CHAPTER HUNDRED TWENTY

Vincent pov

Before I leave Enya in the bedroom, I check her forehead to make sure she doesn't have a fever. The fact that she has heat after such a short period of time from the previous one is strange. I have many responsibilities, and I should discuss a few things with Melinda, but instead of getting to work, I take a detour to the hospital.

As soon as I open the door, I see a bunch of nurses. They all stop and wait for me to acknowledge them, but I won't. Not because I don't respect them, but these women gave away their plan without thinking that I might hear these rumours. The nurses and some Omegas decided to find out how loyal I am to my mate and basically tried to set up their Luna. I'll deal with them later, now- I'm a man on a mission.

I walk past the nurses and smirk at the irritated looks on their faces. However, one of them immediately follows me. "Alpha, can I help you?" She asks in a calm tone. I assume she wants to appear innocent, but even that won't work.

I need the help of the medical staff, but I can't turn to someone trying to work behind my mate's back. If my suspicions were confirmed, they would use that to their advantage.

I shake my head and remind the nurses that they are in the hospital to do their job, not follow me.

As soon as I notice the head physician, I signal her to follow me into her office. "Alpha, is something wrong?" There it is- the main reason she got the job. This woman doesn't care about anything but her work and the health of the other pack members.

I sit down and wait for her to follow my lead. I clear my throat and speak, "I have a suspicion about something, but whatever the results, that's between you and me. Not a soul can find out about what we are discussing here."

To my surprise, she is quick to jump back up and runs to the office door. I watch as she locks it and returns to her seat. "Anything, or anyone we discuss, will stay in this room. It's part of my job- to keep secrets and details about my patients' health private. I assure you that no one will find out anything. Please, tell me what's going on."

I shift in my seat and fix my gaze on the window behind her. "It's about Luna. I'm not sure, but I have a feeling something's wrong." As I talk, I can't look into the doctor's eyes. I may be the Alpha, but I feel like shit when I act behind my mate's back. Since Enya is the main topic- she should be here.

She raises an eyebrow at me. "Should I head to Alpha's floor and examine Luna?" Though I'd like to say yes, I know Enya needs some time to rest, and until I'm entirely sure about my suspicions, there's no reason to alarm Enya.

I shake my head. "That won't be necessary until you answer my questions."

"Okay," the doctor whispers, clasping her hands together, patiently waiting on me to give her more details.

I take a deep breath and decide to get straight to the point. There's no need to beat around the bush when the potential problem could change many lives. Not just ours, but the whole pack's. "As everyone knows, we have finally completed the mating process, and Luna's been carrying my mark for a while. However, in the heat of the moment, I forgot about any protection, and in the last few days, I've been stressing out about a possible pregnancy."

I don't get to finish when she interrupts me. "But that's wonderful. It's been a long time since the pack first questioned the possibility of seeing Alpha pups, hasn't it? If Luna is pregnant, I need to examine her and decide what diet or possible treatment would be better. After all, she's human, and her pregnancy might be different than a she-wolf." Pure enthusiasm resonates in her voice, and it's a real shame that I'm the one who has to burst the bubble.

"You're running ahead of time, Doc," I chuckle bitterly.

"I don't understand." All kinds of emotions cross her face until she shows nothing but pure concern.

"Damian gained control of my body and announced it loud and clear- he doesn't sense a pregnancy. Is there a chance there's something wrong with her? Or even with me? Just to make sure we can have pups. I'm a little worried." I try to explain as best I can, but it's still not as easy as I thought. On the way to the hospital, I wanted to have a quick chat with her, but as we sit across from each other, I find it hard to breathe, let alone speak my mind. It's like I have a lump in my throat that's getting bigger with every second that passes.

The doctor chuckles. "Alpha, there shouldn't be anything wrong with you unless you've had a major trauma in the last year. And I'm sure that's not the case. I'm the doctor, after all," she takes an extra moment to think, but soon she's back to being a true professional. "But I could do a simple checkup on Luna to see if there's anything wrong with her. I'm not entirely sure since she's human." The doctor offers. This is the second time she mentions Enya, and only now do I remember the crucial detail.

