In the east of Nile creek

I had grown up in this city and was currently living here with my werewolf husband Antonio, except I didn't feel like I was in a marriage anymore.

I was pregnant for him but had lost the child in an accident and my husband's heart held someone else, not me.

***

Two months ago I was involved in an accident on my way back from work and that accident resulted in a miscarriage, yes I was pregnant.

Today was another appointment since the abortion surgery, so Antonio accompanied me for a checkup, mid-way into the check up he suddenly left without telling me where or why.

I did not bother to stop him or plead for his company like I did in the past. I watched Antonio's back as he hurried away from the room his wife was having a check up in. An unexpected wave of detachment washed over me. I suddenly realised that his presence or absence held little effect over my emotions.

A nurse called my name, and I went to retrieve the test results before gathering my things. My phone made a beeping sound and I held it to see it was a message from Antonio which read <Leia I still have things to do, so you'll have to go home on your own>

I wasn't surprised by the message, I was already prepared to leave on my own. In the past, I would have refused and begged him to come get me, but not anymore. Now, it just felt pointless to do so.

Staring at the text once more, I simply typed <ok>. I put away my phone and left the hospital hailing a cab that passed by. I settled into the backseat when I looked up to find Antonio's car parked infront of the hospital. Why would he return to the hospital when he said he could not pick me up?

I decided to ignore him and told the cab driver to drive. The journey wasn't long and soon I arrived at home.

My phone made a notification sound and I pulled it out to see a post on Instagram from a user ‘Lovely One’. I opened the post and it revealed a write up “I only had a sore throat, but he insisted I go to the hospital and even kept me company and is still here now, you're the best” and this user had tagged my husband Antonio in the post.

Coincidentally, Sophie, a contact of mine posted a photo on her story with the exact same words. In the photo I could see a cropped out person but the cloth they wore had entered the picture and I had no doubt it was Antonio as that was the shirt I had bought for him on his birthday.

Sophie Davis was a member of the pack Antonio was part of, they had known each other since childhood and were lovers until Sophie married a wolf from a different pack. The user ‘Lovely One’ was Sophie. Sophie had moved out of town with her wealthy husband but their pack had dissolved after a tragedy leaving them rougues, not wanting that for their four year old child, Sophie divorced her husband and came back to her pack.

I hadn't noticed it before but I had realised I was just a rebound for Antonio since Sophie left. At that time I was blindly in love with him though he was a werewolf and agreed to marry him, I even went as far as to get pregnant for him, I guess part of me wanted to be enough for him though I was not one of his kind. The miscarriage must have been a sign that this was a mistake.

After taking the prescribed medication, I felt drowsy and went into the bedroom to sleep.

The creak of the door in the night woke me up.

"What did the doctor say today?" Antonio asked when he noticed I was awake and came to my bedside, he raised his hand to stroke my hair but I caught a foreign scent on him, a woman's perfume and avoided his hand.

"Nothing important." I forced a smile and continued, "Everything's fine."

Antonio nodded and offered a hurried explanation, "Work just got hectic and I've been kept busy lately." I hadn't even asked for an explanation, it was his guilty conscience.

Instead of calling him out on his lie, I rolled over and faced the other side. “You should take a shower before going to bed." He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he said nothing, I realised he had stood up, then I heard the shower running.

The next day, I had an early shift so I had to leave early for the hospital I worked at. I thankfully arrived on time before the morning meeting started.

I made my way into the conference room, plopping down on my seat and getting involved in the conversation. Soon the meeting ended and I left the room, my phone rang again and I pulled it out to see the caller I.D was Antonio, I took a deep breath before I answered.

“Leia, why did you leave early without waking me up, because of you I overslept” he didn't hesitate to blame me and his voice held a bit of annoyance.

Earlier in our marriage I took care of him in all aspects. Clothes laid out, breakfast on time and a warm greeting every morning and I had continued with this routine to show him how much I loved him. The way he sounded now meant he expected me to do everything for him, he always took me for granted as if my acts of love had now become a job for me.

But I wasn't his help, I was his wife and I had every right to refuse.

“Since you're already late, the earlier you get ready the better” I replied in a bored tone.

“What am I going to wear?” He asked and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

“It's a wolf meeting, nobody is going to be overdressed, so choose whatever”

"There's a shirt I'm looking for, I can't find it—” He complained.

There was a knock on my door and I looked up to see my colleague calling me over for some help. "I have to go, just find your clothes yourself."

Barely a moment later, Antonio's message pinged on the screen. <I found the shirt, it's rumpled amongst the rest, you haven't ironed them yet. I have to look decent infront of the pack elders>

Whilst I was walking with my colleague another message popped up, <You didn't even leave me breakfast?>.

I ignored the message and saw my colleague leading me to the department head.

“Leia, good news!” He cheered drumming on his desk. “After assessing your performance, the hospital wants to further your training and you're fully recovered now” he urged.

This wasn't the first time the HOD had spoken to me about something like this, but the initial plan had been to marry Antonio so I had declined earlier due to the pregnancy. But now building a family with him no longer appealed to me.

“I had thought about it sir, and I'll go," I replied with a newfound conviction.

"Wonderful!" He cheered then asked me to prepare everything and said he would notify me when the date was decided. His enthusiasm was infectious. The timing of this was perfect, this could be my ticket to a future I could finally design on my own terms.

Time flew by as I buried myself in work. Before I knew it, it was dark outside, but I still had a few more documents to take care of. Just as I settled in with another stack of papers, Antonio called.

"Why aren't you home yet, Where's dinner?" He asked and I began to wonder why I had been attracted to him. I now despised returning home to him, which was why I stayed in the office preparing documents until late.

"My colleague had something urgent to do, and had to switch shifts with me” I explained “Just order in" I shrugged though he couldn't see.

"Order?" Antonio sounded surprised.Back then, Food was never a problem, I ensured there was a meal available three times in a day.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No." Antonio hesitated before continuing, "Just take care of yourself"

"Thank you," I replied flatly. Antonio was silent for a moment, then he spoke “Leia, are you angry?"

The question came slow and caught meoff guard, and though it irked me, I was mostly disappointed. Was he truly this oblivious, or simply did not care about my feelings?

But I wouldn't let it bother me, it did not matter.

“Leia, you know it's not easy for Sophie to raise a child alone, the pack is giving her some distance and still considering her a rogue, I'm the only one on her side” he explained.

His words felt like slap, he conveniently forgot sometimes that, I too, only had him and it was especially hard on me because I was human.

"Of course, I understand. She must've been through a lot," I answered calmly.

"What's that supposed to mean, what is with your attitude?" He asked, seeming angry, one of his werewolf perks, one minute he was calm and one minute his wolf anger surfaced.

"I said I understand," I repeated in a curt tone, "Is that a problem?"

“Why are you talking to me like that?” He snapped and his eyes glowed amber.

"What do you want me to say?" I countered, frustration creeping in. Silence fell between us, heavy and suffocating.

"Do as you wish," he mumbled before leaving the house.

Wasn't it ironic, he once said I was annoying when I questioned him visiting Sophie and when I called to ask when he would be back from Sophie's. Now, I'm trying to understand him and he still gets frustrated.

With a sigh, I laid on the bed, I was exhausted from last night's shift and I wanted nothing more but to sleep.

I had barely caught enough sleep when my one began blaring loudly, with a groan I picked it up; it was my beloved husband.

"Leia," he sounded like he was in pain, "My—my stomach hurts." He groaned.

I mumbled a response, but I was too tired and fell back asleep. In a dream, I seemed to hear Antonio calling my name, but the sound was distant, so Ignored it.

A few hours later, I was awakened by the sound of the door opening and slowly opened my eyes. Antonio stood by the bed, his face held a mask of hurt.

"Leia, don't you care anymore, You used to be worried when I was sick and you would rush to make porridge and give me medicine." He complained and I only stared at him, when would he realise that those days were gone and what he was doing now was tearing put marriage.

Doing that for him was indeed the old me. I remembered it clearly. Once, Antonio had a stomach ache, so I asked for leave to bring him medicine at his office in the pack house. As luck had it, I got caught in the rain on my way there, leaving my hair soaked and me looking quite a mess. And when I arrived with the medicine, his colleagues laughed at my appearance and Adrian did not even try to scold them. To top it off, he told me never to come to the pack house again because, in his words, I was an embarrassment.

After reminiscing, I looked up at Antonio

"Are you feeling better?” I rubbed my eyes, "We might be out of medicine, maybe you can get some yourself."

Antonio was speechless, then his bipolar attitude showed again. He grabbed my arm tightly.

"Leia, how long are we going to keep fighting because of Sophie?” He asked, trying to gaslight me, “I told you, there's nothing between her and me!"

"Okay," I replied calmly, a stark contrast to his anger.

Antonik slammed the door in anger as he left the room, the silence that followed was liberating.