Chapter 2

As the heavy warmth gradually slipped out from in between her legs, Lena felt she was being dragged into the deep, cold death sea. 

All sorts of memories mixed up in her head and flashed through her eyes like a movie.

She saw the smile on her foster parents’ faces the first time she stepped inside their house, and then Talia’s darkened eyes filled with hate.

She saw Talia drag her into the bathroom and warned her, “They are my parents, not yours! You better remember that!” And then, they went out for a picnic in the valley, but Talia pushed her into the river.

And then, 10 years later, when she was 15, they got into a car accident on the way to a vacation in the vineyard. The car fell off the cliff and killed her foster parents, leaving her and Talia alive.

She and Talia were sent to two different foster families, but Talia escaped. She quit school, got into fights, dated street boys, and did drugs.

One night, Talia knocked on Lena’s bedroom window and cried, calling Lena little sister, and asked for her help.

She said, “You are my only family now, Lena. From now on, we must take care of each other.”

Lena nodded her head and hugged Talia back. She shared her bed with Talia, gave Talia food and clothes, and money she saved from part-time jobs.

Because now we are the only family, she thought. 

And then, 5 years later, in the sophomore year of Lena’s college, she met Vince at a school party. The handsome young American had just graduated from business school. He came here with a friend of his to “experience different cultures” before he went back to work for his family.

Lena smiled at him. “I am not some culture you could experience,” she said.

Vince grinned and kissed her delicate fingers soulfully. “No, you are not culture, but my mate. It’s destiny,” he said.

Lena never got the chance to ask him what mate meant. She was busy kissing him and touching him, and being with him.

They stuck with each other for a whole month, never separated from each other for more than one day. And then on a rainy morning in the spring, Vince’s phone rang. He said his father was killed by some sort of enemy, and he had to go back to take care of his family.

      

“It’s too dangerous for you to come with me. Stay and wait for me. Once I take care of everything, I will come back and pick you up as my bride,” he said while kissing her, and put a ring on her finger, and left, and never came back.

She waited, and waited, and waited, and waited until she had to drop out of college because of pregnancy.

Each day she prayed to God, hoping he was okay. Each day she waited, and waited, and waited with the cell phone in her hand, hoping he could at least send her a message.

But he never did. Her young lover never called her. He never even texted her. He wouldn’t even pick up her phone calls. They all went into the voicemail until the mailbox was jammed. 

Still, she waited, and waited, and waited, and waited until the day the baby was born. He finally came back, but in that picture, with Talia, and he let Talia take away her baby…Their baby…

Lena cried. Tears had already drained out all the fluid in her body. She couldn’t even bear to think about it anymore. What had just happened in that narrow house was her worst nightmare. She didn’t have the courage to go through it all over again.

She tried, and tried, and tried, struggling to open her eyes to get away from the death sea.

If God could spare her from watching her child being taken away once more, she was willing to jump into hell and let the fire burn out her soul.

She tried, and tried, and tried, with ugly, desperate roars coming out of her throat. And then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, she heard a baby crying. At first, it was very faint and from a faraway place, but then it gradually grew closer and louder.

She knew she must be dreaming. Still, she felt that the baby was calling for her. It sounded so much like her baby, and it was crying for its mommy.

“Don’t worry, my little angel. I will be right there for you. Mommy is coming for you,” she whispered, in her head, and with tears streaming down the corners of her eyes.

She heard the cry get louder, and louder, and louder, almost gut-wrenching. She felt her heart shattered because of it and struggled to move her legs and arms, and hands, and fingers, and then felt she was lying on the cold, hard wooden floor on her back.

Slowly, and exhaustedly, she opened her eyes, and then saw the familiar room in the first light of the morning. Everything around her seemed to be so distant and blurry. But she knew she was back to the home from the death sea. That horrible night had already passed. But it felt so freaking cold like she was a dead body.

Her fingers and toes and legs and hands were all cold and stiff. Talia cut off the heating before she left. It was the depth of December, the coldest time of the year. Talia did it on purpose to make sure Lena could freeze to death. But Lena didn’t think about it. She didn’t even notice it.

The baby’s cry was still there right in between her legs after she woke up. She wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating. It was real. Her baby was real. It was still in the room, crying for its mommy.

“Baby…my baby…” she murmured to herself, and struggled to prop herself up from the cold floor.

Once she helped herself up with her elbows, she saw this pink little creature lying in between her thighs with its little hands and legs hitting and kicking the cold air. It still had the umbilical cord on its belly. And it was crying, sonorously.

“My baby!” Lena instantly got up and sat on the floor. Every bone in her body ached, and every muscle of hers was sore. She couldn’t help but cry out when she moved. Still, she quickly picked up the baby from the floor and cut the umbilical cord with her teeth.

It was so cold. All her fingers were icy. She just couldn’t stop trembling, but the baby somehow was very warm, and healthy, even vibrant. It instantly stopped crying once Lena picked it up and giggled at its mommy, waving its little hands in the air, and stroked Lena’s face gently.

Lena smiled, and cried. It was like a miracle. She didn’t know how it could be possible. But she was so happy that she still had her baby.

