190 The truth of her birth IV
Miriam
The morning I left; the temple was quiet. Everyone was still sleeping in their chambers from the chilliness of the early morning. I didn’t take anything. I wanted no reminder of this place.
I stepped out into the cool dawn air, and paused, glancing back at the temple that had been my home for so long. But now, I was leaving.
Shaking my head, to fight the nostalgia, I turned away and started walking down the path that led to the home of the midwife. For the first time in three months, I felt relief. I was going to start afresh, a life where I would no longer be just a priestess who had given up her child, but a mother searching for a way to heal my shattered heart.
It took me about an hour to arrive at the Midwife’s house.
When I reached it, I paused at the gate, listening for sound. I must have stood there for about ten minutes when I heard the piercing cry of a baby. I paused, listening. One of the doors to the room opened and the husband of the midwife emerged and crossed over to the other side of the house.
A moment later, the midwife and her husband came from the other side of the house carrying a baby. The midwife passed the baby to her husband who was playing with her, nuzzling her with his mouth.
I stood frozen where I was hidden as I watched them. That was my baby.
Her brown curls curled around her hair like carpet. She was cooing, laughing at the funny noise the midwife’s husband was making. They didn’t give the baby away? I wondered silently, watching them.
After staying there for a while, I summoned courage and walked into the compound. As soon as the midwife and her husband saw me, a small smile settled on their lips as if they had been expecting me.
“You don’t look surprised?” I asked.
The midwife laughed. “I knew you were going to come back. All the women always came back for their babies and I kept her for you.”
“Do you want to hold her?” her husband asked gently.
My eyes misted with tears. “Can I?”
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He nodded and brought the baby to me. Lyla turned, staring at me with baby curiosity. I gently took her from the man, and a tear rolled down my cheek. She placed her head on my shoulder, cooing faintly.
At that moment, it felt as if my heart would burst with warmth. Every sadness that had taken me hostage seeped out as I held her. I closed my eyes savouring the warmth.
“I take it you ran away?” the midwife interrupted my thoughts again.
My eyes flew open with fear as I turned to her. “I can’t stay there anymore. They won’t let me stay with the baby and I don’t want to ever give her away.”
She nodded. “As soon as they notice you’re not at the temple, here would be the first place they come to. You have to go.”
“I have nowhere to go to,” I inhaled shakily. I had thought about leaving and I knew I couldn’t stay here but I had no idea how to go about it. How do people survive outside the temple?
“You’re too inexperienced to get a job,” the husband of the mid–wife started saying. “Even if you do get a job, who will care for the baby? How about the father?”
“Not an option,” I shook my head. “He doesn’t want us.”
“Honey, didn’t you say your brother asked you to get a Poultry Keeper for him for that pack? It’s not so much a job if you look at it. There’ll be a roof over their head and the pay is good.”
The husband thought for a moment and then shook his head. “It’ll be too much strain for her. I’ll take her elsewhere. The Alpha and his Luna are just newly married a year and some months precisely and the Luna has been trying for a baby. This baby is good luck, who knows, their fortune may change.”
The midwife nodded and turned to me. “Your baby is special, Miriam. Since she has been with us, we’ve had such a turn in everything and we know it’s her,” then she sighed. “Anyways, go with my husband.”
I thanked her and followed the man. Three hours later, we arrived at the pack and went straight to the pack house. When we arrived at the Alpha’s house, we were ushered in and asked to wait for the Luna.
As I sat with Lyla in the sitting room, she suddenly started crying. Since the sitting room was quiet and the baby’s voice was echoing, I decided to take her outside. Just as I stepped out, I heard a voice, instructing a group of warriors at the entrance.
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The only thing different was he seemed taller and his blue eyes… the same ones that had attracted me seemed more intense. Only they were now open, staring at me with surprise.
“Miriam?” he rushed up the stairs towards me. “What are you doing here?”
“Jeremy!” I managed a smile. Lyla had stopped crying too and was staring at him with baby curiosity too. “Longest time.”
“Same to you too,” he chuckled. “What are you doing here? I don’t recall if there’s any ceremony being done at the pack today. You look…” he paused, his eyes running my entire length. “Beautiful as always.”
“Thank you. You don’t look half as bad either. You’re still a Beta?”
“Yes!” he nodded, “This is my pack, Blue Ridge. What are you doing here, Miriam?” he asked for the third time. “Don’t tell me you came to look for me?” he asked.
“No,” I shook my head. Lyla was coming down. “I came for work.”
“For work?” he asked again, staring at me with surprise. “What kind of work?”
“It’s a long story, Jeremy but maybe one of these days we will catch up, that is if I can get the job.”
His brows were still furrowed in confusion. His eyes strayed to the baby in my hand and back to me.
“Whose baby is this?” he asked again.
I lowered my gaze, rocking Lyla, looking for the best way to explain myself. In the end, the truth will come to light.
“My child,” I murmured meeting his gaze.
He stared at me for a few seconds.
“Your child? How is it even possible?” then he leaned forward and whispered. “You’re a Sigma wolf, Miriam. You cannot be mated to anyone, let alone have a child. Isn’t that what you told me the last time before you ghosted me?”
“I didn’t ghost you,” I sighed. “You were gone for too long. What was I supposed to do?”
The door behind us opened and the midwife’s husband called out to me.
“Miriam, come, the Alpha and the Luna will see us now.”
I nodded, giving Jeremy one last glance before I hurried into the house. As I stood in
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word of what he was saying.
Because standing in front of me, his eyes were cold as ice was the man who I loved…
the father of my baby.
