The Alpha’s Substitute Mate

Isabella

I woke up to the beeping of the machine, I didn’t know how long I had slept but I woke up feeling very queasy and dazed. Every single muscle in my body ached and my eyes felt extremely heavy.

I blinked to recall and then the memories of last night came flooding and where I was. By my right, a machine was monitoring my heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen intensity.

There was a cannula IV, a tiny tube that was inserted in my left hand and there was a bag of saline drip dropping slowly into the line. The light was dimmed, and Lance was sitting in the only chair holding my bed and slightly dozing off. It seemed that he had been awake all night looking after me, I felt really sad for making him uncomfortable, and at the same happy about the way he looks after me like his biological sister.

I touched my face and it was hot and my eyes were a bit puffy from all the crying of yesterday. I didn’t have a mirror to get a good look but I guess there would be bruises on my face or maybe not, only heavens know what I looked like at the moment. My throat was hurting and even swallowing was a little too painful, I felt it would most likely be from the way Arden had held it.

I was really parched and wished for something to drink to quench the fire in my throat. I shifted in the bed and tried to position myself well but moving only made it worse and I screamed loudly from the pain emitting from my body. And unfortunately, my screams woke him up.

” Oh, Bella, you are awake! Thank heavens!” Lance jumped up from the chair and threw his hands up.

” I’ll go get the doctor, please don’t move or go anywhere. You’re still weak and need all the attention you can get okay?” He pecked my forehead and I watched him dash out of the room. And I didn’t even have the time to tell him, I was very thirsty, maybe I would just wait for the doctor or nurse to appear and I would make a request.

I couldn’t help but touch the area he had just pecked and a deep blush rose up my cheek. Lance was a nice and caring person. His family are lovely and empathic people except for Arden, who is a demon in a human body.

And this actually reminds me of the saying ” Among the good ones, there must surely be a Judas. And it was obvious that Arden was the black sheep of the family.”

Just then a doctor came in and quietly closed the door behind him. He turned on the light and pulled out a stool beside my gurney.

” How are you feeling, Luna?” he asked

” I feel weak and my whole body aches, I feel thirsty,” I grumbledNôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

” Okay, it’s normal, don’t worry you will be fine, I’ll need to give you some medication for the pain and also some immune booster for you to regain your strength. I’ll send one of the nurses to bring ginger tea over for you.” I nodded and he brought out a folder and a pen and started writing while examining my body and asking questions.

” Do you feel nauseated?” I shook my head

” Okay! okay! Any headache?” I nodded and added just slightly. He checked my eyes and my pulse and jolted some things down on the folder.

” Luna, please don’t be offended. The question might seem somewhat but trust me as your doctor, I need all the necessary information to be able to work on your health.” He glanced at me as if contemplating whether to ask whatever question he had in mind or not.

“Luna, when is your next menstruation cycle?” He asked while pulling out a pair of reading glasses and adjusting it over his eyes.

” I’m not due yet, still expecting,” I answered and wondered why he would be asking such questions.

” Well, we took some of your samples for testing and we discovered a human chorionic gonadotropin in your blood. It’s a short phrase for HCG. This particular hormone appears when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus.” he explained in medical terms

” What does that mean?” I asked and swallowed nervously

The doctor stared hard at me and his eyes were drilling holes into my skull as he answered

“It means that you are pregnant?”

Me pregnant? It can’t be!!

I shook my head, it’s not possible. I remember Violet giving me a tablet that was sent by Arden. I took it thinking it might be contraceptives even though I didn’t read the leaflet or bothered checking out the name. Why would he even bother to send drugs to me if not to flush out his sperm?

I stared at the doctor and said ” It happened just once and I took pills, how come? I’m sure there is a mix-up somewhere?”

He looked at me with dark sympathetic eyes. ” We will redo the test but a false positive is highly doubtful.”

I turned my face away from him, to hide the tears that were threatening to spill. In a different situation, this would have been good news but at the moment I just couldn’t accept it.

How could I possibly get pregnant from that one horrible time, I was shoved up against a dresser on my wedding night?

The night my virginity was forcefully taken away from me. The night I hated with passion and didn’t want to remember anything from it.

The night I truly felt Arden’s hatred toward me, and now I’m pregnant with his child.

No!!! How can I possibly be carrying a monster’s child?

I screamed ” Doctor, please don’t tell anyone,” I pleaded urgently

” I won’t Luna, all patient information is strictly confidential.” he studied me for a moment and added, “It would be best to place you on some prenatal vitamins and also schedule you for antenatal class.” I nodded but my mind was numb.

What if Arden uses his Alpha authority on the doctor and he ends up telling him about the report? What would become of my faith?