Chapter 11 – Pup
My head felt heavy and I groaned as I attempted to open my eyes.
"Lucy, Lucy, can you hear me?" I heard A familiar voice call.
My eyes fluttered open and Max's worried face swam before me. "Mm-Max?"
"Easy Lucy." He helped me sit up. I was back in the laundry room, laying in my bed. The last thing I could remember was crashing into the coffee table. But, how did I get down here?
Max continued to look me over, "Lucy, what happened?"
I took a deep breath and recalled everything that happened earlier. "Ranger mind linked me after the meeting to come to his office, he was very angry about Alpha Jordan and lunch. He lost control, hit me and threw me into the coffee table."
"He rejected you, selected another Luna and is jealous when someone else looks at you." Max said shaking his head.
"How did I get back down here?"
"I don't know ... Ranger must have carried you back. I came to bring you dinner, but you've been out for hours."
"Mate just dumped us here, that jerk!" Lia huffed.
"What time is it?" I asked him.
"It's almost midnight, I'm on patrol tonight." He paused for a moment and then said "Lucy, I'm sorry you had to find out about the mating ceremony that way."
"I'm okay Max, I knew he would pick Miranda. I just didn't expect it to be so soon." I looked down at my hands, "I can feel his wolf still wants me. I hoped that maybe Ranger would change his mind and take back the rejection, but he's not going to do that."
"I thought for sure when he saw how Alpha Jordan wanted you and pulled you to his lap, that Ranger would lose it and claim you." He said. We both sat in silence for a few moments considering this.
"Does Alpha Jordan have a Luna?"
"She passed away giving birth to their twin pups six years ago. Alpha Jordan is a good man and has one of the strongest packs in the country." Max told me.
My stomach grumbled and Max chuckled. He held out a paper bag, "Steak and cheese sandwich, cookie and apple."
"You're a life saver Max." I smiled up at him.
"You'll always be my true Luna, Lucy." He smiled back. "I've got to get back to patrol, eat and then get some rest."
I ate my sandwich and couldn't fall asleep. I decided to take a shower and wash the blood from my hair. I turned on the dryers to warm up the laundry room and headed to the bathroom. I stood in the shower and closed my eyes. The hot water felt soothing. I had three weeks until the mating ceremony to figure out what I was going to do. I wasn't sure where to go or how exactly to start somewhere new.
When my shower was done, I felt a wave of nausea come over me. I turned to the toilet just in time to throw up my sandwich. After I was sure my stomach was empty, I brushed my teeth and went back to bed. This time, I felt exhausted and fell asleep almost as soon as I curled up.
"GET UP YOU LAZY DOG!" Ursa yelled at me. I had slept in passed sun rise and knew I was late for my chores.
"The kitchen assistant is off today, and help is needed with the breakfast dishes upstairs." She barked at me.
"I'll be right up." I went to the bathroom first, brushed my teeth and then my hair. My stomach still felt queasy.
I stood at the kitchen sink and washed all the breakfast dishes, silverware and glassware. Then I moved to the pots and pans. Miranda and her minions came into the kitchen and sat at the island behind me. They were talking about the mating ceremony and the decorations. I continued to scrub away at the pots with my back turned to them and the cooks buzzing around the kitchen prepping food and vegetables for lunch and dinner.
The topic changed to dresses and Miranda was whining. "He wants me to wear his mother's ugly old dress, from twenty-six years ago, I'm going to look hideous!"
"I can't believe he still kept that old rag." One of them said.
"The last three Luna's in his family have worn that thing." Miranda pouted.
The back door swung open and a shirtless Ranger walked in. "What are you ladies talking about?" He asked as he walked over and kissed Miranda.
"How beautiful your mothers white Luna dress is." She lied.
"You will look stunning in it." Ranger told her and she giggled. "Did you send the invitations out already?" He asked.
"Yesterday." Miranda squealed.
"Did you send one to Alpha Jordan at Eclipse Pack?"
"I sure did." She said.
Ranger let out a low growl. "That prick."
I continued to scrub the pans trying to remain as unnoticed as possible. Ranger walked over to the coffee machine and reached for a mug. I saw him from the corner of my eye, he did a double take at me when he realized I was standing there washing dishes. He didn't acknowledge me, and I looked down at the pan I was scrubbing.
"Should we honeymoon after the ceremony or wait until summer?" Ranger called out as he walked back with his coffee to sit with them knowing I could hear him.
"Ohhh how about Hawaii?" Miranda said as she climbed up onto his lap.
"Hawaii sounds romantic, we can start working on making pups." He kissed her and the girls all giggled.
"Mate is trying to make us jealous!" Lia scoffed in my head and she was right. I could feel Ranger trying to read my thoughts, but my wall was up tight.
"How many pups do you want Alpha?" One of the girls asked.
"As many as my beautiful, strong, Luna is willing to give me." He said with an emphasis on strong.
"We're going to have strong and beautiful pups too." Miranda gushed and I felt the need to gag.
I tried to ignore them, but I couldn't. My heart was aching, and he was doing this on purpose. I've always wanted pups and a family, now I was destined to be alone, I thought bitterly to myself.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that last thought Lucy." Lia said to me.
"Why do you say that?" I asked her.
"I can hear our pup's heartbeat." She told me.
"Our pup?"
The pan I was scrubbing clanked into the sink loudly as it fell from my hands. I realized what Lia had said. My hands were shaking, and my heart was racing. That would explain the nausea I had the last few days, it's not a stomach bug. Oh Goddess! I'm pregnant!
"What the hell is she doing in the kitchen, stealing food?" Miranda said. "You're getting a fat ass Lucy, obviously you're stealing food." She scowled.
"Alpha Jordan didn't seem to mind her ass yesterday, isn't that right Lucy?" Ranger said with venom in his voice.
"Oh really, an Alpha? Setting your sights a little high don't you think?" Beth teased and they all laughed. "That's ambitious for a laundry maid."
I grabbed a kitchen towel and dried my hands. Then I nodded my head down to Ranger. "Please excuse me Alpha."
I headed down to the basement and could still hear them laughing. I searched through the big storage cabinet of pack house toiletries and found some pregnancy tests in the very back. I took one and made my way to the bathroom to confirm what Lia told me.
I got a positive plus sign before I could even finish washing my hands. I walked over to my bed and sat down trying to wrap my head around this. The tears started to flood my eyes My mate didn't want me, he rejected me. He wants to have his pups with Miranda, not me. I wondered if he would reject our pup or take it away from me. Lia was pacing, ready to attack.
What am I going to do? How would I take care of a pup? I can't even provide for myself. A pack is supposed to take care of each other, I've been abandoned, I thought to myself. I have nothing, I have no one.
"That's not true Lucy." Lia said. "You have me, and you have Max."
"Thank you, Lia, I'm so glad I have you." I told her.
"Now we have to figure out how to escape without the patrols catching us and where to go."
"We should go south; winter is coming, and it will be warmer south." Lia suggested.
"That's the first place they would expect us to go. The snow falls here and everywhere north of us, the further north you go, the heavier the snow gets." I told her. "Also, most rogues will be south for the warmer weather and easy hunting."
"Then we go east, Alpha Jordan's pack is east, maybe he will help us?"
"What if he doesn't and gives us back to Ranger? Our pup is technically the next Alpha, we have to be careful."
"We have the power of fire to keep us warm Lucy, we could go north into Canada." Lia said.
They would never suspect such a weak pack slave to head north I thought. "North it is!"