Fated

Chapter Twelve: Rain

No... No, it can’t be... Isaac – he wouldn’t!  

But he did, he is, and no matter how I feel that fact won’t change. 

As if on que, the bed in the middle of the room begins to shift.  

Cynthia turns, quickly, quietly, away from the graphic scene before it gets worse. 

Claire... Cynthia attempts to mitigate. 

Let’s go home. I interrupt quickly. My heart shattering to millions of pieces, I want nothing more than to be alone right now. I can’t even process this right now, never mind talk about it... 

Cynthia starts up, her paws padding softly against the damp mossy ground beneath us, careful to not alert Isaac nor Sophia, nor anyone else nearby. 

The dark mauve clouds that had been looming far away earlier in the night now menaced above us, threatening us and their surroundings. 

Once out of sight of the summer house, and deep enough into the cover of the woods, Cynthia breaks into a sprint, her fur ripping through the dewy night air like fire.  

We approach the tree where my clothes lay in no time.  

Cynthia quickly shifts, and we are back in my own naked, simple, human body. 

My eyes slowly fall to my stomach, and suddenly my chest constricts.  

I feel my body wanting to double over. My whole being wants to just lie here in the woods and the oncoming rain forever. To never see another person, to never experience anything again. To simply be numb to this.  

How can I do this without Isaac? I fall to my knees as tears stream down my face, still staring at my stomach. 

Claire... Cynthia’s tone is soft and warm, comforting – not too distant from a purr.  

But I can’t respond – my brain feels like it’s drowning, like any kind of ability to think or respond has been suffocated. 

Claire. It is because you are without him that you must do this. You must stand strong. For our cub. You are the only one who can look after our cub now.  

Still numb, still drowning, I nod my head slightly.  

I need to get dressed. 

One step at a time. I can do that much. 

I move haphazardly; my knees shaking underneath me, my stomach churning - but I manage to make it to my small pile of now dew-covered clothes, rested at the foot of the large oak tree. 

Next step. 

My legs slowly snake their way through the holes of my sweatpants, one by one, in awkward, jittery movements. 

The cold air nipping at my body causes me to shake even more, but I don’t care. 

Almost there. 

My arms eventually make their way through my top and hoodie, and my feet into my socks and shoes. 

My whole body feels damp, cold and heavy.  

I resist the urge to lie down again, but I don’t move forward. I can’t. How am I supposed to face my parents?  

How could I tell them any of this? How could I now tell them I am pregnant? How could I tell them about Isaac? 

I can’t. 

My knees suddenly feel loose and heavy all at once, like my body is too heavy to be supported. 

As if in slow-motion, my body drops to the ground, completely inelegantly, completely without care, rolling onto its side. 

Boom! 

The thunder claps, not too distant from me. Without more warning, rain begins to pelt from the sky, a flurry of darts falling all at once and non-stop. 

The rain coats my form in a couple of minutes, my clothes now drenched. 

Cynthia remains silent, and suddenly, I feel entirely alone, entirely lost. 

The pain so heavy that I can’t bare it. I simply close my eyes. 

Any thought or feeling I had had is now drowned under a sea of weight, a suffocating blanket sucking the life out of me. 

I’ve stayed like this for I don’t know how long – maybe two minutes, maybe twenty – but my body now shakes feverishly in the cold and the rain. And still, I can’t move.  

My breathing ragged and my face swollen from the cold and from my tears, but I still have no motivation to get cover. 

But I can’t stay like this...  

Something, some kind of voiceless energy, calls out to me – unspeaking, but somehow still communicating with me. I can understand it. 

But before I get a chance to figure out what this odd energy source within me is, I am suddenly stricken with a jolt of energy, of motivation.  

Only a small jolt, not enough to get me to run home in the thunder and lightning, but enough to get me to move back under the cover of the tree.  

Yes, trees are not the best shelter against lightning, but it helps against the rain, and that’s all I really care about right now. 

So, I sit there, in the dark, the thunder and lighting, and the biting cold. And I just think. 

I think about Isaac, about the party... about our cub... 

My entire future has just vanished before my own eyes, unbeknownst to anyone else... Except for I suppose, those gossiping in the shop... 

But now everything has changed... 

The thunder claps again, booming through the woods. Moments later, lightning strikes some relatively distant patch of ground. 

I was supposed to be the Luna... I don’t really care much about being Luna at all, honestly, but I don’t know how I can have Isaac’s cub, our future Alpha’s cub, without being his mate... 

The pack would revolt...  

Okay, well, maybe not quite revolt. But I would forever be shunned, talked about, avoided... My life will be miserable. 

So, what do I do? 

It’s no wonder Isaac wanted to hide his mate from the pack. It’s no wonder he asked me to hide my pregnancy, even from my own parents. 

