Chapter 62
It looked like a bird’s nest.
“Did I do that?”
Just as she had crawled out, the clothes inside the wardrobe were strewn in a loose circle, enclosing the spot where she had curled up. And from the fabric was an unmistakable forest scent lingered thick in the air.
“Omegas… gather an Alpha’s pheromones…”
Marie had studied the Alpha-Omega dynamic thoroughly. Even if her own heat cycle had never arrived, she’d always believed that understanding the theory was essential as ignorance could be dangerous later.
‘Oh my lord.’
Among the facts she’d learned were details about how an Omega changes… when expecting.
A pregnant Omega craved the Alpha’s pheromones constantly. Sometimes, the craving turned destructive — obsessive even.
If it became too severe, it could even turn into self-harm. Some Omegas filled their space with anything that bore the Alpha’s scent.
Just like this. Just like what she was seeing now.
“…That’s impossible.”
Marie clamped her hands over her mouth.
“Could it be that night? Was that… really a heat?”
Her heart raced in growing alarm. Her unhelpfully sharp mind had already started assembling the puzzle — efficiently, ruthlessly, and without giving her time to panic.
‘Was it because I kept receiving his pheromones? Did they change something in me? Did that trigger a heat cycle?’
Pregnancy. It was possible. Highly unlikely, yes, but not impossible. In theory, it made sense.
The pheromones of an ultra-dominant Alpha were still a mystery — barely studied, almost mythical. If they had somehow stimulated her damaged pheromone glands… If they had caused some reaction that changed her.
Then it was him. His pheromones had done this to her.
Face pale as paper, Marie slowly wrapped her arms around her abdomen. Her knees threatened to give way beneath her.
“Am I really pregnant…?”
For sensitive Omegas, early symptoms could appear within a week or two. So if the heat she’d experienced that night had truly been a cycle, then yes, the possibility was real. Very real.
‘Oh.’
As the fear began to fade, the first emotion that rose was, oddly enough, joy. Not just relief. Not even calm. Elation. His child.
‘Mine and his.’
The thought that she might be carrying the child of the man she’d come to long for filled her, briefly, with a radiant happiness.
But like a shooting star falling out of the sky, that joy quickly dimmed and collapsed into despair. Her vision blurred, darkened.
‘A child he never asked for. A child born of an accident…’
They weren’t a pair who could greet this news with shared smiles. Not like that. Not yet.
Marie’s gaze trembled.
‘No. No, I can’t.’
If she truly was pregnant, would Russell be happy?
The answer surfaced before she could even finish the question.
‘No.’
He’d be furious. Even just imagining it made her feel anxious. Her thoughts turned hazy, unstable, like crashing waves. She felt cast out to sea, lost adrift.
Even when she spun through every possible outcome, there wasn’t a single version in which Russell welcomed this child.
Marie stared blankly ahead.
Then what should I do? Stay here, as if nothing happened? Should I… get rid of it?
Get rid of it?
No. No, I can’t bear that—
Her mind reeling, Marie clung to the only thing she could do right now.
She hurried to restore the wardrobe to its original state, checking carefully to make sure no scent, no trace of pheromones lingered.
Then she slipped out of his room.
Once in her own quarters, she folded her clothes as if nothing were amiss, then stood before the mirror and looked at herself.
She saw her own haggard face.
She slapped her cheek with a sharp smack. A bit of clarity returned.
Right. I was getting ahead of myself. The nesting instinct wasn’t definitive proof of pregnancy. There was no need to panic prematurely.
“It might not be. That’s why I have to check first. Even if I am pregnant… this wasn’t something I did alone.”
A flood of gloomy thoughts still shook her. But if her suspicion turned out to be true, she wanted to see how Russell would react.
“Okay. First, I’ll confirm it. Then, I’ll tell him.”
This wasn’t a burden she should carry alone. He deserved to know too.
Russell was a frightening man, but… he wasn’t that heartless or irresponsible. She wanted to believe in the character of the man she had come to love.
Marie stood up, determined to find someone she could ask for help. She could think about the rest later.
‘The palace physician is too risky. Word might get out.’
The first person that came to mind was, naturally, Russell himself — the one who had been involved. But she didn’t want to act recklessly before confirming the truth. Which left only one person she could reasonably reach out to. She felt terribly sorry to drag him into something like this, but…
‘Ryan.’
The person who had once said they were now friends.
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