Chapter 5
Elle's POV
A month passed since that night with Brad Rayne. I'd thrown myself into work, taking on extra tasks and staying late, anything to keep my mind occupied.
My body felt different lately. I was constantly tired, occasionally nauseous in the mornings.
Today was particularly bad. The fluorescent lights in the office seemed too bright, drilling into my skull. The usual morning coffee I'd grabbed made my stomach turn.
"West! The report needs to be completed by noon." Mrs. Jenkins dropped another folder onto my already towering pile. She frowned slightly as she looked at me. "You don't look well. Are you feeling alright?"
I nodded mechanically. "Yes, Mrs. Jenkins. Just tired."
As she walked away, I noticed something strange. Two werewolf executives who had come down to HR for some paperwork were staring at me from across the room, their nostrils flaring slightly. One of them actually took a step toward me before his colleague pulled him back, whispering something urgently.
The room started to spin. I gripped the edge of my desk, trying to steady myself. My vision blurred, and a strange warmth spread through my body, centering around my eyes. The sensation was unlike anything I'd experienced before - like electricity flowing outward from my face.
"Elle?" Sarah from the desk next to mine was speaking, but her voice sounded far away. "Are you okay? Your eyes..."
My heart pounded in my chest. Something was terribly wrong. I felt it in every cell of my body – a shift, a change I couldn't explain. Fear clawed at my throat as I tried to stand, to say I was fine, but my legs wouldn't support me.
"Help her!" I heard someone shout.
The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was the shocked faces of my colleagues.
I woke to the steady beep of a heart monitor. White ceiling, antiseptic smell - definitely a hospital. But not the cramped human clinic I'd visited when I broke my arm as a child. This room was spacious, with state-of-the-art equipment I'd only seen in magazines.
A doctor stood at the foot of my bed, studying a tablet with furrowed brows. He was clearly a werewolf - tall, imposing, with that natural grace they all possessed.
"Ms. West," he said, noticing I was awake. "How are you feeling?"
"Confused," I admitted, my voice raspy. "What happened?"
"You fainted at work. Your colleagues called for emergency services." He approached slowly, his eyes fixed on mine with an intensity that made me uncomfortable. "I'm Dr. Reeves. Do you mind if I check your eyes?"
Before I could answer, he shined a penlight directly into my right eye, then my left. His sharp intake of breath made my stomach drop.
"What's wrong with me?" I asked, panic rising.
"Your heterochromia... it's exhibiting unusual properties." He seemed to choose his words carefully, but I could see the barely contained excitement in his eyes. "The different colored eyes you were born with aren't just a cosmetic difference. They're... reacting."
"Reacting to what?" My voice trembled.
"That's what we're trying to determine." He set down his penlight and picked up my chart. "Ms. West, I'm going to tell you something unexpected. According to your blood work, you're approximately six weeks pregnant."
What the fuck did he say?
The world seemed to stop spinning. My ears rang with the words as my mind struggled to process them.
"What? No, that's not possible. I mean... I only..." My voice trailed off as realization dawned. Six weeks. The night at the hotel with Brad Rayne. My hand instinctively moved to my stomach as tears welled in my eyes. "Oh my God."
"There's more," Dr. Reeves continued, watching my reaction carefully. "When you were brought in, several werewolf staff members reported feeling unusually drawn to you. Your emotional state seemed to be affecting them on a physiological level. This, combined with the unique energy signature your heterochromia is emitting..."
He stepped back, visibly overwhelmed by his own findings. "I need to consult with the senior medical team immediately. This is... unprecedented."
I watched in a daze as he rushed from the room, my mind a chaotic storm of emotions. Pregnant. With Brad Rayne's child. A human carrying a werewolf baby. What would that even mean? And what was happening with my eyes?
Through the glass wall of my room, I could see Dr. Reeves at the nurses' station, speaking urgently into a phone.
Twenty minutes passed.
Suddenly, the door burst open. Brad Rayne strode in, his powerful presence filling the room instantly. Our eyes met, and a jolt of electricity shot through me – part fear, part something else I didn't want to name. He looked exactly as I remembered: tall, imposing, with those piercing amber eyes that seemed to see right through me.
My chest tightened painfully. Now here he was, about to learn I was carrying his child. I wanted to disappear, to sink through the floor and escape his penetrating gaze.
Behind him followed an elegant older woman I immediately recognized as Elizabeth Rayne, his grandmother and the Chairwoman of the Werewolf Council. Her silver hair was pulled back in a severe bun.
Brad's eyes never left mine, his expression unreadable. But I could feel the tension radiating from him. And that terrified me more.
Elizabeth approached the bed, her piercing gaze examining my face.
"So it's true," she murmured, reaching out as if to touch my face but stopping just short. "A true heterochromatic mate. I never thought I'd see one in my lifetime."
Mate? The word echoed in my head, foreign and frightening. I'd heard whispers about werewolf mates – their version of soulmates, supposedly – but what did that have to do with me?
"Mrs. Rayne," Dr. Reeves said respectfully. "The tests confirm it. Her eyes are beginning to manifest energetic signatures consistent with the ancient texts. And there's more - she's carrying a child."
Elizabeth's eyebrows shot up. "A child? Whose?"
Brad's jaw tightened visibly.
My face burned with humiliation. This can't be happening!
"I think we need to have a private conversation," Elizabeth said finally, her voice sharp with authority. "Doctor, leave us."
As Dr. Reeves hurried out, Elizabeth turned to me.
"Do you know what you are, child? What those eyes of yours mean?"
I shook my head, words failing me. My throat felt too tight to speak.
"You are what our kind calls a 'true mate' - a perfect genetic match for an Alpha werewolf. Those differently colored eyes are an ancient marker, extremely rare. They grant special abilities, particularly the power to influence werewolf emotions and behavior." She leaned closer. "But there's a problem. You're human. True mates are always born werewolves. This hasn't happened in recorded history."
Elizabeth turned to Brad suddenly, her eyes narrowing. "Bradley, explain yourself. How is this human girl carrying what appears to be your child?"
The direct question made me flinch. I couldn't look at Brad, couldn't bear to see his reaction. I stared down at my hands instead, trembling uncontrollably.
What the hell is happening to my life?