Page 51 of Rejected and Pregnant by the Lycan King

“There you go. I can hear your heartbeat slowing down.”

I looked over at Charlotte and smiled. It was hard growing up without a mother, and she stepped into the role as if I had always been her daughter. It felt amazing to have someone in my corner for once. A chill still ran down my spine at the thought of my father. Even now, my heart would stop at the mere mention of him. It was definitely a good thing he was on the other side of the kingdom and not near me. If he were to walk through this territory, I might die of fright.

Nonsense. I am here. We have friends who would defend us, too.

I sighed.You’re right about that.

“Yeah. The breathing worked.”

Her smile grew. “And your connection to your lycan is strong again. Hopefully, we can keep her connected. Focus on your breathing and keep her close. I’ll drag you to the clinic if you collapse on me again.”

The clinic wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The pack doctor in my father’s pack didn’t know how to treat me, but the one here seemed to understand better how to help someone who had trouble connecting with their lycan. He treated me as if I were human instead and did his best to guide me through things to help at home. There wasn’t much for the sickness, but the antacids helped with the nausea.

“I know. Though I’m wondering if I should go back to them.”

Charlotte looked at me with concern. “Is something wrong?”

This wasn’t something I liked to discuss, especially with Charlotte, since she could be overprotective at times. With my connection to my lycan not being as strong as it should be, the thought of delivering the baby with a weak connection scared the hell out of me. I feared I would end up dying during it because my lycan might not be there to help me heal.

Sure, humans delivered babies without medication and without the rapid healing lycans had. However, I was always in this strange state of being worse off than a human because my lycan was weaker compared to the others. The healing factor didn’t apply to me. What if, because of the disconnect, something went horribly wrong?

Even human women died in childbirth. The female body was an amazing thing and could do something male bodies couldn’t. It didn’t make them immortal, though. If anything went wrong while delivering this pup, I wouldn’t get to see my child grow up. That thought alone caused tears to well up, and Charlotte pulled me into her lap.

“Shh. What is wrong, sweetie?”

I sniffled a few times, trying to find the words to explain what I was thinking. Charlotte had never had kids, so she wouldn’t understand what this fear was like. How could I tell this badass woman that I feared going into labor? That I wouldn’t walk out of this because I felt like a weak moron who thought she could do this?

“This has been so hard. I’ve been so sick throughout every stage of the pregnancy, and I’m only now getting to the point where I can connect with my lycan to help me through this. I don’t even know if I have a strong enough connection to give birth?” Isobbed into her shoulder, and she ran her hand through my hair. “What if I don’t make it? What if I give birth and bring this life into the world but die and leave them all alone?”

Charlotte softly chuckled and pushed me out of her embrace just enough for me to look at her. Her blue eyes stared into mine, and I could see the strength I wished I had within them. Even the years of wisdom flickered in her gaze as she looked at me. Her power washed over me, bringing a sense of calm from the safety I felt within it.

“Do we need to have this talk again? You are so much stronger than you know. I promise you, things will be easier than you think. Your lycan is here. She is strong. Stronger than you realize.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. Now that I could feel my lycan again, the strength I had felt missing throughout my life was inside me. It wasn’t the strength I felt from others, like those who weren’t omegas and carried a power that made others bow to them. This was different—just the strength that came with surviving the worst things we could have gone through.

“Am I going to say it will be easy? No. Giving birth to a child is an incredible thing. It’s also a scary as hell thing to go through. Lycans don’t have nearly as many complications as humans, but they can still occur.”

Another sniffle. “What if my connection with my lycan fails during it, and I don’t get to see my baby grow up?”

She smiled at me. “Do you want to see your pup grow up?”

“Of course I do! Why would you ask me such a thing?”

Charlotte moved me off her lap and helped me to my feet. “Then you will focus on that if things go wrong. Think of seeing their little face and watching them become this amazing person because you brought them into this world. You will tell yourself you will live, and you will find strength you never thought you could have within those words when you need it most.”

“It’s that simple?”

She smiled, but I could see a fleeting expression of concern beneath her smiling face. There was something she wasn’t telling me.

“No. Nothing in life is ever that simple, I’m afraid. Sometimes, life throws things at you that no amount of positive thinking will help. But it should never stop you from telling yourself you can overcome anything life throws at you. You can persevere if you want that outcome. I’ve used that method throughout my life to achieve many things I wanted. Though sometimes, life can be cruel and take that from you anyway.”

Charlotte looked down at my stomach and smiled, but there was a flicker of another emotion on her face again—something shadowed and sad. She reached out and placed her hand on my stomach. The baby kicked, and her smile brightened, but not with the usual joy I had seen when she felt the baby move.

It took me far too long to realize what was going on. Charlotte and Nathaniel had always said that children just didn’t happen for them. I had assumed they meant it was because life had gotten in the way—that they’d been too busy. I hadn’t understood that it was because a child had been taken from them.

“What happened?” I whispered.

Charlotte looped her arm through mine and began walking down the main path that wound through the territory. “There was a time when I shared your exact thoughts. Nathaniel and I were supposed to have a pup. A boy, actually. Everything was fine throughout the pregnancy. No sickness or anything. Everyone thought they would meet the future of the pack, but then something went wrong during the delivery.” Her voice became strained, and I could see the tears glistening in her eyes. “I told myself things would work out. That I would see my baby grow up when all the alarms were blaring on the machines. We still don’t know what happened. None of the scans showed anything wrong, but our little boy didn’t make it.”

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