The Rejected Queen

Chapter Five

JACI

I couldn’t feel my feet touching the ground. I couldn’t feel the cold wind against my face or the ache in my legs from walking too fast.

All I could think about were the two tiny heartbeats growing inside me.

Two.

“Jaci.”

Rina suddenly yanked me backward before I walked straight into a low branch.

“You’re going to knock yourself unconscious,” she muttered. “Please say something.”

I stared ahead blankly. “What do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know. Anything.” She tightened her grip on my arm. “Just stop being this quiet. It’s scaring me.”

I stopped walking. “The shaman could be wrong,” I said quickly.

Rina’s expression fell instantly. “She’s never wrong.”

I laughed weakly. “Shamans are wrong all the time. Isn’t that their whole thing? Weird warnings and dramatic speeches and…”

“Jaci.”

“Don’t.” The word tore out of me sharply. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Like I was fragile. Like I was about to fall apart.

“I’m not broken,” I whispered. “I’m just…”

Pregnant. The word refused to leave my mouth because once I said it, it would become real and if it was real, then I wasn’t only running from Blaze anymore.

I was carrying a piece of him with me. Something that would tie me to Stonefang forever.

Rina suddenly pulled me into a hug.

I went stiff for a second before slowly relaxing against her.

“We can confirm it,” she whispered into my hair. “The hospital here has doctors.”

A tiny laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

*****

A woman in a white coat stood near the bed arranging silver tools neatly on a tray.

She introduced herself as Doctor Mira and didn’t ask a single question about who I was which honestly felt stranger than questions.

“Lie down,” she whispered. “Lift your shirt a little.”

I obeyed. My heart pounding so hard in my chest.

Doctor Mira spread cold gel across my stomach before pressing a strange metal thing against it. She moved it slowly while staring at a screen beside the bed.

Rina stood near the doorway chewing on her nail.

“There,” Doctor Mira murmured suddenly.

I turned my head toward the screen. At first, I didn’t understand what I was seeing. Just shadows. Tiny dark shapes.

“What is that?” I whispered.

Doctor Mira stayed quiet for a moment, moving the wand slowly. Her expression shifted from calm to curious.

“Shaman said twins,” Rina blurted nervously.

The doctor’s eyebrow lifted slightly. “Did she now?”

Rina nodded quickly. “But we wanted to confirm…”

“She was right.”

Doctor Mira finally set the tool aside and turned the screen toward me fully.

“Two sacs,” she said softly. “Two heartbeats.”

My breath caught.

“They’re strong too.” She smiled faintly. “Whatever these babies inherited, they’re clearly stubborn.”

Two heartbeats.

I stared at the tiny flickers on the screen.

My throat tightened painfully. “He marked me,” I whispered without meaning to. “The night before the rejection.”

Nobody spoke after that. What could they even say? I slowly pulled my shirt back down and sat upright. The room suddenly felt too small.

“How far along am I?” I asked quietly.

“Six weeks,” Doctor Mira answered. “Possibly seven.”

That meant I was already pregnant the night Blaze rejected me.

The bond hadn’t broken because of the babies. Fate refused to sever what still belonged together.

“Jaci.”

Rina crossed the room carefully and took my hand.

“What are you going to do?”

I thought about Blaze. About the guilt I still felt through the bond every night. About his wolf crying for me while another woman touched him.

I thought about Stonefang Pack watching me bleed without helping and then I thought about my mother.

Dead because she trusted the wrong Alpha.

My fingers curled slowly into fists.

“Survive,” I whispered. “Same thing I’ve always done.”

The walk back felt different. The wolves we passed kept staring at me strangely. Some looked angry. Others nervous.

And suddenly I felt like everyone knew. Like they could somehow see the babies growing inside me.

I lowered my head and walked faster.

The closer we got to the main cabin, the more voices I heard spilling through the open doorway.

“...can’t stay here.”

A man’s voice. “She stays until I decide otherwise.”

Knox.

“You didn’t ask anyone,” another voice snapped. Vera. “You found some wounded omega on the road and dragged her home like a stray.”

My throat bobbed.

“She carries Stonefang scent,” Vera continued angrily. “If they track her here…”

“Stonefang won’t find her.”

“They already are,” an older wolf interrupted grimly. “Scouts spotted patrols near the eastern ridge an hour ago.”

My blood turned cold instantly. “Blaze is looking for me?”

The words slipped out before I could stop them. Inside the cabin, the arguing stopped immediately.

Every head turned toward me.Knox moved first. He walked toward me quickly while the others stared like I had just confirmed their worst fears.

Vera looked furious. The older wolf looked worried.

Knox stopped directly in front of me and rested his hands firmly on my shoulders.

“Jaci,” he said carefully. “Go to your room.”

“No.” I shook my head quickly. “Tell me what’s happening.”

My chest tightened painfully. “Is Blaze really looking for me?”

Knox’s jaw flexed. For a long moment, he said nothing at all. Then finally…

“Yes.”

My stomach dropped.

“He’s been searching for you since the night you disappeared.”