• If the one you loved was unfaithful, what would you do? Would you confront him? Would you break up with him, not even trying to repair your mangled relationship? Or would you let it go, assume it was just a moment of weakness, and cry for months, no, years, when he leaves because you told him the happy news that he would be a father? If you'd try the first two methods, good luck. But if you tried the last one, just hope your kid doesn't look like his father. Because when you see your lover's face on your child, you die a little inside.

    I sat on the couch, twirling the stick between my fingers. What am I gonna do? I wondered. We don't have a lot of money and John doesn't have a job yet. How are we gonna pull this off?

    The stick fell from my fingers as the door opened."Angie, you here?" I jumped up and threw myself into John's arms, forcing a smile on my face. "You're happy today." He smirked, accenting the scar above his left eye. "Did you win the lotto?" I laughed and stroked his stubble-covered cheek. Then I looked down on the floor. The stick was right next to his foot. John saw me look down and bent over. He picked it up and asked, "Angela, what is this?" I said,"John, I'm pregnant."

    He dropped the test and backed away from me. "I know money's tight,"I babbled, trying to to win a losing fight. "But this baby won't be coming for a while and we can do this. I know we can." His eyes hardened as he looked into my face. "I'm leaving."he said, grabbing the gym bag that had all his possessions. I glared at his back. "Are you going to that whore's place?" John looked back at me, shock spreading across his face. I said,"I know about your little 'trips to buy some smokes'.It doesn't take 2 hours to buy a pack of cigarettes." He stood, frozen, for a few seconds before he looked down at my stomach. His expression hardened again as he said, "Well, at least she has enough sense to use birth control." I felt tears well up in my eyes as he walked out the door into the rain. I ran out after him."John! Wait!"I cried."Come back!" But he was gone.

    I stood in the rain for a few more minutes before I walked inside, soaked to the skin. I curled up in front of the fireplace, remembering how John and I would sit in front of it and stare at the flames. I felt a tiny nudge against my stomach from inside. I placed my hand against my already rounding womb and cried. I haven't stopped crying yet.

    Chapter 2: 9 months later

    I heaved my planetsized belly to the left as the doorbell rang. I stumbled the first few steps. "Damn you, John." it had been my mantra for the past 9 months. Blame the father of my kid and don't take any blame myself.

    I opened the door and groaned internally. "Hey, Angie!" my sister, Isabel, cried as she flung her arms around my neck. Mom hadn't been too happy that her daughter was knocked up by a good-for-nothing bum, but Izzy had only been upset that I hadn't told her first. She dropped to her knees and put her hands on either side of my stomach. "Stop doin' that, Izz." Izzy looked up at me. "Do you wanna know the sex?" she asked. This timed, my groan was audible. Of course Izzy would act like she knew what my kid would be. "No, Izzy." I sat back down, massaging the peak of my belly.

    Izzy stood in front of me, cupping her hands over her elbows. She said,"So John hasn't called?" I glared at her. That conversation was taboo. "No he hasn't. And I don't want to talk about it." "Come on Angela." Izzy sat on the armrest. "Do you really want your son to grow up without his dad?" I glared at her again. "Izzy," I began."I will decide what's best for my baby, and I'm not going to ask some white trailer trash drunk for any help. You got that? I don't need him. It'll just be me and Jr."

    I gasped as I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. The room faded for a minute before I felt a spreading wetness down my jeans. "Izzy!" I panted. "My water just broke! We need to go to the hospital! The baby's coming!"

    The trip to the hospital didn't stick in my memory, just the agony that I knew meant my baby was ready to come out. I remember being wheeled into a hospital room and someone sticking a needle into my wrist. I heard a voice say,"She's fully dilated. We can deliver the baby right now." I gasped,"Where's Izzy?" "She's out in the hall." a doctor said.

    I nodded weakly and began to push. A nurse said,"Okay, Angela. We can see the head. Push again." I pushed again, harder this time. I nearly blacked out as the doctor said,"Angela, one big push this time." I screamed as I pushed my hardest. It felt like I was going to turn myself inside out. Then I heard crying. The doctor said,"It's a boy."

