chapter 2
1652 Words
Chapter Two
Ana
I walked back into the large house after Lily finally left. The quietness of the rooms felt completely overwhelming.
Just a short while ago, Lily had taken me back to the pack doctor for another medical checkup. For a terrifying moment, sitting in that sterile room, I truly thought something bad had happened to my unborn child. The sharp pain in my stomach had scared me deeply.
But after the examination, the pack doctor looked up and told me that everything was fine. The baby was completely healthy. However, the doctor explained that he couldn't finalize the official medical report just yet. He needed a signature from the child's father to update the pack registry.
I sat on the examination table, looking down at my lap, not knowing what to say. How could I possibly tell the doctor the truth? How could I explain that my mate, the father of my child, had just carried another woman away in his arms instead of helping me up from the dirt?
While we were waiting, Lily had taken my phone to call Desmond. She stood by the window, dialing his number over and over again. She called him countless times, but his line went straight to voicemail every single time.
Every time that robotic, automated message filled the quiet room, something deep inside my chest cracked a little more. The rejection felt heavy and cold.
I sat there in the doctor's office for a long time, staring at the floor. For the first time in my life, I found myself wondering if this was really the man I loved. I started to question everything. I thought back to the past, remembering the man who had originally saved me from my lonely life.
I remembered when I was younger, living at the very brink of collapse. Back then, I was completely ignored and cast aside by everyone in the pack because I didn't have a wolf. But Desmond had stepped up. He was the only one who actually cared for me and looked after my safety.
Back in those days, he wasn't an Alpha yet. He was just a young boy who constantly got scolded by his own father. His father always called him too lazy and too weak to rule the pack.
Ema had been his very first love back then. When she suddenly decided to leave him and desert the pack, the heartbreak almost destroyed him. He completely gave up on himself, his duties, and his future. He didn't want to live, let alone lead.
I was the one who stood firmly by his side through every single dark night. I took care of him, comforted him, and constantly pushed him to become the strong Alpha he is today. I gave him my whole heart and all my strength to help him build his position.
And yet, now that he finally had everything, he saw me as absolutely nothing.
He had carried Ema out in front of the entire pack today. Everyone on the estate grounds saw it happen. They all watched him choose her. And the worst part was that he didn't even notice that I was lying on the ground, hurting and needing help too.
Lily was absolutely furious during the entire walk back. She kept pacing around, saying she wanted to track him down right now and make him pay for what he did.
She was right to be angry. Not only had he completely disgraced me in public, but he had also proven to the entire pack that I didn't matter to him. He showed everyone that I never really mattered at all.
As we finally walked out of the hospital gates, I suddenly stopped walking. My body froze completely.
There they were, standing right in front of us on the path.
For a brief second, I honestly thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I hoped it was just a bad dream. But it wasn't a trick. It was really Desmond standing there in the open.
Ema was standing right next to him, leaning in close. She had her head resting softly on his shoulder, looking completely relaxed, as if she truly belonged there by his side.
My knees felt incredibly weak, and I almost collapsed right onto the pavement.
Lily noticed exactly where I was staring. She looked across the path, and her anger instantly flared up hotter than before. She tightened her fists, completely ready to march right over, confront them in the street, and demand answers.
But I quickly reached out, grabbed her arm tightly, and stopped her from taking another step.
"Let it go," I whispered softly, my voice trembling. "Please, Lily. Just take me home."
She looked at me with deep pity in her eyes, but she didn't argue. She did exactly what I asked. She helped me walk away and brought me back to the house.
I sat alone on the sofa in the living room, staring blankly at the wall. I watched the clock on the mantle piece tick past ten o'clock at night. The sound of the ticking was the only noise in the empty house.
Desmond still wasn't back home.
I looked down at the white paper in my hands. The pack doctor had smiled and said congratulations to me earlier, but sitting here in the dark, I honestly wished he could take those words back. I wished he could call me and tell me it was all a giant mistake, a cruel joke.
Seeing Ema resting her head comfortably on his shoulder proved that my reality was crashing down around me.
Suddenly, the heavy front door clicked and opened.
Desmond walked into the living room. He looked completely worn out and exhausted, like he had just spent long, stressful hours running through a rundown, broken house instead of out having fun.
He stopped walking when he saw me sitting on the sofa in the dim light. I looked weak and pale, still clutching the medical envelope tightly in my right hand.
Before I could even open my mouth to say a single word to him, he spoke up first. His voice was cold and filled with disappointment.
"You know Ema just came back to the pack today," Desmond said, stepping further into the room. "But that doesn't mean you have the right to act all wicked and treat her badly, Ana. She only came back here to apologize to me and mend her past mistakes. Trying to push her down and get her seriously killed is completely unacceptable behavior."
Hearing his words, a strange feeling washed over me. I wanted to laugh out loud. I wanted to tell him to repeat those exact words to my face just so I could hear the sheer ridiculousness of them again.
But my body felt completely frozen, stiff and still. I felt like I couldn't move a single muscle, and my tongue felt tied.
I hadn't touched her at all.
I hadn't pushed her a single inch.
Anyone with clear, unbiased eyes would have easily seen that she was just acting. She had carefully staged the entire fall on the lawn just to place the blame entirely on me, to make me look like a monster in his eyes. But to Desmond, none of the facts mattered. To him, I was automatically the villain of the story.
I forced myself to slowly stand up from the sofa, using the armrest to steady my balance. The deep anger inside my chest was rising fast, burning incredibly hot against my skin.
I didn't even realize the words were forming in my throat until I heard them echoing clearly in the quiet room.
"She pushed me," I said, my voice shaking with raw emotion. "She was the one who grabbed me, Desmond. She made me bleed. I fell hard on the ground, and all you did was pick her up in your arms and leave me there."
My voice cracked on the last word, tears threatening to spill over. "Do you even love me at all? Or has the only person you ever truly wanted finally returned to you?"
Desmond stopped and looked directly at me. For a second, his expression softened, and his hand reached out toward my face as if he wanted to wipe away my pain.
But the gesture felt entirely too late. I quickly pulled my face away from his touch, refusing to let him close.
"I'm going to bed," I said flatly, looking down at the floor. "If you want any dinner tonight, go tell the maid to make it for you."
I turned my back on him and started walking toward the stairs to leave the room, but his deep voice stopped me again.
"I already ate," he said from behind me, his tone completely casual. "I took Ema out to a restaurant in town. She was incredibly hungry after everything that happened, so I sat down and ate dinner with her."
He paused for a moment, the silence heavy between us. "So don't bother asking the maid. I'm not hungry."
He walked right past me without another glance, heading straight toward the bathroom to wash up.
I stood completely still, left completely alone in the exact middle of the dark room. My fingers grew numb as I continued clutching the white paper envelope tightly in my hands.
And in that quiet moment, looking at the empty doorway, I regretted absolutely everything.
I regretted giving him my youth, my time, and my effort. Most of all, I bitterly regretted ever loving him.
- Writer
