Chapter 94 The Paternity Results
LISA'S POV
I agreed to meet with Marcus Krane because I might as well have all the uncomfortable conversations in one day. We found a private consultation room near the lab and the walls were thin enough that I could hear other people walking past in the hallway. Marcus sat across from me and looked nothing like the aggressive Alpha who tried to force a marriage contract on me months ago. He looked tired and humbled and almost human in his vulnerability. The confidence that used to radiate from him had dimmed to something softer and more real.
"I know I have no right to ask you for anything," Marcus began and his voice was rough like he had rehearsed this speech a hundred times. "I tried to claim you through an ancient contract. I brought my warriors to threaten your pack. I behaved like my father raised me to behave and like the old ways taught me to behave. I am not proud of who I was three months ago."
I waited in silence and let him continue because interrupting would only prolong this. My mind was still reeling from Emma's revelation about Nathan and the security footage and the medication that caused hallucinations. Every part of my life felt like it was built on lies and false memories and I did not have energy left to judge Marcus Krane when my own world was collapsing.
"But Emma," his voice softened and changed completely when he said her name. "She is different. She saw past the Alpha posturing to the man underneath. That night during rescue planning when we were working on strategies to get you back from Viktor, we talked for hours. About life outside pack politics and about being more than our positions and titles. And when we thought you were going to die, when we thought Viktor would win and everything would fall apart, we found comfort in each other." He trailed off and looked down at his hands.
"She will not take my calls now. She will not let me be involved with the baby at all. I understand why because I tried to trap you through a marriage contract and now she thinks I am doing the same thing to her. Using the baby to force proximity to you." Marcus met my eyes and held my gaze without flinching. "But I do not want you anymore, Lisa. I want Emma. And I want my child. I want to be a father and a partner and someone who builds instead of destroys."
I studied him carefully and looked for manipulation and for angles and for the catch that always came with men like Marcus Krane. But I found only sincerity in his eyes and in the way his shoulders slumped forward like he was carrying weight he could not put down. This was not the arrogant Alpha who walked into our territory with warriors at his back. This was a man who had been humbled by love.
"What exactly are you asking me to do?" I asked.
"Let me court her properly. With your blessing. She will listen to you more than anyone else and if you tell her I have changed then maybe she will give me a chance." Marcus leaned forward and his hands were clasped together tightly. "I am not asking for you to lie or to manipulate her. I am asking for a chance to prove myself. To both of you."
Before I could answer, the door opened suddenly and a nurse entered the room without knocking. "Alpha Lisa? Your paternity test results are ready. Dr. Morrison is waiting in her office for you right now."
My heart stopped beating for a full second and then started again too fast. This was it. The answer to the question that had been eating me alive for weeks. The answer to who the father was. Ryan or Nathan or someone else entirely that I had not even considered. I stood on shaking legs that felt like they might give out underneath me.
Marcus noticed immediately and concern crossed his face. "Is everything okay?"
"I do not know yet," I admitted and my voice sounded hollow to my own ears. I left him sitting there and walked toward Dr. Morrison's office feeling like I was heading toward my own execution. Every step felt too heavy and too light at the same time and the hallway seemed to stretch longer than it should have been.
When I rounded the corner, I stopped short because Emma and Daniel and Ryan and Adrian were all waiting outside Dr. Morrison's office. Word had traveled fast apparently and they all looked at me with different expressions written across their faces. Emma looked guilty and worried like she regretted telling me about Nathan. Daniel looked supportive and steady like he always did. Ryan looked desperate and hopeful like this test result would determine his entire future. Adrian looked resigned and sad like he already knew the answer would not be what he wanted.
"You all do not have to be here for this," I said quietly.
"Yes we do," Ryan said firmly and stepped toward me. "This affects all of us."
Daniel nodded and moved to stand beside me. "We are family. Whatever this test says, we face it together like we always have."
Adrian added quietly from where he stood slightly apart from the group, "And I meant what I said before. I love you regardless of whose child you are carrying. That has not changed and will not change."
Dr. Morrison opened her office door at that exact moment and looked at all of us standing in the hallway. "Lisa, come in. And," she paused and looked at the group gathered around me, "whoever you want present for this. It is your choice entirely."
I looked at them and saw my broken and complicated and beloved family standing together. People who had lied to me and hurt me and protected me and loved me in their own messy ways. "All of you. Come in. Let us end the mystery once and for all."
We entered Dr. Morrison's office together and it felt too small for all of us. The air was thick with tension and anticipation and fear. Dr. Morrison had the results on her desk in a plain manila folder that looked too ordinary to contain information that would change everything. She gestured for us to sit but no one moved toward the chairs. We all stood frozen and waiting.
"The paternity test was conclusive. The father of your baby is—"