Accidental Surrogate for Alpha novel Chapter 98

Sinclair

When I arrive at Lydia’s hotel, I’m still thinking about Ella.

We’ve been doing well over the last two weeks, keeping our relationship affectionate but resisting our shared desires as best we can. So far we’ve been able to avoid getting more intimate than we’d already become before the doctor ordered bed rest, but the sexual tension is still building – and the suggestion that Ella could be less irresistible is nothing short of ridiculous.

What’s more, the baby is making her more wolf-like every day, and I’m worried our restraint can’t last much longer. Her efforts to scent mark me today made that only too obvious. Before long she’s going to start pushing me like any she-wolf denied her needs, either challenging my dominance or seducing me outright. It will be up to me to resist, even though denying her needs goes against my every instinct.

I know we made the right decision about staying just friends, especially since I’ve already let my attraction to Ella distract me from the campaign more than once. I was so preoccupied with the beautiful human that I missed rogues pouring into my borders, and it cost the pack dearly. I got drugged and apparently bred like a prize stud because I was too busy gushing about her to a pack of bar flies than keeping my guard up.

None of that is to mention the harm I’m doing to Ella and our baby by keeping her in this fraudulent political game. I need to confirm Lydia’s pregnancy or find another Luna – and whomever I choose would never accept me having a relationship with Ella in private. That means we have to find a way to be together without romance getting in the way, and so far we’re failing. I’m failing her – again.

I knock on the door of Lydia’s room, trying to push down memories of the last time I was here. I can’t decide how I feel about this supposed pregnancy. On one hand, the last thing I want is to have Lydia back in my life. On the other, a baby born from her would solve some of my problems – the pack would accept me returning to my fated mate more easily than they would understand me leaving Ella for another woman.

Still, I can’t help but thinking the best solution to all this would be to find a she-wolf to be my Luna after the campaign, and to keep Rafe as my heir. That way we avoid Lydia’s awfulness, while still giving Ella the safety and comfort she deserves.

Before I can consider the idea further, the door swings open, revealing Lydia in a hotel bathrobe. She’s wearing a knowing smirk, and her dark hair is still wet from the shower. “Dominic, I’ve been expecting you.” She preens, dropping her hand to her belly. “Or should I call you Daddy?”

My wolf gags in my head, and I can’t blame him. It amazes me to know how attractive I once found this woman. The idiocy of youth, I suppose, and the cruel tricks of fate.

I promptly scent the air, pushing past the fragrant soaps and shampoos lingering on her skin. I can smell her familiar, distinct aroma: the cloying combination of lemon and pine. At one time it had smelled natural and fresh to me, now it just reminds me of floor cleaner. I can’t smell a pup in her womb, which doesn’t mean she isn’t breeding, but it does mean the child doesn’t belong to me.

I could smell Rafe from down the hall when Ella was only ten days along, but it’s been two weeks since the apparent conception and I can’t detect a single hint of my own essence in Lydia.

“Nice try, Lydia, but if you are pregnant, it’s not mine.” I announce, overflowing with triumphant glee.

“What. How can you say that!?” She exclaims. “I’m not some slut, Dominic, I don’t sleep with just anyone.”

Belatedly I realize she must not understand how quickly the bond between a father and pup forms. She probably thought she had plenty of time to figure out how to pass of the child as mine, or to conceive one for real.

Her eyes blaze, glowing with her inner wolf. There’s anger reflected in her dark irises, but also a world of pain. “Of course I am. How many times did you even fuck her before she got pregnant? Once? Some sluts just open their legs and magically conceive, while the rest of us struggle for years.”

“You don’t know Ella.” I growl. “It wasn’t like that, and it hasn’t been easy for her.” For one moment, I allow myself to feel for her, for this she-wolf who I spent so many years trying to make a family with. Our disappointment and failure was shared for so long, at a time when we both felt like our bodies were betraying us – neither able to fulfill their core function of procreation. I’ve moved past that now, but I know Lydia is still living it. “It’s not your fault that we couldn’t get pregnant, and I would never – never blame you for that.” I begin.

Tears well in Lydia’s eyes, and she interrupts me before I can continue.. “You say it’s not my fault, but the truth is that it was. You knocked Ella up without even trying, didn’t you? That means that I was the problem all along.”

“I’m sorry, Lydia.” I profess, surprised to find I mean it. “But that’s not why she’s better. The difference is that Ella is good and kind, and she only ever wanted to be a mother because she has so much love to give– not because it was a way for her to secure power. I know that doesn’t make failing easier, but Ella is truly worthy of being a Luna because she will selflessly sacrifice herself for her people or her family, and you never would.”

“I don’t need to be pregnant to ruin you.” Lydia threatens, tears spilling down her cheeks. “If the pack finds out you spent the night with me it won’t matter – they’ll turn on you all the same.” Something truly bitter enters he voice now, and I suddenly realize the depth of her hatred for Ella. “She won them over so easily. She just batted her lashes and they fell at her feet, just like you. They’ll take her side if the story comes out, even though you’ve been Alpha for years.”

“So what? You’re going to hold a press conference?” I growl.

“I’ll leak the story to the papers.” She corrects me fiercely. “And they’ll believe me, because I have the photographs. I have proof. I’ll end your campaign once and for all.”