Waindale

I prop myself up and look over to him. He stands in the doorway of the bathroom, the light behind him almost holy.

“What more could you possibly say to me?” I ask.

“Are you pregnant?”

Without a thought, I say, “No.”

“Wrenley—”

“I’m not. You were right, what I felt was nothing.”

Again he turns on the bedroom light, making me flinch. He nears the bed while saying, “My mother said some interesting things. It was implied. Did you tell her that you’re pregnant?”

“Jesus, Adam, would you drop it? I don’t need you to yell at me again about how I’m not pregnant. I didn’t tell her that; I don’t know what she was implying. You were right, I’m not pregnant. How many times do I have to say it?”

He nods his head slightly. I take a breath, thinking it’s over, but he suddenly says, “Lift your shirt.”

I cease to move. We stare at each other for a few moments before I mumble, “No.”

“She said that you have something to show me.”

“There’s nothing to show you. I-I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

He looks down at me. “Lift your shirt, Wrenley.”

“Stop it,” I scold. “This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not laughing.”

I take a deep breath. “I just want to go to bed.”

“Lift your shirt, or I will.”

“Touch me, and I’ll scream,” I threaten him. He moves closer, so I quickly get off the bed, standing on the opposite side. “Stay away from me.”

Adam crosses his arms. “Tell me right now, Wrenley. Are you pregnant?”

“I said I’m not, so I’m not.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care what you believe. How could you come back after being gone for so long only to treat me like this? Who are you? I don’t know who you are anymore,” I say.

“You’re lying to me,” he says. “You’re lying to my face.”

I swallow. “Adam, please, just calm down. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

“Just answer my question.”

I shake my head.

He breathes in. “Wrenley—”

“Why can’t things just be like they were? What can’t you just love me again and we go to bed happy? My father has gotten between us—it’s exactly what he wants to happen. He wants us to fight. He wants you to hate me.”

Adam comes over to my side of the bed. I stay put no matter how badly I want to run. Without a word, he lifts up my shirt, and just as swiftly, he lets it fall.

“He wants you to hate me,” I murmur, looking forward.

Adam sits on the edge of the bed, facing me.

“You’re angry. I know you’re angry with me, but I didn’t just do this to myself.”

His head falls to his open palms and his fingers comb roughly through his hair. Anxiety radiates off of my body, but there is nothing to do but stand here and endure.

My lips roll together as he ceases to speak.

“I didn’t want to lie to you,” I manage to say, finding it difficult as my chest caves in. “I know this isn’t what you want, so I didn’t want to make things worse. You’re already mad at me for seeing my father—for risking my life—and now I’m pregnant, and I’m just digging myself a deeper hole.”

“I should have never left,” Adam says suddenly, looking up.

“So why did you? Because you couldn’t be here if I died? What does that mean?”

“If you died, I don’t know what I would have done—what I would have been capable of. The damage may have been irreversible, so for the sake of the pack and the town, I distanced myself. I waited every minute for a sign of your death, every minute feeling nothing but helplessness and terror. I’ve been shifted for weeks all to feel less connected to you. I thought you must be suffering from the distance, but little did I know...”

“The repercussions might not be as physical as they used to be, but I still needed you here. God, all I could think about was what you were doing, where you were, why you left. Sleeping here every night alone—and when you came back, I knew I had to make it up to you. I knew things would only be worse, and I was right. Look at us. It’s been weeks since I last saw you, and I couldn’t even touch you, hug you.”

“You said it yourself,” he says. “You’d choose your father over me, and you did.”

I shake my head. “No. It’s not my father I’m choosing, it’s the baby. Without my father, without his power, it will die.”

“I don’t understand why you need to have this baby so desperately. If it’s for the pack, then we’ve been over this before. I thought you moved on.”

My bottom lip trembles. “I-It’s for the pack, but it’s more so for you. And I would tell you why, Adam, but you wouldn’t believe me. You wouldn’t listen for a second.”

“Wrenley, I have to try and understand. If not, we’re only going to be torn further apart.”

I sigh. “You’re not going to like it, but we have to be realistic.”

Adam watches me, allowing me to continue.

