Page 62 of Her Cruel Alpha

My eyes widened, and Katie looked stunned. “What?”

“Yeah, you’re probably a month along now. I’m going to prescribe you a medication to take when your nausea is this bad. But it should hopefully subside in the next couple of weeks.”

I sat stunned, doing the math. She had to have gotten pregnant from the first time we had sex.

I couldn’t help but feel excited because this was what we aimed for. We wanted this, but Katie looked like she wasn’t excited about the news. If anything, she looked defeated.

I frowned, realizing that I had never known what she wanted most in life. Had Katie even wanted to be a mother to begin with? Had she just gone along with this because she was forced to rather than because she wanted to?

The fact that I didn’t know the answer made this moment hurt. We should have been jumping up and down with joy, but my stomach twisted up violently.

Chapter 21 - Katie

I sat stunned. Pregnant? I was pregnant? I mean, of course, that could have happened if we weren't using protection when we were having sex, but I didn’t think it would have been this easy.

It was logical, but I hadn’t anticipated it. I was around women who were constantly struggling to conceive, so I hadn’t thought that it would be easy for Henrik and me. We were paired up because of that.

This changed so much. Being pregnant meant I needed to be more careful with my body. I couldn’t spend endless hours at the lab, and I needed to eat fuller meals. I would get tired more easily, so I would need to take breaks at work. And this tiredness would likely stay.

I glanced at Henrik, who looked numb. I thought he would have been bouncing with joy, but he wasn’t. I didn’t understand. Wasn’t this what he wanted? Wasn’t this the entire point of us being together? I thought he would at least look a little excited about this.

We were in a good place, and sure, a baby on top of everything we were juggling was pretty big, but it was good news. Wasn’t this good news?

“We’re going to finish your IV and let you head home. Get lots of rest and try and eat when you can. But if you're feeling like this again, come in and we will get you another IV. You’re still early in the pregnancy, so you need to be careful and get your nutrients.”

“Thank you,” Henrik said, giving the doctor a smile. But I could see it was forced and it didn’t sit well in my stomach.

The doctor slipped out of the room, and I stared at the IV, wondering how much longer we would be stuck in here.

“Well, that changes things,” Henrik said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

I swallowed, “Such as?”

Before he could answer, his phone rang. He glanced down and I noticed that it was Kyle, which meant it was likely something important.

“You should take that,” I said, pointing at his phone.

He glanced at it and then back at me, seeming to be torn between the two. But he grabbed his phone. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

“I’ll be here,” I said, waving at the IV that I was attached to. “Don’t have far to go.”

Henrik kissed my forehead before he slipped into the hall and I felt a tug in my stomach. I placed my hands on my stomach and closed my eyes. I felt tears build up.

I wanted to know why he looked so disappointed. A million questions formed in my head, and I was so afraid to ask them. Was I the only one who felt this pain? Was I the only one who thought this relationship had grown and that we were stronger than before? Was I crazy?

It was about half an hour before Henrik came in, but the doctor was unhooking me. “She’s good to go home,” he said as Henrik slipped back into the room.

“She’s okay?” he asked as the nurse bandaged my arm up.

“Yeah. She’s a strong woman.”

Henrik gave a gentle smile that didn’t reach his eyes. It twisted my heart up and I bit hard onto my cheek. We left thehospital, and the drive home was quiet. I stared out the window, afraid to ask him what he was feeling. So I went with an easier question.

“What did Kyle need?”

Henrik glanced at me before he frowned. “There was another attack and Kyle said it was a mother. She died. No one even knew it happened.”

My heart twisted up in another way. Maybe that was why Henrik looked so sad. Because this darkness and this person controlling it were a bigger issue. Throwing a baby into the mix was just asking for disaster. How were we supposed to juggle everything? A baby required a lot of attention. We would be up late with the baby. We would lose sleep. I wouldn’t be able to focus at work.

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