The Alpha's Underworld Princess

The Baby Book

Anthony

Kassandra's words played in my head over and over again. Was she right? Would being part of the pack, near Wyatt, near all of us, be too dangerous?

'Yes. I keep telling you that.' Xander said, reading my thoughts. I didn't always appreciate that.

'We can't keep her in that cabin forever.' Could we?

'Then we need a plan. You're the smart one here.' He always leaves the complicated things up to me. Why couldn't it be his turn for once.

One thing I thought I might be able to figure out is how to deal with a pregnant woman. I stopped at the bookstore, where there were so many books about it. One of the employees took pity on me and handed me one of the dozens of options. I bought two of them and drove back home.

As soon as I walked into the house, Wyatt grabbed me and threw me against the wall. Letting him hold me there, I looked into his eyes, not backing down. "You gonna let me go?"

"Where the fuck did you take my mate!?" He roared at me.

"You know I can't tell you. She won't let me. So if you want to kill me for it, fine. But you won't find her if you do." He was breathing heavily, about to lose his control. He tried to command me to tell him, but I laughed at him. "Wyatt, get it together. The pack is stressed because you aren't focused, and I am stressed because our luna is freaking out."

"How could you do this to me?"

"You did it to yourself. Until you see that, we don't get to move on." I was over the conversation and pushed him back. He wasn't going to do this to me. Not now. "And if you think this is fun for me, you have not spent an extended period with Kassandra. She's acting completely crazy and is a total bitch. So, for you, I'm going to take her abuse for the next four months. Maybe, at some point, she will want to come back. But if not, find yourself another luna."

"Wait, what?" He grew quiet and controlled.

"She doesn't want to come back, Wyatt. She's too afraid. I will try to convince her otherwise, but if you don't control your temper, I won't be able to do that."

"You can't keep her from me." He threatened me with his aura. I hated when he did that. It was insulting and never worked anyway. I did not find him all that scary. These days he didn't scare me at all.

"So lock me in a cell. Torture me. Do whatever else you are thinking. But it won't change anything. I can't tell you. Physically, I'm incapable of putting the words together. You know that, and I know it. That bitch actually commanded me not to tell you."

"That's insane." He scoffed and pushed me again with almost no force behind it.

"Circling back to your mate, or I should say Felix's mate, is being a crazy bitch right now. Let her calm down." I begged him. "And focus on the pack. I need to go back, or she is alone with your son growing inside her. Is that better?"

"Anthony-" I cut him off, reached into the bag I was holding, and shoved the book into his chest. He took it and looked over the cover. "Maybe spend some time learning about pups. Show you give a fuck."

"I'm not going to read this. I have an army of nannies." He flipped open the book. "And what does this stuff even matter? I won't have to deal with her being pregnant because she won't come home!"

"Okay, many other chapters in there might be useful. So, maybe show her that you respect her decision, and with the next pup, she'll stay. You'll be that much ahead in your education on it."

"You are trying to take her from me." His eyes almost looked red with his anger. "I won't let you do it."

"You are being paranoid."

"You two want to keep it down?" Gale walked up to us. "I'm not sure everyone should be aware our luna ran away."

"Gale's right." I thanked her, and she gave me a very slight nod toward me.

"Now you are on his side?" Wyatt asked his sister and backed her into a corner. "I'm your brother. Not to mention your alpha."

"Like I care about that, Wyatt. We want her to come back. Feel safe. And you are messing that up right now. So go. Fix the pack and yourself and let Anthony do his damn job!" I took that as an opportunity to escape. I found Steven along the way and pulled him into my office. I never actually used it but now seemed like an okay time to start.

"I need you to watch him," I said, pacing around the room. It was so disorganized. Part of me wanted to stop moving and clean it up.

"What do you mean by watch him?" Steven swallowed hard and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down with his nerves.

"I will be... distracted for a few months." I couldn't decide how much to tell Steven about all of this.

"Distracted? A few months?" The subtlety was lost on him.

"Our luna does not want to be here while she is pregnant. So I've been commanded to take her off territory."

"Who commanded you?" He knew the answer, but he wanted me to confirm it.

"She did." He rolled his eyes and cringed. "I can't say where she is or really anything. And Wyatt might torture and kill me if I stay around him too long. And like I said, she shouldn't be alone. So, I will need to spend time away to stay with her. This means that someone must pay attention to what's happening here. That someone is you."

"I know this isn't optional, but I don't want to be involved." He mumbled.

"You think I'm happy about this? Goddess, Kassandra is impossible." I shook my head and ran my hands through my hair, pulling at it. "I think I'm going to go bald with the stress she is creating. She's absolutely manic."

"Sounds fun."

"I just can't stop thinking this is our fault, though. She... she isn't wrong, Steven. We are on pregnancy number three with no heir."

"Then maybe it's for the best? Just for now?" He reasoned. "Even though I might need to start drugging our alpha. He's really not making this easy for anyone either."

"No shit." I clapped him on the shoulder. "Good luck."

"I'm going to need it. But so are you. Probably even more so."

"Maybe she'll kill me, and this hell ends." I laughed at my own joke, and he said, "I don't think you are that lucky."

"Probably not." I left without another word. By the time I informed the patrols I was leaving and packed my stuff, they had to lock Wyatt in his cell again. I didn't bother to visit him. I didn't have the patience for it anymore. He was, at this point, acting like a child.

I drove back to the cabin, and when I got there, Val was asleep. Or Kassandra was. Whatever. Val already did not look good. She almost seemed thinner, and her skin was paler than usual. I lay down on the couch and started reading. Maybe there is something in the book that can help me make sense of all of this.

All the milestones would be accelerated because she was a werewolf. Not to mention, she carried an alpha's pup and was one herself. We are almost two months in; she would probably get four more months. It would be hard to know for a little while. Plus, she was pretty small, which was concerning. Carrying to term would probably take a lot of work.

Ultrasounds once a month are probably out, but there was advice on things to watch for and others to check. Lots of advice on helping with back pain, foot swelling, and breast pain. I don't think I should be even reading those sections. I noted how much weight she was supposed to gain, and I was right. It was way too low already. Now, I'd have to monitor her food intake. How is any of this in the job description?

'I want to do it.' Xander whined. 'I'm worried.'

'Me too.' After reading all the information on the pregnancy part, I fell asleep with the book still in hand. Whether it was in the job description or not, I was now equipped with more knowledge than I ever thought I would have related to being pregnant. Maybe I'll consider it myself once the science catches up.