My Obsession

An SUV rolled into Silvercrest's residential district just as the sun dipped behind the high-rises, casting the neighborhood in shades of gold and shadow. Lauretta stared out the window in silence, fingers tapping lightly against her bag.

Her stomach felt... different today. Not painful - just warm. Connected.

Like her body knew something her mind was still catching up to.

The car stops and she stepped out in front of the Owens family home - a neat, two-story building with trimmed hedges and a warm porch light that flickered annoyingly. She grimaced.

Home.

She loved them.

But they were a lot.

She took a breath, stepped inside-

"LAURETTA! My child! You didn't tell me you were coming today!" her mother, Keisha Owens, shouted from the kitchen before she even saw her face. "Ah-ah, is this how you visit your mother now? So you want me to collapse unexpectedly one day? Is that it?"

Lauretta pinched her nose and dropped her bag. "Good evening, Mom."

Keisha rushed forward, wiping her hands on her apron. "Let me see you. Has Manhattan changed your eye shape? Why are you fine like this? What are you hiding?"

"Jesus," Lauretta muttered.

From the living room, her father's voice boomed, "Keisha, leave the girl alone! Let her breathe!"

Then he turned his glare on Lauretta. "Where have you been? You couldn't call? You couldn't text? Your mother has been pacing the house like someone threw hot water at her."

"I was WORKING," Lauretta said, hanging her coat.

Before either parent could resume their chorus, her brother bounded down the stairs.

"Ah, the prodigal womb returns!" Isaac Owens announced dramatically. "Did Manhattan finally tire of your wickedness?"

Lauretta smacked the back of his head.

He yelped.

Her mom pointed. "Good! Hit him again!"

"Mom!!" Isaac cries out.

Lauretta rolled her eyes. "I didn't come here to fight all of you."

Isaac grinned like a devil. "Then why are you here? You look guilty."

"I don't look guilty," she snapped.

"Exactly! Which means you ARE."

Her father stepped closer. "Lauretta, are you in trouble? Tell me now before I start sweating."

She opened her mouth - then closed it again.

She wasn't ready for this.

Not ready to say it out loud.

Not ready for the world to shift violently around her.

But her wolf nudged her gently, almost reassuringly.

"Dad... Mom... I need to talk to you."

"But can we at least go inside, you guys corner me like a thief"

Her parents exchanged a look - the kind that said: Something is coming. Prepare for battle.

"Alright let's go in dear" Keisha said.

---

They all sat in the living room. Isaac perched eagerly like it was movie night. Her mom clutched a throw pillow like a life vest. Her dad folded his arms and stared her down.

Lauretta inhaled. "I... think I might be pregnant."

SILENCE.

Complete.

Utter.

Bone-deep silence.

Then-

"HEAVEN HAVE MERCY!" Keisha screamed, throwing the pillow into the air.

Isaac fell off the couch dramatically.

Larry Owens slapped both hands on his knees. "Pregnant?! Since when?! By who?!"

Lauretta winced. "It was intentional."

"INTENTIONAL?!" Her mother staggered like she'd been shot. "So you planned to give me high blood pressure? You scheduled it?!"

Isaac was wheezing with laughter. "Oh my God, yes! My sister said 'baby by force!' I love it here!"

Lauretta glared at him. He quieted instantly.

Keisha fanned herself. "I am shocked. My spirit has left my body."

Her father stared at Lauretta, his voice softer. "Are you sure, baby?"

Lauretta placed a hand gently over her abdomen.

"I'm sure."

For a moment, their parents' panic melted into awe - a quiet, emotional pause as Keisha covered her mouth and Larry looked at his daughter like seeing her in a new light.

But Isaac broke the calm.

"So... who's the lucky - or unlucky - guy?"

Lauretta stiffened.

And her quiet reaction was all the confirmation Isaac needed.

"Aha! So there IS a man!" Isaac grins.

Her father leaned forward suspiciously. "Which pack is he from?"

Lauretta froze.

Keisha gasped. "Is he even from Silvercrest? Or did you go and carry some man from the streets of Manhattan?"

Lauretta looked away. "He's... not from Manhattan."

Her father's aura shifted. "Lauretta... what are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything-"

"Don't LIE," Larry thundered. "Your tail always twitches when you're lying!"

