Chapter 5

The next day at ten in the morning, Ethan appeared at the door of my rented studio.

"I know."

He stood outside, his expression complex—not quite angry, more like a condescending helplessness.

"Know what?"

"About your pregnancy. Zoey told me."

She didn't keep her promise after all.

Ethan walked in and looked around the room—less than a hundred square feet—and frowned.

"Emily, what are you planning to do with this child?"

"Have it."

"Have it and then what?" His voice rose slightly. "You make three thousand a month. You can barely support yourself."

"You don't need to worry about my business."

"I'm worried about my own business."

Ethan sat on the only plastic chair, hands clasped together. "Zoey's pregnant too. You know that, right? She's earlier than you—already seven weeks."

"She showed me the ultrasound report."

"Right." Ethan nodded. "I'll be direct. My first child should be with Zoey. Yours isn't appropriate."

"Ethan, are you sure you want me to abort your child?"

"We're already divorced. Even if this child is born, it'll be a single-parent family. That's not good for anyone." He stood up. "Terminate it. I'll pay for the procedure and recovery costs. Is fifty thousand enough?"

The door was pushed open from outside.

Lily.

She walked in carrying a plastic bag and looked around.

"This is where you're living?" Lily set the plastic bag on the table. "There's twenty thousand dollars in there for the abortion. With Ethan's thirty thousand, that's fifty total. Enough for you to start fresh."

"I said I'm keeping the child."

Lily's face darkened.

"Emily, don't be ungrateful. You know what Zoey's family is like. She's Ethan's legitimate wife. You're carrying a bastard..."

"This isn't a bastard. It's Ethan's child."

"If my son doesn't acknowledge it, then it isn't." Lily's voice got louder. "Do you think having a baby means you can cling to our family?"

Ethan didn't stop his mother. He leaned against the wall looking at his phone.

"Emily, I'll say this one last time." Ethan didn't look up. "Terminate the pregnancy and we'll part on good terms. If you don't, I'll go to court and request a paternity test to fight for custody. I have a house and a company. You have nothing. The court will award me the child."

"And then I'll give the child to Zoey to raise."

Let Zoey raise my child.

That sentence was like a knife, stabbing in precisely.

Lily pushed me. "Did you hear that? Don't think pregnancy gives you leverage. You're nothing in front of us."

Ethan's phone screen lit up. A message from Zoey popped up. I caught a glimpse of the text:

[Ethan, did you handle it? I bought your favorite cheesecake.]

Ethan replied, locked the screen, looked up at me, waiting for my answer.

Lily stood to the side with her arms crossed, like a supervisor.

I touched my belly.

This child would be the next Alpha heir of Moonridge pack after me. The child the entire pack had waited over a decade for.

Ethan wanted to fight for custody? He had no idea who he was challenging.

I pulled out my phone and found a number I hadn't called in three years.

I dialed. It was answered after one ring.

"Dad, come get me. I'm pregnant."

Ethan and Lily both looked at me.

My dad's voice came through the phone—calm, but every word carried undeniable weight.

"Give me twenty minutes."

He hung up.

Ethan frowned. "Who did you call?"

"My dad."

Lily scoffed. "Your dad? Didn't you say your dad was farming in the countryside? You're calling some old farmer to back you up?"

I put my phone back in my pocket.

"Ethan, you just said you'd fight for custody."

"Right."

"Fine. Then wait."