Hailee’s POV
For a mont, I didn’t understand anything. Everyone stared at , waiting for my reaction, but all I could hear was my heartbeat pounding inside my ears like a drum.
"Pregnant?" I repeated, my voice so small it didn’t even sound like mine. "No... no, that’s not possible."
The healer didn’t look confused. She didn’t look unsure.
She looked calm. Certain. Unshakable.
"Yes, Hailee," she said softly. "You are pregnant."
My mouth opened... but no words ca out. My throat felt tight, dry, painful.
"No," I said again, shaking my head. "That is not true. You’re wrong—"
She interrupted gently. "I’m not wrong. I checked your body, your pulse, your heat, the hormone shift, the energy around your stomach. You are three weeks along."
My heart stopped.
Three weeks.
Three weeks.
My stomach twisted so hard I thought I would throw up.
My fingers curled in the blanket, gripping it so tightly the fabric shook.
Nathan’s hand touched my arm, but I jerked away without thinking.
Not because he did anything wrong...
But because my mind was spiraling.
Three weeks.
I swallowed and looked at the healer again, my voice cracking.
"If I’m... if I’m pregnant... why did I faint?"
Her eyes softened even more.
"The pregnancy is complicated," she said slowly. "Your body is stressed. The baby is pulling energy very fast, and you are not resting enough. And you don’t bear the mark of the father. That is why you fainted."
My chest tightened painfully.
Nathan made a sound—small, broken, shocked.
But I couldn’t look at him.
I couldn’t look at anyone.
My breathing grew uneven.
"Hailee," Nathan whispered, reaching for my hand again. "You are pregnant." He sounded so hurt that I couldn’t even look at him.
I stared straight at the healer, my voice nothing more than a trembling whisper.
"How sure are you?"
"One hundred percent," she answered. "This is not a mistake."
Her eyes stayed on mine, soft and kind.
"Hailee... you are pregnant."
The room spun for a second.
Everything inside felt heavy.
My mind raced—fast, confused, chaotic.
Three weeks ago...
A face flashed in my head.
A voice.
A touch.
A mont I tried to bury deep inside .
Callum.
My breath caught.
My heart dropped to my stomach.
The healer stepped a little closer. "Hailee... do you know who the—"
I closed my eyes.
And the only na that ca to my mind...
The only person who could possibly be the father...
Was Callum.
My eyes opened slowly... and the first person I looked at was Nathan.
He wasn’t looking at .
He was staring at the floor, jaw tight, shoulders tense. His hands were clenched so hard. His chest rose and fell too fast, as if he couldn’t breathe right.
He knew.
He knew the father before I even said a word.
My stomach twisted painfully.
"Nathan..." I whispered.
He lifted his head—not fast, not sharply... but slowly... like it hurt him to move.
His eyes were red.
Not from anger.
From heartbreak.
Pure, silent heartbreak.
It hit so hard my own breath stopped.
I had seen Nathan angry before. Sad before. Hurt before.
But this—
This was different.
This was like watching sothing inside him collapse.
"Nathan—please..." I tried again.
But he looked away.
He leaned back against the wall like his legs couldn’t hold him. His hand went up to his forehead, rubbing it as if the world was suddenly too heavy for him.
He closed his eyes.
Not speaking.
Not even breathing right.
I tried to move toward him, but the healer touched my arm gently.
"Hailee," she said softly, "this is important. You need to listen."
I forced myself to look at her even though every part of wanted to run to Nathan and explain... explain sothing I didn’t even know how to explain.
The healer’s face was serious now.
"Your pregnancy is not stable," she said. "Your body is fighting it because you do not carry the father’s mark."
The words crashed into like cold water.
Callum’s mark.
I swallowed hard, my voice small. "What... what does that an?"
"It ans," the healer said gently, "the father needs to place his mark on you. His scent, his bond, his energy... your baby needs it. Without it, your body will keep rejecting the pregnancy."
My chest grew tight. My fingers curled into the bedsheets.
"Rejecting?" I whispered.
She nodded. "You fainted because your body is struggling. If you don’t bear the father’s mark, both you and the baby are at risk."
My heart dropped so hard I felt dizzy again.
I slowly turned back toward Nathan.
He was staring at now.
But not the way he used to.
His eyes were full of so many things—hurt, betrayal, confusion, pain.
Deep pain.
He looked like he wanted to speak... but didn’t know what to say.
"Nathan..." I whispered again, my voice cracking. "Please... listen..."
He pressed a hand to his chest—right above the bandages—as if he needed to hold himself together. Then he let out a slow, shaking breath.
The healer stepped closer to him this ti.
"Alpha," she said softly, "Hailee must tell the father. She must receive his mark soon. If not... the pregnancy may not survive."
Pain stabbed through my chest.
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
He didn’t ask questions.
He didn’t shout.
