Scarlett Wright?” he asked and I hesitated before slowly shaking his hand.

“Yes…”

“My name is Marcus.” He introduced.

“Okay… who are you, people?” I asked, glancing nervously between both men.

Before Marcus could answer, the dark-haired man finally spoke.

“My name is Atlas Voss, Alpha of the Silverwood Pack.” He introduced himself in that deep voice of his and I blinked slowly.

…Alpha of the what?

Then his icy gaze dropped briefly to my stomach before returning to my face.

“And you’re carrying my child.”

I choked violently and spat water directly onto his face.