“My father created me for a reason—why exactly, he has yet to tell me—but eventually the time will come. My purpose will come into play, and I don’t think I will ever see you again. The baby will be able to succeed you, yes, but it will also be a piece of me. And like it’s eased my pain without you, it will ease your pain without me.”

His eyes stay fixated on my face. The distress behind them grows more apparent every second he allows himself to comprehend this.

“He told you this? That you will never see me again?”

“He didn’t have to. It’s been made very clear over our encounters.”

Adam shakes his head.

“I am not yours, not initially. I was born because he wanted me to be born. My true purpose lies with him, and the moon goddess may have mated us to stop his efforts, but I don’t think it will be enough. He’s stronger than us. Stronger than everyone. When the time comes, I won’t have a choice. I’ll have to go with him, and at least I can leave you a piece of me.” My hand falls gently on my small protrusion. “I think creating this baby will be the only good thing I do. I want people to remember me for this good thing and not however many bad things my father created me for.”

His eyes hold my own. Steady breaths push past his lips, and silence once again creeps in.

“There’s,” Adam pauses, then continues, “there’s nothing I can do, is there? How am I supposed to kill a god?”

“I’m sorry. I really am. Before I was sorry because you were suck mated to a human, but now I’m sorry because you were stuck mated to someone who could never be yours. But I suppose our time together is better than having no time at all, r-right? So please—even though I know you feel betrayed by me—can’t we try to spend our remaining time happy? I just want to be happy because I’m in love with you, and I want to be even more in love when our time together ends. T-Then, where ever I am, I can remember this time. I can think about you and our baby. I can imagine what you two are doing, how you are living and caring for it. And I won’t worry because you’ll have each other. I know you won’t be hurting.”

I wipe a tear from my face, realizing how wet my eyes are.

“I can’t live without you,” Adam says.

"No, you can. You’ll have a piece of me.”

He stands up then and refuses loudly, “No, I don’t want a piece of you. I want all of you for the rest of my life.”

I shake my head. He comes to me swiftly, grabbing my shoulders. ”Adam—”

“I won’t let him take you.”

“It’s inevitable.”

His grip on me tightens. “You are my mate, Wrenley.”

“I am,” I say, looking up at his face, “nothing will change that. But, every moment we have together is precious; I don’t know exactly how long we have.”

“I should have never left,” he breathes.

“You’re here now. I’m alive, and you’re here, and we’re going to have a baby.”

Adam places his hand flat against my stomach.

“Time is everything now, okay? So promise me that we’ll love each other until our very last second together. There’s no time to fight anymore.”

His hands come up to my face. He caresses my cheeks—his thumb brushing across my skin.

“Promise me,” I whisper. “Promise.”

“I promise that I have yet to stop loving you, and I never will. And I promise that nothing will take you from me,” Adam says, desperate for my father to have an Achilles’ heel. “I promise that we’ll be together, all three of us.”

I swallow. “I-I won’t go willingly. Maybe I can make a deal with him—bargain. We’ll have time to think, but our main focus has to be the baby. It must be born before he takes me, or I suppose, if he takes me.”

“This—This is a lot to take in.”

“I know, but it’s never been easy, so why should it be now, right? Your mother knows I’m pregnant, but she still believes I’m human. They know nothing about my father or what I am, so she was upset with you, wasn’t she? Without you here, it’s been bizarre having her as my only support system, but she’s helpful. She really wants me to have this baby.”

Adam sits back on the bed, sighing. “That explains why she was pestering me for not supporting you. The woman thinks you’re a saint for carrying my child for so long.”

“I’ve won her over,” I say lightly. “I never thought the day would come where your mother likes me.”

“I know there’s no use in arguing over the future. But for the time being, I just want to make sure that nothing happens to you. You can kiss seclusion goodbye because you will not be left alone until your father is dealt with.”

“I know,” I tell him, letting him protect me. “I think he’s restored enough of my power to get me through the entire pregnancy, we just have to keep him at bay.”

I near him and he looks up at me. Adam brings his arms around me, his head pressed gently to my chest.

“I don’t know what he would do now that I’m pregnant. I don’t trust him around me.”

“Your father knows about the baby?”

I swallow. “He knows everything, Adam.”