Chapter 22 The Truth
Zoe POV
The doctor opened her mouth to speak.
But Scarlett's hand shot out. Fast.
"Wait." Her voice was sharp. "Let me see the papers first."
The doctor hesitated. Then slowly handed the papers to Scarlett.
Scarlett took them. Her hands shaking slightly.
She looked down. Started reading.
Her eyes moved across the page. Left to right. Down. Down.
Then... she stopped.
Her face went completely white.
"Oh goddess." The words barely came out.
"What?" My heart pounded. "What does it say?"
Scarlett looked up at me. Her eyes huge. Shocked.
"Scarlett, what does it say?" My voice got louder. "Tell me."
"You're..." She swallowed hard. "You're pregnant."
The world stopped.
Everything stopped.
"What?" I couldn't breathe. "What did you say?"
"You're pregnant." Scarlett's voice shook. "The test... it's positive."
"No." I shook my head. "No. That's... that's not possible."
"The test doesn't lie, Luna." The doctor's voice was gentle. Soft. "You're definitely pregnant."
"But... but..." I couldn't form words. Couldn't think.
Pregnant.
I was pregnant.
Scarlett stood up quickly. Turned to the doctor.
Her face changed. Became hard. Cold.
"Doctor." Her voice was low. Dangerous. "You remember our agreement, yes?"
"Of course. Complete privacy..."
"I need to make sure you understand." Scarlett stepped closer. "You don't tell anyone about this. Not a single person. You don't disclose anything you found in this result. Nothing."
"I understand. I gave you my word..."
"Your word." Scarlett pulled out an envelope from her bag. "This is more money. Much more than what I paid you before."
The doctor's eyes widened as she looked inside.
"This is... this is too much..."
"No. It's exactly enough." Scarlett's eyes burned into hers. "Enough to make sure you remember our agreement. Enough to make sure you never speak about what you saw here today."
"I promise. I swear on my life...No one will ever know. Ever."
"Good." Scarlett grabbed my arm. "We're leaving."
She pulled me up gently. Led me to the door.
I couldn't feel my legs. Couldn't feel anything.
We walked out. Got in the car.
Scarlett started driving.
I stared out the window. Seeing nothing.
Pregnant.
The word kept repeating in my head.
Over and over.
Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant.
"Zoe." Scarlett's voice broke through. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know." My voice sounded far away. "I don't know anything anymore."
"We'll figure this out."
"How?" I turned to look at her. "How do we figure this out?"
"I don't know yet. But we will." Her hands gripped the steering wheel tight. "We have to."
The rest of the drive was silent.
...
We got back to the pack house.
Scarlett looked around. Making sure no one saw us.
"Come on. Quick."
We rushed inside. Up the stairs. To the visitors guest house where we think no one will come look for us.
Scarlett pushed me in. Closed the door behind us.
I walked to the bed. Sat down.
My whole body was shaking.
Scarlett sat beside me. Took my hand.
"Breathe. Just breathe."
"I can't." Tears started falling. "I can't breathe. I can't think."
"I know. I know this is hard." She squeezed my hand. "But I need to ask you something."
I looked at her. Her face was serious. Worried.
"What?"
"Zoe..." She took a deep breath. "Whose baby is it?"
The question hung in the air.
Heavy. Terrible.
"I..." My voice cracked. "It would have to be from Lakewood."
"From Lakewood?" Scarlett's eyes searched mine. "You're sure?"
"Yes." More tears fell. "Ryan and I... we never... we didn't get intimate."
"Never?"
"Never." I wiped my face. "We came close. Once. But I stopped it. I couldn't do that to Olivia. Even though she's gone. Even though she's not here anymore."
"So this baby..." Scarlett's voice got quieter. "This baby isn't Ryan's."
"No." The word came out as a sob. "It's not his."
"Oh goddess." Scarlett put her hand over her mouth. "Oh goddess, Zoe."
"What do I do?" I grabbed her arm. "What do I do, Scarlett?"
"I don't know."
"I can't tell Ryan. I can't tell anyone." My whole body shook. "If they find out... if the pack finds out I'm carrying another man's baby..."
"They'll kill you." Scarlett's voice was flat. Hard. "They'll see it as betrayal. As deception."
"I know. I know." I couldn't stop crying. "But what else can I do? How do I hide this? How do I pretend?"
"We'll think of something. We have time..."
"Time?" I laughed. But it wasn't a happy laugh. "How much time? A few weeks? A month? Then what? When I start showing? When my belly grows? What do I do then?"
"I don't know, Zoe. I don't know." Scarlett's own tears started falling. "But we'll figure it out. We have to. Because if we don't..."
She didn't finish.
She didn't have to.
We both knew what would happen if we didn't figure it out.
"Maybe..." I took a shaky breath. "Maybe I should just tell him the truth. Tell Ryan everything. About who I really am. About the baby. About all of it."
"No." Scarlett grabbed my shoulders. "You can't. If you tell him, he'll hate you. The whole pack will hate you."
"They'll hate me anyway when they find out."
"Maybe. But at least if we have time, we can plan. We can prepare." She looked into my eyes. "Don't give up yet. Please."
I nodded. But I didn't believe her.
I didn't believe anything could fix this.
"Scarlett, I'm so scared." My voice was small. Broken.
"I know. I'm scared too."
"But what if..."
The door burst open.
We both jumped.
Ryan stood there.
In the doorway.
His face was hard. Cold.
His eyes dark.
Looking at us.
At me.
I could bet he heard everything.
Every single word.