A Secret Alpha Mate

(Jackson) I mindlinked Jennifer to come to my office after I composed myself. I wanted to have this conversation over and behind n as soon as possible. She saunters in without knocking, and plops herself on a chair across from me, rubbing her still flat stomach. “Ym glad to see you've finally accepted our baby. He will need a father figure, and I was worried there for a second when you freaked.” She gives me a fake pout, I used to hate it when she did that and it was even more annoying now. “I talked to Isla,” I say calmly. “And told her that she had to pack her s**t?” She sits up. “No, of course not, she’s my mate. But she is the one that convinced me to not be so hard on you." “Oh.’ She looks surprised. “Exactly, the only reason we are having this conversation is because of her so 1 suggest you thank her when you get the chance.” She scoffs and looks away. “She made me realize that it's not your fault or the baby’s fault. This was just an accident and it was both of our faults, so I shouldn't take it out on you. It's not like you did it on purpose?” I leave the las sentence as a question and wait for her to respond. “Oh, babe! Of course not, you know what this baby is going to do to my figure. I never wanted kids." She rolls her eyes, a f forms in my stomach, as much as I was trying not to blame the kid I didn’t want her to be the mother of any child of mine “l just don't know how this happened, we always used protection.” She looks away and I study her face. “Well, you know, these things happen.” She waves to her stomach, “Condom could have broken or something.” “I don't remember that happening.” That's happened to me once before and I noticed. I didn't want to give myself any fal hope as I trusted Dr. Lockheart and saw myself on the ultrasound that there was a little baby sack or whatever he called i She was pregnant and the timing did add up, but I still wished there was a way that it wasn't mine. I would hold out onto that sliver of hope, the last hope I had that Isla could be my Luna of this pack, even if I could convince her to stay with m it didn’t look like she could rightfully be Luna. She just shrugs and looks at her perfectly manicured nails, “There's no one else that could be the father?” She looks up with shock plastered across her face. “Excuse me? I've been waiting for you even after we broke up. You are the only man I've ever slept with." I fought not to roll my eyes. I didn't believe that at all, I remember her lying to me about being a virgin actually in the beginning of us dating, not that being a virgin mattered to me at all anyways. I found out she slept with a few other warriors before Cam even became friends with her but it just resulted in a huge fig and her accusing me of going behind her back. I was mad that she lied, not that she wasn't a virgin. I sighed, I guess we would figure this out one way or another in the next few weeks. “I just want to get the paternity test behind us so that you will finally accept this baby,” She looks at me, “And me.” She adds softly. “Jennifer, I will accept this baby if it is mine. But I won't accept a mate other than Isla. I can't do that to her, to me, or to t pack. We broke up years before this baby. I know we've made mistakes when we've been lonely” She crosses her arms an glares at me, “But you always knew that I was looking for my mate. When you find your mate I'm sure you will want nothir more than to be with him." “I've already found my mate.” I was elated for a second, if she found her mate then she could be with him without wantin to stay with me. “I found him when we started dating and 1 rejected him. All the happiness wore away instantly. She rejected her mate years ago. “But, why?" I stammer, angry at her, if she would have accepted him we wouldn't be having this conversation. “Isn't it obvious?” She gives me a pointed look. “Jennifer, you knew back then that whatever we had was over if I found my mate, I told you that starting out and you still chose to date me," I say, trying to stay calm. She rejected her mate while she was dating me, I couldn't wrap my mind around that. “I rejected mine for you, you can reject yours for me. Simple.” No, it was not that simple. “You can't take her as a Luna if y have a kid with someone else anyways, I know that much.” She starts to get agitated, anger creeping into her voice. I gues we were done talking about her mate. “I know, that's what I'm trying to figure out. I mentioned it to Isla that I could either leave the pack or to step down as Alpha" I look up at her and see the color drain from her face. She puts her hands on either side of the chair and takes a few deep breaths, her hands shaking. “No. “No? Isla actually convinced me we can't leave, the responsibility is to this baby unless you wanted to come with us of course, but I know that you probably wouldn't” I look away thinking. “No. This time she yells it and stands up. Her colorless face now flushed in bright red, “My child will be the next Alpha, yt will not take this away from him just because you fell for a f***g rogue.” She spits. “Is that all that you care about? Your child's status?” “Give him the pack then, step down and I will lead until he's ready.” I laughed at this, not meaning to and she started shaking again. “If 1 give the pack to anyone it would be Lucas. Or if someone were to lead in my son's place, if it even is a boy, it would b my father, I'm not sure why you think it would be you.” She stares at me and doesn't say anything, I see that she’s fighting not to shift. “Why do you insist on being Luna, Jennifer?” I ask her genuinely curious, “Is it for me or for the title?” She looked surprised by my question, and it stopped her from