Chapter 5

Tessa's POV

When I wake up in my own bedroom, I have absolutely no idea what's going on.

I groan as I sit up slowly. Everything hurts. It all comes to me in pieces, bit by bit. I remember–

The charity event, my hearing aids, the motorcycle.

Oh my goodness, what's happened to me?

My entire body aches as I stretch out. The sheets slip down my body. Sunlight spills through an open window–it must be the day after the charity event.

I reach for my phone instinctively. When I glance at the nightstand, I'm relieved to see my spare set of hearing aids, too.

I secure my hearing aids quickly, then glance down at my phone. When I see a text from Carol lighting up the screen, my heart plummets into my stomach.

Carol's message to me is simple: Still think your deafness is okay for Evander?

Then there is a link to an article. But when I see that the headline details the incident that had occurred, my face begins to flush with embarrassment.

It's all there–the issues with my deafness, the children, the way I hadn't been able to move as the motorcycle approached…

I squeeze my eyes shut and toss my phone onto the bedsheets. I can't bear to continue reading. Shame burns me up from the inside out.

I wonder what Evander would think if he saw it? I wonder what Evander's thinking of me now?

So Carol did sabotage my hearing aids, causing all of this to happen.

I know as Evander's Beta, she's supposed to have his best interests at heart at all times. And I could tell that she likes Evander–and she believes that I'm not worthy of him.

Carol wants Evander to have the perfect Luna, someone who can balance and match him. Someone who can do what he needs to have done. Not someone like me, a disabled woman who's barely a shell of herself at this point.

But what she did is disgustingly, viscerally unforgivable.

Just as I'm starting to slip a bit too far into the sickening tangle of my own thoughts, my bedroom door opens. I sit up straight, seeing Dr. Terence walking in.

He's been working specifically for Evander's family as a family doctor for 20 years. He's older, with thin, graying hair and dressed in a neat lab coat. Wire-rimmed glasses perch on his nose. He peers down at me with kind eyes, smiling softly.

"Do you have your hearing aids in, Tessa?" Dr. Terence asks.

It takes me a moment to process his words, but once I do, I nod.

"I'm glad." He comes to sit down beside me. "Luckily, most of your injuries have been fairly treatable, and we've got you on painkillers now for the worst of the pain. However, there's one factor that may cause complications."

Dr. Terence pauses, staring at me through his thick glasses lenses.

"Congratulations, Tessa. You're pregnant."

Pregnant.

I'm…

I'm pregnant?

I'm both surprised and delighted–I wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant, after all. Not with the birth control I've been on.

But maybe I missed a dose, or maybe Evander and I slipped up at one point, or maybe–

Maybe it's fate.

Just when Evander finally agrees to stop actively finding Fated mate and have an heir, we got one.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy about the news. I feel that the shadow Carol left behind in my mind is lightened a bit.

I've always hoped that Evander and I could share a life–living together, raising a child together…

"Thank… thank you for telling me, Doctor," I begin. "Is there anything I need to do?"

"The basics," he replies. "We'll be scheduling appointments and checkins, of course. Don't drink, don't smoke, don't get run over by any more motorcycles." He shoots me a lopsided smile. "But besides that, just take care of yourself, and your medical team can handle the rest."

I nod once, relieved. I can do that. It takes some of the pressure off, at least.

"I'm just going to check on your injuries now," Dr. Terence says. "If you don't mind?"

He peels back the bedsheets, revealing my damaged body.

The doctor begins to change one of the bandages on my arm. I wince as the gauze sticks to my skin.

"Alpha Evander will be here soon, by the way," the doctor mentions.

"Oh!" I blink, pleasantly surprised.

"Has he… has he said anything about meeting his Fated mate?" I ask tentatively.

The doctor shakes his head. "He didn't mention that. Not as far as I've heard."

Which–I admit–makes me happier than it probably should.

"I want to go downstairs to wait for him. Oh.. and have you told Evander's mother about my pregnancy?"

"Not yet. You want to wait until Alpha Evander's home and let him know first?" Dr. Terance smiles.

I blush, realizing how obvious my train of thought must have been. "Yes," I tell him. "Thank you, Doctor."

I can't wait to let Evander's mom know, but I decide tokeep it a secret until Evander is back.

I want him to know first.

As the doctor continues to change my bandages, I lay back in bed and think about what it will be like when I finally break the news to Evander. I think about him up onstage, the way he smiled at the children so gently.

And soon, he's going to be giving our child that same gentle smile.

The doctor helps me out of bed. When I finally make my way downstairs, I breathe out a sigh of relief.

As the doctor shuffles out of the dining room, medical bag in tow, I hear footsteps approaching rapidly from the door outside.

My heart begins to race.

Hope flutters in the pit of my stomach. I stare at the door eagerly, anticipating his arrival. I can't wait to tell him.

Hopefully, he'll be as excited as I am.

But when the door swings open and Evander steps into the pack house, there's a woman on his arm.

Cold horror shoots through me in an instant. It's like the world has been drained of all colour. I'm sick to my stomach in a heartbeat.

I look up at Evander. "I… what…"

He stares down at me impassively. "This is Mira."

The woman–Mira–is looking at me with something a fair bit harsher than neutrality. Her face is twisted into a sneer as she hooks her arm tighter around Evander's.

"Is this that deaf woman you were telling me about?" She asks curtly.

I stare up at the two of them, silently hoping this is not as what I am thinking.

But I know it is even before Evander's brow furrows ever so slightly, before he turns to me and speaks the words that will irreversibly shatter my heart.

"Mira is my Fated mate."