"Oh, a side note- Enya's not quite human. Her mother is human, and her father is the late Alpha Blade." I forgot to share the news with the whole pack- we had enough trouble after finding out who she was. It's not like we could take a break between the discussion Melinda had with Dirk, the torture session, and the sudden attack of heat, just to casually go up to everyone and say, 'By the way, she's half-werewolf'.

"No," I watch her eyes widen in horror.

And that's something I don't like. Not just the look on her face but the fear in her eyes. If this doctor knows something, and I happen to be clueless, she needs to tell me. I lean closer to her and whisper, "No, what?" I can't let emotions take over. Yelling or arguing loudly only leads to one thing- rumours.

"Give me a moment," the doctor whispers, turning to her laptop. She types something until she finds the information she needs, and her face drains of colour. I don't need to be a doctor to understand that she has nothing good to announce- the look on her face alone screams nothing but sorrow. "I knew I'd heard of something similar at the medical institute before," she whispers, more to herself than to me.

I watch as she clicks the mouse button and continues typing at the speed of light. Every sound of a click echoes in my ears. Each strike of her wall clock sounds louder than the chime of a church bell. Waiting for her is eternal torment, but since she's so focused, I can't let her lose the flow of information she gains for me.

Another agonising five minutes pass when the doctor finally looks at me. There is so much pity in her eyes that I think my heart just stopped. "What's wrong?" I try to sound unaffected, but deep down, I'm breaking apart because of the worry and fear.

"You just said that Luna is the daughter of a human and an Alpha werewolf, right? Just to clarify." She's looking everywhere but at me. What in the world could be so bad that this woman is so anxious? I've seen her working on the scenes of battles- both against the Alliance and rogues and she never seemed this worried.

"Yeah."

"So it won't feel offending if I refer to Luna by a medical term, which would be hybrid?" Her weird-ass question raises doubts in me, but I guess whatever suits her best. As long as she's comfortable, it should be much easier to get the information out of her.

"I don't see a problem with that." I lean back in my seat, trying to look carefree. Of course, I see a fucking problem with anyone using that goddamn word. My mate isn't an abnormality or something that wasn't supposed to happen- she's the best thing that's ever happened to me. This is the first and last time I will allow anyone to address her with derogatory words.

The doctor takes a deep breath and flashes me a weak smile. "Alright. First of all, let me remind you of what we call a hybrid in medicine. The result of a cross between genetically unlike parents. A hybrid is the offspring of parents that differ in regard to the particular gene in question. Alpha, humans and werewolves were never meant to breed, so now, we face some problems. I don't want to be the one to break the news to you, but you need to find out; the sooner, the better." With every word that passes her lips, she looks more worried, and my heart beats faster.

But despite the fear creeping up on me, I try to remain as calm as possible. "Hit me."

"Do you have any idea why the Council agreed that we must obey the Moon Goddess and accept human mates, but we can't have children with them?" The question seems a little off-topic, but I can take an extra minute or two if it leads me to the answers I seek.

I think for a good moment, but nothing comes to mind, so I give up. "No? I mean, we can't really go against the Goddess, our mother and all, but I don't understand the pup's part- it feels like bullshit to me." I may sound irritated, but fuck, I am! Who do these old farts think they are anyway, telling me who can and can't carry my pups, especially if it's my mate in question?

I'm starting to boil with rage when the doctor's voice brings me back to the present. "Throughout our history, hybrids were killed at birth for a reason. The greatest concern was their unpredictable antics and the sanity of the wolves they might possess. I think it's a bit different with our Luna. She's been through a lot with the amount of wolfsbane in her blood, but it seems that she never had a wolf, so she's still alive. Yet, the pup's part is much more complex than we thought."

"What's so complex about that part?" I ask with nothing but genuine curiosity. I need to know more.

The moment her gaze falls on the door, I know that whatever are her following words- I already don't like them. Still, I have no idea how big of a surprise I'm in for. "While a werewolf can have coitus with a hybrid for obvious reasons when it comes to the next generation, a hybrid can't give birth to a werewolf pup. That's the main reason why the Council banned hybrids at all costs. If one of them is mated to a werewolf, just like in your case- the bloodline stops there. Hybrids are an unintentional weapon against our entire species."