Chapter 4 Chapter Four

Aria

When I come to, I hear hushed voices and whispering. I manage to slowly open my eyes, and blink up at the white ceiling in my own room.

"This is serious, Alpha. If she don't accept the rejection soon, she will lose the- "

I hear a 'shhh!' sound and I turn my head towards it.

Mom gasps as she watches me attempt to pull my body in a sitting position, while my Dad stood beside our pack doctor. They were talking when they stopped and all three turned to look at me in shock.

"Mom? Dad?"

In an instant, mom rushes to my side. Her face was blotched red and her eyes puffy with tears.

"Oh sweetie, you're awake!" she squeals and pulls me into her arms. I groan out as pain suddenly shoots from my stomach area to my upper chest.

Dad growls and in a moment, he is by my side opposite to mom.

"Easy, you'll hurt yourself and your baby,"

My baby!

The mention of that one word, that sweet, innocent word makes me almost get up and hurl the contents of my stomach out into the toilet.

It's as if he had slapped me out of a lucid dream and yanked me back to a grueling reality, as I began to remember the day I met Jax in our usual spot in the forest. And the moment he spat the rejection in my face, without caring to hear about what I needed to say.

Instinctively, I slide my palm onto my belly and look at Dad.

"Dad, my baby..." I couldn't get the words out. But the knowing look in my dad's eyes tell me he completely understands, and so does my mom who held my hand, squeezing it.

"The baby is fine, dear. All you need is a little rest. It barely survived," mom trailed off, making me snap my eyes toward her.

"What?" I ask, yet my voice came out a mere, shaky whisper.

"Rabi found you in the woods that evening, clawing at your chest. He mindlinked me to come because he couldn't get you to stop, and when I found you..." he shakes his head as if trying to get an unpleasant image out of his mind. Rabi is my father's beta.

I gasp, as I could vaguely remember feeling extremely hurt that I wanted to tear my heart out of my chest. The last thing I remember was Jax' figure walking away, not once looking back. Once again, my heart throbbed. Painfully so.

"We rushed you home and called doc, who told us you the reason you were desperately clawing at your chest was because you were..."

"Rejected."The word came out through a whisper. I finished his sentence knowing he clearly was not going to, and I hang my head, feeling more depressed and stressed at the same time.

How could he do it?

I love him. I love him so, so much. I love him even more than I loved anything in this world. But because of some crazt conspiracy he thought I was no longer worthy of his love.

That's when it struck me.

My head snaps up, and I look at Dad.

"Is it true?" I squint at him.

He looks at me, genuinely confused.

I look at him, then mom who equally looks confused.

"Is it true, you banished this pack's real alpha?" I ask and watch in disbelief as they both freeze dead in the spot. Even the doctor who was watching us in a corner gasped, clearly not expecting that out of my mouth. After all, I never bothered to learn the history of our pack.

Dad looked at me, stunned, but soon he snapped out of it, and a serious expression took over his face.

"Who told you that?" he demands.

"So it's true?" I press, my suspicions growing. I expected him to look just as confused as me when Jax told me that piece of information, but instead, I saw nothing but surprise in his eyes. Like I wasn't supposed to know.

"Aria, tell us the truth, is your mate that rogue alpha's son?" mom says, her voice shaking but I ignore her and look directly at my dad.

"So, it's true," I say in pure disbelief, staring at my dad. My hero.

"You had an affair with his mom, the luna and banished the alpha, didn't you?" I point an accusing finger at him, angry that he hid the truth from me. Who else did he hide this from?

I look at mom. Tears trekking down her beautiful face.

"Did you know?"

She bites her lip and looks away.

Oh, hell no.

I turn back to my dad, who rose to his feet. His eyes clashing fiercely with mine.

"Your mate... is that rogue's son?" he growls, furious, but I wanted to give him a piece of my own.

"Yes!" I scream at him, making my mom and the doctor gasp at the same time. No one has ever dared to raise their voice at their own alpha before. No one except his own daughter.

"His name is Jax, and he rejected me because of you! This is all your fault!" I know I sound like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum, but right now, I don't know how else to unleash this anger and sadness coiled within me. I needed someone to blame, somewhere to put the boiling water within or I would end up believing he didn't love me in the first place.

It doesn't take long for my eyes to brim with tears, as utter frustration and pain clutches at my heart.

The memory is still fresh in my mind, his words haunting me like a second voice in my head. Come to think of it, I haven't even heard of my wolf.

I was about to check on her when I felt the bed dip, only to glance up and see that dad sat right by my side. A sad look in his eyes.

He sighs, looking defeated, and I watch him closely.

"You're right. You deserve to know the truth," then he looks at doc who bowed his head and exited the room.

Then my father started.

"You were right. I was a visiting alpha then, but the truth was, I had no pack. I was the sole survivor in my pack. My pack was wiped out by some other pack who killed everyone back then, and I had nowhere to go until I stumbled on this place, and met my mate."

I blink, "Mom?"

However, both of them shake their head.

"No, it was another she-wolf who belonged to this pack. Tabitha," I gulp, but kept silent.

"She's the luna of the current pack, but she was unhappy with her marriage. Her father set her up with an arranged marriage with an Alpha named Nixon. Nixon used to beat her into compliance, even though she was pregnant with his pup, a son," his voice became hoarse, and I watch him blink back his tears. I'm not sure if it was out of anger, or sadness, but I had never seen my dad so much as drop a tear before.

Until my stomach dropped. A son? It couldn't be...

"That pup might be your mate," he confirms.

"When we found out we were mates, I knew better than to show it especially to her chosen mate. So, we would meet in secret under the moonlight. We became friends, and I understood that she can never be mine, because I could see in her eyes, that she loves him."

Bile rose in my throat. How could she love him even after everything he has done?

"Until one night we met again, but this time he found us just when I was comforting Tabitha in an embrace, holding her newborn son. Obviously, he thought the worst and tried to kill me, until Tabitha got in the way and Nixon accidentally killed her, pushing her into the lake. I tried to save her, but I could only save her son," his words were choked out, and I found myself biting my lip. So, my father saved Jax's life, and he doesn't even know it?

"She died in my arms, and all this was witnessed by Rabi, and apparently at the time, the whole pack. They were the ones who overthrew him from his position, and he was later banished as rogue. I was recognized the new alpha, and a year later I met Scarlet. Then we had you,"

he smiles and looks at me sadly, and suddenly I understood.

I was shocked by the whole story, but at the same time excited to tell Jax the truth he's missing.

Until the pack alarm set off, and our heads dart to the door just as the beta shouts, "Alpha, we are under attack!"