Chapter 13

"Sit," Sebastian commands while taking his own seat.

If I were being honest, this felt a lot like being summoned to the principal's office. I was anxious and I couldn't sit still; I kept shifting in nervousness.

Sebastian looked like he was freshly out of the shower. His hair was still damp, and for the first time since I met him, he was in casual clothing. He was in a V-neck T-shirt that showcased his bulging biceps and a pair of jeans. The clothes didn’t do him justice, but I still had to admit that he looked good both with clothes and without.

“You haven't been here a day and you're already causing trouble,” he states. His voice is firm, and it brings me from my perusal of his body. I sit up straight, feeling chastised.

I cross and then uncross my legs. “In my defense, she was being a bitch.”

“Really? You weren't the one I found on the floor with a broken and bleeding nose.”

I stare at him. My emotions are raging between being angry and slapping him across the cheek. So he was defending his fuck buddy; how nice to know where his loyalties lay.

I sigh. “What do you want me to do, Sebastian? Just take it while the woman you've been fucking mocks me and tells me that by the end of today it's her name you'll be moaning?”

He doesn't say anything, just looks at me intensely while deep down I hope that what the woman said wasn't true and that Sebastian will remain faithful like we had agreed. I refuse to be made a fool twice by a man who's sworn fidelity.

“I know this mating is a contract only, like you keep reminding me, but I'll be damned if I let a slut that spreads her legs for you disrespect me. As long as we're in this contract, I'm still Luna of the pack, and she'll give me the respect I deserve or she'll pay for it,” I grit. “She may be on her back for you like the hoe she is, but I'm the Luna. She should fucking remember her place.”

He just smirks, making me want to smack the silly grin off his face.

"For the record, she doesn't lie on her back," he says, and I begin to relax—that’s until he adds, "She's usually on all fours," he says with an evil glint.

"You arrogant fucking bastard," I snarl, almost coming out of my seat.

How the hell does he rile me up so easily?

“Calm down, kitten. No need to bring out the claws,” he says with a chuckle.

It is then that I realize that I wasn't really in trouble. In fact, I felt like I had just passed a test or something. He leans back in his chair. One of his hands drums on the table while the other was underneath it. Why the hell did I find that so sexy? And why is his scent so intoxicating all of a sudden?

He smelled clean and fresh, but underneath that, he smelled like earth, spice, and was incredibly male. I liked that a lot. Darren always covered himself with cologne, blocking out his natural scent, and I hated that. The fact that Sebastian saw no need to bathe in expensive colognes did something unnerving to me.

"You were testing me, weren't you?” I ask, bringing my mind back to the present.

He smiles for the first time. I'm shocked to see a dimple appear on his left cheek. “Of course. I had to see what you would do if you were placed in such a situation where you needed to defend yourself to me. I may like my women submissive, but I prefer my Luna having a backbone to not only stand up to me but anyone else in the pack.”

I sag in my chair in relief that I haven't blown my chances. I was worried that I had overstepped my boundaries. In Darren's pack, I wasn't allowed to punish anyone even if they had been disrespectful, as per Darren's orders. I never realized that his order had been a disrespect to me as his Luna and mate until now.

I was never his equal like I had thought so many times. I was just too in love, too blinded to see the red flags that were in neon lights. With Sebastian, it was different. For the first time, I felt like an equal and not like a trophy Luna.

“Thank you,” I say softly, fighting back the tears. He will never know just how much this meant to me. He looked at me in question, but I don't elaborate on what the thanks was for. Our stare-down is interrupted when the door opens and Micah walks in.

“The pack doctor is here. He's ready to check Miranda,” he says, looking at Sebastian before turning to me.

“You've made quite the impression, Luna. Even the warriors can't stop talking about how badass you are,” he states, smiling at me like he was a proud father.

I laugh, feeling pride coursing through my veins. “Thanks.”

"Can we now go?” Sebastian says, back to being in a somber mood.

The smile that was on my face slips and I nod. We follow Micah out, and soon we're in their pack dungeon. Miranda was shackled to the floor; the arrogant, beautiful woman I was used to was now gone.

We find Darren, Claire, and Brent waiting together with a man who I assumed was the doctor. He looked around fifty. His hair was already greying. For a man that age, he seemed to be fit and in great shape, not to mention hot—that's if you were into older guys.

