-Willow-I sipped that awful tea again, feeling less inclined to drink it, but I couldn’t get my mother’s words out of my head. I knew Cain just didn’t want to lose me, but I wondered how he would really react if I either lost the pup or if it came out to be a girl. My nervousness was killing me, and I was starting to feel a slight turn in my stomach as if I should throw up, but nothing was coming up through my throat yet. The tea wasn’t making it easier. Though the powder had no taste, it still felt like drinking acid because I knew something was in the tea that was trying to alter my body. It didn’t feel good, and it took me ages to drink it this time. When I was done, I went to find Cain and Henry, who were both working in the office. I had taken a small break from the work to go drink the tea, and when I came back, they were almost arguing, which surprised me since they never seemed to argue. I looked confused between them, but they didn’t even notice me.“What is going on?” I ask

-Cain- I was tapping my foot against the white, smooth floor as my family’s pack doctor, Paxton, was putting the powder through testing. I watched the machine work while he typed away on the computer. He was a fucking genius, so I knew he was the right one to ask, and he had a horrible work addiction, so he never slept either. It didn’t matter; I had come late at night asking him to examine that powder. He was more than up for the challenge. “Where did you say you got this?” he asked. “My mate…” “What?” he asked, turning to me. "She... her mother gave it to her, telling her that it could somehow ensure she and I had a boy,” I explained. “And she really wants a boy?” “My mate or her mother?” “Your mate,” he said. I shrugged. “I don’t think it’s actually that important to her, but her mother and everyone else are pressuring her into thinking it is.” “I see,” he said, nodding a little as he understood the world we came from. He had, after all, been keeping this pack treated and

-Cain- I watched as Willow walked into our bedroom, only to go to the bed and slip underneath the covers again, hiding from the world. I sighed. I had hoped I had made her feel better, but clearly this was going to take some more work. I walked over to the clump on the bed and sat down. I reached out, touching what I believed was her hip, and stroked it. “I thought we had already cleared everything up. You’re not a bad mother, Willow,” I told her. “We cleared everything up,” she confirmed, yet her voice was low and without feeling. “Then why are you hiding?” “Because it’s better under here.” Her words worried me. I didn’t want her to think hiding away was better. I slipped off my jacket and shirt before I moved underneath the covers to find Willow there. I grabbed her and brought her to me, and we both sighed when our bodies were pressed together. “It’s not better under here,” I told her. “It’s nice, but not better.” “I like it here." “No, you’re spiraling into a dark hole, an

-Willow- The dinner went rather smoothly, or as smoothly as it probably could go. I did notice many were intrigued by Cain’s attentive behavior. If he thought I hadn’t eaten enough, he would encourage me to eat more, and he would take every opportunity he could get to touch me or kiss me. No one had seen that side of him, and I believed it was working well in his favor. Cain was probably not thinking about how it showed him in a better light when he was being attentive, but I noticed the way people whispered and pointed. They were impressed. Once dessert arrived, I noticed Cain’s hand had come to rest dangerously high on my thigh. My dress was long, so he couldn’t touch me or slip his hand underneath, but I felt the promise in his touch. He was getting impatient to have me again, and it warmed my body knowing that. “Cain, dessert,” I pointed out when he would rather stare at me than taste the delicious ice cream and red velvet cake in front of us. Cain leaned closer to me as I scoo

-Cain- “You have gone too far!” my father yelled, throwing the glass in his hand across the room and hitting the wall behind me. I was still trying to recover from last night. My head felt double the size and was throbbing. I could barely focus on my father’s anger, and I knew I just had to sit it through, waiting for it all to be over, so I could go back to my room and sleep it off. I couldn’t even remember what I had drunk or taken or how many I had bedded. All I knew was that the light was so sharp in my eyes that I had to wear sunglasses, and my father’s voice was making my ears ring. I couldn’t even hear what he was saying. I was leaning to the side, resting my head in my hand, and half-asleep as he kept yelling at me. My brother, for some reason, looked fine, yet the way he wasn’t quite able to look at me made me think he understood how serious this was better than me. But maybe he could hear our father’s voice. It was just so loud that my ears refused to turn it into an underst