A Secret Alpha Mate
Chapter 51

(Jennifer)

I could hardly sleep last night, today was the day that we replace out that it's Jackson's baby I was carrying. It was barely light out when I got dressed. Low rise jeans and a dark blue fitted top that showed off my small bump.

I spent extra time doing makeup and fixing my hair. Checking the time every few minutes.

The appointment was at 8:00 AM Jackson insisted on the earliest one they had, that wasn't a problem with me, if we got the results back today even better, I would move in tomorrow then.

6:30 I wonder if it's too early to mix his DNA in the vial. I pace around the bathroom, apply another coat of mascara. f**k it's only 6:35.

Honestly, it should be fine. I had a few hours once it was mixed.

I open up the vial and drop one piece of Jackson's hair into the dark purple liquid, it fizzes and his hair dissolves almost immediately. I wonder if I'm supposed to put the cork back on or leave it open. I don't want any to spill though so I guess I'll re-plug it. I set it on the counter to do its thing.

"Baby girl, are you awake?" My mom knocks loudly on my door, I'm thankful, not for the first time, I have my own bathroom.

"Yes mom, just finishing getting ready," I call through the door, I check the vial, it's purple but turning lighter.

"I'm making you breakfast so come out." I sigh, I really didn't have an appetite for breakfast, was I even allowed to eat before I took this? Or should I eat before I take it?

I eat a few bites of my mom's breakfast before claiming I feel sick and run back to the bathroom. It's light purple now, almost a creamy color.

7:41. Okay, I can do this. I unplug the vial and drink it in one chug. A thick liquid that tastes like I imagine gasoline would go down my throat. I have to do everything in my power not to throw it up. I hold onto the edge of the sink and focus on anything but the taste. My body starts tingling, I hoped that was a good sign.

After a few deep breaths, I think I feel normal. I head out the back door and rush to the pack clinic.

I'm the first one there, I thought Jackson would have been banging down the doors eager to prove my baby wasn't his, I smiled at that thought, he would have to change his tune after tonight.

I look up as someone enters, William strolls through the doors and sits down next to me, I wasn't expecting him.

"How are you feeling, darling?" He asks, genuine concern in his eyes.

"Oh, I mean a little sick here and there and so tired but besides that, I think I'm okay."

"My Gianna was so sick with Jackson the entire time, I hope that's not the case with you." He smiles again.

*buzz buzz* my phone goes off in my pocket.

How did it go? Did it work?

I quickly shove it back in my pocket before William can see. I turn back to him and he's still smiling at me.

"Sorry about that, I forgot I snoozed my alarm earlier."

He laughs a little, "That happens to me all the time."

(Jackson)

I get to the clinic a few minutes before eight, not wanting to make small talk in the waiting room. I'm surprised to see my dad waiting there with Jennifer but nobody else. I wasn't expecting anyone to show up to this. "Hi Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to offer you both moral support." That's unlike him, I give him a look but he just smiles. Weird.

"Uh, thanks."

"Jennifer, Alpha, the doctor is ready to see you now." The nurse comes up and says.

"I guess that's my cue." My dad heads out of the clinic, he wasn't even staying for the appointment?

Once we get into the room Jennifer reaches for my hand to help her lay on the table, she was definitely milking it.

The doctor wastes no time checking her vitals and asking her questions about her pregnancy.

"Can we just get to the test?" She demands. The doctor and I exchange a look which she must have caught, "I just want to prove it's his as soon as possible so I can start preparing my baby's nursery and planning ahead." She crosses her arms and pouts. "The fact that I'm eight weeks, eight weeks into my pregnancy and I haven't even been able to start his nursery is just upsetting." She looks at me, "He's coming in three months and he needs a place to stay and a united parental front." She reaches for my hand and I pretend not to notice.

"Alright then. Simple procedure, I need to draw mom's blood and get a swab from the potential dad's cheek to compare DNA." She glares at him when he says, potential dad.

When that was done Jennifer groans while she sits up.

