The sickened luna’s last chance

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Chapter 79

Ella

The pregnancy test results burned a hole in my pocket. Two pink lines on a small white stick, along with the official lab paperwork confirming what those lines meant.

I was carrying Alexander’s child.

For three days straight, I pulled that test out of my pocket and stared at it, trying to wrap my mind around the reality of what was growing inside of me. Three days of holding the proof in my hands white my husband avoided me like I had the plague.

Three days of looking at the abortion pamphlet and trying to decide what the hell I was going to do.

The first morning after our conversation about children, I’d woken to an empty bed and the distant sound of Alexander’s car leaving the driveway. He didn’t return until well after midnight, long after I’d already gone to bed.

The pattern continued. Early departures, late returns, and absolutely zero interaction between us during his brief moments at home. If Alexander had been avoiding me before our night together, he was actively fleeing from me now.

But despite his obvious revulsion at the idea of being a father, I couldn’t stop myself from imagining what it might be like. Late at night, when sleep wouldn’t come, I’d find myself picturing a little boy with Alexander’s green eyes, or a girl with my eyes but his fiery red hair.

I imagined teaching them to read in the garden, Lilith baking cookies for their birthdays, family dinners. I pictured Alexander lifting a toddler onto his shoulders.

The fantasies were so vivid and achingly beautiful that I’d wake with tears on my cheeks and an emptiness in my chest that made me feel like I was drowning.

But then reality would come crashing back, just as it always did, when I would hear the subtle click of the door in the morning signalling Alexander’s departure.

This wasn’t the situation I’d dreamed of when I used to think about having children. I’d always imagined it. would happen with a mate who loved me, in a household filled with warmth and security.

Not with a husband who could barely tolerate my presence and a marriage that was destined to end in rejection.

What kind of life would that be for a child? Growing up knowing their father had never wanted them? And that was assuming I even survived long enough for the baby to be born.

mind constantly. My body could barely support my

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Chapter 79

I ask it to sustain another? The one night of passion we’d shared, resulting in this baby, might have given me a temporary boost in energy, but without Alexander’s mark to complete our mate bond, I would only get

Or worse, I could die before the baby was even viable, taking

me.

staring at

standing in the doorway of my bedroom, concern written across her

don’t know what to do,” I admitted, setting the test back down

on the edge of my bed.

keep it, I could die. And even if I survive, what kind of mother would I

gently. “Men often change their minds when

children. He looked horrified at the very thought. And now he won’t even stay in the same house as me for more than a few hours at a

“Maybe he’s just processing-”

looking out at the driveway. His car was gone, just as it always was. “He made his feelings perfectly clear. The contract says no children, and Alexander always follows the rules when they

a moment. “So are you thinking of terminating

glass in my throat,

argue–perhaps I wanted her to–but instead she just nodded. “I understand.

again, Lilith was the only person in my life who I could truly rely on to be there during my darkest moments. Hell, Liam

weighing my options. But by morning, my

my own health was so precarious, not when their father would see them as

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Chapter 79

to Dr. Evelyn was one of the hardest things I’d

schedule the procedure,” I

a pause. Then: “Are you sure, Ella? This isn’t a decision you

The lie came easily, even though I felt anything but certain.

about Friday morning? That gives you a few more days to think it over if you