Lucy: We need to talk.
I could feel my lungs contracting as I read the text message, but I took deep breaths, staving off a panic attack. Her message was so cryptic. It could mean a million things. How could she send such a vague text message and not expect my anxiety to go into overdrive?
After reading and rereading the message, wiping down the tables, and sweeping the floors, I finally replied.
Me: Do you want me to call you tonight?
I waited for a response to come back, checking my messages every few minutes. Eventually I gave up and got back to work. During another lull, I still hadn’t received a message back, so I decided to reread the email I’d received from the dean at my school. He had sent me a form to complete in order to request the leave of absence. It additionally required a written recommendation from a health provider. I hadn’t gone to see a therapist in a few years, so I wasn’t sure whom I could ask to complete the recommendation letter. I started to wonder if it was easier to just accept the bad grades for this semester.
At four, I left work and drove home. My doorbell rang a few minutes later. I looked out the window to see Lucy standing there, just as beautiful as ever, holding her head up high, intimidating me. I took a few deep breaths and then finally opened the door.
“Are you home alone?” Lucy asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Can I come in?”
I gestured for her to come in and closed the door behind her. She walked into the living room, not even bothering to remove her shoes or jacket. She sat down on the couch, so I sat down on the adjacent love seat. I took in her appearance. I had almost forgotten how poised and confident she presented herself, sitting up tall, extending her long body, making me feel short and hopeless in her presence.
I finally asked, “What did you want to talk about?”
“I’m pregnant,” she replied, not even bothering to ease into the topic of conversation.
I felt my heart pounding, a sick feeling coming over me. The room was beginning to spin around me. I lay back into the couch, closing my eyes, forcing myself to breathe. When I felt like I had the panic attack under control I spoke. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I went to the clinic and Dr. Luna did an ultrasound. I’m seven weeks along.”
I’d recalled learning in my college Biology 101 class that pregnancy was measured from the last period rather than conception. Doing the math rapidly in my head, if one could assume her period had been about two weeks prior, it would put her at five weeks since conception. I quickly thought back and realized, with horror, that she had conceived after my birthday—after Luke already knew I was his mate. I continued to force myself to breathe.
Finally, I asked, “Are you keeping it?”
“Are you serious, PJ? Miss super religious, never do wrong, would actually insinuate that I should get an abortion?” She gave me a hard stare and then continued. “Anyway, I told Luke and he wants me to keep it. He said he will always support me and our baby.”
“Luke knows?” I was shocked that he knew and hadn’t said anything to me. I wondered if that was why he had canceled our date the prior night. Was he planning to reject me and be with Lucy now?
“Of course he knows. He’s the father.”
I nodded, trying to wrap my head around everything.
Lucy sighed and continued. “Come on, Jasmine. You know how much I love Luke. This is a sign from the Moon Goddess that we should be together. You always get everything—good grades in school, top marks in training, a nice car, a perfect family, and a nice house. But that’s not enough for you. You want my perfect boyfriend too! Can’t you just, for once, let me have something?”
“He’s my mate, Lucy. We’re meant to be together. And if I reject him, that will mean I can’t get married in the temple.”
“Who cares about getting married in the temple? You can still get married.”
“I care! My family cares! Anyway, if I reject him, I also won’t get another mate. I’d have to find someone else who no longer has a mate and hope that he wants to be with me too. I’m not like you who goes around stealing other people’s mates!”
“You speak like you’re superior to me, stealing my boyfriend without a second thought.”
“He’s my mate, Lucy! You knew he’d find his mate one day! You just deluded yourself into believing that things would work out differently than they did.”
Lucy huffed and said, “I’m done with this conversation.” She stood up and walked herself out. I heard the front door slam as I lay back on the love seat, clutching my stomach, feeling a sickness come over me. When I couldn’t hold it in anymore, I ran to the toilet and vomited.
I went outside and shifted into my wolf form, disregarding completely my dinner duties. I was so stressed that I ran all the way to the secret place that Blake had brought me to in the past, remembering the road there now. I ran in the woods, parallel to the street that led me there, as the sun set in the distance. When I arrived at the base of the mountain, I stopped at the pond to drink some water, and then climbed the mountain in my wolf form, finding it much easier than as a human.
I reached the top to find Blake was there, also in his wolf form, staring out into the woods which, by now, had descended into darkness. He looked up at me, and I walked over to lie down beside him, his eyes glowing in the darkness. He used his tongue to lick my face affectionately.
“Are you okay?”he mindlinked me, looking into my eyes.