Chapter 17
ས ཊཱི, 83%
+28)
“Me too. I also have a confession.” Verona sighs and pulls away enough for her to take a couple of deep breaths.
“Okay, let’s hear it.” I doubt it’ll be worse than mine.
“I’m pregnant,” she announces.
“What?” I turn to her and look down at her flat belly.
“Surprise,” she sighs.
“Um, do you know who the father is?” I ask, taken aback by her lack of excitement.
“Mhm,” she nods.
“Don’t leave me in suspense, asshole,”
“Taylor Reid,” she answers.
“Taylor Reid, as in Alpha Barnes’ leading Delta. That Taylor Reid?”
“Yup, that one.”
“Have you told him?”
“No,”
“Why the fuck not?”
“He went to Lockwood a couple of weeks ago and found his fated.”
“Verona,” I take her hand. “Holy shit. You have to tell him before he marks her. If he marks her-”
“The baby dies. I know,” she nods.
“You need to tell him.”
“I don’t want to,” she shakes her head.
“Was it serious?”
“Yeah, it was. We dated for two years. We met at Luna Lockwood’s art gallery. We hit it off, but you know how rare fated are. I can’t take that from him. I know him. He’d reject her and come back. Then this baby and I would become the things that stood in the way of his real destiny. I can carry this. It’s my choice.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper and hold her to me.
I don’t know what to say or how to make any of this better. It’s been eighteen years since Mom died,
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Chapter 17
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and I don’t think I’ve ever stopped longing for her. I never stopped wishing she were here, and it’s moments like this when we need her most.
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What am I supposed to say to her to make her feel better other than to be on her side. I udnerstand why she would do this. Her logic is sound and she seems to have thought a lot about this. This is why dating fucking sucks sometimes. We never really know what fate hold for us.
“I missed you so much,” she cries. “I mean, I know we see each other all the time, but I feel like we’re always in a hurry to get out of each other’s way.”
“How far along are you?” it does feel like that.
It wasn’t easy wanting to be here and not being able to. Our interactions were all very fleeting. They were more exchanges of information and product than anything else. The last thing I wanted was for the old man to think they were liabilities. I wanted him to think that I resented them just as much as I did my father for making do what I did. It was the only way I could keep them safe.
Not that it did much good. The files show that eventually, he would have taken them out. There were plans for him to pick apart my father’s company. Making Eloise a partner, put a pin in his plans. Perry and I are working on a way to undo the damage he created.
“Six weeks. I was two weeks late on my heat. The two weeks he’s been with his mate. I thought it was stress from Pepper’s finals and the school registration shit. Then the breakup. And then I fainted on patrol. Dr. Noland gave me the news four days ago,”
“And you’re sure you don’t want to tell him?”
“Yeah,” she sniffles and wipes her tears with the back of her hands. “I don’t think I’m ready to be a mom. The pups are just getting out of here. I want some time for myself. I feel like a bitch for even thinking about it, but I don’t want to live like that. I know this is the right thing.”
“You know they’re going to be around us. Alpha Barnes is my mate. I don’t see myself rejecting him. I also don’t see him letting me.”
“Oh, I know. Arsen is fucking asshole,” she takes my hand. “But he’s a really good man. Now that I think about it, I realize you two are perfect for each other. He’s crazy smart, too. And he’s into all kinds of weird art shit. That’s how I met Taylor at that Art Gala. Alpha Barnes owns the Odyssey
venue.”
“What does he do?” I don’t see him being an artist.
“I don’t know exactly, but he’s big in the real estate business. His company probably sold the Galaxy Industry tower to the Lycans and the new alpha in Redwood. Nate Thompson,”
“He was riding a Chopper. Like the kind biker gangs ride, he had a leather vest with a weird crest on the back.”
“You are so slow for being the smartest person in the room ninety percent of the time, Violetta,” she raps on my forehead with her knuckles. “Sin’s Creek is a pack of wolves who ride. You’re going to be all over the city as his backpack. As someone who dated a Sin’s Creek wolf, I am so excited for you.
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Chapter 17
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They’re fun and not in the boring old money bullshit kind of way we are. You are a fucking Princess compared to that animal,”
Bikes have never been my thing. Knives are. I like sharp things. I didn’t expect that from him. Real estate is a very popular business among us. Owning property in pack cities is a virtue. No matter who we are, the pack has o obide by the owner’s rules even if it is on their property. Arsenial Barnes is going to be a great asset it seems.
“You have to head to Redwood if you want to speed the process along. They’ll take care of you there. There are medical facilities that help. Magique is still a very traditionalist state and if it gets back to Vince and dad, I don’t see it blowing over well,”
“I know,” she sighs. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you about it.”
“I think you should tell him anyway. Tell him your plans. The truth. This isn’t something that you should carry by yourself. He’s as much a part of this as you are, Verona. You both made this choice.”
“He’s not going to be happy about any of this.” she shakes her head.
“None of us are. How is it fair that he gets to live his best life while this eats at you. Because it will. I’ve seen it happen. And if you’re going to continue dating, you should be more careful. There are way to prevent this.”
“I know,” she nods. “I just didn’t think I had to prevent it. Everything was perfect. It always feels like things start looking up for us just before all the bad shit hits. Just when we take that first deep breath, fate like to remind us that it’s never going to happen. Wolfes are cursed. All of us. Maybe letting the city go will give us time to heal properly. For once, I hope we don’t win,”
