Juniper’s POV:
“Oh my God, is she okay?” I ask, and then we hear the cry of a baby. Relief washes over me at once, and Hiram gets to his feet, sliding the ring into his pocket.
“It’s okay if you don’t…”
Before he can complete his statement, the sound of people screaming and wailing fills the air, causing him to pull the door open at once. We both dash out of the room, and I chase after him as he climbs the stairs hurriedly.
In the hallway leading to Hope’s maternity room, we see a midwife walk past us, clutching the newborn baby whose cries pierce the air, clashing with the cries of the adults. My heart skips a beat, and I know the only reason they are crying is probably because Hope has died.
Hiram makes his way past the servants and then stops in front of the room. There, I see an image that burns raw in my mind. Hollis is lying in the bed, clutching Hope’s lifeless body, her stomach open with her organs lying around. The baby tore through her stomach.
**
It’s been two days since Hope’s death, and the tension in the house has been at its peak. Hollis has been in mourning, and I still can’t get the image I saw out of my head. Hope was an omega, and she stayed almost three days in labor with the aid of the best doctors in the pack, yet the baby killed her. I can’t tell why, but I don’t expect my situation to be any different-no wonder the doctors looked at me with pity when they found out I was pregnant. Worse, Hiram has no clue, and he thinks I don’t want to marry him.
“You have been awfully quiet since the incident,” Hiram says, drawing me back to reality. “I’m sorry you had to see that, and I didn’t intend for you to witness such,” he adds, and I inhale sharply.
“It’s nothing. Bad things happen sometimes, but I guess we have to move on and brace ourselves for what’s coming next,” I say, and he holds his gaze for a while.
“You should get something to eat while I go check on my brother,” he says, then kisses my cheek and makes his way to the door. I remain on the bed for a while, with my thoughts clawing at me.
After a while, I give up and push myself off the bed, rushing after him.
“Hiram,” I call out his name at once, and he stops halfway. I rush up to him and hold his hands.
The lump in my throat threatens to suffocate me, but I swallow it, inhaling deeply again.
“I know you think I don’t want to marry you, but that’s not the case,” I say to him, and he cups my face in his hands.
“It’s okay, June. You don’t need to explain. It’s too soon, and I haven’t proven that I’m worthy of you enough, so there’s no pressure,” he says, and I shake my head, then shut my eyes.
“June, is there a problem?” he asks.
I press his hands tightly before saying the words. “I’m pregnant.”
“What?” My heart skips a beat as the words leave the lips of Holly, and I turn around to see her by the landing of the stairs just in front of us.
She stares at me for a moment, then hands the baby in her arms to the servant behind her.
“Put him in his cot.” With this, she walks past us, making her way downstairs.
My breathing falters, and Hiram holds me tightly, cupping my face in his hands.
“Look at me, love. Focus on me, and breathe.” I nod as he says this, then he presses his lips against mine with his hands descending to my belly. He strokes it.
“I’ll be here through it all, and you will survive it,” he says, and then Holly chuckles bitterly at the bottom of the stairs, diverting our attention to her.
There she stands with a stick of cigarette in her hand.
“She’s pregnant, Mum, and you can’t do that in front of her!” Hiram raises his tone at her, and I grab his hands.
“Raise your tone all you want, boy, but you’re going to kill her faster than a million packs of cigars will.” I swallow hard as she says this. “Didn’t I tell you to stop meddling with human women?” she questions.
“She is my mate!” he barks, and she scoffs.
“That is probably your punishment for abandoning your kind. All you could have done was pray to the Moon Goddess, reject her, and come home to the woman I left for you. I gave you a perfect match, Luna material, and you chose a human. Someone lower than an omega!” she spat.
Her distaste for me broke my heart, and the only reason I’m still standing there is because of Hiram.
“I’m not going to stand here and watch you disrespect my mate!” Hiram shot back.
“Then sit your ass the fuck down, child!” she yells. “I’m only stating facts, but you’ll never see it as a good thing. When your mother speaks, you fucking listen. I warned you hard, but you didn’t listen. Hope was an omega, and you saw what happened to her! We used the best magic, and doctors, yet that baby tore through her. We could only hold it down for a few days, and when she couldn’t bear the pain, the baby overpowered her.”
Hiram is mute when she says this.
“Maybe if you paid attention to your family, you’d realize that alpha babies will tear through the belly of a weaker vessel carrying them. If Hope didn’t make it, then best believe she will be dead on the first day she goes into labor.” Her gaze doesn’t leave mine as she says this.