Wrong Turn, Right Path

Chapter 25 - Jemma's POV

I quickly bring her into the room and shut the door and lead her over to the bed where we sit facing each other. I reach for one of the woman's hands and gently ask, "What's going on?"

Maddie looks at her with a scowl then walks over to her trampoline and starts to jump again.

"Well, you see, this is really difficult to say and I think you'll hate me if you know the truth." she says as a tear slips down her cheek and she quickly wipes it away taking a deep breath to steady herself.

"I doubt that. Please let me help you." I try to reassure her. Something about the woman is off perhaps it's because she's scared. At least this is something that will distract me from my own problems right now.

"Ummm, Well you see Nick's been my boyfriend for years. He told me he didn't want a fated mate and would rather choose his mate than have one forced on him by the Goddess. He and Nate have fought many times over this. If it had been up to Nick he and I would have been mated years ago." She takes a deep breath and wipes more tears oblivious to the pain that is tearing my heart to shreds.

Nick never wanted me, he feels forced to be with me. He said as much before didn't he 'When you meet your fated mate there is no point in fighting it, the Moon Goddess declared they're your perfect match whether you see it or not, whether you agree or not...' He didn't actually want me, he was stuck with me. Nate only wanted me because of the bond, he'd been waiting so long for his mate he was just thrilled to have one not necessarily that his mate was me.

"That's not the worst of it. Now that he and Nate have found you he knows Nate will never reject you so he feels doubly stuck. Especially since we just found out I'm pregnant. The night before he left to The Nightshade pack he and I... well.... You know." She stammers before mumbling under her breath "This is so awkward to admit to his mate." She looked in my eyes as we both are silently crying "He said that even if he wants to be with me and his pup he can't because of you." she broke down into heart wrenching sobs.

He had one last night with his girlfriend before he went searching for his mate. God that's what they've been doing. They're trying so hard to be the perfect mates to me, not for me but because they're trying to make the best of a terrible situation, of having a human for a mate. Now on top of everything else they just found out that I had a baby with their fucking cousin! That alone can drive a wedge in this tight knit family and it's all my fault.

I looked over at Maddie, a little girl who never knew her father because his fated mate stopped him from even knowing about her. I don't want any other child to go through that. "I completely understand. But what do you want from me, I can't force them to do anything." I said

"Since they haven't marked you yet, you could still reject them. I would help you get away because with them being Alphas they won't take the rejection well at first but they'll end up thanking you in the long run." She says with pain in her eyes but also something else.

The very thought of rejecting them shattering what was left of my heart but I had to think of the child. Every child deserves to know their father. The plan that I made at Mitch and Selene's house came back to me. "I'll need a car and directions on how to get to Harrisville. I already have a job and an apartment there." I tell her then quickly got up and grabbed Maddie's duffle bags and started filling them with her stuffies and the clothes that we brought with us, nothing that Val had bought her. "I think the faster we get out of here the better. How do I reject them?" The only way to ensure Nick was truly happy, that he had a chance to know his child and be with the woman he really wanted, meant that I had to walk away from the only men I truly loved. It's what they really wanted after all, what werewolf would want a weak human? I'd survived heartbreak before I could do it again. At least, I hoped I could.