Chapter 0377

“Perhaps I need that satisfaction,” I admitted. “But it’s not to try and win him back, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I’d certainly hope not.”

I nodded. “By the time the wedding comes around, it’ll be ancient history. I’m a different person now, stronger. So I’ll go. It’ll be fine.”

After a moment of tense silence, Viona sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “Alright. If you believe it’s the right thing to do, then I trust you. But I won’t be happy about it.”

I tossed a smirk in her direction. “I wouldn’t expect any less from you.”

As night fell, I found myself lying in bed, the soft glow of my phone screen illuminating my face in the darkness. The last message from WhiteRabbit stared back at me, taunting me with its cryptic promise: “I’ll be here when you change your mind.” My fingers itched to reply, to finally ask what that price was.

This had been my nightly routine over the past months—reading that message over and over until my eyes grew bleary. I often found myself wondering if Noah himself had put the contraceptives in my diet pills. Had he made up the nonsense about sex only during ovulation to avoid having an heir with me while he waited for Zoe to return?

I wanted to know for certain. If it was him, then I needed to know. But each night, including this one, I stopped myself from replying. I was Alpha now. I couldn’t engage in shady dealings with an online drug peddler, no matter how tempting the information might be. The risks were too great, not just for me, but for my pack and my unborn child.

So I set my phone aside, the screen going dark, and placed both hands on my belly as I turned to my side. “We’re safe now,” I murmured to my unborn child, my voice hardly more than a whisper in the quiet room. “No one will hurt us. I promise.”

The baby kicked in response, a reassuring flutter beneath my palms. I smiled, feeling a wave of love and protectiveness wash over me. Whatever happened at the wedding, whatever Noah may have done, or whatever secrets WhiteRabbit might know, none of it mattered as much as this little life growing inside me.

As I drifted off to sleep, my mind wandered to the upcoming wedding. I imagined myself walking into the ceremony, head held high, showing Noah and everyone else that I was stronger than ever. In my dreams, I was unshakeable, the perfect picture of grace and dignity. I dreamt about the surprised looks on the guests’ faces, the flicker of regret in Noah’s eyes, and the way I would lift my chin and meet his gaze steadily, as though he couldn’t shake me in the slightest.

But dreams, as they often do, gave way to a much different reality. I jolted awake in the middle of the night as I felt a sharp pain radiate through my abdomen.

For a moment, I was disoriented, unsure of what had woken me. The room was pitch black, the silence broken only by my rapid breathing. Then another wave of pain hit, more intense than the first, and I gasped, sitting up in bed. As I moved, I became aware of a dampness beneath me. My heart began to race. Fumbling for the bedside lamp, I switched it on, blinking in the sudden light that flooded the room.

With trembling hands, I pulled back the covers to reveal a large wet spot on the mattress. The realization hit me like a thunderbolt, sending a jolt of adrenaline through my body. My water had broken in my sleep.

“Oh no,” I whispered as another contraction gripped me, this one stronger than the last. The pain radiated from my lower back, wrapping around to my abdomen like a vice. As the contraction subsided, leaving me breathless, the truth settled in: “The baby is coming!”