Fuck!!!! I'm Having The Alpha Princess's Baby.

The car was filled with the sound of someone crying loudly, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. It was me. The moving car almost felt like it was vibrating because of the intensity of it, the sobs just racking my whole chest.

I had tried to hold myself together this morning. I didn’t even bother to eat breakfast, my stomach feeling too knotted up with guilt to handle anything. Eriko had ended up carrying my plate for me, following me out to the car like a silent shadow. Kaye sat in the front seat next to Eriko, while I slumped into the back, trying to hide my face.

The second we pulled away from the house and the cottage disappeared from view, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I started crying. I couldn’t control it even if I wanted to.

Eriko reached over and cranked up the music, the speakers thumping just to try and drown out the sound of my voice, but I was loud. I was wailing.

I made my brother cry again. The thought kept looping in my head like a nightmare on repeat.

"I can’t believe I made Paye cry..." I choked out between gasps for air.

Eriko just watched me through the rearview mirror, his eyes filled with a mix of pity and worry. He was completely speechless. He probably didn’t know what to say to a pregnant omega having a total breakdown in the backseat.

"You have to stop crying. If you cry and Nanna cry, who is going to buy who popsicles? Stop crying like a baby!" Kaye shot at me from the front seat. He turned around in his chair, giving me a stern, disapproving look.

I ignored him and continued crying, the tears blurring my vision until we finally reached the school.

By the time Eriko dropped us off at the school premises, I had managed to quiet down. I was exhausted and was doing my best not to cry in public, though my throat felt raw.

"Faye," Kaye called out as we stepped onto the pavement.

I turned to look at him, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. He waved his small hand downward, signaling for me to crouch down to his level. I bent down, wondering what he wanted, and he reached into his bag. He brought out a clean handkerchief and started gently wiping the dampness from my face.

"Your face is all red like a tomato. I don’t want my baby cousins to look like tomatoes. Tsk tsk tsk... I hope they don’t become crybabies like you and Nanna... puff..."

He just kept talking as he worked, his little hands moving with purpose. He was always acting so mature, trying to be the big guy in the family and take care of everyone, even though he’s only 5 years old.

I didn’t even realize what was happening at first when he pulled out a small compact. He started applying foundation all over my face with a little sponge.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pulling back slightly.

"Trying to get rid of your tomato face. I have a reputation to keep," he said, sounding completely serious as he grabbed my chin to hold me still.

"Dude, we’re not even in the same building..."

"I know, but my classmates’ siblings are in your building... and they talk a lot about you..." he said, giving me a long, dramatic look that told me he’d heard enough playground gossip for a lifetime.

Well, this is embarrassing. I looked around and saw students and teachers passing by, all of them staring at the sight of a little boy doing his aunt’s makeup in the middle of the drop-off zone.

This is definitely not helping my reputation, bro.

But I let him finish. I didn’t have the heart to stop him when he was clearly being so considerate in his own weird way. When he was finally done, he packed his things back into a little makeup bag.

Damn, I realized right then that this boy actually has more makeup than I do. He reached up to try and fix my untidy hair, and for the final touch, he pulled out a small bottle and gave me a quick spray of something that smelled like vanilla.

"Okay, okay, that’s enough. Let’s go to our classes before we’re late," I said, finally standing up and smoothing out my clothes.

He packed the rest of his things into his school bag, and I watched him walk toward his building with that confident little stride of his.

I took a deep breath, trying to center myself, and turned around only to see Malo and Sasha standing by the gate. Both of them were shaking their heads in total disbelief.

Fuck. They saw the whole thing.

Those two didn’t stop talking about it for the rest of the morning. Every single chance they got, they started laughing and mimicking the way Kaye had been dabbing at my face. It was relentless.

Even later, when we were sitting in the cafeteria, they were still at it. They were laughing so hard they were nearly choking, doing high-pitched voices to imitate Kaye and demonstrating his makeup techniques with their plastic forks.

In a way, it was actually interesting to watch. I’ve never seen the two of them get along like this before. It was good to see them bonding, but it was definitely time to make them stop using me as the punchline.

"Wow, you two are now buddies... that’s amazing," I said flatly. I didn’t look up, just scooped a spoonful of my porridge.

The laughter died out instantly. They went quiet and focused very intently on their food, the silence suddenly thick at the table.

Good.

"So, any info about the Moon Wolf?" I asked, shifting the subject.

I had told them we needed to gather information yesterday, and I desperately needed to get my mind on something else besides the fight with my brother this morning.

"I asked someone about it, but they didn’t give me a good response. He said the Moon Wolf doesn’t exist... it’s just a fantasy," Malo said, finally looking up.

That was the exact same thing Uncle PP had told me yesterday. It was just a myth.

"I did my research throughout last night," Sasha said, pulling out her phone and sliding it across the table toward me. "I heard that back in the day, a group of tribal wolves from the northern region worshipped a goddess as white as snowy soil. They called her Hija Dela Luna."

I looked at the screen. It was an image of an old painting, showing a woman in human form with striking features.

"Hija Dela Luna... daughter of the moon..." I muttered, the words feeling heavy on my tongue.

"I saw that title in a book at the Petrova Library yesterday," Malo said, pointing toward the phone with his fork. "Every piece of information we need is probably there. That library has so many histories written in books. The Petro family has always been keeping records since the beginning."

"That’s great... except for the fact that the beautiful lady in charge looks at me like I’m some girlfriend snatcher..." I muttered, remembering the ice in Mrs. Petro’s eyes.

"I can do the research," Sasha said, looking confident. "I saw they were looking for a library assistant, so I applied yesterday. If I get the job, it will be much easier that way."

We both agreed that was the best plan. We finished our lunch and headed back to class as the bell rang. I spent the rest of the day in a daze, my mind stuck on that name.

Hija Dela Luna.

It felt like I had heard it somewhere before, from someone, but the memory was just out of reach.