Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 99

Hycinth

Eyes wide, I stared at Luca in stunned silence. There was no way he could have just said what I thought I heard come out of his mouth!

How could I be pregnant?

“But I, he…” I stuttered, “I can’t be…you have to be w-wrong.”

Absinthe eyes swam with concern. Squeezing my fingers gently, Lucky shook his head. “I have never been more certain of anything in my life.”

“How do you know?” I whispered, my voice quivering. It wasn’t until recently that I even knew the steps for mating. I had even less knowledge of shewolf pregnancies.

“I can scent it on you.”

“I smelled the pregnancy?

I inhaled deeply, letting the air saturate my lungs, trying to replace the scent.

Nothing. “I don’t smell anything.”

“Males can scent an in utero pup six days after mating; however, females do not discern the pregnancy until the eighth day. In two more days, you will smell what I do.”

“You have to be wrong,” I insisted, shaking my head in denial. “This just couldn’t happen. Leander pulled out every time!”

“The ceremony is powerful.” Lucky released one of my hands and ran his fingers through his shoulder-length locks. “Even if only one s***m got through, it would probably be enough. Did he come on your p***y?”

My cheeks flushed bright red. I gently extracted my other hand from his. Having this conversation was embarrassing enough, but there was no way I was going to hold hands with my brother while discussing my girl parts. Ducking my head down, I avoided his eyes. “Um…yeah.”

“That’s probably how it happened.”

A new horrible reality tumbled around in my head and chilled me to the bone.

Lucky was studying me carefully. “What is it, Cinn? What are you thinking?”

“I-I can’t tell him,” I choked.

Luca’s expression hardened. His mouth pressed into a thin line, disagreement radiating off him in waves. “You can’t do that to him. It isn’t right, and you know it.”

“Lucky, if Leander found out, my freedom would be gone in the blink of an eye. He’d never let me go.”

He didn’t disagree with me.

“I can’t be Leander’s mate. I just can’t. Even living in the same pack, my decision won’t change which means Leander would eventually be forced to move on.”

Luca’s brows furrowed. “Where are you going with this?”

“Think about it. Once Leander completes mating with another Wolf, the partial bond we hold now will be completely broken. His loyalty would deservedly go to her, and no Luna would be okay with having the Alpha’s fated mate underfoot. It would be ridiculously naïve of me to think we could all live in the same pack and just co-parent. You know that’s not the way wolves work.”

Lucky’s lips turned down. He hated my decision-it was written all over his distorted face-but he couldn’t refute my reasoning.

“Whatever fate she decides for me, Leander will support. Their mate bond would ensure it. I would be lucky just to be held prisoner and made to be an Omega, disgraced and hated by a pack that already clearly doesn’t want me. But worse, maybe Leander would let me leave…just without my baby. I couldn’t survive that.”

Luca remained silent for a long time.

Anxiously twisting my fingers together, I gave him the time he needed to go over the scenario in his mind.

Finally, he exhaled heavily in resignation. “It isn’t my future on the line. It’s yours. You’re my sister, and I’ll support whatever decision you make.”

Relief washed over me.

Standing to his feet, Luca walked over to a nearby dresser and collected a box of tissues. He returned to the bed and handed me the offering.

“Thanks,” I sniffled, pulling a tissue from the box and blotting my eyes.

“We do have a problem, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Cinn, I can support you…but I definitely can’t deliver a pup.” Lucky released a full body shiver as if the mere thought horrified him. “We’re going to need to replace a Healer, someone we can trust to track your pregnancy and assist with the delivery of the little one when it’s time.”

My anxiety rose. He was right, but how could we replace a Healer who would help us when we hadn’t had contact with any pack in over three years? Not to mention I didn’t trust any wolf, not when Leander’s thirst for violence was well known across all of the packs. Every wolf understood that crossing Leander was suicidal, and they would be lucky if he didn’t torture them first.

Instinctively, I placed a protective hand on my belly. Lucky tracked the movement with his keen gaze but didn’t say anything.

“Wolf pregnancies are five months, right?”

Luca nodded.

“So we have a little time. Maybe a solution will turn up.”

“Maybe,” he agreed. “I don’t know what the normal protocol is. I’ll do some subtle digging and see what I replace.”

My thoughts turned to my Wolf. I was beyond scared we were carrying a pup, but maybe this was just what she needed. “Are you there?” I uttered softly in my mind.

No response.

The knot in my chest tightened, but I had to keep trying. “Please, I need you…this p-pup needs you.’

A ripple of pain flowed through our bond, but nothing else.