The Waitress and Her Alpha

| XXVIII - Mother Storm |

Trials, Day 0

I cry into my hands. No reason other than the ripping sadness from the child breaking through my body. The baby decided today we're the moodiest, most depressed, and visibly sad person in existence. I'm just along for the ride. When Ares tried to offer help, I threw a strainer at his head and begged he run before I ripped his head off. It didn't take much for the man to listen. I'm a month into pregnancy. My entire body is aching, my belly is starting to pop... among other horrid changes that I can't keep up with. One month of wolf pregnancy is equivalent to ten weeks of human. When I did the math, I was told not to go by it. A cub grows the most, and fastest, in the first two months meaning all the human systems are crashed into two months of hell.

Today Ares is working with Tyson to get things sorted for the trials. As Josh challenged him, he is no longer acting beta. It wasn't announced officially to the pack until yesterday, but Tyson has worked into the beta roll since the past week, Tusk getting the honor of gamma. I grab another tissue to blow my nose into, my eyes swollen from the constant strain. Ares has begged me for some way to help, but in the kindest way, it's best if he keeps the fuck out of this.

His mother is just as horrid. Hers, however, isn't connected to any child. She's just a raging bitch that keeps me from walking through my home in peace. It takes another twenty minutes before I've calmed down enough to exit, the bitch waiting in the hallway for my greeting. I almost take it as a compliment. Maybe her determination to hate me is like a boy's crush. The more they tease, the more they love? She spits at my feet as soon as she sees me, "Some Luna." Her voice ripples down the hallway. I roll my eyes and turn away, but she keeps on my ass. Tusk comes around the corner to greet but sees the ex-Luna and runs.

"You're scaring off my pack." I mutter in return. The relief I hope for isn't around. Everyone avoids her like the plague. Understandably so. Mrs. Gray sneers at the wall. The pictures, as she's told me many times before, are a constant reminder of the happiness that man took from her. Her son, he's been demoted to nothing more than a bad memory in her mind. It's hard not to throw the alcohol at her head to get her to stop talking, but I kept my feet on the ground and mind in the air. She needs help, no matter how horrid she is to people.

"And you're pregnant."

That sends me snapping back trying to figure out the best way to respond. Her smirk is honest, eyes trailing over my hooded form. The hoodies been hiding the growing bump, it's starting to look more like pregnancy than bloating. Ares is determined to convince me not to leave the house, stay here until the two-month mark when we can safely announce after the trials and chaos, but being hidden away isn't something I'm ready for just yet, "What kind of non-sense is spilling from your mouth?"

"Oh, don't play coy, woman." She goes from the nice smirk to a sneer, "I can smell the nausea from here. Haven't you told people?"

"It's none your retched business what I have or haven't told people. Not that I'm agreeing or denying anything." I spit in return. The baby encourages me to throw something, and when I don't, I become a mess of tears when I peel away from the conversation. The backs of my hands go to my eyes in a weak attempt to bring me to center. The death goddess herself follows.

"You don't need to hate me so much. That man of yours makes me out to be worse than I am." Her sigh is loud. The hormones flip, anger taking over once more. I skid turning to face her, her eyes going wide at the hot anger seeping from my tear strained pupils.

"You make yourself worse than you are. Haven't you the idea to fuck off and leave me be? Always following me around making my life difficult!" My screech is loud. Tusk backs his butt around the corner to keep a steady eye on the two of us. Ares and I haven't told a soul the truth, but with her big mouth it's a high possibility that Tusk now knows. Ares warned of how the pack reacts to a Luna's pregnancy. Overprotective. If they're loyal. Thankfully, Tusk is too loyal for his own good.