Chapter 6: Heartbeats
1202words
Mia had offered her guest room until I found a place of my own. "Stay as long as you need," she'd insisted, helping me load my car.
I was halfway through writing a note to Aiden when the nausea hit—violent and sudden. I barely made it to the bathroom before emptying my stomach. This was the third morning in a row. At first, I'd blamed stress, but now...
My hands trembled as I counted back the days. My last heat had come early, triggered by the trauma of the kidnapping. Before that...
"No," I whispered to my reflection. "Not now."
The pregnancy test confirmed what my body already knew. Two pink lines, clear and undeniable. A life growing inside me—half me, half Aiden. A child conceived in the aftermath of my heat, when biology overrode the fractures in our relationship.
I called Mia immediately.
"I need you to come over," I said, my voice hollow. "And bring your medical bag."
She arrived twenty minutes later, concern etched across her features. When I showed her the test, her expression softened.
"Oh, Luna."
"I can't do this," I said, pacing the living room. "I can't bring a child into this mess. I can't be tied to him forever."
Mia sat quietly, letting me vent my panic and confusion. When I finally collapsed onto the couch, emotionally spent, she took my hand.
"Whatever you decide, I'll support you," she said firmly. "This is your body, your choice."
"But?"
She sighed. "But this child is innocent in all this. And terminating a pregnancy between true mates... it can have consequences beyond the physical."
I pressed my hands against my still-flat stomach. A child. My child. Despite everything, something primal and fierce stirred within me—the wolf protecting her pup.
"I need to tell him," I said finally. "Whatever I decide, he has a right to know."
Mia nodded. "Just remember—you don't owe him anything else. Not your forgiveness, not your return, not even keeping this pregnancy if that's not what you want."
* * *
Elder North had summoned Aiden to the main house that evening—something about pack finances that required his immediate attention. It was the perfect opportunity to speak with him privately, away from our home with all its complicated memories.
I arrived at the estate as the sun was setting, casting long shadows across the manicured lawn. A maid directed me to wait in the study; Aiden was with his grandmother in the library.
The study adjoined the library, separated only by a heavy oak door. As I sat waiting, voices drifted through—not quite clear enough to make out words, but the tone unmistakable. Elder North was angry.
I moved closer to the door, my enhanced hearing picking up their conversation.
"—absolutely ridiculous," Elder North was saying. "She's made you weak, distracted. The pack needs your full attention, especially now."
"My marriage is not up for discussion," Aiden replied, his voice tight.
"It should be. That Omega has never been worthy of you. Never been worthy of the North name."
My heart constricted, though the words weren't surprising. Elder North had made her feelings about me clear from the beginning.
"Luna is my mate," Aiden said simply.
"A mate bond can be broken," his grandmother countered. "It's been done before."
"At great risk to the Omega."
"A risk worth taking, in this case. Aiden, be reasonable. She's already left you. Make it official. Dissolve the bond and find a more suitable mate—one who understands pack politics, who can strengthen our alliances."
I held my breath, waiting for Aiden's defense of me, of us. Seconds stretched into a minute of silence. He said nothing.
Nothing.
The child within me—barely more than a collection of cells—suddenly felt like a stone, heavy and cold. I backed away from the door, my decision crystallizing in that moment of silence.
I left without seeing Aiden, without telling him about our child. Some truths didn't need to be shared.
* * *
By nightfall, I was settled in Mia's guest room, surrounded by my meager possessions. She'd gone out for groceries, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the tiny life growing inside me.
A knock at the door startled me from my reverie. I knew who it was before I opened it—his scent, his presence, the bond between us humming with tension.
Aiden stood on the porch, rain dripping from his hair, his expression a storm of emotions.
"You left," he said, the words an accusation.
"Yes."
"Without saying goodbye. Without talking to me."
I leaned against the doorframe, suddenly exhausted. "What was there to say?"
"Everything!" he exploded. "Luna, you can't just walk away from twenty-two years like they meant nothing!"
"They meant everything to me," I said quietly. "That's the problem. They meant everything to me and nothing to you."
"How can you say that? How can you be so cold, so final about us?"
A bitter laugh escaped me. "I'm not the cold one, Aiden. I heard you today, with your grandmother. She told you to dissolve our bond, to find someone 'more suitable,' and you said nothing. Not a word in my defense."
He paled. "You were there?"
"Long enough to hear what matters."
"Luna, it's not what you think—"
"It never is with you," I interrupted. "There's always an explanation, always a reason why you choose everyone else over me. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of making excuses for you. I'm tired of loving someone who doesn't know if he loves me back."
Rain fell harder around us, matching the tears I refused to shed.
"I never said I don't love you," he said, his voice dropping to a near-whisper.
"You never said you do, either."
His eyes flashed red, then faded to a wounded amber. "I don't know how to love the way you want me to. The way you deserve."
"Then why are you here? Why fight for something you don't even know if you want?"
"Because without you, nothing makes sense," he admitted, the words seeming to surprise even him. "Because the thought of you walking away for good terrifies me more than anything ever has."
For a moment—just a moment—I wavered. The child within me, our child, deserved a father who would fight for them, even if he couldn't fight for me.
But some bridges, once burned, can never be rebuilt.
"I'm sorry, Aiden," I said softly. "But I don't want to be someone's obligation or habit. I want to be someone's choice. Their first choice, every time."
"Luna—"
"Please go." I stepped back, hand on the door. "There's nothing left to say."
As I closed the door on his stricken face, I placed a protective hand over my stomach. Whatever came next, whatever I decided about this pregnancy, one thing was certain: I would never again settle for less than I deserved.
Not for myself. And not for my child.
