Chapter 6 Cathy

Chapter 6 Cathy

Pittsburgh was a beautiful city, and if I had a choice, I would stay here, but when the last guest left the hotel, we packed up our essential things and got ready to leave for our home in Philadelphia.

"We need to talk," Lissandra blocked my path down the stairs.

Lissandra never loved me, I couldn’t say she hated me, but there is no word to describe how she felt about me either.

"I don’t want to talk," I said, circling her back.

"It’s not a suggestion; it’s an order," she replied, turning to me, "I don’t know what that was all about, but I don’t want another word about what happened last night."

"As you wish," I said as if I didn’t care.

"I won’t ask nicely next time," she warned me.

I shrugged my shoulders and went on my way with a small bag where I kept Eric’s gray coat and blue shirt.

"Are you all ready?" my father asked.

"Almost there," Linda said agitatedly as she had Max, her back guard carrying three suitcases full of clothes and who knows what else.

As was customary, we were divided into separate cars. This was a security measure to protect the Alpha’s offspring.

My father and Lissandra were in one car, Linda in another accompanied by Max, two more guards, and the driver, and me in the last, escorted by Morgana and our driver Taylor, who was her friend with benefits.

"We don’t have all day, princess," Morgana joked, opening the car door for me. "We have to catch up."

I got into the black car; Morgan got in behind me and closed the door.

"What are we waiting for?" I asked.

"Your father’s order," Taylor said, holding the communicator.

My father gave the signal, and we caravanned out onto the main road linking the city on the water with the rest. The scenery was beautiful, the tall buildings and creative structures, then getting lost in the thick forest surrounding the rivers.

"Tell me how you ended up in Eric’s bed?" she asked me excitedly.

"I wouldn’t want to talk about it," I told her, repressing my emotions.

"No bitch, you have to tell me everything in detail," she said. "It’s the least you can do."

I took a deep breath to organize my thoughts and told her about the adulterated wine and how I suddenly lost consciousness only to wake up in the bed of the heir to the night pack.

She heard my words, and her eyes sparkled even as I told her the part about Alston breaking up with me.

"He didn’t deserve you," she said. "I told you many times you deserved someone who shared your ambition, not a spoiled brat."

I watched out the window, and the rest of the gang rode in their cars close behind us. And attentive to everything going on around us. To me, this was silly because since the alliance between the packs was made official, wars ceased, and everything was resolved through the council of elders. We were in a very civilized era where each major pack took a state as its territory and was in charge of maintaining peace within it between its own and the small packs that inhabited its domain.

My father, the Alpha of the Sith pack, was the Alpha of Pennsylvania and one of the most powerful and respected among the other Alphas.

"Maybe you were right after all," I said, still feeling awful about it.

Not just because of the breakup but because I couldn’t get Eric out of my head.

After a long and tedious drive, we arrived at W Rockland Street, Philadelphia, where our house was located. Nicholas Sith, my father, was known among humans as a successful man and the owner of almost the entire city. To humans, my father was just another businessman, and our identity as Werewolves was unknown to them.

"Do you need help?" Morgan asked, pointing to my small bag.

"No, this doesn’t weigh anything," I told my friend.

"I know, I’m just doing my job," she replied seriously, and that’s when I felt the presence of her father, the head of security.

They saw eye to eye, and I understood they had unfinished business. It was probably about me wearing her dress, or maybe I was being a little paranoid.

"Cathy, a package arrived for you. I left it on your bed," one of the maids notified me.

I was waiting to hear back from a perfumery in Los Angeles to whom I had sent a sample of a fragrance I had created, the reply should have come weeks ago, but it never did, so I gave up.

I climbed the wooden stairs and crossed the narrow hallway until I reached my room.

On my bed was a package wrapped in tape and black bags. I picked it up, and it felt heavy. I shook it, but there was no strange noise.

That’s too much packaging for a letter, I thought and hurried to tear the wrapping with the blunt scissors I kept in the only drawer of my old nightstand.

As I tore the wrappings, a letter fell out that read: These jewels are no match for your beauty, Eric.

I felt butterflies in my stomach and couldn’t help but remember his handsome face, deep voice, and intense gaze and sighed, wondering if he was thinking of me too.

I was impressed by the speed at which he sent the package. To me, there was no possible way that could have been done, but someone with his position can accomplish the impossible with a snap of his fingers.

Inside were three boxes stacked. The first had a silver necklace adorned with diamonds dangling, simulating rain. In the other, a simpler necklace with but an emerald in the shape of a heart, and in the third, a pair of gold earrings in the shape of a cylinder encrusted with diamonds.

I stood in front of the mirror and tried on the necklace and earrings, and I couldn’t believe how well they suited me.

This is too expensive, and Eric must have spent a fortune.

