The Alpha’s Substitute Mate

Isabella

The ride back with Lance was quiet, there was no argument this time about whether or not to get a hotel. Other than frequent stops to relieve my squashed bladder and a few runs through the drive of some of the food restaurants, we drove straight home.

By the time we arrived in front of our new house, I was very uncomfortable and my back hurts but I was happy and relieved to be home.

Violet came out of the front door and grabbed me up in a hug and simultaneously burst into tears. Her words were all garbled and mixed up in her sobs. “Sorry… Arden… scared me… I thought… you weren’t going to come back…”

I hugged her close and then took her by the shoulders, looking into her teary eyes “Of course I came back, Violet. You are my family and best friend.” I sighed and let her help me up the porch stairs and into the house before she left me and ran into Lance’s arms.

Jack greeted me inside. He’d been working on the renovations in the kitchen and he was covered with dust and wood shavings. ” Welcome home, Luna. I’m so sorry, I heard what happened to your husband.” I grabbed him and hugged him with all the dirt and dust. These are my people, my own little pack.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

While the others struggled to bring the luggage inside, I shut myself in the bathroom and ran a bath. My legs were crampy, my back was aching and if I’m being honest with myself my heart hurts. I had left my mate behind. My wolf Sia was furious with me, she kept growling in my mind, wanting to be set free, wanting to be with our mate but I just couldn’t let it go. But deep inside I knew I had done the right thing. This time it wasn’t for my father. Not for the pack. Not for my sisters. Not for my mate. This time around I chose me.

This is not to say, I wasn’t checking my phone a dozen times per hour, hoping for some word from Malcolm. I have left him with my contact and also gave him the address of my new home. But he didn’t call and he didn’t text, so neither did I….

If he didn’t want to get in touch, I won’t force it on him. I picked myself up as the best I could and settled with my new life.

Everyone had settled back, and Lance and Violet had resumed back on their job. Leaving just me in the house alone, I tried using that time to arrange our kitchen by putting in new granite tops and a new stainless sink.

It’s been exactly two weeks since I left Blood Moon pack. I felt unusually weak and queasy. And I stayed back in bed to regain a little strength. Something seems quite strange about my body.

Later in the day, Lance came inside the room, pulled back the blankets, and slid in beside me. He grabbed a hold of me, pulled me up to his chest and I happily buried his face in my neck.

And then he sniffed. And sniffed again. And he then reared back away from me.

“Luna! What is that smell?”

I wasn’t sure of what he was talking about, so I pulled the comforter over my head and curled away from him while trying to smell my body to figure out where the smell was coming from. But I was confused.

” Oh no you don’t know?” He pulled the covers away and stared down at me. ” Bella, you’re pregnant.”

“My werewolf sense of smell could perceive the hormonal change in your blood.” he smiled

“Pregnant?” I swallowed hard, my throat now feeling so dry as a cold sweat formed at the back of my neck I discreetly tried to calculate my cycle and it turned out that I was already three weeks late. I rushed to the cabinet, pulled out a pregnancy strip, and ran into the bathroom to check myself, and for a long dreadful seconds, the result showed positive.

” I’m pregnant. I’m carrying my mate’s little pup!” I shut my eyes, holding back the tears that yearned for freedom, and walked out of the bathroom while holding the strip.

Immediately I entered the room, I sat down on the bed and showed Lance the strip. I wasn’t expecting him to jump off the bed and give me a quick demonstration of his dance moves.

” We’re going to have a baby! We’re going to have a baby! I’m going to be an uncle!” He pounced back on the bed and pulled up my tee a bit to have a look at my stomach but it was still flat.

“Lance, please don’t tell anyone yet. I want to deliver the news first to my mate.” He nodded, smiled, and rubbed my cheeks.

” Anything for you Luna,” he excused himself and left for work. I sighed and looked at my phone, I had to remind myself that it was what it was. I could not make everyone happy. I wasn’t even entirely sure if I had made myself happy either. A part of me felt empty without Malcolm. Like half of me was missing somewhere.

I cursed and rubbed at my mark, which had a way of growing achy when I thought of him.

As I sat on the bed trying to read books and journals about developing a new pack. My mark became more achy, it actually felt hot and a bit feverish to touch.

I was so restless. My legs kept pacing back and forth across the floor of my room. I couldn’t sit still. I had no idea what was going on and my heart kept on racing with the thoughts of Malcolm.

Just then I heard a car pull up in front of the house. I glanced at the clock in surprise. Everyone was at work and they weren’t due back for a few hours.

There was a knock on the door and I came downstairs to answer it. I was holding my phone in one hand as I swung the door open, expecting to see a stranger or maybe a delivery man with a package.

But my head buzzed as I took in the sight of Malcolm standing on the porch. His shoulders were arced, his hands were stuffed in his pant pockets. His hairs were scattered. His shirt was rumpled from the long drive. He looked absolutely delicious. I was so shocked that my hand went slack and my phone clattered to the floor.

” Malcolm”