Chapter 19

Nineteen

ALANA

I sat on the toilet, holding the pregnancy test between my fingers.

Waiting and waiting.

My heart pounded harder with each minute passing. I couldn't believe I was even in this position at all. I was starting to regret the fateful day I went off to the beach after the barbeque, which was the last normal day in my life. I desperately stared at the pink strip in my hand, willing it to declare that I wasn't pregnant after all. I couldn't imagine being pregnant and having to run after a baby while running my shop. But if it was a vampire baby…

A word flashed across the screen, and my heart stopped. It said: Pregnant .

Fuck my life .

Breathing hard, I dropped the test in the trash and pulled up my underwear and jeans. I washed my hands in a trance-like state. This couldn't be happening to me. Not like this. Would the baby grow up without a father?

Leaving the bathroom, I walked down my grandma's hallway and into my room. My room was simple- a bed in the middle draped covered in blue sheets and a white fur rug on the ground. After closing the door behind me, I kicked off my sneakers and flopped onto the bed, lying on my side. I placed a hand on my belly, imagining the life growing within me. My heart hadn't stopped racing, and I tried to take deep calming breaths.

I would figure something out. I had to.

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until I heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," I said groggily, rubbing my eyes. I looked at the clock, which said eight p.m. I couldn't believe I had slept for so long, but I was up at seven in the morning to work, which explained my tiredness.

I sat up in the bed, and upon seeing Grandma walk into the room, the memory of the test came to my mind. Dread filled my entire being, unable to believe I'd come to this point. I was such a disappointment of a granddaughter.

She sat on the bed beside me, still wearing her purple apron from the shop.

"So what did the test say?" she asked eagerly, clasping her hands on her lap.

"I'm pregnant."

"What?!" she squealed, her hands on her face in shock.

"Yes," I said, shaking my head. "Sorry, Grandma."

"Listen," she said, grasping my hands. "There's nothing you can do about this now but to accept it. Your baby will be loved, and there's a whole family waiting for the baby. You don't need a traditional alpha pack to care for you."

"But there's something else," I said, my throat closing from emotion. "The baby might not be from Lio and his pack."

"What are you saying?"

"I slept with the vampire," I said. "It could be a vampire baby."

"You never told me you slept with that vampire," admonished Grandma. "So we don't know for sure whether the baby is one of us or half-vampire?"

"Yes," I said, staring at my laundry basket across the room.

"It's not your fault, my dear," she said in a kinder voice. "But for now, we need to keep this a secret until the day you give birth. If the baby is half-vampire, you and our entire family could be executed."

"What?!"

"Even though it's not spoken about now, no one on the island will be happy about this."

"Wouldn't I need to go to the hospital to give birth? How about all the checkups?"

"You need to stay hidden. Once in a while, we can ask Dr. Keera to take a look at you. You cannot go to a hospital under any circumstances," ordered Grandma.

Shit. My head was spinning with all of this. The panic was settling over me.

"Where the hell would I give birth?"

"We will figure that out when we get to it," said Grandma, standing up. "I need to make a few phone calls. But for now, we must pretend nothing happened. Just work at your shop and come home. No hanging out with friends or anything for nine months. Got it?"

"Got it," I said in a low voice as she left the room.

My life as I knew it was completely over.

Five Months Later

For a while, I had been able to hide my pregnancy. Well…until today.

I was at my shop - high up on the ladder organizing the yarn supply on the top shelf. It had been a busier day at the shop, and opening boxes in the backroom was tiring me out.

I got more anxious as each day passed.

I still hadn't seen a doctor, and I had no idea how the baby was doing. I wasn't taking any chances despite Grandma wanting to get Dr. Keera involved, but I reminded her that Keera would just tell her son Lio. And that stopped her right away.

Grandma was busy ringing up items at the front for a few customers. I made a mental note to check if she needed help after I arranged the yarn by color.

"Lana?" said a familiar voice from below the ladder, and my heart jumped.

A voice that I hadn't heard in a while.

