Scarlett
I stared at the man in front of me, not even bothered that I had just spat water directly on his face in public.
My only concern was the words that had come out of his mouth. Was he nuts? What did he mean by *I was carrying his child? And how did he know I was pregnant in the first place?
Was this some sort of scam or what?
For a second, nobody moved, then the man who had previously addressed himself as Atlas Voss slowly lifted a hand and wiped the water from his face calmly.
The kind of calm that usually came right before someone murdered you.
Oh s**t.
I braced myself for what he could possibly do to me, but nothing happened. If anything… The asshole looked amused. Which somehow made everything worse.
Beside him, Marcus turned away abruptly and coughed into his fist. I could tell he was trying so hard not to laugh, which was surprising to me because what exactly was that funny?
Did he want to laugh at me or at his weird friend who calls himself Alpha?? What did Alpha even mean? Was he some kind of misogynistic Alpha male who takes pride in calling himself that?
Hmmmphhhh
It must be, I mean, why else would he want to claim ownership of a child that has nothing to do with him?
“You.” I pointed at Atlas, and his eyebrow lifted slightly.
“Me.”
“What exactly do you mean by carrying your child? And how do you even know my name is Scarlett Wright?” I asked, and his expression remained infuriatingly composed.
I knew the last question was stupid, seeing that I was a popular model, but I still wanted to ask. The way he said it sounded familiar somehow, like he had known it long before today.
“We need to talk somewhere private.” He finally said, and I let out a loud, disbelieving laugh.
“Oh, absolutely not.”
“We need privacy.”
“I don’t even know you.”
“You know my name.”
“You introduced yourself thirty seconds ago.” I countered, and his jaw twitched.
“We can explain everything.” He argued.
“Everything?” I repeated. “You mean the part where you’re claiming to be the father of my mystery pregnancy?”
“Yes.” He shrugged, and I blinked in confusion.
“Oh my God, you’re serious.”
“Very.”
“No.”
“Scarlett….”
“No.”
“Listen to me.”
“No.”
“We can talk here if you prefer.”
I opened my mouth to argue again before realizing that a lot of people had slowly gathered, and they were starting to stare at us. Some were pretending not to watch while others were watching openly. One woman was literally holding her phone.
Fantastic.
Exactly what my already disastrous life needed.
Witnesses.
I closed my eyes, counted to three, then pointed at the SUV.
“Five minutes,” I said, and Atlas nodded.
…………..
The inside of the SUV smelled expensive. I didn’t know how well to explain it, but it smelled like money.
Atlas sat across from me, Marcus sat in the driver’s seat, and for several seconds, nobody spoke.
“Well?” I folded my arms.
“Several weeks ago, there was a Blood Moon Eclipse.” He said, and I blinked in confusion.
“What?”
“The Blood Moon Eclipse.”
“That’s where you’re starting?”
“Yes.”
“Just let him finish, please.” Marcus sighed.
I wasn’t sure I wanted him to, but at this point, curiosity was winning, so I urged him to go on.
“Our pack has an ancient ritual.” He continued, and my headache immediately got worse. What did he mean by pack and ancient ritual?
“It’s called the Veil-Singing, and the ritual is performed once every few generations. It is used to secure the bloodline of the next Silverwood Alpha.”
I stared at him, looking more confused, but he continued instead.
“The ritual creates what we call a soul-echo. A connection beyond physical distance and the soul-echo searches for a compatible vessel.”
My brain was already trying to leave my body, and my eye was twitching badly.
“A vessel strong enough to carry the heir. And somehow…It found you.”
Silence.
Complete silence.
Nobody spoke or breathed as I tried to process every single ridiculous word he just uttered.
“So, you’re trying to tell me that your village has a ritual and…”
“Not a village, my pack. I’m a werewolf.” He said, and I stared at him in disbelief, waiting for the peekaboo or bazinga to tell me he was pranking me, but he remained unfazed.
“What the hell? You’re telling me you’re a werewolf now and that your pack has this ritual?” I asked, mouth wide open, and he nodded.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I mean, weren’t werewolves just folktales that were told to scare children and didn’t really exist?
“You’re joking, werewolves don’t exist.” I laughed nervously, waiting for them to join me in laughing, but their expressions remained serious.
“There are werewolves, and yes, we are real, we exist. I’m the Alpha of the pack, and another pack exists right here in LA. You, humans, are just oblivious to the fact.” He revealed, and I covered my mouth in shock.
What the hell did he just say? Was he really serious, or was he trying to pull my leg? I mean, I still didn’t understand the whole thing.
“Let’s forget about that and focus on the matter at hand. I’ll explain everything properly later.” He said, and I looked at him, trying to figure out if I should run or stay still and understand what the f**k was happening to me.
“Wait..” I swallowed down, trying to calm myself. “So you’re trying to say you’re a werewolf and some Alpha of a pack and that your pack has an ancient heir wolf ritual??” I asked, and Atlas sighed.
“Yes.”
“So what you’re saying is that this wolf ritual got me pregnant,” I questioned.
“It’s more complicated than that.” He said, and I frowned.
“It sounds exactly that simple,” I argued, and Marcus suddenly made a strange choking noise from the front seat.
I pointed at Atlas again, ignoring him.
“So you’re saying a wolf howled. A magic moon appeared, and a ghost baby flew across America, and now I’m pregnant?” I asked in utter shock, and he shook his head.
“That’s not what happened.”
“That is literally what you just described.”
“It’s far more complex than…”
“A wolf howl got me pregnant.”
“Scarlett.”
“No, this is insane.” I threw both hands into the air, and Atlas’s expression darkened slightly.
“The child is real Scarlett, you might not understand properly, but this is how best I can explain,” he said, and my stomach tightened.
Because, unlike the rest of this conversation…That part wasn’t a joke.
I had seen the ultrasound.
“The child is mine.” His voice softened, and a strange feeling crawled through my chest. Fear, confusion, and anger, all mixed.
“No.”
“It is.”
“No.”
“Scarlett…”
“I said no.” I shoved the door open and rushed out before he could stop me.
My legs felt shaky, and my thoughts felt worse.
Atlas exited the vehicle seconds later, and I turned to face him immediately. “Stay away from me.”
“I can do that, but the baby changes things, and I’m not leaving here today without you or my baby.” He revealed coldly, and I froze.