Page 7

Summer POV

“Um, no. That's not possible,” I said blankly to Healer Elijah.

But it was possible, wasn’t it? A month ago, Gabriel and I had sex without a condom. That could lead to a baby. But my brain was having a hard time accepting that I was pregnant.

“Here are the results from the test.” He handed me a piece of paper, and I took it automatically. “I’m sure this is a shock for you, especially waking up to this news after you fainted. But it's important you know this. I want to assure you that I ran the blood test twice. You're pregnant, Summer.”

I wish he would stop saying that.

I blew out a long breath and stared unseeingly at the paper he had given me. It wasn't possible to read any of the words because my hands were shaking.

The gravity of the situation paralyzed me. My head spun, and all the air was sucked out of the room. Tears began to splash down my face onto the piece of paper that was proof that I was pregnant with Gabriel's baby.

I forgot that Healer Elijah was in the room with me as I was transported back to the night Gabriel and I spent together. How he had been so gentle and attentive to my needs. How he had made me feel like I was the only girl in the world.

But we had been careless, hadn’t we? We should have used protection. Now, our relationship was a thousand times more complicated than it had been before. We were so young, still figuring out life. Hell, Gabriel and I hadn’t even been on a real date yet. How were we supposed to raise a child together?

“Don't we have to, uh, call my parents or something? I…I don't know…” I paused and bit my lip.

How could I be a good mother when I couldn’t even handle the news that I was pregnant? I could barely accept the fact that I was expecting a child.

“Your mother and father are out in the waiting room. So are Gabriel and Axel. I wanted to give you this news privately. Would you like anyone to come in, or do you need a moment alone?” Healer Elijah asked and subtly took the paper out of my hands since I couldn't seem to stop looking at my teardrops coating the black ink.

Sluggishly, my mind registered Gabriel's name. The bond between us pulsed painfully.

Could he feel it, too?

Part of me wanted to go out to the waiting room, fling my arms around my Mate, and tell him the news. I even started to sit up so that I could do just that.

“Woah, slow down, Summer,” Healer Elijah said and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder to guide me back down. “If you want to talk to anyone, I'll bring them to you. Your vitals are good, but you need to take your time before you get up and walk around.”

I opened my mouth to tell him to get Gabriel, but stopped short when a chilly realization washed over me. If I asked for Gabriel and not my parents, Axel might get suspicious. I didn't have the mental space to deal with Axel making a scene in the hospital waiting room on top of everything else.

“Um, can you tell Gabriel and Axel to leave?” I asked Healer Elijah in a small voice. “Just say that I'm really sick or something. And once they're gone, can you please tell my parents I, um, need them?”

Despite what I had just discovered, I felt more immature than I had in a long time. And all I wanted was my parents.

***

With tears running down my face, I told my parents how Gabriel and I discovered we were Mates a month ago and that we spent the night together.

Then, I stared at the ceiling. I couldn’t look at my parents because I was too afraid of seeing disappointment in their eyes.

“I’m…pregnant,” I revealed, my voice trembling.

“Oh, honey, come here, it’s all right,” my mom said, drawing me into a comforting hug.

Relief poured over me like stepping into a warm shower after a long day. My parents would help me get through this. Everything was going to be okay.

My dad closed the hospital room's blinds with a snap.

“We need to keep our voices down,” he said with his back to my mom and me.

The mood in the room changed. My mother and I froze with our arms still wrapped around each other.

My dad turned around and ran a hand through his dark curls. Since the Rogue wolf attacked me, patches of gray began to grow in my father's hair. His muscular build had shrunk over the last couple of years, stress causing him to barely eat my mom's delicious cooking. Each time one of our pack members died from a Rogue attack, it destroyed my dad. As Delta, he was responsible for the pack's protection. But the attacks weren't his fault. He didn't have the money, warriors, or resources to defend our territory.

As my dad walked toward me with an unreadable expression, my stomach jolted. Was he angry with me for putting a wrench in Gabriel's marriage deal with the Alpha King?

“Summer, it's going to be all right. I'm not going to let anything happen to you,” my dad promised and squeezed my hand.

Uh, what?

“What do you mean, Theo?” my mom asked, and her eyebrows rose in concern. “Why would anything happen to her?”

“I'll explain in a second, Vivian,” my dad replied and looked down at me. “Summer, are you completely sure that this baby is Gabriel's?”

Heat crawled up my skin, and my cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“Of course, Dad! He…he's the only one I've ever, you know, been with. When we discovered we were Fated Mates, the bond was, um, hard to ignore.”

“You didn't sleep with Axel before you and Gabriel bonded as Mates?” he pressed.

“What? No!” I said and took a sip from the cup of water Healer Elijah had brought me, wanting an excuse to look away from my dad.

My mom rushed around my hospital bed and stood in front of her husband with her hands on her hips.

“Why the hell are you interrogating our daughter?” my mom demanded. “She's been through enough today.”

My father's shoulders slumped, and he seemed to fold in on himself.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart,” he said and drew me in for a quick hug. “I'm just…terrified of what being pregnant with Gabriel's baby means for your safety.”

My mother's face drained of all color, and she put a trembling hand to her mouth.

“Oh…no,” she whispered as she looked at me. Her eyes widened with horror as if I'd just been set on fire before her eyes.

The back of my neck prickled, and my temples pulsed with fear.

“What are you guys talking about?” I questioned. “You're scaring me.”

My father took both of my hands in his and looked me in the eyes. Whenever my parents had to give me bad news, the job always fell to my dad. He was the more direct of the two.

“Honey, if anyone in our pack found out that you are pregnant with Gabriel's baby, you could get exiled from the pack,” my dad revealed.

