Rebirth of the Alpha's Slave Mate (Samantha and Kade) novel Chapter 2

Samantha's POV

I sat bolt upright, ignoring the way it made my head spin.

"That can't be possible," I breathed, clutching my stomach. "You must be mistaken. I'm not pregnant."

Ava bristled indignantly. "You know I only ever tell you the truth, Samantha."

She was right, as much as I hated to admit it at the moment. My wolf was weak right now due to our five years of torment, but she was still incredibly wise—back when I first shifted, Ava told me that with the proper nourishment, she could be extremely powerful. A silver wolf.

Silver wolves were incredibly rare—not having been seen in our world for over a century. Not only that, but they possessed powerful regenerative abilities and the gift of healing, with a deep understanding of werewolf anatomy.

Which meant that they had the ability to see a body's ailments before anyone else could.

Which also meant… that my wolf was correct when she said I was pregnant, even if I hadn't begun to have symptoms yet.

I sighed and flopped back down onto the small cot, running my hand over my face.

"That's why you fainted," Ava went on. "You almost lost control and released your scent. Kade would have known about the mate bond. So I made you pass out."

Ah. So it was a failsafe to keep Kade from finding out that he was bound to me in ways that neither of us ever wanted. Ever since Kade took me as his slave, Ava hid her presence whenever he was around to keep the fact that he was my fated mate a secret.

And now that I was pregnant, the mate bond would be even harder to ignore. So my wolf had to take matters into her own hands.

I bit my lip, hand instinctively fluttering to my belly as if I could already feel the little life within. My stomach was still flat, and I felt the same; but I knew that Ava was telling me the truth.

A baby. I was going to have a baby.

Becoming pregnant with my mate's pup should have been a joyous occasion. But all it brought was sadness. Kade didn't love me—quite the opposite, in fact. He hated me.

"You are nothing," his words from last night echoed through my mind. "You'll never matter to anyone. You'll die alone and miserable, and only then, for the first time in years, will I smile."

How could I have a baby with him?

I shuddered at the thought. "Kade can't know," I whispered into the darkness.

"Of course," Ava replied. "We'll keep this secret, just as we've kept all the others."

My wolf's support was comforting. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep this child born of hatred yet, but for now, I had to focus on keeping the pregnancy hidden until the end of my sentence. Then, and only then, could I worry about my next steps.

I just had to survive for another seven months.

Those months passed interminably slowly. With each passing day, I grew weaker and weaker, both due to the pregnancy and my torment. I managed to hide the pregnancy, but only because my belly was still relatively flat due to my lack of nutrition.

Finally, on the final day of the seventh month, my family arrived to pick me up as promised. I didn't even know they had arrived until I heard my mother's familiar voice in the foyer.

"Where is my daughter?"

My hands shook as I dropped the toilet scrubber and rushed out of the bathroom. I nearly collapsed when I saw my father and mother standing there. My father, of course, showed little emotion; hardly more than a cold flick of his gaze over my bedraggled form.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify