Alpha's Rejected becomes the Lycan's Obsession-Chapter 111: New questions

A wave of relief washed over Tessy like a gentle tide after a storm when the door creaked open and Freya stepped into the hospital room. Her eyes, which were dull and puffy from hours of crying, widened slightly as they landed on her friend. It was as though the breath she’d been holding since she regained consciousness finally left her lungs.

But something snagged her attention. Freya wasn’t wearing the same clothes from earlier that night. Her black tank top had been replaced by an oversized beige sweater, and her jeans had been swapped for sweatpants. That was odd. Confusing even. But Tessy didn’t have the strength to ask about it.

"Hey baby girl," Freya called out the moment her eyes landed on Tessy’s form seated on the bed, her back resting against a pile of white pillows. Her voice was warm, a familiar lilt that usually brought comfort. But today, even that didn’t help much.

"You alright?" Freya asked, her worry barely concealed under the veneer of calm she tried to maintain. Her footsteps were quick and unsteady as she rushed to the bed and dropped onto the edge beside Tessy. Her brows were tightly creased as she scanned her friend’s pale face, her red-rimmed eyes, and the dullness that seemed to have taken permanent residence in her features. freewebnoveℓ.com

"Not really," Tessy responded, her voice raw and strained like it had been scraped over sandpaper. She couldn’t bring herself to lie. Not this time. Not now. Her lips trembled slightly as she added, "But you don’t know how glad I am to see you and to see that you are alright. I’m sorry I dragged you into this."

Her nose was already running, the faint stinging at the back of her throat signaling another wave of tears. It came, quick and unrelenting hot tears streaming down her cheeks like liquid grief. Her voice cracked under the weight of guilt.

"What are you talking about? You didn’t drag me anywhere. I did everything I did willingly. Stop talking as if you forced me and stop crying, will you?" Freya frowned, reaching for Tessy’s hand and grabbing it, squeezing it gently with a touch that spoke louder than any words could. There was no judgment in her eyes, just raw concern, fierce and unshakable.

"I can’t," Tessy confessed, a sob crawling up her throat and spilling out in a small, broken sound.

"Look at me, Tess. I’m alright. Nothing happened to me, so stop crying." Freya’s voice dipped to a pleading edge, soft but desperate, as if she believed that if she just said it with enough conviction, it would be true for Tessy too.

"I can’t stop crying, Freya," Tessy whispered again, her voice cracking, chipping away like fragile glass. Her tears were no longer slow. They poured now, freely, like water gushing from a pipe that had burst under pressure.

Freya’s frown deepened, her confusion growing. "Why not? What’s wrong?" she asked gently, though her heart was thudding like a drum, as if it already sensed the truth before the words came.

"I lost my baby again," Tessy announced. Her voice wasn’t loud, but the words hung in the air like a thunderclap.

Shock slammed into Freya’s chest like a speeding car. Her breath hitched, and her entire body stiffened. "What?!" she gasped, her voice laced with disbelief. Her mind struggled to grasp the reality of the words. "Wait! Tess... are you being serious right now?"

Tessy nodded slowly, each movement like a stone dropping into water. Her eyes glistened with fresh tears, her face contorted with a grief that words could never fully capture.

"How in the world did that happen?" Freya asked, her voice rising with panic, the pitch just short of breaking.

"I don’t know," Tessy murmured, each syllable shaky and bruised. "They injected me with something and I felt this crazy pain, and before I knew it, I was bleeding. Then I passed out... only to wake up and find out that my baby is gone."

She broke again. Her voice cracked mid-sentence, collapsing like her hopes had. Her hands trembled as she wiped her cheeks, but there was no stopping the tears.

"I—I think the world hates me. The universe hates me and is doing everything to keep me frustrated," she added, and now her voice was drenched in despair, her tears cascading like an unstoppable flood.

"Don’t say that, Tess," Freya said quickly, trying to hold her own tears at bay. Her heart ached, her chest tight with helplessness. She wanted to say something, anything, that would ease her friend’s suffering, but the words felt too small.