“Alpha, Luna,” he greets Sebastian and me.

Darren turns sharply at that and something akin to pain passes through his eyes. I wrench my eyes from him, choosing to focus on the doctor.

Claire leaves her mate and comes to stand next to me, taking my hand and squeezing it in support. I didn't have to fake the worried mate because I was in fact worried. If there was a baby and it turned out to be Sebastian's, then it would change everything. Brent gives me a nod of acknowledgment and I smile at him; after all, I have no beef with him. He was among the very few of Darren's friends who had been against him going back to Miranda.

“Let's just get this over and done with,” Sebastian says through clenched teeth.

This must be hard for him. I wanted to show him my support, so I wrap my hand around his forearm and squeeze, communicating my support without words. He looks down at me, his eyes a bit vulnerable. He seemed surprised, but he’s good at masking it.

He pulls his hand from mine and for a moment I think he’s rejecting me, but then he does the most unexpected thing: he clasps my hand and links our fingers together. The jolt that I get straight to my core is both unexpected as it is unwelcomed. I shove that feeling deep down, refusing to analyze the reason my core clenched at feeling his hand in mine.

Micah opens the dungeon and the doctor enters. Miranda had been quiet the whole time—that's until the doctor started to approach her.

"You can't do this to me. This is a breach of my privacy,” she screams.

“Like you breached Sebastian's privacy? What a hypocrite,” I ask her, making her clamp her mouth shut.

While the doctor draws her blood samples and gives her privacy to pee in a cup, Darren approaches us.

"We need to talk, Lauren,” he says, his eyes darting between me and Sebastian then to our linked hands.

Sebastian squeezes my hand and my eyes move to him. His jaw is set and he was staring at where the doctor had set up a workstation, so I chalked that up to an involuntary squeeze or nervousness. My eyes go back to Darren. “There's nothing for us to talk about, and I doubt there's anything I want to hear that comes from your mouth.”

He sighs as if he’s tired. “Then can you take Krystal for a few days? I don't think I'm in the right frame to stay with her after what happened.”

You can hear the pain and heartache in his voice. Miranda really did a number on him. We tried warning him and he didn't listen. Karma is a nasty bitch. He broke my heart and, in turn, Miranda broke his. Again.

I nod my head just as the doctor comes to us. Everyone gathers around in abated breaths, waiting to hear what he has to say.

“She's pregnant, my Alpha,” he says, addressing Sebastian.

I turn to look at Miranda and she smiles triumphantly as if she’s won. “I already told you I was. This is your child I'm carrying, Sebastian.”

With each word she says, Darren looks like he’s been hit by a wrecking ball. I hope now he knows how I felt each time he broke me and destroyed me with his words.

I look back at the doctor when he opens his mouth to speak again.

“I can't say how far along she is though, since I don't have the necessary equipment with me.”

"At this stage, is it possible to do a DNA test?” Sebastian asks, his voice calm.

We all ignore Miranda's shouts of protest, focusing instead on what the doctor was about to say. "Yes. We can do a prenatal paternity test. We will conduct a fetal cell analysis, comparing the genetic profile of the fetal cells in her blood with that of yours.”

Sebastian runs a hand through his hair. “Do it,” he commands, and the doctor nods his head, turning towards the cell.

“No!” Miranda refuses, backing away, but Micah advances and holds her down while she thrashes, screaming all sorts of curses all the while the nice doctor draws her blood.

This whole scene makes me think. If truly she was sure that Sebastian was the father, then why the hell was she so against a paternity test? Either she wasn't sure and she was afraid Sebastian wasn't the father, or she already knew that the child wasn't Sebastian's.

“I'll need to take a DNA sample from you too,” the doctor says, walking toward us. Sebastian gives his consent and the doctor draws his blood.

“I also want you to take my sample. I need to know if the baby is mine,” Darren says, shocking me. Within a few minutes, the doctor has all he needs to determine if either of them is the father of Miranda's child.

“The results will be out in a week. I'll email you the results once I get them.” He bows his head and leaves just as Miles closes the cell door of Miranda's new home.

This was honestly going to be a long week of waiting.