Page 14 of The Alpha's Heir

“What happened, Eva?” I cuddle into him, tears threatening to engulf me and, even though he is also naked, his embrace is warm and comforting.

“She told me she isn’t ready yet. We have to wait.” He kisses my head to reassure me, but if I am frustrated, surely, he is too.

“Then we will wait. I will wait forever. You and Lina are worth waiting for.”

*** Melanie ***

The past few weeks have been hard, being alone and pregnant. However, seeing my sons more frequently has been a blessing and Ryan's parents, Mr and Mrs Jefferson, have kept in touch with me.

I think they are eager to meet their grandchild, the last gift Ryan left us. It’s a girl. I had a scan just a few days ago to confirm it and I cried the whole night afterwards.

I always wanted a little girl. I want a little best friend and someone to share the more feminine things in life with. My sons are amazing, and they are very much loved and wanted, but there are only so many times I can talk about cars and trains and football.

Ryan left me scars and insecurities, he took the best years of my life and treated me appallingly. And yet, he might have also bestowed the best gift in the world on me too.

My ex-partner came by my home to collect our sons from their visit with me and he knew without me telling him that I was pregnant again. He has been supportive and for a moment, I thought I felt a spark between us, but he quickly backed off and confirmed he had met someone new and he was asking her to marry him.

I smiled and hugged him and told him I was happy for him. Disappointment is my only friend now, but I deserve to be alone. I broke up my family to be with Ryan and they moved on without me. I have to suck it up and accept that Ifucked up.

I leave a couple of messages for Eva, asking her to call me back. I want to share with her that Summer will be getting a little half-sister, thanks to them both sharing Ryan as their biological father.

I hope Eva returns my call soon. Despite everything that went down between us, she is the only person who understands what Ryan was like and we have an unfortunate shared experience at the hands of someone who should have loved us. At this moment, she feels like my only friend.

Sitting on the floor of my spare bedroom, I am trying in vain to set up the baby’s new crib but I am hopeless at DIY and my little girl would be anything but safe in the monstrosity I have made, even though I have followed the instructions to a tee. I just can’t do this on my own.

I call Mr Jefferson, Ryan’s father, who said he would help me out if I needed it, but his number just rings out too.

“I know I said it was just you and me, kid, but for the love of God, there must be someone out there I can talk to and lean on?” I shout to an empty room, all hope starting to fade, when, suddenly, my phone lights up.

Eva is calling. She is returning my call after all.

“Hi, sorry it’s taken a while to get back to you, we had some issues to deal with, you know, with Aiden’s business,” she explains sheepishly, and although I don’t know the ins and outs of Aiden’s business, I know he must be very affluent and important from the way he carries himself, the cars he drives and the way he treats Eva and Summer.

“That’s okay, I was just calling to check in on you and Summer and to let you both know that it’s a girl.” Her pause puts me off my stride. I think I should have handled this more tactfully. After all, the baby in question was conceived during Eva’s marriage to Ryan. Her dead husband is my baby’s father. “Eva, I’ve just realised how insensitive that was. I apologise. I just meant so we could tell Summer.”

“No, that’s okay. I was just a bit shocked. It makes it more real, I suppose. Congratulations, I am glad everything is going well.” She’s going to hang up, but I really need someone to talk to.

“Eva, I need a friend. I have no right to ask you after what I did to you, but I really, really need a friend. Is there any chance you could come for coffee one day or I could come and see you?”

“I’ll try and come and see you soon. I will bring Summer. She will love feeling your bump and hopefully she will get to feel a few kicks too. It’s important that our girls bond.”

Eva says goodbye and I cry again when she does. I am making such a mess of things.

I give up on the crib, I will hire someone to come and build it for me. Right now, I need to work on building myself up, my little girl needs a strong mummy and in my current state, I am going to be as much use as a wet paper bag.

It’s time to stop wallowing. It’s time to pull up my big girl knickers and stop being a mess. I have a little girl on the way, and I need to show her what it means to be a strong, independent woman and to do that, I have to become one. No more crying over stupid things, no more guilt or feeling inadequate.

I deserve better and my baby definitely does too.

*** Aiden ***

Eva was upset after last night, and her phone call this morning also knocked her off her stride. I brought my exquisite mate here to live with me so I could look after her, and I am failing.

The next knock she must endure is the conclusion to Ellis’ trial. She is a tightly wound bundle of nerves right now. I need to get her away from the pack house and the territory for a little while. It must be stifling her.

Preston tries to link me a few times, but I ask that he speaks to me later unless it’s a matter of life and death. He grumbles at me, but I have the trial and my mate to deal with. Plus, our scouts are returning today and they have news about the last known location of my mother. When they called ahead, my bowels felt like they had turned to ice. Why am I so nervous? I just want answers. I just want the truth.

Our sunshine girl wakes up early this morning. She climbs up into our bed and giggles when I tickle her feet. I love that little girl with all my heart. She used to call me Teddy Bear, but over the past week or so it’s begun to change, and of her own accord she started calling me Daddy Bear instead. I have never felt as honoured or as proud. I discussed it with Eva, because I didn’t want her to be upset and I didn’t want to do anything that would be disrespectful.

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