The Alpha's Warrior Mate

Unexpectedly Expecting

I was falling and falling until my body jerked awake. I was laying on a small cot staring up at a white canopy tent. What the hell happened? My eyes focused on a figure moving on the other side of the tent. She was organizing supplies at a small wooden table before her eyes fell on me.

“Oh! You’re awake!” She exclaimed.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“You’re safe, my dear.” She said taking my hand to check my pulse. I took the time to study her face. She was a plump woman with grey strands of hair coming out of the bun piled on top of her head. She moved to take a stethoscope off her neck and put it on my chest. I laid my head back into the pillow underneath. Her eyes glazed over as I realized she was talking to another wolf through her mind link. A few minutes later a large man appeared at the tent opening. His hair was black as night and his eyes were a contrasting baby blue. His form took up most of the free space in the tent and the grey haired women had to shuffle around him to get him to move.

“Where are you from?” He asked me without any greeting.

I didn’t respond.

“I asked you a question,” he growled using an alpha voice.

I didn’t want to tell him. I was done with alphas. I wasn’t strong enough to look him in the eye so I opted to close mine. Ethan ran through my mind. It hurt to see him after what he’d said so instead I opened them reluctantly.

“I’m the only survivor of the Silver Crescent pack,” my voice came out hoarse.

The woman with the grey hair gasped. My eyes shot between her and the alpha. A look of pain flashed across his face and he sucked in a breath.

“Leave us for a moment, mother.” He said over his shoulder. She nodded and stepped out of the tent. “My name is Mason,” his voice was softer now. “You’re with the Black Night pack,” he continued. I knew why she had reacted the way she had now. The Black Night pack were supposed to be traveling to aid us. When we heard Red Aspen was coming we sent messengers to ask for help. They never arrived. I stayed silent waiting for him to keep going.

“We were on our way when we were ambushed. Red Aspen took out most of our troops, we couldn’t have made it to you.” He sounded like he was asking for forgiveness. “When we got back to our territory everything was burned to the ground. My father, Alpha Roland, was killed.” His voice croaked.

“Looks like he got the best of both of us.” I replied meekly.

His face went dark. “When I find that asshole, I will murder him.”

“It’s too late. I already did.” Mason looked at me in shock. I started to replay the events over the past ten months to him. I left the details of Ethan out. When I was done, he put his head in his hands. We sat in silence mourning together the loss we both knew too well. It was nice to have a friend who knew the pain of the last year.

“So what is all of this?” I waved my hand to show that I meant the tent.

“Can you walk? I’ll show you.” He replied.

I shifted to stand using the bed to stabilize myself. I tested my feet out and decided I could walk. We went to the edge of the tent and I saw what Mason had meant. Most of the buildings around me were burned down. The ones that stood were scorched on the sides. All around me there were wolves who were rebuilding a giant pack house in front of me. The cement pad had been poured and the fresh wooden beams stood to mark the frame.

“The tent you were in was the makeshift hospital, we’re rebuilding the house now and will work on the other buildings as we go.” He said.

“What can I do to help?” I asked

He looked at me like I was insane. “We found you washed up on the riverbed four days ago. We thought for sure you were dead. Your wolf must have taken over and gotten you there. You need to rest. We can talk about what to do when you’ve fully healed.” He was eyeing the mark on the side of my neck from Ethan. I knew he knew that it meant I had a mate somewhere. When mates died, the mark faded. Since mine was still there it meant Ethan was alive.

“I need to do something to feel normal,” I pleaded.

“Okay, I’ll show you the training fields and we’ll see where you can fit in,” he said reluctantly.

. . .

The weeks passed uneventfully, thank goodness. I spent my mornings training with the pack and afternoons helping with the rebuild. The pack house was almost finished which meant the pack would be moving out of the tents and into it. I felt as if I was starting to come out of my shell again. One morning was extra hot as I faced off with Darian, a strong warrior who was my equal. I got several quick jabs in before he aimed a punch at the left side of my head. I dodged it but felt myself become lightheaded and I hit the ground as if an invisible force knocked me down.

“Anna! Are you okay?” Darian asked urgently standing over me.

“Yeah I’m not sure what just happened,” I responded while reaching for his outstretched hand.

“Why don’t you go see Miriam and get checked out,” Mason said through a furrowed brow. He reminded me so much of Jason when he did that.

“Sure, okay.” I relented.

I followed the path to the pack house. Entering in the side door the infirmary I saw Miriam shelving supplies. I smiled when I remembered my first day here. Her grey hair was frazzled as she was making quick work of the new supplies.

“Anna!” She exclaimed.

“Hi Miriam, “ I replied warmly. “I was feeling faint during training and alpha Mason thought it would be a good idea for me to come out you a visit.”

“Of course dear!” She ushered me to a cot on the adjacent wall. She pulled out her stethoscope and started to take my vitals. She looked concerned as she walked back to her desk before returning with a clipboard.

“When did you last eat?”

“This morning.” I replied as she scribbled the information down.

“Okay, and what is the date of your last period?” She asked looking at me with an expression that was hard to read.

I froze. I hadn’t had periods in a long, long time. I chalked it up to the lack of body fat when I trained in my last pack and then malnutrition when I was a prisoner. Ethan and I hadn’t used protection, because we were mates and I had thought that he loved me. Miriam pulled me out of my haze as she handed me a small package. I studied the outside and realized it was a pregnancy test. I numbly walked to the bathroom and took the test. I walked back out and saw her start a timer. She looked at me sympathetically. 

"Hey Anna, are you okay?" Mason appeared at the door. 

"She is, she's just a little worn," Miriam replied for me. 

A loud ringing noise told me the test was up and I stole a glance at it.

"No, I'm not okay." I said quietly to them both. "I'm pregnant."