Chapter 12
{Austin’s POV}
I had never been more right. Less than a week later, Veronica was showing through every shirt she owned. Our secret, wouldn’t be a secret much longer. I watched her as she obsessed over finding something to wear. It wasn’t actually a bad sight. She was standing there in blue jeans and a black bra with her hair tied up.
“Okay, do you think I should wear something that shows off my pregnant belly—“ she rubbed her hand across it affectionately—“or should I try to pretend it isn’t there?”
“I think you should show it off,” I blurted. My cheeks heated slightly. My inner wolf was practically purring at the sight of Veronica’s bloated belly. He knew that it was our kid in there and he couldn’t have been prouder. I was pretty proud too. So far I hadn’t screwed up anything with the pregnancy. Now all bets were off when the baby was actually born.
I knew that I would probably be the worst parent in the world.
“I mean,” I explained, “it’s not like people won’t find out in the next few weeks if they haven’t already noticed.”
Veronica pouted. “We have so little time to prepare for this,” she mused. I nodded. “Do you want to go shopping this weekend? Junior is going to need a few things when he or she is born…”
I raised my brows at the nickname of ‘Junior’. “Saturday or Sunday?”
“Saturday,” she answered with a grin.
“Okay, I can do that.” I clasped my hands together. “When do we find out the sex of the baby?”
“Not sure,” Veronica answered hesitantly. “I should ask my mom. In fact, I’ll do that right now.” She quickly chose a shirt that framed her bloated belly, pulled a light jacket over it, and skipped down the stairs to talk to her mom. I was fast to follow after her. She stopped in the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee before her mother could yell at her. She drank it straight black—no milk or sugar. “Mom!”
“Yes, honey?” Her mother walked in, eyes immediately zeroing in on the coffee cup. “I said no coffee.”
“This is tea,” She lied smoothly.
It was clear in her eyes that Veronica’s mom didn’t believe her. “What did you want?”
“When is my next ultrasound?”
“In two days, why?”
I stepped forward. “I wanted to know if I could go,” I said, trying not to cringe under her glare.
“I guess,” the alpha female shrugged and walked out of the room.
I let out a breath and turned to my sheepish mate. She was watching me carefully and sipping at her coffee. She giggled when my gaze turned to her. Everything about Veronica perplexed me. She used to be so sour, so unpredictable… Now she was giggling and smiling all the time. She hadn’t wanted to be mated—to the Omega no les—and she hadn’t wanted to be pregnant. Then why did she seem so happy about both?
“What are you laughing at?” I asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing our bellies together. It felt weird to have her extended belly pressed against mine.
She giggled again. “The baby is tickling me.”
“Babies can tickle you?” I felt my eyes go wide with curiosity.
“Yeah, he hiccups too.” Veronica patted her bump affectionately. It was kind of cool to hear about the things that were going on in her pregnancy.
“He?” I asked, my tone amused.
“I think it’s a boy. I already said I want a boy, Austin.”
“And I want a girl,” I replied. I slid my hands to touch her belly. “We only have two and a half months,” I whispered.
“I know.” She kissed the tip of my nose. “The full moon is next Wednesday.”
“I know,” I mimicked. “We’ll be ready.”
She gave me a soft smile and tugged on my hand. “Come on, we have to get to school.” She put her mug in the sink, upside down and pulled me toward the door. “I can’t wait to see people’s faces when they see all of this.”
“Some of them had to have noticed it by now,” I insisted.
Veronica giggled. “That’ll just make it better.”
“I hope,” I grumbled. I grabbed her hand and dragged my mate toward the door. That day was different. It was the day I would officially be labeled as a father.
{Veronica’s POV}
I must’ve been doing an excellent job hiding my emotions from Austin. He didn’t suspect a thing. I was happy-go-lucky on the outside, bouncing around and radiating happiness. I was almost disgusted with myself. On the inside, I was a mess. My emotions were twisted and tangled. Part of me wanted everyone to know I was pregnant. Another part wanted to hide at home for the duration of my pregnancy. I was scared shitless at the thought of everybody knowing.
I mean, they all knew that Austin and I had mated accidently but it worked out. When they found out I was pregnant… It would all be judgmental stares and quips about how that was the only reason Austin and I had stayed together. That would be there only opinion and the worst part was it was true.
The only reason Austin had stayed was because my father wanted him to take responsibility. The only reason Austin and I were still mated was because it was extremely hard to break the bond. True mates or not, we hadn’t wanted to be together but when I had found out I was pregnant, it became inevitable. We were stuck for life. There was no getting rid of the other short of murder.
Our relationship was almost too complicated. There was so much wrong with it. We were brought together by alcohol. We accidently mated and I got pregnant. We were forced together by our wolf’s instinct to survive. There was nothing more than survival of the fittest that was driving us together. I don’t think we would’ve been together any other way.
As if all that wasn’t enough, we had to bare the weigh on our shoulders of our problems and our ranks in the pack. Prejudice went a long way and most werewolves hated new moon wolves. I knew that in the end, our supposed love wouldn’t survive. Things were too hard, too complicated and bringing a baby into the world would only make it worse.
In the end, survival wasn’t enough and it never would be.
Sorry it's short . crappy, and late. I promise the next one will be better and sooner.
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Under a Bad Moon
Werewolf*Previously "Running with Wolves"* Veronica and Austin don't get along. At all. But after accidentally mating in a moment of passion, their tied together whether they like it or not. Especially because of the pup that's come out of the bond...