He simply stared at the floor again, shoulders sinking... like soone had reached inside him and pulled out everything he had left.
My throat tightened painfully.
"Nathan," I said, stepping closer. "It’s not what you think. I never ant—"
He finally lifted his head... and his voice cracked when he spoke:
"I know who the father is."
My breath caught.
"So you don’t need to explain," he said quietly. "Just... go tell him."
Those words felt like a knife.
I opened my mouth to answer—
But nothing ca out.
I didn’t even know where to begin.
All I could do was stand there, shaking... staring at the man I loved... who I have hurt so deeply.
Swallowing hard, I took one step toward him.
"Nathan... please... listen to —"
But the mont my voice reached him, sothing in him snapped.
His chest seized.
His breath caught.
His body jerked once—sharply—like electricity shot through him.
"Nathan?" I whispered.
He gasped.
A rough, painful sound ripped from his throat.
Then he doubled over.
"NATHAN!"
I lunged forward, but before I even reached him, the white of his shirt began turning red.
Blood.
More blood.
It spread fast, soaking through the bandages underneath, seeping down his side, dripping onto the floor.
"NATHAN!" I scread louder, my voice breaking. "No—no, no, no!"
He collapsed onto his knees.
Leo rushed forward.
"NATHAN!" his mother cried.
The healer jumped toward him, but he lifted a shaking hand—stopping her.
His other hand clutched his ribs, fresh blood spilling through his fingers.
He lifted his head slowly...
...and looked right at .
His eyes were full of pain.
Not physical pain.
Worse.
Pain I had caused.
Pain he didn’t know how to hide.
Pain that tore straight through my chest.
"Hailee..." he whispered, his voice hoarse, broken, shredded. "Don’t... touch ."
Everything inside stopped.
My heart.
My breath.
My voice.
My soul.
My feet froze where they were.
Not because he yelled.
Not because he was angry.
Because he sounded devastated.
Because he sounded like soone whose world had just ended.
Because he sounded like soone who loved more than I ever deserved.
"Nathan—please—" I whispered, tears running down my face.
He shook his head once.
Then his body swayed.
His eyes rolled back.
And he collapsed completely.
"NATHAN!!!" I scread so loud the walls shook.
Leo caught him before he hit the floor. The healer held his head. His mother pressed her hands over the wound.
"He reopened the tear!" the healer shouted. "Get him to the dical wing NOW!"
Guards rushed in and lifted him carefully onto a stretcher. Blood dripped onto the sheets. His breathing was shallow. His face was pale.
And even as they carried him away...
He didn’t look at .
Not once.
He didn’t even try.
Because he didn’t want to see .
He didn’t want to see the woman carrying another man’s child.
My legs gave out.
I fell to the floor.
I didn’t even try to stand.
The healer touched my shoulder softly. "Hailee... you need to rest—"
"I can’t," I whispered. "I can’t—please—"
But I couldn’t finish the sentence.
My voice broke.
My heart broke.
Everything broke.
I stumbled to my feet and ran—
Out the door.
Down the hallway.
Through the side entrance.
Into the back garden.
The mont the cold air hit my face, I collapsed again—this ti on my knees in the grass.
I covered my mouth with both hands as sobs tore out of , heavy and painful, shaking my whole body. I tried to stop, but I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything except cry until the sound of my own voice hurt my ears.
"Nathan..." I whispered to no one. "I didn’t an for this to happen. I didn’t an—"
But the words were useless.
The wind didn’t answer.
The trees didn’t move.
The garden was quiet except for my broken breathing.
Minutes passed.
Or maybe hours.
I didn’t know.
I didn’t care.
Footsteps crunched softly behind .
I didn’t look up.
Leo’s voice ca quietly. "Hailee...?"
I swallowed, trying to speak, but nothing ca out except a dry, shaking whisper. "Is he... okay?"
Leo didn’t answer right away.
He sat beside in the grass, elbows resting on his knees, not touching —just sitting there, letting breathe.
Finally, he exhaled.
"He’s alive," Leo said softly. "He lost blood, but he’ll be fine."
My eyes squeezed shut, tears falling again. "I hurt him."
Leo didn’t argue.
He didn’t say I was wrong.
He didn’t pretend everything was okay.
He just nodded slowly, his voice low. "Yeah. You did."
The truth cut deep.
I buried my face in my hands. "I didn’t an to. I didn’t want this. I never wanted to hurt him."
"I know," Leo said gently. "But it still happened."
He looked at for a long mont, studying .
Then he asked the question I had been running from—
The question that would decide everything.
The question that would break soone, regardless of what I said.
"Hailee..." Leo whispered.
"...who do you want to choose?"
I swallowed hard but couldn’t bring myself to respond, but Leo continued. "Once you bear Callum’s mark, you automatically beco his mate, and that ans you and Nathan are over."
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