Sienna
My heart skipped a beat upon seeing the two lines in the pee stick. The third one I bought.
"Postitive," I breathed. This couldn't be true. I couldn't be pregnant.
Could they all be wrong? Those three? All of them? But… it wasn't possible, was it?
I sat in the cramped bar toilet, my chest heaving. It had been only a week since I had escaped that place, left that man who I had slept with. My cheeks burned as I thought of him. He was handsome, everything I wanted but couldn't have, not really.
I had left because I had no choice, because I was tired of being regarded as an outsider, a witch. Everything that had been done to me back then only strengthened my resolve. I had nothing keeping me back.
I had made a desperate gamble. Now I regretted giving into that desire.
Winter whimpered, 'We need to return. Our mate needs us. We need them.'
It was a desperate urge from my wolf instincts, one that triggered a well of terror inside me.
I gripped the pregnancy strip, my lips pressed into a thin line.
I wasn't going back, not back to be treated badly, neglected, abused.
Not even if it killed me.
I threw the pregnancy strip away, destroying the evidence.
That I was pregnant… it still left me in a daze, one that morphed into fear and anxiousness when I thought about it too much. I couldn't have gotten pregnant from that one time, could I?
But I had too many symptoms.
Ones that I had ignored until the bar manager made several comments, and I had to at least try to clear my name.
The stench of alcohol and cigarette smoke once more filled my nostrils. I closed my eyes, refraining from giving into the urge to throw up.
"Hey, Daisy," The voice made me look up. It was Betty, dressed in flared jeans and an off-shoulder top. She was one of the two girls I had aided that evening, only two days ago. That rescue had gained me two friends, ones that seemed to not care that I was an impoverished bar employee.
"Hi," I smiled wanly. "Where's Ama?"
"Oh, she has a night shift at the hospital tonight," Betty waved her hand. "But she sends her greetings."
She settled across from me on the bar stool, leaning against the counter and grabbing a handful of mixed nuts to munch on. I discreetly refilled the small bowl, pushing it closer to her. Just like myself, Betty only got meals at her workplace, an upscale restaurant on the richer side of the city.
I smiled wanly, wiping the counter and gathering empty drink glasses around. It was a quieter night, one that I was glad for, because my thoughts were full of conflicting ideas.
"Ow!" a sharp pain on my hand brought me back to reality. The glass on my hand had cracked, and my finger was cut. I watched the blood seep out, drop by drop.
"Oh my gosh, Daisy, are you okay?" Betty rushed to my side, and I smiled wanly, though my eyes pricked with unshed tears. It wasn't the glass, but it felt like the drop that made the dam overflow.
"I don't know," I choked out, sniffling. "I don't know what to do."
She pulled me over to a seat, and luckily the manager wasn't watching. My lips trembled, and I tried to stifle the oncoming deluge, biting my bottom lip, breathing in and out deeply.
My chest ached.
"I… I'm pregnant," I murmured.
Betty paused, her eyes widening a fraction as she gazed at me.
"You– I mean, are you sure?" She asked, her voice full of awe.
I laughed brokenly. "If I weren't I wouldn't be in such a state Betty. I checked. Three times. It's true… What should I do?"
She sat quietly by my side, grasping my hand.
"Would you want to… you know… remove it?" she asked softly.
The words made something jolt inside me. I tugged my hand back, my chest heaving.
"Of course not," I gasped. Shock, horror and a deepening ache made me glare at Betty. She waved her hands quickly, remorse on her features.
"I'm sorry, I was only making a suggestion," She quickly said, her tone hitched and panicked. "You don't have to abort it. Just keep it."
"But how? I am not strong enough. I work at a dead end job with nothing to my name," I wiped my eyes.
"What about the father?" She inquired. "If you contact him–"
"I don't know who he is." I blurted out. As soon as I said it, shame filled me down to the bones. I was truly despicable. I didn't even know the so-called father of my baby, the one responsible for my pregnancy. And he was also my mate. But I had chosen to flee withut even finding out his name or what pack he was from.
I half-expected Betty to mansion something about my shamelessness, to break me with snide words. After all, that is what others would have done. If I were back in my family's pack, I would get dealt slaps by my mother, mocked by my sister, and possibly publicly shamed until everyone knew i had gotten pregnant out of wedlock.
But instead this human named Betty pulled me into a deep hug. Her warmth seeped through my clothes, and her heartbeat was incredibly loud to my wolf senses. Her scent, though I detected a hint of exhaustion underneath, was comforting.
"We'll figure it out," She murmured. "I promise you dont have to do it all alone. I'm here, and Ama will support you as well. Okay?"
My heart clenched. It wasn't because of pain, but because this was the first time I had felt such warmth. This was something I had never experienced before, and I bit my lip to keep from crying, from losing my cool.
"O-Okay," I breathed. She relaxed, exhaling as though she had just been delivered a particularly relieving news.
Somehow,