    I held my arms out for my son. A nurse put a blue crying bundle in my arms. I looked at my baby. His hair was dark, like mine. But his eyes were bright green. Just like his father's. "Name?" a nurse asked. I smiled. I'd thought over hundreds of names in the past nine months. But only one seemed right. "John Miller. Jr."

    Chapter 3: The Truth

    I looked up from Johnny's cradle as a car pulled into the driveway. A beat up Chevy pickup truck, nothing my wealthy family would even glance at. There was a slam as the driver's door closed, heavy thuds that were footsteps,and a knock at the door. I lifted the latch and let the door fall open. Standing in front of me, streaked with mud and blood, was John Sr.

    "What the hell are you doing here?" I snarled, blocking the doorway. 9 months in living hell and he decides to crawl back now? John said,"I came to see my son.", pushing me out of the way. I stumbled and fell back. I heard John say,"What've I done?" Then, Johnny began to cry. I stood up, keeping back tears of pain. John was holding my son out at arm's length, his eyes bright . He set Johnny down and reached into his jacket. I saw a glint of silver as he drew out a long bladed knife, aiming it at my baby.

    "No!" I screamed, wrenching the dagger from his hands. "What are you doing?! Trying to kill your son, what the hell's the matter with you?" I grabbed Johnny, holding him close to my heart. John stared at his- no, my- son. "You don't understand," he began. "That kid's not natural. He shouldn't be allowed to live. He's a freak." I glared at John, saying, "Why's he a freak?" John sighed heavily. " Because I'm a freak." He looked into my eyes and, for the first time since I'd met him, they were silver. "Angela, I'm a werewolf."

    I stared at John. Then I started to laugh. This is crazy, I thought. Werewolves don't exist. Besides, if he was one, why doesn't he have hairy palms or a unibrow? I thought they had one. "Hollywood gets a lot of stuff wrong." John said nonchalantly. I felt my eyes widen. Could he hear my thoughts? "Most werewolves can, but some are too animalistic to even develop that part of their brain."

    John stepped forward, holding his hands out. "Angela," he pleaded. "Angela,please. That kid is against werewolf code. I'm not even supposed to tell you there are werewolves. I was just supposed to kill the kid and leave. If I let him live, the Council of Elders will come and kill him and you. Do you want to end your life?" I looked down at my newborn son. Of course I didn't want to die. But I'd changed. The old me, the Angela who'd've traded anything to live a little while longer, would've handed over Johnny without a second thought. But Johnny was my life now. I wasn't about to let a werewolf who didn't know how to use a condom take that away from me. I set Johnny down on the loveseat behind me, held up the silver dagger, and glared at John. "Anyone who wants to kill my son will have to come through me first."

    John shrugged off his trenchcoat, standing naked. He growled. Then he turned into a wolf. I don't remember seeing him change; one minute he was human and the next he was a wolf. He lunged at me. I held up the knife. He landed on top of me. Hot, sticky saliva coated me neck as he tried to tear out my throat. One of his incisors cut my shoulder. I screamed in pain. Everything started to go dark. What was the point anyway? John was a powerful werewolf and I was a weak human. How could I possibly stand a chance against him?

    Suddenly, I heard Johnny cry. Everything became sharp and clear. I jammed the blade into John's throat, feeling his muscle give way to the dagger. Scorching hot blood poured onto my face, drenching my shirt. John started to convulse and then went still. He never moved again. I pushed the wolf's body off of me and turned my back to it. There was a soft explosion behind me. I turned back around. Instead of the wolf, John's naked body lay on the floor. Then it collapsed into sand. I picked up Johnny, cradling him in my bloody arms. We stood in front of the fire. I stared at the flames. I'd just killed a werewolf, the father of my child, to be exact. How many more would come to kill us? But that wouldn't matter. Even if a hundred, a thousand, werewolves came to destroy my son, I would make sure they'd never live to see a new day. I would become a werewolf slayer.