Alpha’s Baby(73)

I averted my gaze from his accusing eyes. In a way, I felt bad for him. The baby was both of ours, and therefore, he had a say in what we should have told our parents, whether we should have kept the last part of our lie going. My admission of guilt robbed him of that.

I was tired of it, though. There was no way I could’ve had a healthy pregnancy with the stress of all the lies weighing me down.

I just prayed that when it was all over, Stefan didn’t hate me for it.

“Cut it out, the both of you!” Emma snapped over our raging parents, quieting them. “All that yelling isn’t going to solve a thing. The poor girl is obviously traumatized and in a fragile state.” She turned her cool gaze on me, and once again, I was filled with surprise at how calm she was considering the mega-fuck bomb I’d just dropped. In a soothing, calming voice, she asked, “How did this happen, Bella?”

I told them everything—about the sorority contest, the Sacrifice, and the mistaken identity that caused Stefan and me to sleep together, and then, finally, about the school’s investigation.

“And that’s why we left,” I said as I got done. “We’d caused too much trouble on campus with the fight Stefan had with his frat brother, and the rumors were getting too much to bear. A bunch of the frat boys really were harassing me though.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” my mother wailed when I was done with my tale, clutching at her hair in despair. “Tell me this is all some kind of sick joke? Please! How in the hell could you and Stefan have not recognized each other?”

The same way you didn’t recognize us fucking on the TV screen at the party, I thought. You didn’t want to believe it.

“I don’t know,” I said weakly.

“Well you had better fucking find out!” Terry snapped, still rubbing at his throat. His face was livid as he glanced back and forth between me and Stefan. I don’t think I could remember a time Terry had ever been this mad at me before. “Because I don’t want to believe that either of you knowingly did this.”

Shivering, I glanced over at Stefan for help. He had his jaw clenched, a sign that he was about to boil over. I feared that if things kept escalating, he’d wind up back rolling on the floor with Terry, trading blows, and this time, none of us would be able to stop it.

“No, Terry. I can only tell you that I’ve always loved Stefan,” I said, somehow finding strength inside me. Now that I’d revealed our secret, it was like a floodgate had been opened inside me, and I couldn’t stop talking, whether they were mad or not. “For a very long time now. I fought against it as hard as I could, but it’s true.”

My mother’s gaze flickered back and forth between her mother and Terry. “Are you guys hearing this?” she demanded incredulously. She looked back at me, a sick look on her face. “Is this some kind of rebellious game you’re playing, Bella? Please, please tell me it is, because I can’t imagine what I have done to deserve this.”

My mother shook her head in denial, and despite the situation, I held in a laugh. My mother spoke as if our actions hurt only her and not Terry too. “You can’t really be pregnant. I can’t believe it. I can’t. Did Bella force all of this on you, Stefan? Is this all some sort of scheme she made up to get back at me?”

Anger welled up within me. I resented the insinuation that all of this was my fault, that I’d somehow seduced Stefan and made him my slave who would do anything I said. As if I really wanted this clusterfuck in my life right now. I mean, who would?

Get over yourself, Mom.

My mother stared at her stepson expectantly, a hopeful look on her face.

Stefan returned her gaze with his arms crossed across his powerful chest, his gaze unflinching.

“Stefan?” Terry asked, finally letting go of his throat. The redness Stefan had caused by choking him was finally going away, but it looked like he was ready to fight again. “Answer your stepmother.”

“No,” Stefan said finally. “None of this was Bella’s idea. I made her lie to you both about everything.” He glanced over at me and swallowed. “And I feel the same way about her. I love her. I always have.”

All hope in my mother’s face died and she doubled over as if she’d been punched in the stomach, twisting slightly to the side. “Good God, Terry, they’re killing me.”

Fire raged in Terry’s eyes as he appraised Stefan and me with fury. “I paid good money to see you both off to college,” he growled, his voice low and threatening, “and this is how you repay me? Look at all the mess you two have created for our family!”