Page 60 of Bullied Pregnant Mate

I wasn't sure. I didn't know what to think. I'd spent years trying to avoid him, and here I was, letting him help me fix my life. My life was backward.

I shrugged.

"Clearly, you two have a history," he said. "But Lucas wouldn't let something like that happen."

I clicked my tongue. "You say that…but he did in the past."

Cayden's face dropped slightly, and he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Yeah…well, he isn't the same person he was before, just as I'm sure you aren’t the person you were either."

I wanted to say he was, but I wasn't sure that was true. While Lucas had remained the same, keeping a cold exterior and almost seeming annoyed at him, he had changed. The Lucas I knew when we were younger wouldn't have looked at me twice, let alone asked his friends to bring me breakfast.

"If you don't eat that, I will," Cayden said, pointing at the sandwich.

I took another bite and pointed towards the stairs. "You want to see upstairs?"

After showing Cayden around the house, we settled into the living room. I lay back on the couch, and he sat in a chair across from me.

"What are you watching?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Lucas put it in the other day."

"Don't you guys have Wi-Fi?"

I nodded, having gotten it soon after Lucas decided to start staying there. "Yeah, but this is easier."

He made a noise and looked at me. "So, have you two spoken about your next steps?"

I shook my head, looking away from the book I had opened. "No, we had a fight, but it seems neither of us really knows how to speak about it."

"Why?"

I sighed. "We have a history, as you said…but I know for me, if we talk about it, we have to open up about everything else."

"Well, aren't you guys going to have to? The baby is going to come whether you want it to or not."

I nodded. "I know, but if we talk about that, we have to talk about the marriage and the house, and… it just makes everything messy."

"And a fake marriage, wasn't it?" Cayden asked, a smirk on his face.

I smiled. "It's messier now. Before it…we could just file for divorce and be done. Sure, I might run into him, but I had no real connection to him."

"You say that, but you don't look like you believe it."

I didn't because no matter what, baby or no baby, it wasn't that simple. I had been telling myself. Repeatedly telling myself that we could just step apart like there was no problem but it wasn't true. Lucas was my mate, and I had felt something for him. It was never clear cut like I kept telling myself. I wasn't going to be able to just step away.

Were we ready to be parents? Would we be able to get along for this baby? Would he eventually change and grow as he had before? Would something go wrong? Would everything go wrong?

I sighed. "I'm terrified." I looked at Cayden. I had no role models for this growing up. I could hardly keep myself alive. How the hell can I do that with a baby? And how do I know that Lucas isn't going to change? That he won’t wake up someday andregret everything. How do I know he won’t hurt me like he used to?"

Cayden gave me a sympathetic look. "Because he isn't like that. Raw, and maybe sharp at times, but not that."

I wanted to believe him, and Lucas had now given me plenty of history where I should. But how could I erase years of abuse, years of taunting and teasing in the span of a few months? Was that possible?

"What was your home like?" Cayden asked.

I frowned. "Cold. I'm the black sheep, people would say. The smallest wolf, the slowest wolf. No one was on my side. It was hard." I swallowed, feeling my throat going dry. "I…I don't ever want to go back to that. After seeing what this feels like…I don't want to ever go back."

"I understand that. I don't come from a loving pack either."

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