"We should have the sample by tomorrow. I won't let it out of my sight." He promises me and Jennifer rolls her eyes.

"No matter who the dad is, remember you have an appointment next week to reveal the gender." The doctor adds but Jennifer is already huffing and leaving the room.

I follow her not wanting her to cause a scene and catch her arm in the waiting room to spin her around to face me.

'How dare you let him speak to me like that?" She demands before I can get a word out, "The insubordination you allow from your pack members is absolutely ridiculous."

"It's not insubordination, they aren't speaking to a ranked member with disrespect."

"He was speaking to me the mother of the Alpha's child like that." She says with venom.

"He simply stated a fact to someone that could potentially be carrying a child of an Alpha." She glares at me, "That's all. Now take a few breaths, there was no need to storm out like that."

"It's just, all of this, the baby was so sudden and I didn't even want kids really and now everyone is accusing me of lying to you and me just- I - It's just so much." She starts breaking down and sobbing. For a split second, I felt sorry for her. "Jenn, I get that it's scary," I say trying to calm her down.

"I knew you would understand, you're the only person that does." She wraps her arms around me and I pat her back. "I promise I'll be the best mom to the future Alpha and the best Luna to this pack." I pull her arms from around me. "Nothing has changed, Jennifer. I'm sorry but I will not take a chosen mate."

Her eyes flash with anger but she plasters on a smile, "You will, when Isla leaves you, and she will, she can hardly compete with me, you'll get lonely. I'll be the only person there for you. I was always the only person there for you, I made sure of it." "What do you mean?"

"I did what it took to make you mine. You always talk about doing what is best for the pack and I always knew I was what was best for the pack." I take a step away from her.

"I'll talk to you when the results are back." I leave the clinic, not even bothering to dissect whatever bullshit she was talking about.

(Isla)

After the incredible night with Jackson last night, I didn't see him all day. I knew the appointment was early this morning but the doctor said the results might take a day or two to get back.

I debated texting him to see how he was doing, but I know how he was doing, probably as bad as I was.

I headed to the library for the morning but nothing could distract me. Abigail and I took a walk, baked, did the hardest puzzle we could replace at the doctor's house but nothing helped quell my anxiety.

Finally, we went for a long run. Abigail headed back hours before I did, I trusted Adrastea to lead the way and we ran until we couldn't anymore. Darkness started to fall and we walked home, getting in well past midnight.

Abigail was passed out in my room waiting for me, I smiled and curled up next to her after a hot shower. Hoping sleep would be generous enough to take me.

(Jackson)

I debated all day about going to replace Isla. I knew she would be a welcome distraction but I didn't want to see her without good news. I ended up trying to do everything in my power to forget all about it but nothing was working.

I paced in my office, took a cold shower, tried to read a book, took a hot shower, played video games with Cam, nothing.

Eventually, I linked Lucas to join us for some sparring. We headed down to the gym and spent the afternoon kicking the s**t out of each other. I had to stay focused to avoid Cam's adept moves, and it was the only thing that distracted me a bit from waiting for the results.

I checked my phone after sparring and saw no new messages or missed phone calls, I would give him another hour before I called him. "Dr. Lockheart?"

"I'm sorry Alpha, there isn't any news yet. I'm going to stay in the lab this evening and as soon as we get the results I will let you know." I hung up the phone. How the hell was I supposed to sleep tonight?

(Jackson)

The next morning, I paced around my room. I didn't get much sleep if any at all. I debated going to training but I didn't want to miss the call.

It was 6 AM it was almost 24 hours they should know by now. I jumped in the shower to try to distract myself letting the hot water run cold.

Stepping out and wrapping a towel around myself I grab my phone, still nothing. While brushing my teeth, I get a call and I almost don't want to pick it up. I see the doctor's name flash across the screen and I don't want confirmation of something I already know. Jennifer's baby was mine.

"Hello?"

"Alpha, I have the test results from my lab, we're still waiting on confirmation from the outside lab though." I wait, he doesn't go on. "And?"

I hear him take a deep breath. f**k. I knew it.

