Elora gradually sat up, reacting to the pain as her body complained about moving, The sheets were wrapped around her legs, and her head hurt with a steady, dull pain that she felt behind her eyes. For a second, it felt like everything had stopped, like everything was quiet and unclear. She glanced around the strange room, as the soft morning light stretched across the empty sheets next to her.
"Did that really happen?"
She pressed her hands to her face, trying to recall the details. Small pieces flashed in her mind, the shame she felt at the ceremony, Dar's harsh voice going through the crowd, and the sharp pain of being rejected. Then the drinks, the stranger, and the unclear events of the night.
No...
She shook her head as if she could shake the memory away, Maybe it didn't happen, Maybe it was just the alcohol tricking her, Maybe she didn't really do something so wild, the pain in her body said otherwise, but she held onto that thought anyway, It was easier to think that way.
With slow, careful movements, she gathered her stuff, putting on her wrinkled dress and worn out boots. She didn't look back at the bed, She didn't want to see any lingering shame that might still be there.
The walk back to where the servants lived was short but hard to handle. The morning sun didn't do much to warm her, and each step felt harder than the last. The pain of what happened last night stayed right under her skin, it was sensitive and impossible to miss.
By the time she walked into the back of the tavern, the noise of people talking had already started.
She could feel it as soon as she came in,
The stares and The quiet that followed her, and Then the whispers,
"There she is…"
"…didn't waste any time, did she?"
"Did she really think Dar would pick her?"
Elora kept her head down and went straight to the storage room, She didn't even look at the schedule, She knew she was supposed to be out front, serving drinks, cleaning tables, and acting like she wasn't there while everyone made fun of her.
The broom handle felt rough in her hands, but she liked having something to focus on, Anything at all to keep from feeling her face getting hot, The voices didn't seem to stop, They never did.
Two female servers walked behind her, they were loud enough for her to hear,
"She probably begged him not to turn her down, Can you believe that? How sad."
"She should have known better, Omegas don't get happy endings."
Elora didn't say anything, She just swept faster, moving stiffly like a machine. She told herself it didn't matter, That these wolves didn't matter, But deep down, every word hurt the little bit of worth she had left.
When the tavern owner yelled at her to clean up a spill near the front tables, she did it without saying a word, She bent down to clean the sticky mess, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw two young men laughing, one poking the other as they looked at her.
"Maybe she just really wants people to notice her," one person commented, "This wouldn't be the first instance where she drank too much and hooked up with anyone who spoke to her."
Her heart felt tight, Her fingers squeezed the fabric in her hand.
She wished she could disappear, Not to change shape, or to escape., Just to go away.
However, instead, she rose slowly, kept looking straight ahead, and walked away.
The hours passed very slowly,
By the time the sun started to go down, she had cleaned every table, carried every plate, and folded more cloths than she could remember. Her body hurt, but she didn't quit until she finished every task.
She kept saying to herself, things would be better tomorrow.
However, something deep down already knew,
Tomorrow was going to change everything completely.
The next day gave her no comfort,
Elora could hardly get out of bed, her body felt heavy, and her mind was cloudy. She had forced herself to the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face, hoping it would relieve the pressure behind her eyes. Her face looked white in the mirror, and her eyes seemed lifeless, Perhaps it was just tiredness, or perhaps stress.
She hadn't been sleeping soundly, The whispers had not stopped. The rejection had made her very visible for everyone to judge, and the looks she received now were worse than before, some were entertained, while some felt sorry, but mostly just mean.
She worked more slowly that day, her balance was off, and she moved with difficulty, The heat in the bar made her feel sick. Every smell, every loud noise of glasses and laughter bothered her. By noon, she was holding onto the counter to keep herself from falling over.
"You look terrible," one of the servers mumbled as she walked by,
Elora didn't say anything, She couldn't, Her stomach hurt badly, and she hurried to the back door, stumbling into the alley. She barely made it behind the trash cans before bending over, and throwing up a lot.
She cleaned her mouth with her hand, still struggling to breathe,
That was the third time this week,
And each time, she told herself it was nothing., That she was just tired, just working herrself too hard,
But something was not right,
That night, she didn't eat dinner and went back to the small bedroom at the back of the bar, She curled up on the hard bed, hugging herself tightly. A weird fear filled her body, and it wasn't about pack rank, or being turned down, or rumors.
It was a different understanding.
Days went by, but she still felt sick. It came and went, always worse when she woke up, but sometimes it just happened. One second she felt okay, and the next she felt dizzy and empty, She felt like her body didn't belong to her anymore, Her smell was different, too. She could slightly smell it on her clothes, the sheets, and even her sweat.
One night, after throwing up again and feeling weak on the floor, Elora finally gave up,
She waited until she was done working, then quietly left, wrapping her shawl around her. She walked a long way to the old healer's house just outside the pack's edge, She hadn't gone there since she was little, just before her parents passed away.
The woman who opened the door looked surprised at first but let her in, saying, "Come."
Elora sat quietly on the stool while the woman checked her over, feeling her wrist, asking questions, and looking at her eyes and smell. The room smelled like dry leaves and ground roots, and it was warm and still.
Then the old woman took a step back,with her face hard to read,
"You're not sick," she said softly,
Elora was surprised, "What?"
"You're going to have a baby."
For a long time, nothing was said,
Elora couldn't breathe, and Her hands went numb.
"No," she whispered, "No, that's not," But her voice broke, As soon as she said it wasn't true, her body told her it was,she knew, She'd known it inside for days.
The rejection, The alcohol, The stranger,
She quickly put her hands on her stomach, shaking, "I didn't want to... I didn't realize..."
The woman didn't judge her, just nodded slightly, and understood, "It's early on, But yes, The signs are clear."
Elora looked at the wall, hearing the words again in her head.
Pregnant,
She was pregnant,
And she didn't know who the father was.