Chapter 16

Chapter 16
Nolan’s POV
I stared at the two test results laid out on the desk like opposing truths in a courtroom. One claimed Ellie was pregnant. The other, clean and pristine, said she wasn’t.
The Healer stepped forward. “Alpha, I know I have no right to ask this, but… Ellie didn’t lie. Not about this. I’ve been her physician for years. I saw what the stress did to her. I also saw the change, this time, it’s real. Whatever’s happening with her now, she’s carrying your heir.”
My heir.
The phrase lodged in my throat like a splinter.
I sat back down hard in the chair, the legs scraping loudly against the floor. I stared down at the test results again, numb.
A child. My child.
My fingers tapped the desk, slow and deliberate. “Then explain this.” I flicked the newer results with the back of my hand. “This one says she’s not.”
This… this could ruin, change everything.
“I don’t know,” the Healer said, shaking his head. “I triple-checked the first one. I wouldn’t mistake something like that, not for the Luna-”
“She’s not the Luna,” I said sharply, cutting him off. “She’s my wife. For now.”
There was a pause. A beat too long.
So,” I muttered, voice low and gritted, “is she pregnant or not?”
The Healer flinched. “It’s possible someone tampered with the records. I—I can’t say for certain unless we test her again.”
My jaw tightened. Fury began to bubble beneath my skin like an itch I couldn’t reach. If Ellie really was pregnant and still planned to divorce me… walk away with my heir… It wasn’t just betrayal. It was theft. That child was
mine.
…Ours.
“She wouldn’t dare,” I said aloud, to no one in particular.
“Alpha?” the Beta asked from beside me.
I didn’t answer. The Healer started rambling again, eager to redeem himself. “She might be hiding it. But if we could monitor her behavior… some signs might confirm her pregnancy. Food aversions, emotional changes, scent shifts
I stood silent for a moment. “Food aversions?”
“Yes, any strong dislike for things she used to enjoy?”
1/3
Chapter 16
+25 Bonus
I thought back to her in my office, lounging on my desk like she owned it, crunching through a bag of chips like a defiant teenager. She hadn’t looked sick. She looked… infuriatingly smug.
“She was eating chips,” I muttered. “Salt and vinegar.”
The Healer blinked. “So… no aversions, then. Mood swings, perhaps? Crying? Anger?”
“Not… exactly.” I hesitated, running my hand over my face. “She’s been sharper lately. Blunt. Annoying.”
“That could be a symptom-”
“It could just be Ellie,” I snapped.
The Healer dipped his head. “Fair enough.”
His next question stopped me mid growl. “Has her scent changed?”
Silence stretched out like winter frost. I swallowed hard, suddenly uncomfortable in my own skin.
“I wouldn’t know,” I said stiffly.
The Beta shifted behind me, clearly trying not to react. It sounded pitiful even to my
own ears.
I had never been close to Ellie. Not the way I was supposed to be. If I was, I could pick up the change in a pup’s presence easily.
We slept under the same roof, shared a title, but never a life. I never bothered to learn her rhythms. Never noticed the way she looked at me, or avoided me, or, goddess help me, suffered.
My eyes flickered to the mental health reports from the past, flipping through them absently.
I hadn’t even known about the depression records until today. She was hurting under my roof and I’d just… never asked.
Was she ever really docile? Or just quiet because I gave her no room to speak?
I exhaled sharply through my nose and waved the Healer off. “Leave. Now.”
He obeyed quickly.
Once the door shut, the Beta hesitated by my side.
“What now?” he asked.
I stared down at the stained test result, the one with the coffee blotched across it.
Regardless, pregnant or not, she should be here. Home.
I turned slowly to face him. “I get closer to her. If she’s carrying my heir, I smell the change soon enough.”