If a wolf was exiled from their pack, they were made to live with the other Rogue wolves.

My heart stopped beating as fear gripped it. Flinching, I rubbed the scar on my arm, remembering the pain of sharp teeth ripping into my flesh.

“Our pack wouldn't do that to me!” I protested. “I've been attacked by a Rogue wolf before! I'm sure people will be mad, but Gabriel and I are Mates. Wouldn't everyone eventually understand why we, um, spent the night together?”

“I'm sure some people would understand,” my father allowed.

“So, why couldn't we just…I don’t know, hide the truth about who my baby's father is?” I suggested and cupped my hands around my stomach, still shocked there was a baby growing inside of me.

“Summer, if your baby looks even remotely similar to Gabriel or someone saw you two together, people will begin to ask questions. An investigation could take place, and with one paternity test, the truth will come out. And how would we even keep this from Alpha Everett? He's Gabriel's father.” My dad scrubbed a hand down his face as the weight of the situation settled on him.

“But why would I be exiled?” I asked.

“Honey, wolf law is firm on the fact that if a pack member knowingly puts its pack in danger, they will be exiled without trial,” my dad explained. “There have already been four deaths and numerous injuries to our pack members because of the Rogues. Each day, their army is growing. We think that our pack’s borders will soon be brought down by them if we don’t have extra protection.”

I must have still looked unconvinced because my father continued.

“Do you remember Mrs. Pierce? She was your third grade teacher for a month, and then Mr. Dawson replaced her.”

His subject change threw me for a loop.

“Yes,” I answered. “I was sad when she left. She was really patient with us kids, even when we were being a handful. Didn’t you tell me that she moved to another pack?”

“I said that to protect you, honey. Mrs. Pierce fell in love with a Rogue wolf that used to hang around our territory. He manipulated her into helping him get past our guards and the Rogue killed someone. Mrs. Pierce was exiled without trial and the Rogue that she thought loved her killed her the night she was exiled.”

I clasped a hand to my mouth and gasped.

“But it wasn’t her fault the Rogue had tricked her into helping him!” I protested. “Mrs. Pierce was just a trusting person. She was probably just lonely and wanted someone to talk to.”

“I agree with you, Summer,” my dad said. “I’m not telling you about Mrs. Pierce to upset you, but to warn you. It doesn’t matter what your intentions are, if the Elders think you put our pack in danger, you will be exiled.”

My mom let out a little sob and grasped my hand as if I were being exiled right this second.

“Since Gabriel's political marriage to the Alpha King's daughter will help protect our pack from the Rogues, some Elders might think that you knowingly endangered our pack. Gabriel might be exiled, too,” my father continued.

Just the thought of Gabriel living among the vicious Rogues made my stomach knot up with terror.

“Some of the Elders might decide to be lenient because of your Mating bond, but I can't take the chance of you being exiled. Your safety is our number one priority. Even above the pack, you always come first, Summer,” he assured me.

A horrifying image of Gabriel and me trying to defend ourselves against a horde of Rogue wolves burst into my mind.

“What are we going to do?” I squeaked.

“People already think she's sick,” my mom muttered, her eyes on her husband. “She’s been in the house for two weeks, and she just fainted in front of the whole town.”

“What are you getting at, honey?” my dad asked her.

“We start a rumor,” my mom said with more confidence in her voice.

My father might be the one to always break the bad news to me, but my mother always found a solution to the problem.

“We say that she's deathly ill and has to be sent to a specialized healer up north. In reality, she will go to your sister's house to have her child in secret,” my mom said. “I'll go with her, of course.”

My dad nodded as if considering my mom's crazy plan.

“That could work,” he admitted.

“What the hell do you mean that could work?” I cried. “Why are you guys acting like I'm not sitting right here? Why are you trying to plan out the rest of my life for me? I don't want to go live on Aunt Mia's farm. Isn't there another way? Can't we…”

But my mind was too full of anxiety. I couldn't come up with another way to protect Gabriel and me from being exiled.

“Isn't sending me away from the only home I've ever known like a kind of exile in itself?” I pointed out and swallowed back tears, trying not to let my emotions consume me.

“Oh, honey,” my mom said and gripped my shoulder, tears sprinting down her pale cheeks. “We love you more than anything. And we don't think you did anything wrong. This isn't a punishment. It's a precaution.”

My father nodded in agreement.

“We can't risk your life, Summer. If anything happened to you, I—” My mom became choked up with emotion. “I'm going to come with you, sweetheart. I'll be with you every step of the way.”

“I'm coming, too,” my dad said.

“No, Theo,” my mom told him gently. “You have to stay here and continue to help protect the pack.”

“I'm not sure I'm making a difference,” my father muttered. “That's besides the point, though. We need to start planning.”

My mom held one of my hands while my dad held the other. They talked logistics over my head.

Annoyance filled me. Why were they acting like I was simply a pawn in their plan? I knew that they were worried about me, especially since I was lying in a hospital bed, just like when I was attacked by the Rogue. But their fear for me was blinding them from seeing my side of things. Didn't they care what I wanted to do with my life?

“Healer Elijah is the only one who knows besides us three,” my dad muttered. “And he won't tell anyone. He would never break healer-patient confidentiality.”

“When we leave the hospital, Summer will have to be in a wheelchair and pretend to be asleep. No one in the pack can see her again for our plan to work,” my mom added.

That's it.

I had to find a different way to keep myself from being exiled. I cupped my stomach again. It wasn't just my own life at stake anymore. I would pretend to go along with my parents’ plan for now to avoid an explosive argument, but I had to tell Gabriel about my pregnancy. This was his baby, too.

We were Destined Mates. Gabriel would find a solution.

I tuned my parents out, silently making my own plans.