Tessy continued, louder now, more broken than before. "Why not? How else am I supposed to explain everything that is happening to me?" Her voice was torn with anguish. There was no stopping her. She wasn’t trying to be strong anymore. Not here. Not with Freya. There was only one person in the world that she could pour her bleeding heart out to, and that person was holding her hand.

"I wish I had listened to you when you said we shouldn’t go," she added, regret sinking its claws deep into her chest.

"Don’t blame yourself. You only wanted to find out the truth," Freya reminded her gently, and Tessy nodded, though the motion was slow, and her eyes were vacant.

"Yeah... yeah... and I ended up losing a life—my baby—without achieving my aim of going there in the first place," Tessy whispered, her voice drenched in sorrow and self-loathing.

Freya couldn’t take it anymore. She shifted closer and wrapped her arms tightly around Tessy, pulling her into a full embrace. Tessy’s body trembled, her shoulders shaking under the weight of her grief. She buried her face into Freya’s shoulder, her tears soaking through the fabric, but Freya didn’t move. She held her, solid and steady. The way only a best friend could.

"I’m so sorry, Tess. I’m sorry this happened to you," Freya whispered into her hair, holding her like she was trying to stitch her back together with the strength of her arms.

Tessy continued to cry, the sound muffled now against Freya’s chest. And Freya just stayed there, her fingers brushing through Tessy’s hair, her heart breaking silently with every sob.

Time blurred. Minutes? Hours? Freya wasn’t sure. But eventually, the cries softened, the trembles dulled, and Tessy fell into a silence that was heavy but less chaotic.

A short while passed before Tessy finally spoke again, her voice small and hesitant. "How would you react if you find out that your parents are not your real parents?"

The question cut through the quiet like a knife. Freya blinked, stunned. Her brows furrowed instantly in confusion.

The question was so out of the blue, so unexpected, that she had to mentally rewind and replay it just to make sure she’d heard right.

"Why are you asking that?" she finally asked, trying to keep her voice calm, but Tessy shook her head slightly.

"Nevermind. It doesn’t apply in your case. Your parents treated you right... so even if they weren’t your real parents, it wouldn’t be a problem. You would still accept them," Tessy said, her tone flat, though it carried a strange, bitter undertone that didn’t escape Freya.

Freya’s confusion deepened, suspicion beginning to unfurl in her chest like smoke. She wasn’t letting this go. Not when her friend was acting like this.

"What is going on, Tess? Why are you asking stuff like that?" Freya pressed, shifting back slightly so she could see Tessy’s face better. There was something in her friend’s eyes—a shadow, a storm—something that hadn’t been there before.

"Because I just heard that my... my real mother has been dead for a long time. And the one I know as mother is my aunt. And my father is not related to me by blood," Tessy finally revealed, her voice barely above a whisper.

Freya felt like the ground beneath her shifted. "What?!" she asked, incredulous. "Who told you that?"

"Roman," Tessy answered in a soft voice that barely reached Freya’s ears.

"No way, Tess. That’s ridiculous," Freya said, shaking her head vigorously. A disbelieving chuckle escaped her lips, more from shock than amusement.

"I swear, I don’t want to believe him... but I’m already having doubts. I mean, the things he said... the questions he has asked me before... and I remember he mentioned it that day we got married. But I didn’t put it to heart or think further about it," Tessy admitted, her voice laced with confusion and fatigue. "He said he’s ready to prove all of his claims. I’m so confused, Freya. I don’t understand what is going on in my life anymore," she added, her voice almost broken beyond repair.

"Hey, hey... take it slow, okay?" Freya said, reaching out again, placing both hands on Tessy’s shoulders as if trying to stabilize her both physically and emotionally. Her heart was racing. She didn’t believe it. She couldn’t. But like a thief in the night, doubt began to creep into her heart.

"If he has proof, then he has to show it first before you believe anything. Don’t think or believe anything yet. Let’s not make the same mistake we made earlier, alright?" Freya said, her voice firm, even though her thoughts were jumbled, tangled with realizations and new questions that had begun to claw their way to the surface.