Lilliana

The silence followed me till I reached Dr. Diane's office. When I stepped out of my car, my phone started ringing out loud and upon seeing the caller name, my eyes widened. Seth. Why was he calling me?

"Hello?" I asked, picking up the call quick.

"Lilliana." He took my name before continuing. "Alpha Richard wants speak with you at evening." Seth lowered his voice with every word and my heart dropped out of anticipation.

"Why?" I turned away from Dr. Diane's office, way too curious and afraid to find out why Alpha Richard wanted to speak with me. Did he finally know? Did someone tell him? Did Lorenzo tell him?

Seth began, "I told him about your outstanding improvement in the trainings and he requested to see to you, to discuss about the team you'll be going for the next month." As he continued to speak, I breathed and shook my head to ease down the frustrations. "It's nothing much. Just be at his house before six."

"Yes, I'll be."

I closed the call and placed the phone back inside my pocket before heading in to Dr. Diane's office. She had been my gynecologist since a very long time and I trusted her with telling me the truth of why I wasn't pregnant yet. There could be a reason.

Maybe the birth control I used to take.

I hummed a song over my lips and reached the receptionist that gave me a wide smile. "Dr. Diane's going to get free in five minutes. Please, take a seat." The woman said, extending her hand to the seats around.

I nodded and plopped down while spending the rest of the five minutes biting and peeling the flesh off my lips and wondering what went wrong.

"Lilliana! How great to see you! How are you?" Dr. Diane asked as she allowed me in the room.

I sat down and collected myself together before I would throw everything at her and ask why I couldn't get pregnant. Not that I wanted too but I still wanted to know.

"I'm good. How are you? I'm sorry for missing the last appointment. I just got so busy that I forgot." I murmured to her quietly.

After the trip to Ann's lake house, I was supposed to come to Dr. Diane to ask her about the birth control as I had left it then, due to Evan and I breaking up. It was a while ago and a lot of things had changed since then.

"That's all right! I'm good. So, tell me, what's the problem?" She crossed her arms over the table and leaned in closer, studying me.

"Well, I dropped birth control almost two months ago and—" I licked my lips and my eyes raced across the room before landing on the Doctor. "And, I'm just curious why am I not pregnant yet?"

"Are you trying?"

"Yes—I mean, not intentionally but I have been seeing someone for more than three weeks and I'm not on birth control so I'm just a little worried." I explained to her, stammering on my own words as I was ashamed to be judged for skipping to one man to another.

Evan and I only had a break for two months before I found my mate.

Dr. Diane stood up and came over to me. "Well, I'm sure everything is fine. Let's try an ultrasound and see what we can find. Are you sure you're not on anything else? Or using any other protection?" she asked.

"No."

—

After the appointment, I drove to Alpha Richard's Mansion and pretended to be not worried about Dr. Diane's words. She took a few tests and did the ultrasound and while there was something wrong, she still couldn't come to a conclusion up until the rest results came out.

I squeezed onto the steering wheel hard and pressed on the accelerator while trying to free myself from her words. There was a problem with me. I knew it for sure. But, I had to wait till the results came out and only then Dr. Diane could tell me something.

My thoughts intertwined as I stopped the car in the driveway of Alpha Richard's house. Lowering down the radio, I looked ahead and sniffed out strangers. Cars were silently parked outside with no one around and I knew for a fact that I hadn't seen any of these cars in the town before as my parents ran a garage.

I tip-toed into the house, careful to not awaken whoever was inside.

"I speak for my Alpha." I heard a voice, a familiar, weak voice belonging to a female.

"I'm not going to speak to you, Layla." Alpha Richard said. "It's either Lorenzo or no one."

The voices came out of a room inside the house and when I got closer, I found a woman, seated in front of my Alpha, with four other men beside her. It was Lorenzo's sister and the former Alpha of the Scarlet Pride—Layla.

What was she doing her?

Oh, fuck.

I cursed myself but stayed hidden.

"You'll only hear from me." Layla said, making it a clear while managing a wide grin.

"Fine. What do you want?"

Not me.

I told Lorenzo, it was just going to be a day or two. Grrh. It takes time to say goodbyes.

"My people—"

"You're not getting them." Alpha Richard grew furious quicker than the clock could tick another second. He was possessive about his pack and would let no one harm him or us. It was what every good Alpha did.

"Well, the treaty was considered when Lorenzo was dead—" Layla tried to speak.

"He was alive and you knew it!"

"Right, Richard, I knew everything and unless you want something to go wrong, Lorenzo demands his male and females back, immediately. We both are aware of the things he would do if someone doesn't obey him." Layla gave him a full-blown threat, right at his face.

She couldn't be serious.

Alpha Richard stood up. His jaw clenched and my breath hitched as I stepped back. "You can leave." He said to the woman, his voice harsh and loud.

Layla stood up with her men and waved her hand at Alpha Richard before walking out of the room. I quickly turned around to leave and hide away but she caught me right on time. My steps were inches away from another room but it was too late now.

"Lilliana, right?" I squeezed my eyes and pressed my lips together, suppressing a grunt before I twirled around and faced her. She cleared her throat and eyed me down. "I can smell him all over you from a distance." She whispered.

As she came into the light, I learned her features almost resembled with Lorenzo's. The same eyes, the same face and even the same evilness. She just lacked the beast in herself.