I looked down, seeing the familiar swoop of his black hair over his eye and the tilt of his head. I wasn't expecting to see Lio here, and I nearly fell down the ladder. I quickly straightened my large shirt so he couldn't see the outline of my small but growing belly. I didn't know how I felt about seeing him, so I stepped down a couple of steps instead of getting off the ladder entirely so he knew I was busy.

I still hadn't forgiven him for the way he stormed out on me when I was at the heat clinic.

"What's up, Lio?" I asked in a stern voice, keeping one hand on the ladder and one on my hips. Conveying my annoyance quite clearly.

"Hey Lana, I just wanted to apologize," he said, leaning his hand against the shelf, caging me between his arms. His head came up to my belly, and I realized I had stopped on the steps at the worst spot. I tried to regulate my breathing. Then he pulled out a bouquet of roses. "I wasn't sure what color you liked, so I got red roses because you liked red fireworks. But here you go."

"Why? Why are you apologizing now?" I asked him, confused. I didn't know how I felt about him being here, and at the same time, I wanted him here too. For some reason, I felt a bit of comfort in his presence. Was it because he was the first alpha to ever knot me? I wasn't sure.

"I kept calling you Lana," he insisted. "On my days off, I'd come over here, but it would only be your grandma around. Or you'd be hiding in the back."

It was true.

I had been ignoring his calls like there was no tomorrow and avoiding him. I needed to protect myself, my family, and my future baby.

"Sorry," I said. "I was busy."

"So today, I called out of work to be here," he said, handing me the bouquet of roses. Bending over to grab it, I gripped the stems and set the roses on an empty spot on the shelf. I planned to give it to Grandma, who'd have some use for it later.

"I'm sure it was tough calling out of work and leaving an omega in distress," I said. I regretted it as soon as I said it. I was jealous, but he didn't need to know that. Imagining him knotting some other omega made my stomach roil.

"Lana, what's that smell?" he asked, poking his nose against my belly. "It's your scent but bitter."

"Well, I've been working hard all day," I said hastily, trying to pull away, but my back hit the ladder instead. Then he suddenly pressed his ear against my belly. I tried to push his head away, but he immediately looked at me, face white.

"Lana," he growled. "Are you pregnant?"

"I…"

"Don't you dare lie to me."

A customer in line turned to look at us, and my face heated. Lio wasn't supposed to know that I was pregnant.

"Yes," I said in a low voice so the customer could mind their own business again. "It's not yours or anything, so it's nothing to worry about."

"How many months?" he said, wrapping his fingers around my thigh. "How many months pregnant are you?"

"Five, gosh," I said, taken aback by his intensity. If I were him, I'd leave little old me to raise a child alone and not be worried about it. Just go on by and continue fucking omegas in heat.

I could see the look in his eyes as he quickly calculated when I was at the heat clinic. It was the same day I slept with James. There was no way to know, and I couldn't tell him either. His eyes widened as he stared at my face.

"Then it could be mine or my pack's," he said. "Most likely, Markus used a bad condom or purposely pinched the tip of it. Either way, the baby is ours."

Oh, shit. Things were moving way too quickly.

"What if it isn't?" I said, stalling for time before he jumped to conclusions.

"I know you Alana," said Lio. "You would never have come to the heat clinic if you didn't have a mate."

"But someone brought me there," I hinted. "And I don't remember what happened."

His face fell for a moment then a resolved look came over him.

"Either way, I will be the one to protect you and take you as my omega," said Lio. "My team's contract is over now that we've accidentally gotten you pregnant. I'm no longer employed there and will never return there regardless, even if the baby isn't mine."

"Lio, no, don't quit your job," I said, climbing down the last few steps of the ladder. I was nervous of where his train of thought was going. He wanted me to be his omega, but we weren't there yet at all. "I don't want to be together just because there's a baby."

He pulled out his cell phone, ready to call the heat clinic. He slowly lowered his arm, staring at me incredulously.

"Do you really think I want you as my omega just because you're pregnant? I've always loved you, and you know this, Lana."

My heart was pumping hard. I knew it in my soul that he did.