My thoughts began to fly, and I imagined a different reality where Eric and I met in a different way and got married, one where this jewelry was not a tribute but a gift.

Linda entered the room accompanied by a maid for her to take away the boxes on the bed.

"Give me that necklace," she demanded.

"You’re crazy; I’m not giving you anything," I yelled back.

Linda reached over and snatched the necklace from me. "You are an illegitimate daughter. This jewelry is not for someone like you!" she screamed.

I tried to snatch the necklace from her hands, but she gave it to her maid and waved her out of the room. Linda then took the letter and read it aloud.

"You must have done a good job in the bed," She hinted. "Well...his mate is an invalid, so you sure were more ’entertaining’."

My blood began to boil, and I wanted to pounce on her, but I knew how it was going to end, and this time there was no one to help me.

"Just go away," I yelled at her. "You got what you wanted, so leave me alone."

Linda smiled and knocked over the lamp before leaving the room.

I felt frustrated, I wanted to yell, but I couldn’t because it would alarm the pack, and I couldn’t charge her with my father either because he would end up supporting her.

I looked at myself in the mirror, trying to figure out what was wrong with me, and just as I was about to cry, I could see flashes of light coming from behind my hair. I separated the strands and saw my earrings. Since they were covered with hair, Linda didn’t notice them and didn’t bother to check the boxes either.

I quickly took them off and hid them in my little drawer, right at the back, where I knew no one would find them.

***

About two months had passed since my father’s party. I woke up in the morning with dizziness. I had started feeling nauseous weeks ago, and no matter how much medicine I took, it wouldn’t go away. At first, I thought it was the essence I used to make the perfumes, so I started using masks with filters, but that didn’t work. I went to the doctor, but my tests didn’t show anything altered or out of the ordinary.

"You’re worrying me," Morgan said, patting me on the back with a disgusted look on his face. "Are you sure you’re not..."

"No, I told you I’m not, besides that happened two months ago. I’d notice if something was growing inside my womb," I replied, but before I argued, I threw up again.

"It’s better if we find out for sure, don’t you think?" she told me.

"And what do you want me to do? Go to the family doctor for a pregnancy test? And if it comes out positive, my father will find out," I replied. "And it won’t end well for me."

"But if you don’t, there’ll be no way to cover it up. You can’t hide a swollen belly, let alone a baby," she said.

My best friend was right, but I refused because I was afraid she was actually right, and I was really expecting a baby.

Morgan went to work, and I spent the day locked in my room with the excuse that I had a terrible allergy.

The day passed slowly, I read a book, wrote in my notebook of different ideas for new perfumes, and got lost in my thoughts, and when I came out of that trance, I found myself unconsciously writing Eric’s name over and over again.

Stop thinking stupid thoughts. I scolded myself.

I started working on my ideas to get Eric out of my head, but the more I forced myself, the harder it was to forget him.

"Are you there?" I heard Morgan’s whisper from down the hallway.

I opened the door, but she forcefully stopped it, leaving only a small slot open.

"What the hell..."

"Shh, take this," she said, passing me a small brown paper bag. "Good luck."

My friend left, striding quietly, and I closed the door very carefully so as not to make any noise.

I opened the bag, and there was a small pregnancy test, the kind you have to pee on and wait for the result. I put it on the bed and paced back and forth, thinking about whether to do it or not. I was nervous and anxious, I couldn’t stand up, but I couldn’t sit for long either because my anxiety was killing me.

I took the test, went to the bathroom and followed the instructions on the box, put it on the sink, and waited impatiently until it finally gave the result.

My legs started shaking, my vision became blurry, and for a moment, I thought I was going to faint.

Damn it, I’m fucking pregnant!

I couldn’t get over my astonishment. I looked at the test, thinking that I was mistaken and that maybe I did something wrong. I tried to lie to myself, but deep down, I knew it was true.

If my father found out, he would use it to his advantage to force a marriage with Eric and finally unite both packs, and if I refused to do so, it could bring big problems for my baby and me, plus Lissandra could use it as blackmail on the Pack of the Night.

Thousands of scenarios played out in my head, and in all of them, I was affected. I sat on the bathroom floor to try to calm down, but it was impossible. My heart was racing, and my breathing was conveniently causing me to have anxiety attacks.

I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I did know one thing, I couldn’t stay here. If I did, my life and the baby’s life would be in danger, and I would not let this innocent angel meet the same fate as me and be denigrated by its own family.

No, that’s not gonna happen.

I took a deep breath and stood up. Then I took the pair of gold earrings I had hidden, the few valuables I had, and my notebook. I put them in my small backpack as I looked at my room for the last time and said goodbye, knowing that I would never return. If I were caught, they would kill me without a second thought.