3rd Person
The doctor smiled at Ella and Sinclair, pleased to be able to deliver good news for once. “Your baby is just fine.” He shared, watching the tension seep out of the expectant parents in front of him. “As I said, some spotting is perfectly normal in the early stages, and everything else looks perfect.”
Sinclair squeezed Ella to his chest, kissing her hair while she tried not to burst into tears of joy. The doctor let them have a moment to celebrate before continuing, “I am worried about Ella’s blood pressure, however. It was probably just the stress of the emergency, but it’s something we have to be very careful of. If hypertension persists, it could develop into a condition called preeclampsia, which can be very dangerous for both mother and pup.”
Ella was still reveling in their good news, but Sinclair was immediately alert at the mention of a potential danger. “So what do we do? Just keep an eye on it?”
“I’m going to send you home with a portable test kit so you can check her blood pressure at home, you should do it every day until it stabilizes and then every week until delivery. Of course if it remains high you need to see your regular OBGYN right away.
And more than anything else, you need to avoid stress, Ella.” The physician advised.
Ella nodded in agreement, though in truth she wasn’t sure this goal was entirely achievable. She was about to be a first time mother, all the while grappling with a false identity, supernatural society, and political campaign. Stress seemed like an inevitability.
“Thank you doctor,” Sinclair professed, “we’ll do everything we can to keep her relaxed.” Ella wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that – if Sinclair tried to keep her on bed rest or anything of the sort, it wasn’t going to go over well. She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn’t realize Sinclair was watching her and all but reading her mind. “Won’t we, little mate?” He added pointedly.
This jolted Ella back to the present, and she looked up at Sinclair with wide eyes, thinking – not for the first time – that she needed to do a better job paying attention to the powerful Alpha if she wanted to get through this pregnancy with her wits intact.
“Yes, Dominic.”
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That afternoon Sinclair struggled to focus on his work. All he could think about was Ella and the baby, and he was sorely tempted to take the rest of the day off to look after them. He’d already blown off all his morning meetings for that very purpose, and though Ella had encouraged him to go about his business as usual, his mind was on anything but business.
He was just about to collect his things and tell Hugo he was calling it a day, when a knock sounded on his door. “Come in.”
The investigator he’d hired to look into Ella and subsequently track down her lowlife ex-lover poked his head inside. “Alpha, he’s here.”
That got Sinclair’s attention. Maybe he would be able to get something worthwhile done today after all. “Bring him in.” He instructed coolly.
When Mike stumbled in the austere office a few minutes later – practically thrown inside by Sinclair’s guards – he looked around in nervous confusion. Sinclair studied the human closely, trying to convince his wolf that attacking the wretched man wasn’t a very honorable thing to do – considering his advantages in speed, strength and power. Still, it was tempting. He didn’t know what Ella had ever seen in the man, and he suspected that Mike’s mental manipulation and gaslighting had gone a long way towards forcing her to settle for someone so inferior.
For all her spirit and intelligence, Sinclair knew that Ella had suffered a love-starved upbringing. It wasn’t hard to imagine that she could fall head over heels for the first person to show her any attention, even letting them convince her she didn’t deserve any better than their mistreatment and disdain. He thought of Mike telling her she was a bad kisser, wondering how far the creep’s insults had gone – did she also think she was bad in bed, bad at keeping a house or doing everyday things? How worthless had this human made her feel for his own gain?
It infuriated Sinclair to imagine anyone mistreating sweet Ella this way, and he was all the more impressed that she had been able to come out of the ordeal with so much strength of will. He growled before he could stop himself, and Mike froze in his tracks, staring at Sinclair in surprise and obvious fear. “What is this? Why did you bring me here?”
“This, is your just desserts.” Sinclair answered coldly, rising from his chair. “Do you know who I am, Mike?”
“You’re that billionaire that’s always on TV.” Mike countered, barely containing a jealous sneer.
“That’s right.” Sinclair smirked. “I’m also Ella’s new fiance.” He lied, going with a similar story to the one they were telling the shifters. “We’re expecting a child together, despite your efforts to make her infertile.”
All the blood drained from Mike’s face. He stood frozen for a long moment before shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re lying. We only just broke up and she would never have cheated on me, the stupid bitch was too spineless to -“
Sinclair’s wolf snarled out a warning so fierce that Mike all but wet himself, suddenly realizing on an instinctive level that the being in front of him was no normal human – but a dangerous predator. “If you have any sense at all you’ll shut your fucking mouth before you say another word against her.” Sinclair thundered.
Mike backed away towards the door, trembling like a leaf. “I… wh- what are you?”
“Not anyone you want to cross.” Sinclair informed him, prowling forward, stalking his vile prey as if he were nothing more than a deer in the woods.
“This is crazy!” Mike objected. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Do not lie to me!” Sinclair barked, “I know everything, you leech. You took advantage of that angel, knowing exactly how vulnerable she was. You ruined Ella’s life – wrecked her finances, poisoned her body, betrayed her commitment and made her think she didn’t deserve any better!” Sinclair reached out and closed his powerful hand around the scrawny human’s neck, forcing his back up against the door. “You are not a man, you are spineless, despicable little weasel, and if you want to keep your head on your shoulders you are going to make things right!”
“What?!” Mike choked, clawing at Sinclair’s tight grip, “how?”
“You’re going to go to the police, and sign a full confession. Ella already filed a police report, and you’re going to turn yourself in and pay back every cent you stole from her.” Sinclair commanded, “I don’t care if you have to work for a hundred years, you’re going to make it right.”
“But I don’t have that kind of money!” Mike objected frantically, becoming near hysterical as Sinclair lifted his feet off the ground.
In the back of his mind Sinclair momentarily worried about making a habit of attacking men this way, but he couldn’t deny that Mike and Roger both deserved it.
“Then you can rot in prison!” Sinclair answered ferociously. “It’s that or I gut you right here.”
“No!” Mike shouted frantically, “Please, don’t hurt me! I’ll do whatever you say!”
“Good.” Sinclair rumbled. “Because if you don’t I will make you wish you’d never been born.”
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A little while later a shrill ringtone filled Ella’s suite at Sinclair’s estate. She picked up her phone, seeing the local police station’s number scrolling across the screen. “Hello?”
“Hello, Ms. Reina?” A male voice replied on the other end of the line.
“Speaking.” She confirmed.
“This is Moon Valley Police Department, we’re calling in reference to a report you filed last week?” The man referenced.
“Yes?” Ella questioned sitting up a little straighter. The officers hadn’t given her any hope that her case would ever be resolved, so she didn’t have the faintest idea why they were calling.
“Your ex-boyfriend turned himself in this afternoon.” The officer shared, “he doesn’t have the funds to pay the bills he accumulated in your name, but he signed a confession which should convince your creditors to remove the charges from your accounts, and he will be prosecuted to the furthest extent of the law.”
“I.. what? Really?” Ella couldn’t believe it. “How… Mike would never turn himself in, I don’t understand.”
“Well I can’t speak to his motives, but I can tell you he was dropped off by a pair of bodyguards employed by Dominic Sinclair, and he seemed very shaken. It sounds to me like you’ve got friends in high places, Ms. Reina.”
“Thank you.” She murmured, still trying to process this information. As she hung up she tried to comprehend this new development. Had Dominic really found Mike for her, forced him to do the right thing? She knew he’d promised to help resolve her financial situation, but making Mike stand trial seemed like a gesture far beyond their agreement.
What did it all mean?