I wish so desperately that I could talk to my parents about this, that they could help me come up with some kind of plan... But I know I can’t involve them in this. Isaac was probably right to tell me not to reveal my pregnancy to my parents. 

If Alpha Jason and Luna Jennifer, my parents might even be ostracised from the pack, banished for what Isaac and I did. 

I can feel my anger building as I think about this. Despite the fact that the actions which led to the creation of this cub, were carried out by Isaac and I equally, I know I am the only one who will suffer because of this. Isaac is the future Alpha, he has all the power to command the pack to follow him, if he needed to... But he wouldn’t have to. 

Even outside of packs, back with the humans, this is still the same. The women are judged and ostracised, while the men can do no wrong, especially if they have power. Their actions are simply brushed off as ‘beyond their control’, and their lives stay the same, while everything changes for the women. 

I rub my stomach absentmindedly. 

The feelings of betrayal still reside heavily and painfully in my heart and mind, but I know I need to get back. 

The rain and thunder have both mostly subsided, as well as the lightning, and I’m sure my parents will worry. 

I still don’t know what to tell them... What to do... But they can’t find out. They can’t suffer because of me. 

And so, I lift myself off from the soil by the tree and begin my small trek home. My movements are slow and heavy, a little disjointed, as I prepare to supress my emotions and lie to my parents, again. 

By the time I have stumbled home, the thunder, lighting and rain have vanished, and the clouds have broken, revealing a beautiful, calm sky above. The stars glisten with hope in the dark sky, the hope that I so desperately need right now. 

I stand on the porch for a while, the wood beneath me soaked and it creaks under my weight as I stare at the stars, just trying to revel in the peace, trying to forget all the drama, trying to forget about my future. 

My father must have seen me through the window, as after a moment of staring at the sky, he comes out to the porch. He makes his way over, the wood underneath him creaking under each step. 

“Claire?” His voice is laced with tension, a tired kind of worry, as he approaches me. “Is everything okay? You’re soaked to the bone!” He places his hand on my shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. 

“Mm, yeah,” I turn my face to look at him, giving him a small smile, before turning back to the stars, “I got caught in the rain and thought I should wait it out in the woods. I’m sorry I took so long, but I’m fine. Just enjoying the stars.” 

“I understand that,” He gives me a small smile in return, his face showing a little pride. “I would get the telescope for you, but I think you need to get in, get a warm bath, and get into bed. You look exhausted.” 

“Yeah, you’re right dad. That sounds perfect.” I smile, genuinely, while trying not to let any tears gather in my eyes. His kindness is so appreciated right now, but so bitter-sweet. I wish I could tell him the truth about everything. 

“I’ll go run a bath for you now, but get inside now, okay?” His voice isn’t commanding at all, just full of care and kindness. 

“Yeah, I will. Thanks Dad. I love you.” I move to hug him, but decide against it, choosing not to soak him with my drenched clothes, instead placing my head on his shoulder for a small moment – a small, affectionate head butt. 

I go to my room and grab some clean pyjamas, the fluffy kind, and take them to the bathroom. The mirrors fogged over as a result of the now filled bath.  

The bath is an odd pinkish colour, a result, I now see, of a special bath bomb my father had put in. 

Tears begin to spill from my eyes as I strip down and enter the bath. The heat stings my cold body. 

It’s so hard feeling so loved, so cared for, but so alone – knowing that I have to hide this from my parents, and not knowing for how long. Not knowing what will happen. 

I need to take control of this situation. 

I can’t let Isaac lie to me and control me like this any longer. 

I had suspected something was wrong, different with Isaac, but even in my most insecure moments, I would never have imagined this. 

And Sophia? Is this why she had been so distant, so off recently? 

Sophia’s birthday was months ago... She must have known... Why wouldn’t she tell me? 

How long has Isaac known? 

Suddenly, I think back to all those times we were together while he was on his phone messaging people, someone, looking very stressed. Could he have been messaging Sophia? 

Another thought hits me – Isaac must have gone straight to Sophia after he and I almost slept together. 

What the f**k?  

What a major creep. How would Sophia feel if she knew that... 

In the silence of the cosy, warm bathroom, my phone’s alert message hurt my ears and shatters the delicate environment. 

I reach over and grab my phone, my hands still soaking wet from the bathtub. 

1 new message. 

I open my phone to check the message – from an unknown number. 

‘Claire. This is Alpha Jason. I know everything. Meet me tomorrow at the pack house, at 11am.’ 

Oh s**t. 

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Author's Note:

Hello! I hope you're enjoying the story so far - I try to update as often as possible, at the very least a couple of times a week. It's really fun writing it and thank you for the support so far! I really, really appreciate it, and you :))