5. Decision

I spent the entire walk back staring at my hands not because there was anything unusual about them but because they knew something I didn’t.

There was a life growing inside me.

My steps slowed as my hand moved slowly to my stomach.

The healer’s words repeated in my mind.

You’re having a child, I still couldn’t understand it.

How could something so small exist inside me when my entire world had already fallen apart?

My hand drifted to my stomach again. I hadn't meant to do that but it kept happening

I reached my room and closed the door behind me, the small space felt different not because anything had changed but because I had.

I sat on the bed and stared at the wall and the thought of having a child scared me.

I didn’t know how to be a mother.

I didn’t know how to raise someone when I had spent my entire life wondering why my own parents couldn’t love me.

A bitter laugh escaped me.

What kind of person was I?

Rejected by my mate, abandoned by my family and now carrying a child into the middle of it all.

My eyes burned but I refused to cry not this time. I placed my hand over my stomach.

“I’m sorry.” My voice was barely a whisper. “I’m sorry you’re already involved in this.”

The room remained silent then I thought about Remus.

The silence broke because no matter how much I tried to deny it, he was still the first person I thought about.

He was the father.

Should I tell him?

The question haunted me, a part of me wanted to not because I believed he would suddenly love me, I wasn’t that foolish anymore but because this was his child too.

He was the father, the fact sat heavily in my chest but knowing it and wanting to tell him were two different things.

I closed my eyes, then remembered his face that morning.

The coldness, the way he looked at me like what happened between us was a mistake.

My chest tightened.

I couldn’t go back to him not after everything.

***

I heard the announcement before I saw anyone, the entire pack was talking about it.

It was impossible to avoid.

By the time I stepped outside the next morning, everyone already knew.

“Did you hear?”

“The Alpha finally announced it.”

“I knew he and Selene were meant to be.”

I stopped walking because my heart already knew but I still asked.

“What announcement?”

The two women nearby turned, the moment they saw me, their expressions changed.

“Alpha Remus and Selene Hart.”

My fingers tightened.

“They’re officially announcing their engagement.”

The words settled slowly like snow.

I nodded.

“Congratulations.”

I didn’t know why I said it, maybe because old habits were hard to break.

The women looked surprised, then they walked away.

Leaving me alone again

The pack square was decorated by afternoon with people smiling.

It looked beautiful and for some reason, that hurt more because I had never seen my family look at me the way they looked at Selene.

My father stood beside her and my mother fixed Selene’s dress and laughed softly.

The sight almost broke me  because I remembered being young, standing beside Selene watching them love her and waiting for my turn. I thought one day they would see me.

I had waited eighteen years and now I finally understood.

That day would never come, my eyes moved to Remus.

He stood beside Selene, then his gaze shifted and for one second, our eyes met.

The world became quiet, I don’t know what I expected but his expression remained unreadable.

Then Selene touched his arm and

automatically like she'd done it a hundred times before. Remus looked down at her when she spoke.

Not at me again. I lowered my gaze and my hand moved protectively over my stomach not because I wanted anyone to see but because I needed to remind myself.

I wasn’t alone anymore.

That night, I packed quietly, ghe same suitcase I had carried when they threw me out.

But this time, it felt different, before, I packed because they had no place for me.

Now, I packed because I refused to let my child grow up in a place that hated us.

I folded my clothes, my books and mother’s photograph.

I held the picture for a long moment.

“I’m leaving.”

The words felt strange because this time, I wasn’t hoping someone would stop me.

I was done waiting, I placed the photograph safely inside my suitcase then I looked around the small room.

“Thank you.” My voice shook, then I wiped my tears.

I placed my mother's photograph inside the suitcase and closed it.

Before dawn, I would be gone and one would know.

I was still setting my suitcase properly when I heard a knock sound at the door.

I frowned.

Nobody came to see me and not to talk of the time.

Then I heard another knock.

Then…

"Aria."

My breath caught.

Remus.