Rejected, Pregnant And Claimed

7

AMIA

One Month Later

"You're nuzzling me, Amia."

"Hmm?"

"Are you feeling all right, love? You don't usually show this kind of attention. Not to mention that I'm in the middle of a meeting."

Alpha Lucien's voice finally broke through the strange fog that had taken over my head, and I pulled back quickly.

What on earth was wrong with me?

The alpha was sitting at his desk with his laptop open to an active video call.

I had been rubbing against him like a cat in heat right in front of everyone.

He had muted his microphone, but at least twelve people were watching us on the screen.

"s**t," I muttered.

Lucien just laughed softy.

"It's fine. I don't mind it, and my wolf likes it too, but you've been acting different since you came back from the last omega ball. I can tell these guys the meeting is over if you want to talk about it."

"No. It's a miracle you found this many wolves who actually know how to use a computer," I said, laughing a bit.

"I'm okay. Just feeling a little strange, I guess. Sorry for disturbing you."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"No problem at all. Did you need something, or were you just looking for someone to lean on? Hawk is going to be jealous that you picked me instead of him."

I suddenly remembered why I went to his office in the first place.

"Oh, King Orion wanted you to keep them on the line for another fifteen minutes so he could drop in."

"The King wants to join a video call? The world really is changing. If you stay and rub against me a little longer, that will definitely keep these other alphas waiting."

"Haha."

I tapped his head lightly and stepped out of the camera's view.

He was a friendly alpha and one of King Orion's oldest friends, but I never usually rubbed against any of them.

Lucien was right about one thing.

Something was definitely wrong with me.

I smiled and walked through the King's big house, then went out through the back door.

The sun was warm outside, and it felt good on my skin after staying inside all morning.

I had not seen much of the King since the ball.

We had breakfast together every morning, but that was all.

He ate most of his other meals with his alphas or inside his private office.

It seemed like more problems were rising in his kingdom every single day.

He did not want to talk to me about any of those issues, whatever they were.

Normally, that lack of communication would upset me, but I had my own troubles to deal with right now.

My nights were filled with unwanted dreams about a certain alpha touching me.

My days were getting stranger and stranger as time passed.

I was starting to worry that I was going to enter my heat period soon.

That was a big problem because I had zero experience with heats.

I walked down the narrow dirt path and turned uphill toward the pack Healing Den.

King Orion wanted the Healing Den close to the main house so he could reach it quickly in an emergency.

In a pack that constantly took in wild, unstable wolves, emergencies happened all the time.

Today, the place was very quiet.

There was a small bookshelf in the waiting area, so I started looking through the books since no one was around.

"Amia? Are you okay?"

It was not as empty as I thought.

Poppy, one of the helpers at the Healing Den, set down a large pile of files and looked at me with deep concern.

"Should I go get King Orion?"

I understood why she was so worried.

I almost never set foot inside the Healing Den.

I used to think my omega scent might comfort the sick and injured wolves, but it nearly caused a wild riot instead.

After that incident, King Orion politely asked me to stay away from the building.

"I'm fine," I said quickly, giving her a reassuring smile.

"I'm sorry to startle you. I was just looking for some books to help a wolf I met at the last omega ball. Am I causing a problem by being here?"

"Oh, no. It's been very quiet all week, so we are just using the time to finish our paperwork," she said with a small chuckle.

"What's wrong with your new friend? Doesn't her pack have a healer?"

"They do," I said carefully, hating that I had to lie to her.

"But she feels uncomfortable talking to her healer about this."

"It's probably some old guy," Poppy snorted.

"Those old healers can be so stuck in their ways."

"Well, she says she has been having extreme mood swings lately. She gets very annoyed in the morning, but by the afternoon, she's happy, singing, and cleanings her room. She's also nuzzling up against other wolves and wanting physical touch all the time."

"Hmm," Poppy said, pressing her lips together.

"It could be a lot of different things. High stress changes a woman's hormone levels and affects her cycle. It could just be that something big changed in her life, and her body is reacting to all the new stress hormones."

I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

That made complete sense.

Stress was something I could monitor, control, and handle easily.

"Of course, she could also just be a late-blooming omega, but if she's old enough to attend the official balls, that is very unlikely. I still think it's just the stress."

Poppy opened a desk drawer and pulled out a few more documents.

"That sounds right," I said.

"That will make her feel a lot better. Thank you, Poppy."

"No problem at all. Oh, wait, there is one more thing. She could also be pregnant. Those strong happiness hormones flood a woman's body during the first few weeks of pregnancy."

My whole body froze.

"What?"

"Yeah, absolutely. If she really doesn't want to talk to her healer, she should just take a quick pregnancy test. Her local clinic will have them, or she can get one easily. We keep ours right inside the utility closet."

"I... see. I will tell her that. Thanks."

"Anytime! See you later!"

Poppy stacked the files under her chin, opened the side door with her free hand, and walked out.

The heavy door swung shut behind her, leaving me all alone in the quiet waiting room.

Pregnant.

Shit, s**t, s**t.