"Dad-I don't HAVE a tail."

"Your metaphorical tail!"

Isaac leaned forward like a gossiping auntie. "What's his name? Come on, say it."

Lauretta swallowed. "...His name is Savior."

The entire room went still.

Like someone hit a cosmic pause button.

Keisha blinked. "Savior WHAT?"

Lauretta looked away. "He didn't give me his last name."

Her father exploded.

"Ehn?! So a man slept with you and did not even give you his surname? Is he MAD?! Is he sensible at all?! What kind of upbringing-"

"Dad!" Lauretta snapped. "It was one night! I wasn't exactly asking for a family tree!"

Her father paced the room, muttering curses, sweating dramatically. "Lord... this girl will be the end of me..."

Then, without warning, he spun around and shouted:

"If this man is anything like those HUNT wolves, I swear-"

Silence.

The world stopped.

Lauretta's heart stopped.

"Hunt?" she whispered. "What did you just say?"

Larry froze mid-rant.

Too late.

Lauretta stood slowly. "Dad... why did you mention the Hunts?"

Keisha covered her face.

Isaac suddenly looked nervous.

Larry swallowed hard.

"Lauretta," her father said carefully, "there's... something you must understand-"

"NO," she cut him off sharply. "Don't soften it."

He looked at her with guilt so deep it carved new lines into his face.

"Lauretta... the Hunt family is the reason we were exiled."

Her breath caught. "What?"

Her father ran his hand over his face. "Their Alpha - Hexta Hunt - banished us from the pack. Years ago. Because of a mistake I made."

"Dad..." Lauretta whispered. "Why am I just hearing this?"

"For how long?"

Larry sank heavily onto the couch, voice raw.

"I was trying to protect you. To protect all of you."

Lauretta stepped back, her chest tightening.

Her father continued, voice shaking:

"I wronged the Hunt pack in the worst way. I cost them something valuable - something sacred. And Hexta Hunt vowed we would never be welcome again."

Lauretta shook her head. "I don't understand-"

"That family hates us, Lauretta."

He looked straight into her eyes.

"If your child's father is a Hunt, we are FINISHED."

The blood drained from her face.

Savior.

Savior Hunt.

The man who branded her with his scent.

The man whose touch she couldn't forget.

The man whose child now grew inside her.

Her knees almost gave out.

Keisha reached for her. "Baby, breathe. BREATHE."

Lauretta stumbled back. "No... no, no... it can't be him... there are other Saviors-"

Isaac cut her off quietly.

"...nobody else in this city is named Savior except Savior Hunt."

Her stomach dropped.

Savior.

Alpha-born.

Hexta Hunt's only son.

The heir.

"Oh my God," Lauretta whispered, sinking onto the couch. "I slept with a Hunt."

Her father clutched his chest. "I SAID IT! THIS GIRL WILL KILL ME!"

Keisha fanned him. "Larry, calm down, you're gonna have a heart attack!"

Isaac whispered, "We're dead."

Lauretta stared at nothing.

"Why didn't you guys say anything to me?!"

"Now look!"

"Is not our fault you couldn't control your..." Isaac cuts in.

Lauretta glares at him.

"Say one more f*cking word!" She stares at Isaac.

Isaac looks away.

She hates the way he can't control his tongue sometimes.

She breathes out.

Her bloodline.

His bloodline.

Enemies.

Forbidden.

Banished.

And now tied by the strongest bond imaginable.

A child.

Her child.

His child.

Lauretta buried her face in her hands as her wolf rose in panic and fierce protectiveness.

She whispered through trembling lips:

"...what have I done?

Larry calms down, "This is what we are going to do okay? "

"Listen Lauretta, since you said it's intentional, you really want this baby...then keep it, but you must never tell this to anyone else, this news shouldn't reach the ears of others"

"Understand?" He said looking at her directly.

Lauretta gives a sad smile, "Yes Dad "

"But... Angela knows "

Keisha scoffs, "Of course, I'm not surprised she's always the first person to know"

"Just make sure she doesn't tell anyone else " Larry said seriously.

"Sure"

"If anyone asks, just make up a man" Larry said.

"A really good one too" Keisha said.

Lauretta nods, worry etched on her face.