shaking for a moment, “Of course, I want to be with you." “You just told me to give you the pack.” “No, that's not what I meant." “Then how did you mean it?” “Just, 1 uh, 1 want what is best for this child. He's the son of the Alpha and I want him to take his rightful place.” “50 you would still want to be with me if I renounced my title and lived here as an omega?” She reels back. “You wouldn't do that.” She whispers. “ would actually, would you still want to be with me if I renounced my title?” I ask again, more firm this time. “Of course I would, we were meant to be together.” She says, but I'm not convinced for a second. Isla didn't know I was Alpha when she accepted me, she thought I was an omega and she wanted to be with me. Again, I was thinking how the h I got myself in the middle of this f**+d up situation. just then a soft firm knock came at the door. “Come in, Mother” She comes in with my father and Jennifer's parents. Jennifer looks at me confused. “I figured we could all figure this out together, what the future would look like if the child is mine.” “I wish you would stop saying that." Lisa chastises me walking through the door. “You're talking about my daughter's virtue here," Greg adds. “We don't know anything yet, the kid could be anyone she left for a while” My dad retorts. “Okay okay, let's calm down everyone! I interject, “We only have four months left in her pregnancy, more or less." I motio to Jennifer who sits back down and smiles at me, I take a deep breath, “After the paternity test we will have three months left. I know it might seem like a lot of time but it's not.” They take their seats and listen to me. I tell them my intentions to not give up Isla and see if there is a way we could make this all work so that Jennifer's baby, baby I guess, could be Alpha and I wouldn't take Jennifer as my Luna. I told them what Isla said and that my duty was to this pack first and that she was the one that insisted that I patch things up and that I didn't run away with her. Lisa and Greg are furious but my mother’s face is filled with awe and my dad looks proud. “Well spoken, son. 'm not sure if there is a solution though, you know the rules.” He wipes his hand down his face, “I'll contact the Elders if you want and see if there is a loophole without you giving up your title, but it is a long shot. You mig be able to accept the child and never take a Luna but-" He stops talking looking faraway thinking, I nod at him. “She is truly wonderful Luna material.” My mom sighs, “Isla is thoughtful, mature, and already is putting the pack above herself, if only” She's cut off by Lisa. “No, my daughter is Luna material. She is from a long line of betas, and Isla is what? An omega?” She spits “An omega that shows more maturity and respect than someone that comes from a long line of Beta’s." My dad says back “Now, now, we will not let this tear our families apart, if anything this should bring us closer,” Greg says and I see my dad fight the urge to roll his eyes that makes me smile. “I don't know why you don't take Jenn as your mate, you guys were so happy together” Lisa says, “She would be a great Luna and is already the mother of the future Alpha.” “We don't know that, she could be a girl" My mom says, “It doesn't matter, Jenn is pregnant with your son's heir” Greg's tone is ice cold as he glares at my mother, my low growl escapes my chest. “You will respect your previous Luna," I command him. “Yes, Alpha.’ Greg nods his head and Jennifer looks furious at me. “I am not taking a mate that isn't Isla. I will give up my title for her, regardless of what Isla thinks I should do. I want to be with her. That's why I called you all here so that we can hopefully find an option that works for all of us and that no one i blindsided, or hears rumors about anything. I wanted to address this with you all first. We need to figure out how to navigate the future if the child is mine.” Lisa and Greg both roll their eyes, Jennifer smiles widely at me. (1sla) it was hard seeing Jackson, really hard. But I had to admit that I felt better after talking to him, the weight didn’t lift off m chest but it definitely lightened a little bit. I wonder if I would ever feel like myself again, I doubted it, but maybe in a few years, some part of me would be back to normal. I didn't recognize myself anymore. Not my thoughts, my feelings, the reflection in the mirror. it was only a few days but my new world, my fairytale, came crashing down around me brick by brick. I promised Abigail I would come back to her room after, I knew my room wasn't ready yet anyway. I knocked and then opened the unlocked door. “50 good news! I start, “The baby isn't his?" Abigail shoots up from the sofa, “I knew it." “No, no, nothing like that. Jackson organized a private movie for us in a little bit." “Oh,” I could see Abigail's face fall but she tries to hide it from me, “A movie, just us two? That sounds just what we need! She smiles genuinely and I can't help return it. “You seem a bit better,” She walks over to me and takes my hand in hers. “I don't feel as bad as I did a few hours ago, but I still don't feel anywhere near okay.’ She nods. “Well, while we have time off work in our own room fit for a damn king, why don’t we take advantage of it? You told me there was a private library. How about tomorrow we take a long walk, get you some fresh air, and then spend the afternoc in the library?” I had to admit that did sound nice, the thought of laying in bed for another day seemed overwhelming all of the sudden. wanted to do anything in my power to keep me distracted, even temporarily. Abigail loved Shrek, even more than 1 did. She gushed about it all the way back to our floor. I loved seeing her this happy and I was glad that I got to show it to her, glad that Jackson had the idea actually. Taped to Abigail's door was an envelope with a key inside. I opened the door across the hall, promising Abigial I would mindlink her if I needed anything. I didn’t notice much about the room, it was a decent size and I'm sure it was really nice, but I couldn't focus on anything. The weight in my chest came back full force. I smelled Jackson's scent here which calmed me for a second, he must have helped move my things. I laid in bed curled v when a text message came through on my phone. I miss you -Jackson I re-read the simple text over and over trying not to cry tonight until I must have fallen asleep. (1sta) The next day rain lashed outside my window waking me up. The dull ache in my chest came back before I was even fully awake, my subconscious getting to work before the rest of my body. I pushed myself out of bed and took a scalding show and got dressed, my clothes neatly hung up in my closet for me. I didn’t know what time it was but I wanted to get started on my day. I walked across to Abigail's door and knocked on it lightly. I was surprised to see that she was already dressed as she ushered me through her door. She looked at my confused face, “I'm an omega I've been up for hours.” She laughs, “It's hard to shake off years of habits, isn't itz” I nod. “So when I was unpacking you know my one bag of things, 1 found the present I wanted to give you on your eighteenth birthday." I look at her curiously, I completely forgot about that with everything going on. “I was going to show you the other night when I first arrived but” She doesn't finish her sentence, we both know what happened since then. “Would you like it now?” 1 nod my head, I don’t think any present would help this feeling but I didn want to hurt her feelings either. She goes to one of the bedside tables and pulls a small pouch out of it, “I didn’t have time to wrap it, I'm afraid it's been here for the past fourteen years.” Now I was really curious. “Fourteen years?” I ask, she nods. “I can't say that I gave this to you, it might have been a family heirloom.” “Your family?” I ask. “No, yours." I look at her again, “Just open it, I'll explain.’ I pulled the thin drawstrings and open up the pouch, dumping its contents into my hand. A thin golden chain holds up a small pendant. I look at it closely and see an outline of a wolf howling at a little dusty gra almost silver, diamond moon. There was an outline of a woman standing next to the wolf in a flowing dress, this pendant had more detail than I thought possible on something this small. It was the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen and I couldn't stop running my finger on it, it felt oddly familiar. “You were wearing it when they found you, the only thing you had on you besides some blood-stained clothes, I took it 0 of you that night” I tear my eyes away from the pendant to look at her, “I was worried someone would take it, Alpha Benjamin was frantic that night and I wanted to protect it, to protect you." I nod and look back down at it. “Ym sorry, it wasn't my place, maybe I should have given it to you sooner, 'm not sure. I just thought maybe on your eighteenth birthday it would be a good gift once you got your memories, but that didn’t happen either.” “Thank you” I whisper, “Thank you for looking out for me and keeping this. Will you put it on?” She smiles widely, glad th I'm not mad at her, and helps me put it on. I've seen that before. - Adrastea chimes in I think I have too, somewhere not too long ago I've seen an outline of it in your memories, early memories, but it's fuzzy So it has something to do with my family? Possibly “That looks nice on you like it belongs” Abigail beams at me, an affectionate smile warming her eyes. I pull her into a tigt hug. “Would you like to go down to breakfast? I don't think anyone else is up yet.” I sighed, I did not want the chance to run into anyone, I didn't think I could hold it together seeing anyone that I've grows to love already over the past week. Abigail looks to eager and I did want her time here to be as good as possible. Who knew when we would have to go back being omegas at a new pack. I shudder at the thought and try to push it to the back of my mind. “I guess it's time to make an appearance, a quick breakfast though please.” I conceded. Abigail grabs my hand and pulls n down the stairs. When we get to the bottom I get a text, I look down excited to hear from Jackson even though I know I shouldn't be. Can you come in today in an hour? For your checkup. -Dr. Lockheart “I guess it really does have to be a quick breakfast, I have to be at the clinic in an hour." “That's fine, I'll come with you." I haven't been to the pack clinic since I was discharged, even though that was a few days ago it felt like years. So much h: changed since that day. I thought I was mated to an omega but I was so happy to be with him. Now, well, now everything different. I'm glad I had Abigail with me, I don't even want to think where I would be without her. The nurse walks us into a small room and I go to sit on the paper-lined table and Abigail sits in a chair beside me, lookin around at all the different medical equipment. A sharp knock at the door followed my Dr. Lockharts familiar comforting face, which looks contoured in confusion almost like he was in pain, his eyes wide. “Um, Doctor, are you okay? Is everything okay?” I ask, worried for his sanity, he was frozen not moving, I've never seen hin look anything less than perfectly composed. I stood up to try to call a nurse. “Mate” Dr. Lockheart says. What is going on?

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