When I received the prenatal check-up report at nine months pregnant, I froze outside the examination room. Inside, my mate Carson stood by Alice Pruitt—his first love—stroking her swollen belly with a tenderness he had never shown me.
“Carson, you shouldn’t be here with me… If Brianna finds out, she’ll be furious. She’s about to give birth too. Aren’t you worried?” Alice’s voice quivered with feigned concern, though her eyes glinted with triumph.
Carson pressed a kiss to her belly and replied coldly, “She doesn’t know, and she doesn’t need to. Maybe it’s the hormones, but her emotions have been unstable lately. I don’t want her troubling you.”
My hands trembled around the report. Hormones? Trouble? That’s how he described me—the mate who carried his heir?
Alice lowered her gaze, feigning guilt. “But we can’t keep sneaking around like this. Brianna is about to give birth. If she finds out, I’m afraid she’ll—”