Chapter 8

Astrid's POV When I got to the Crimson Moon pack hospital with Beta Nathan, I was more than confused. What exactly had Alpha Jaxon meant by the list and why did he want a doctor to see me? The injury on my cheek was already healed. I might not have a wolf but I could heal even though it was way slower than a regular wolf's. The doctor seemed pleasant at least. "I am Rachel and in your time here as your time here as a surrogate, I will be your guide and confidante." I looked at the smiling doctor with cropped blond hair and almost angelic blue eyes. My supposed confidante. She was from the Crimson Moon Pack and ultimately one of Alpha Jaxon's people. I couldn't trust anyone but myself here. She turned to face Beta Nathan who seemed to stand straighter under her gaze. "Wait outside the clinic and give this to the Alpha." Rachel handed him an envelope. Beta Nathan accepted it and gave me what I assumed was a don't misbehave look before walking away. I turned back to you the doctor. Had she sent him away so that I could feel more comfortable? "When you said confidante, did you really mean it?" Rachel smiled wider, her face a picture of serenity as she hooked my arm with hers. "Of course, I intend to help you along with everything I possibly can." She escorted me into a room still speaking. "To carry a child, your mind must be at peace, your body fully rested and primed on your goal." Right. Just in case I had forgotten my primary objective here. Being Alpha Jaxon's surrogate and giving him an heir as quickly as possible. The room had a bed and numerous sterile equipment that instantly made me feel nervous. Rachel at least allowed me to change behind a dressing screen even though she stood right in front of it and spoke to me while I dressed. I didn't know if it was because she was trying to get me familiarized with her or because she didn't want me to escape. I stepped away from the dressing screen wearing the extremely thin hospital gown feeling exposed in more than one way. "Do—Rachel… I've not done anything like this before." Hospital check ups that weren't critical weren't in the cards for omegas at least not in the Moonshadow pack so I didn't even know what to expect from a female examination. Rachel seemed to misunderstand me though as she laughed and waved away my concerns. "Don't worry, getting pregnant isn't as scary as it seems. It also helps when the sex itself is good." My cheeks burned and I was almost sure that even my neck was on fire. Was she always so blunt? But then again from the little moment we had in the car, I knew that sex wouldn't be a problem for us. That quickly, I was back in the car with Alpha Jaxon touching me so expertly, I thought of his lips on my skin— I shook my head as though that would get rid of all the nonsense in my head. I noticed Rachel staring at me as though waiting for a response to her earlier words. "I… I don't know what to say to that." She smiled at me as though I had said just the right thing. "You don't have to say anything. Just relax and let me work." Rachel ushered me to the bed and a nurse, Matilda, came in. Then she began to work. And when I say work, I mean lots of it. To say that at the end of it, all I felt disvirgined wouldn't be a stretch. They took my blood, took several vaginal swabs, poked me with something that felt cold and slightly uncomfortable and Rachel also gave me a breast examination. Throughout, she told me everything they were about to do before they did it and asked me questions like if I was okay and if I needed to take a break. I didn't take any breaks because I wanted it to be done with as quickly as quickly as possible. Then finally she was done and proceeded to ask me weird questions like when I had my last period, confirming my virginity. After I returned from changing, Rachel told me my verdict. "You are fertile and your ovulation days fall in a week's time after Freya and before Kiara." A tension that I didn't realize was within me relaxed. In our examination, I had gotten a brief and effective sex education lecture that I had soaked up like a sponge. Ovulation days were my most fertile days so those were the only days that Alpha Jaxon would touch me. "So I will not have sex with Alpha Jaxon till next week." It was good. I would have some time to prepare myself for opening myself to a man who was practically a stranger to me. It was going to be purely transactional. I would get money and protection and he would get his child. Then something hit me. I looked at Rachel questioningly. "Who are Freya and Kiara?" She seemed surprised by my question. "You don't know? Like you, they are Alpha Jaxon's surrogate." The list. Finally, I understood it. What an arrogant prick. Just because he was so powerful didn't mean he should keep an entire surrogate harem. Another thought came up in my mind. "If he already has so many surrogates, why does he need me?" "He might have surrogates but he has no children." I blinked at Rachel confused. Was this the catch? I thought that an Alpha having surrogates to have his children instead of his mate was weird enough, paying them 50,000 USD was weirder. Was it because he was unable to have children? Would I never leave this place? Rachel seemed to read the fear on my face and she patted my hand assuredly. "I assure you that he is physically fit in every way possible and can father a child but the Goddess has not seen fit to give him one just yet." But I was not assured. If the Goddess hadn't seen fit to bless him yet what made me different from the other surrogates? When would I be able to leave this place? "****** Alpha Jaxon's POV I flung the report away and swept all the things on my table to the ground as I trembled with anger. None of my surrogates were pregnant even with IVF and I was almost out of time. It all began with the curse of a witch on my great-grandfather after he apparently impregnated her and denied the child. On her deathbed, she cursed him and all of his lineage to die after the age of thirty if they did not have children. It was as though as the tears passed, the curse became more rooted. My Father died just before my birth on his 30th birthday. My mother raised me herself and taught me to be as ruthless as possible so that the council put in place to rule the pack in case of our lineage dying out would not usurp my power. Even though I grew up as ruthless as possible I thought she was exaggerating the matter. After all, how could an Alpha in his prime just drop dead because of what a witch said centuries ago? That was before my twenty-eight birthday when I had begun to lose my vision without warning. When I suddenly became weak and dizzy even though I had eaten and rested fully. The episodes came and went quickly but now that I was almost 29, I was running out of time! It was a well-kept secret so that my enemies would not know and use it against me. My surrogates were treated well and monitored yet there was no child coming. That was when I began to track down the descendant of the original witch. And last week, I found her after months of searching. I held my claws to her throat. "Cure me witch or lose your head." She had been stubborn initially. "Even if you torture me, I have nothing to give you. I am not as strong as my ancestors. The line has gotten weaker." I raised my eyebrows unimpressed by her lies. "It is one curse. Surely you can lift that." The witch protested. "That is not where my gift lies but in prophecy." Then she was useless to me. I threw her at Caleb's feet. "Kill her." She could curse me if she wanted to, I was already going to die anyway. I turned to leave only to be stopped by her desperate cry. "Wait!" I paused and she continued speaking quickly. "If there is a chance for you to meet the woman destined to have your child, I will find it." I smirked. So she wasn't ready to die after all. I turned back to look at her. "You have five minutes." The witch closed her eyes and looked like she was having a fit or something and the hairs on my hand rose. as something shifted in the room. When the witch spoke again, her voice sounded deeper than before and her eyes were almost completely white. "You will find her exactly one week from now with the slave traders around the Moonshadow pack lands." I wasn't cowed by her display. She would have to do more than that to impress me. "That is too broad, be specific." "She will have the scent of an Alpha." And Caleb had found Astrid. I had come to see her personally to verify the scent. She was my last hope. I looked at Caleb, my body still trembling in rage. "When is Astrid ovulating?" "Next week, Alpha." A week. I could wait a week for my chance to be cured of this curse once and for all. Caleb hesitated. "Should I call in Freya?" I had completely forgotten. This week was her ovulation week and her turn with me. "Call her in." I told Caleb roughly but deep down I was so fucking tired.