Maya's POV
Maya barely made it to the bathroom before she threw up everything she'd eaten for breakfast. Her knees hit the cold marble floor as her stomach emptied itself for the third morning in a row.
"Not again," she groaned, wiping her mouth with shaking hands.
This was getting crazy. Maybe she had the flu, or maybe Martha's food was finally catching up with her. But even as Maya tried to tell herself it was just sickness, a tiny voice in her head whispered the truth she wasn't ready to face.
When was her last period?
Maya sat on the bathroom floor and tried to remember. She'd been so caught up in her secret nights with Kai that she hadn't been paying attention to much else. But now that she thought about it...
"Oh no," Maya whispered. "Oh no, oh no, oh no."
She was late. Really late. Almost two weeks late.
Maya's hands flew to her stomach. Could she really be pregnant? With Kai's baby?
The thought made her heart race with equal parts fear and joy. A baby. Kai's baby. The man she loved more than anything in the world had given her the most precious gift possible.
But what would he say? What would he do?
Maya scrambled to her feet and grabbed her keys. She needed to know for sure before she let herself get too excited or too scared.
The drive to the store felt like it took forever. Maya's hands shook on the steering wheel as she imagined different situations. Would Kai be happy? Would he finally tell the world that she was his mate? Would they have a little boy with Kai's green eyes or a little girl with her smile?
At the store, Maya grabbed three different pregnancy tests. Better to be absolutely sure.
"Planning ahead?" the checker asked with a knowing smile.
Maya just nodded, too nervous to speak. If only the woman knew that Maya's whole world might be about to change.
Back home, Maya locked her bathroom door and read the instructions on all three tests. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold them steady.
"Okay," she said to herself. "Just pee on the stick. Easy."
But nothing about this felt easy.
Maya took the first test and set it on the counter. The directions said to wait three minutes, but Maya couldn't sit still. She walked around her tiny bathroom, counting seconds in her head.
What if it was negative? What if she wasn't pregnant and all this worry was for nothing?
But what if it was positive? What if there really was a tiny person growing inside her right now? A perfect mix of her and Kai, proof of their love for each other?
Maya looked at the test. One pink line had appeared instantly. Now she was waiting for the second line that would mean...
There it was. A second pink line, weak but definitely there.
"Oh my God," Maya breathed.
She took the second test just to be sure. Same result. Pink line, then another pink line.
The third test was digital. Maya watched the little screen as it processed, her heart hammering against her chest.
PREGNANT flashed across the screen in big letters.
Maya sank to the floor and started crying. Happy tears, scared tears, exhausted tears. She was pregnant. She was really, truly pregnant with Kai's baby.
"Hi there, little one," Maya whispered to her still-flat stomach. "I'm your mommy. And your daddy... your daddy is going to love you so much."
Maya spent the rest of the morning making plans. She would tell Kai tonight when he came to see her. She would cook his favorite dinner and light candles, make it lovely and special. She could already picture his face when she told him. First shock, then joy, then that beautiful smile that made her knees weak.
Maybe this was exactly what they needed. Maybe a baby would make Kai understand that what they had was real and worth fighting for. Maybe he would finally choose love over politics.
"We could get married right away," Maya said to her image in the mirror. "A small service, just family and close friends. Then we could move into the Alpha house and raise our baby there."
She imagined herself as Luna, helping Kai lead the pack. She would be so good at it. She would take care of everyone, make sure the children were happy and safe. She and Kai would have more kids, fill their house with laughter and love.
Maya hugged herself, feeling like she might burst with happiness. Everything was going to be great.
The phone rang, stopping her daydreams. Maya saw Sarah's name on the screen.
"Hey, girl!" Maya answered, trying to keep the joy out of her voice.
"Maya, oh my God, have you heard?" Sarah sounded exhausted and upset.
"Heard what?"
"About the news tomorrow. The whole pack is talking about it."
Maya's stomach dropped. "What announcement?"
"Alpha Kai is getting engaged! Victoria Cross is coming today, and they're announcing their engagement tomorrow at the pack meeting!"
The phone slipped from Maya's hand and crashed to the floor. Sarah's voice kept talking, but Maya couldn't hear the words over the roaring in her ears.
Engaged. Kai was getting engaged. To Victoria Cross.
Maya ran to the bathroom and threw up again, but this time it wasn't because of morning sickness. It was because her heart was breaking into a million pieces.
She was pregnant with Kai's kid, and he was marrying another woman.
Maya slid down the bathroom wall and sobbed until she had no tears left. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have thought that their secret nights meant anything to him? She was just another woman, just like all the others. The only difference was that she'd been dumb enough to fall in love and get pregnant.
What was she going to do now? She couldn't raise a child alone. She had no family, no money saved up, nowhere to go. And she definitely couldn't stay here and watch Kai play happy family with Victoria while their child grew up as a shameful lie.
Maya looked at the pregnancy tests spread on the bathroom floor. Three tests, all positive, all showing that her life was about to become a nightmare.
A knock on her front door made Maya jump. Her heart leaped with hope. Maybe it was Kai. Maybe he'd come to explain, to tell her the wedding wasn't real.
Maya wiped her eyes and ran to the door. But when she opened it, her blood turned to ice.
Victoria Cross stood on her steps, beautiful and elegant and smiling like a predator who'd found easy prey.
"Hello, Maya," Victoria said sweetly. "I think we need to have a little chat about you and my fiancé."