Chapter 2 A Shocking Revelation

The late afternoon sun bathed the small clinic in a warm golden glow, but Lila didn't feel warm. She felt cold. Frozen, even. Sitting in the doctor's cramped office, she stared at the piece of paper in her hands like it might catch fire.

"Pregnant," she repeated, her voice barely a whisper.

The doctor sat across from her, his hands folded neatly on the desk. He wasn't unkind, but his face was set in the kind of calm practiced by people who delivered bad news often. To Lila, though, this wasn't just bad news-it was devastating.

"There must be a mistake," she said, shaking her head. "I wasn't trying to... I mean, I just came to freeze my eggs, not-this can't be right."

"I've triple-checked the results," the doctor said gently. "You're pregnant, Ms. Martin. The procedure must have-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Lila snapped, her voice cracking. She slapped the paper down on the desk and stood, pacing the small room. Her hands trembled as she ran them through her hair. "How did this happen? How could this even happen? This clinic is supposed to be professional!"

The doctor sighed. "I can't explain how, but there was clearly a mix-up. And while I understand this is a shock, we'll take full responsibility. The clinic will cover the cost of your care, and we can help you figure out the next steps-"

"There are no next steps!" Lila shouted, her frustration boiling over. "This isn't... I wasn't ready for this! I didn't ask for this!"

Her voice wavered, and she felt her throat tighten. Tears prickled at the edges of her eyes, but she blinked them away, refusing to cry in front of this stranger. She took a shaky breath, trying to calm the storm of emotions brewing inside her.

"Who?" she asked suddenly, her voice barely above a whisper.

The doctor frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Who's the father?" Lila demanded, looking at him with a mix of fear and anger. "Whose-whose sperm was used?"

"I'm afraid that information is confidential-"

"Confidential?" Lila laughed bitterly. "You used someone else's sample on me without my knowledge, and now it's confidential? Are you serious?"

The doctor winced at her words but held his ground. "The clinic is investigating the mix-up, and we're working to determine how this happened. I promise you'll be informed as soon as we have answers."

Lila stared at him, her chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. She wanted to argue, to demand answers right now, but what was the point? Her life had already been upended. Knowing the father wouldn't undo any of this.

That night, Lila sat in her small, dimly lit apartment, her hands cradling her head. She'd left the clinic in a daze, barely able to put one foot in front of the other. The word pregnant echoed in her mind over and over, taunting her.

Her hand instinctively went to her stomach, and she froze. There was no sign of life yet, no changes to her body. It didn't even feel real. But it was real. Too real.

"What am I going to do?" she whispered to herself.

Her mind raced with possibilities. She could go back to the clinic, demand they fix this somehow. But how? The damage was done. And even if she could pretend this wasn't happening, her pack wouldn't.

The pack.

She groaned, leaning back in her chair and covering her face. If they found out... if the Alphas, the elders, anyone in the pack discovered she was pregnant without a mate-especially after her rejections-they'd never let her live it down. The whispers she'd endured for years would turn into something far worse.

"Spinster Lila," she muttered, her voice dripping with bitterness. "Now a scandal to boot. Great. Just great."

But it wasn't just the scandal that scared her. It was the child. A child needed protection, a home, a future. Could she give that? Could she raise someone in a world that already saw her as less than enough?

Her hands trembled as she reached for the glass of water on the table. She sipped it slowly, staring at the wall and willing herself to think. Running away wasn't the answer. But neither was staying here.

The days that followed were a blur. Lila avoided the pack as much as she could, taking the longest, most winding routes home to avoid bumping into familiar faces. Every time she saw another wolf-especially an Alpha-her chest tightened.

She still hadn't told anyone. Who could she even tell? The few acquaintances she had in the pack weren't close enough to share something this big. And the doctor? She couldn't exactly lean on him for support.

When her nausea started, Lila knew she couldn't put off a decision any longer. The pregnancy was real. The life growing inside her was real. And sooner or later, everyone would know.

Standing in front of her bathroom mirror one evening, she stared at her reflection. She looked pale, worn out, and more lost than she ever had before.

"You have to be strong," she whispered to herself.

It was easier said than done. Every instinct told her to shrink into herself, to hide away and hope the world forgot about her. But that wasn't an option now. She wasn't just fighting for herself anymore.

The solution came to her slowly, like sunlight breaking through clouds. If the pack would judge her, then she'd leave the pack.

The night she made her decision to leave, she packed quietly, her heart pounding with every item she placed into her bag. She didn't own much, just a few clothes and books, some keepsakes from her late mother.

The idea of leaving wasn't as easy as it sounded. She'd been born in this pack, grown up here. Even if most of her memories weren't good, it was still her home.

Her chest tightened as she folded her favorite scarf, tucking it into her bag. "This isn't home anymore," she reminded herself softly.

By the time she was done, the moon was high in the sky. It cast a silvery glow through her window, making her small apartment look strangely peaceful. For a moment, she hesitated. What if she stayed? What if she faced the pack and tried to fight for her place here?

But the thought of the whispers, the stares, and the judgment was too much. She couldn't do it.

With a deep breath, Lila shouldered her bag and stepped outside. The cool night air hit her face, refreshing and almost calming. She took one last look at the familiar streets, then turned and walked away.

Lila's departure didn't go unnoticed, though she'd hoped it would. A few curious eyes watched her from the shadows, whispers following her as she walked past. But no one stopped her. Why would they? She was just Lila, the rejected spinster.

The guilt gnawed at her as she put miles between herself and the pack. She didn't know where she was going or what she'd do when she got there, but for the first time in a long time, she felt a flicker of something she hadn't felt in years.

Hope.

Hope that she could build a new life. Hope that she could create a future for herself and her child.

Still, as she walked into the unknown, she couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the end of her story. It was only the beginning. And whether she was ready or not, fate had more surprises in store for her.