Chapter 6

Skye

The next morning, Skye wakes up and walks downstairs to eat breakfast. Her two boys are already eating their breakfast at the table. “Mama!” Gray says.

“Are you feeling better, mama?” Theo asks.

“Y…yes, a little bit,” she answers. She turns to the housekeeper and greets her. “G…good morning.”

“Good morning, miss,” Alcie answers.

Skye sits down and begins to pick at her breakfast. She manages a few bites before pushing the plate away.“I h…have a d…doctor’s a…appointment soon. Will y…you w…watch the b…boys?”

“Of course, miss.”

“S…Skye, m…my n…name is S…Skye, not m…miss.” Alice looks uncertain. “P…please, I’m n…not c…comfort w…with…”

“Alright, Skye it is.”

“I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Alice gives her a worried look. “Be safe, Skye.”

“I will.” Skye leaves the house and walks to the bus stop. Skye begins to feel nauseous on the way to the hospital. Eventually, the bus drops her off about a block away from the hospital. She walks the rest of the way. By the time she’s there she’s pale and out of breath. She quickly tells the receptionist that she has an appointment with Dr. Graylen then sits down in the lobby.

A few minutes later, Dr. Graylen comes out. “Skye?” she calls out, “Are you here?”

“I’m h…here,” Skye replies weakly.

“Oh dear, you don’t look well at all. Are you able to stand?”

“I d…don’t k…know. I d…don’t f…feel g…good.”

Dr. Graylen bends down and gently lifts the young teenager up. Skye seems startled at first, but eventually relaxes. “That’s it, relax,” Dr. Graylen encourages her, while gently putting her on an examination table.

A nurse comes into the room and draws her blood. “Doctor?” Skye mumbles.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“W…what’s w…wrong with m…me?”

“That’s what you’re here to find out. Now, let’s get a look at your baby. Lift your shirt up please.”

Skye doesn’t argue and lifts her shirt up. Dr. Graylen squirts some gel onto Skye’s stomach and then uses a probe to gently look around. “W…what are y..you d…doing?” Skye whispers.

“I’m doing an ultrasound,” Dr. Graylen answers, “You’ll be able to see your baby.”

“T…that’s possible?”

“Yes, look. It looks like you’re about 12 weeks pregnant.”

Skye looks at the machine that Dr. Graylen is using. She looks back up at her doctor. “I d…don’t understand.”

Dr. Graylen begins to point out the baby’s parts. “And this is…wait a minute.”

Skye looks up at her doctor and asks, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing serious, give me a minute.” Skye continues to look up at Dr. Graylen with a frightened look on her face.

“Twins,” Dr. Graylen finally whispers, “you’re having twins.”

Skye pales. “Are y…you s…sure?”

“Yes, look.” She points at the screen. “This is baby A.” She points at a different area. “And this is baby B.”

Skye whimpers softly, “Is t…that why, I’ve b…been so s…sick?”

“Could be. Were you this sick with your previous pregnancy?”

“Yes.”

“And he didn’t let you see a doctor?”

“N…no.”

“Are your boys identical or fraternal?”

“I…identical, I t…think.”

“Hmm, it seems the twins you’re carrying right now are fraternal.”

“W…what does that m…mean?”

“They’ll have their own appearance and it could be two boys, two girls, or a boy and a girl. Identical twins have the same gender and most likely look similar to one another once they’re born.

“O…oh…” Skye begins to cry again.

“Sweetheart, don’t cry.”

“The A…alpha k…knew about m…my p…pregnancy. He l…left a…after I t…told him who the f….father is.”

Angela’s expression softens. “Sweetheart, I told him about your pregnancy before you were discharged the first time. He didn’t exactly give me much of a choice. He would’ve forced it out of me if he needed to. I also told him that you didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

“W…was he a…angry?”

“No, not when I told him. Who is the father?”

“A…A…Alpha N…Nathan.”

“Ah, that might explain his reaction then. He hates Alpha Nathan.”

“W…why?”

“You’ll have to ask him. It isn’t my story to tell.”

“I h…hate h..him too. H…he b…beat m…me, s…s…screamed at me, and t…took a…ad…advance of m…me. Why w…wouldn’t I h…hate h…him?”

“You and the alpha need to talk to one another.”

“I know. He h…hasn’t c…come home yet.”

“He hasn’t?”

“N…no.”

“Hmm, I have a feeling I know where he is. I’ll take you there after your appointment.”

“O…okay.”

There’s a knock on the door. “Come in,” Dr. Graylen states. The nurse that had taken Skye’s blood when she first arrived comes into the room and hands Dr. Graylen a paper. “Hmm…” Dr. Graylen mumbles as she looks at the paper.

“W…what is i…it?”

“The results of your blood test. It seems you’re anemic.”

Skye looks scared. “I…is that b…bad?”

“Yes, but it’s fixable.”

“What d…does a..anemic mean?”

“It just means you don’t have enough red blood cells. It seems your iron is low. I’d recommend a multimineral supplement from the grocery store. That’ll help with the anemia.”

“O…okay, a…aren’t there i…iron g…gummies?”

“Yes, there are, but a multimineral supplement will work better for you for now. Iron supplements and gummies can cause stomach issues. You have enough of those already. Let’s see now. I can prescribe you some anti-nausea medication and that’ll help with the severe nausea that you’re having.”

“T…there’s m…medicine like t…that?”

“Yes. Another problem is your weight. Are you able to stand? I would like to weigh you.”

“I t…think s..so. I n…need help g…getting d…down.”

“Give me your hands.” Dr. Graylen gently takes Skye’s hands and helps her off the examination table. Once Skye is off the examination table, she slowly limps towards the scale. She carefully stands on the scale and allows Dr. Graylen to look at the numbers. Dr. Graylen sighs and says, “Sweetheart, you’re underweight. You need to eat more.”

“I’m t…trying to,” Skye whispers, “I j…just can’t eat t…too much at a t…time….”

“Or you’ll make yourself sick?”

“Y…yes, w…when I w…was….w…when I w…was at the o…other p…pack…”

Dr. Graylen waits quietly for Skye to tell her. “I already know,” she thinks, “I already know what she’s going to say.” She closes her eyes and continues to listen to Skye.

“...he d…didn’t…he w….wouldn’t let me....e…eat.”

“He didn’t feed you, at all?”

“N…no…”

“How…what did you eat?”

“S…sometimes, one of the h…higher r…ranking w…wolves w…would s…sneak f…food to m…me, b…but m…mostly I f…foraged in the f…forest.”

Dr. Graylen looks horrified. “How would you know what was safe and what wasn’t?”

“T…the l…library. I h…have a j…journal t…that h…has w…what I can eat and w…what I can’t eat.”

Dr. Graylen sighs again. “You need to start keeping track of what and how much you eat each day. If you don’t start gaining weight, it’ll be bad for your babies.”

“I know. I’m t…trying i…really.”

“Please try and eat several small meals throughout the day. That way you’ll be able to keep food down and gain weight.”

“O..okay, I’ll try.”

“Now, then let’s go and see if Alpha is where I think he is.”

“O…okay.”

Skye follows Dr. Graylen out of the hospital, and to her car. She’s quiet as Dr. Graylen drives towards their destination.