She instantly stood up from the floor and pulled a blanket out of the closet to wrap the baby up. Talia cut off the electricity too. There was no hot water in the bathroom. She held the baby in front of her chest and went out of the bedroom.

As soon as she walked into the hallway, she was stunned by the scene in front of her.

The entire hallway was carpeted with broken glass and torn pictures and frames. Talia trashed all the photos she put on the walls which she and Vince took when they roamed around the city.

The image of Vince and Talia sleeping together flashed across Lena’s mind. Tears rushed out of her eyes again. She couldn’t tell if her memories about that horrible night was real or not—she still had her baby. It was different from what she remembered.

But Talia indeed disappeared and the room was freaking cold. And tears just wouldn’t stop running out of her eyes whenever she thought about it.

Vince slept with Talia, and he asked Talia to take away her baby…

She instantly lifted her arm to dry the tears with her sleeve. Whether it was true or not, she definitely wasn’t going to shed an extra tear for a brutal bastard like that.

She went back to the bedroom to wear her shoes to walk past those broken glass. But all of a sudden, the baby in her arms giggled again, and her blanket became wet and smelly.

Lena knew the baby had just urinated. It was a lot earlier than she had expected. Still, she quickly fumbled out the diaper from the nightstand and picked a towel from the bathroom to clean it up.

She put the baby on the bed and gently unwrapped the blanket. When she looked in between the baby’s thighs, she totally froze.

She remembered clearly that she had given birth to a healthy baby boy last night. She even remembered Talia yelling excitedly “We’ve gotten a boy!”

But the little angel lying in front of her was a beautiful little girl, and it was giggling happily with its little hands and feet kicking the air like the coldness was nothing.

Lena knew it was her baby. She knew by instinct that the little girl was definitely her baby. Then what happened to her baby boy? Why was there even a baby boy? What exactly happened last night?

A horrible thought flashed across Lena’s mind. She cried out in despair.

“Oh My God,” she said, collapsing on the floor desperately, with tears streaming out of her eyes. “I had two babies...She took away one of my babies…”

***

On another side of the city, at the airport.

The old Beta of the Blue River Pack, Harold, was waiting in front of a luxurious private jet impatiently.

Eight months ago, The Pack’s Alpha, Jason, was ambushed and killed by a bunch of frantic rogues. The Alpha’s firstborn, Vincent, avenged his father, but got injured and went into a coma.

Before Vincent lost consciousness, he asked Harold to take care of his mate, Lena, who was far away from America.

Harold dialed Lena’s number and told her Vincent might never wake up again. All he got was a cold smirk and a rude hang-up.

Ever since then, Harold had felt repulsive to Vincent’s so-called mate. He decided never to contact that cold-hearted woman again, but last night, Lena suddenly called him back.

“Come meet me at the airport by tomorrow noon. It’s about Vincent, and it’s very important and urgent,” she said.

Harold hopped onto the plane and flew across the whole Atlantic to meet this arrogant woman, just to keep his promise to Vincent.

After waiting for more than half an hour in the cold airport, that irritating woman finally showed up.

She had a pair of black sunglasses on her face, in a dazzling red coat, and wore a pair of black leather pants, swaggering towards him on a pair of pumps with exaggeratedly high heels. When she got closer, Harold smelt the cheesy perfume she was wearing and saw her gaudy pink fingernails.

He could never understand how the Moon Goddess could pair Vincent with such a … different mate. Still, he treated the woman very politely and asked her in a gentle tone, “What do you want to talk about, ma’am?”

“Lena” didn’t reply. She eyed this fusty old man from head to toe carefully to make sure he was indeed wealthy, then curled her lips into a satisfied smile. After that, she lifted the corner of a yellow blanket she was holding in front of her chest, and showed what was under it to Harold.

Harold felt his heartbeat skip a beat when he saw what was under that blanket. It was a newborn baby boy who still couldn’t open his eyes.

But Harold knew it was a wolf. It was Vincent’s pup. He could just feel the power of the familiar Alpha blood that was running through the little baby’s veins.

He burst into tears out of joy.

The consecutive downfall of two Alphas had imperiled the existence of the pack. If Vincent never woke up again, the Blue River pack would be eliminated by its enemies sooner or later. But now they got a legit heir. And it had the purest Alpha blood Harold had ever seen.

He couldn’t help but reach out his hands to the pup, yelling, “It’s Vince’s boy!”

“Lena” took a step back to dodge his hands, and corrected him with contempt in her voice, “No, It’s Vince and my boy.”

Harold knew it was a claim to the family’s inheritance, but he didn’t care. As long as Lena allowed the boy to be with his true family. He was willing to give her anything.

“Yes, of course,” he said, knowing Vincent hadn’t told Lena he was a wolf yet.

“Please come with us to America. Starting from now, you are the new hostess of the family.”

Having gotten the promise she wanted, finally, “Lena” curled her lips into another satisfied smile. She stuck her sunglasses on Harold’s chest, asking the old man to hold it for her, then carried the baby and satisfyingly boarded the plane…