"It looks like the child is yours." I want to hang up the phone but every muscle in my body is frozen. Even though I knew that this was probably the case and I was mentally preparing myself for it, hearing it made me realize I was still holding onto the little bit of hope that everything would go back to normal for Isla and me after today.

"It's a 97% match. I'm sorry, I know these weren't the results you were expecting."

"97%," I repeat. There's still a 3% chance.

if he was reading my mind he says, "Rarely are paternity tests 100% so we take anything above 90% to be a perfect match."

"Thank you." I manage to say after a minute of silence. I hung up the phone.

I didn't want Isla to replace out yet but the doctor being mated to Abigail she would replace out one way or another. I had to get out of here, I couldn't face anything right now. I ran downstairs to the back about to shift.

"Jackson, wait!" My dad calls to me, I keep running not wanting any bullshit condolences. He never knew how it felt, he found my mom and he never had to risk losing her over something like this.

He caught up to me, and grabbed my arm, "Son, listen to me right now." I try to jerk his arm away.

"I need to tell you something, and it needs to be in private." I wonder if he found a loophole, the way my luck was going I'm sure he was going to tell me that I would be forced to take Jennifer as my Luna and she was having triplets.

"Hear me out and then you can go run away from your problems, hell I'll even join you." I sigh and head back to my office, taking the steps so I could put off this conversation as long as possible. Isla was onto something by using the steps. My dad sits me down on a chair and he takes his old place behind my desk.

"Son, I know what the news is and I can't even imagine how hard this must be for you." He folds his hands, "There is something that I wanted to mention after the results were back." He sighs.

"I didn't want to mention this to you earlier because I didn't want you to get your hopes up," I look up at him, "And I still don't want you to get your hopes up. I'm just trying to cover all bases here." He gives me a serious look.

"I have had Jennifer followed over the past week, just to make sure that nothing strange was going on." I look at him confused now.

"Don't be mad, they didn't replace anything really, she has mostly just been around the house, planning for the baby with her mom." Okay so why is he telling me this?

"Until yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?"

"Again, it might not be anything. She got a visit from someone outside this pack. They came in through the back door of her parent's house and stayed for only a few minutes." "Who were they?"

"We're not sure, we pulled up the security footage and the records from the front gate. He was using what seemed to be a ranked member's car from another pack." "He's a ranked member?"

"Not one that I've seen, but to be completely honest he could be an Alpha's second son so he might be a current Alpha's brother. Access to ranked cars but not someone either of us would have remembered seeing." I nodded. "What was his reason for coming? What did he state when he got to the gate?"

"That's the thing that's strange, he said he was visiting a family member here for the day."

I tried to remember Jennifer telling me about her family. I knew she was close to an aunt at a pack a few hours away from where her mom was from, Blue Ridge, I think. Maybe a cousin or something came to visit. "But he only stayed for a few minutes."

"A family visit for only a few minutes? Coming in the back? That's strange." I muse, trying to remember anything she told me about family members in the past.

"Exactly. He lied to our men at the front gate if he isn't family, and then visited Jennifer for a few minutes and left. It was enough to tip me off."

"What name did he give?" I ask.

"Jeffery Compton."

"Doesn't ring a bell. I think her family from her mom's pack were all Jefferson's and Murphy's if I'm remembering correctly.

"It might not even be a real name. Since he was driving a ranked member's car they probably didn't ask him for identification."

"Hmm, I'll have to have that policy changed." My dad nodded in agreement.

"So, what does this mean though? Someone visited Jennifer, so what?"

"That's why I came to the appointment this morning, I just wanted to talk to her to see if she would let anything slip. I was going to bring up that I saw that she had a family member visiting, make up a story about how the front gate needed approval and couldn't replace you and had to contact me, something like that." He waves it off.

"But she wasn't there that early and then you came in shortly after." Damn, "However, I did see that she received a text that someone was asking her if it worked."

"If what worked?"

"That, I'm not sure. But I think you need to get another blood test done. One that she doesn't have time to prepare."