Chapter 99 - The Wolf's Happiness Is Short Lived

Xiao Zai couldn't make sense of the physician's words.  It was as if he could hear the sounds, and see the shapes the man's thin lips were making, but couldn't put it together into a coherent whole.

"I'm sorry, could you please say that again?"

The physician ran his thumb and forefinger over the thin moustache on his upper lip, clearly distressed. "I understand that this sounds unbelievable, but I can assure his Highness, with some degree of certainty, that his Grace is pregnant."

Xiao Zai's heart wrenched violently inside his chest, threatening to jump out of his throat. How could this be? He looked at Chu Yun's pale face, at the unnatural pallor of his features. Could it really be the result of pregnancy?

"He's an alpha...how is this possible."

With a loud sigh the physician took hold of Chu Yun's wrist once again, placing his forefinger and middle finger above his pulse point. "Even just by taking his pulse, I can clearly feel the abnormal rate typical of pregnancy."

He shook his head. "For a trained physician it really can't be confused with anything else, but even so I conducted more tests." He pointed towards a small clay dish by the half open window. "His Grace's blood confirms the initial diagnosis. He is with child."

Xiao Zai staggered against the door, his eyes glued to Chu Yun's immobile form. He didn't know how any of this was possible, whether it happened due to something unique to Chu Yun's biology or his own, he didn't know, and judging by the physician's troubled expression, he had no idea either.

However, he couldn't deny the bubbling giddiness taking root in the pit of his stomach and warming him up from the inside. He and Chu Yun were going to have a child. 

He wished the physician wasn't there so he could rush to Chu Yun's side and cover him in kisses, hoping that one of them would wake him up, so that Xiao Zai could share the news with him.

The physician saw the radiant happiness on Xiao Zai's face, and his own expression darkened. He cleared his throat loudly, drawing Xiao Zai's attention. "I can see how this might feel like unexpected good news, and I'm sorry to put a damper on his Highness' happiness, but..." he sighed deeply. "As his Highness' pointed out, his Grace is an alpha, his constitution isn't prepared for pregnancy."

Just like that all of Xiao Zai's happiness was snuffed out like a candle in a snow storm. "What do you mean?"

"This...well, it's obvious the pregnancy is very early, no more than a couple of weeks, if that," he wrung his hands. "There's no reason for him to be so ill as to faint. With so little time, the toll on his body is already very noticeable."

"Will he be alright?" Xiao Zai asked. If the pregnancy was somehow harmful for Chu Yun he wouldn't want him to go through with it, although...how would that even work?

The physician sighed deeply again. He took off his stiff cap, revealing the small and sweaty topknot under it. "Speaking plainly, this is unprecedented. If his Grace was a male omega I would recommend terminating the pregnancy before the damage could be more extensive."

Xiao Zai paled. Was is really that serious?

"However, a male omega's organism has ways to handle that," he sighed, "I am uncertain how his Grace's body is handling the pregnancy in the first place, terminating it...might not be an option."

Xiao Zai felt dizzy with the amount of emotions swimming through him. He couldn't remember the last time he had gone through so many different feelings in such a short span of time. 

"Then..."

"I'm afraid the safest course of action is for his Grace to carry the pregnancy to term...as unusual it is. Or at the very least not to terminate it unnaturally, and let it happen on it's own."

Seeing the haunted look on Xiao Zai's face, he hastened to add, "Not that we can know for sure if that will happen! I have seen many dangerous pregnancies be carried to term with no harm to the dam or child!"

That hasty correction did very little to assuage Xiao Zai's fears.

He knew from his dam's accounts that pregnancy was already more delicate for male omegas than it was for female betas and omegas. For one, all children must be cut out of the womb, through the layers of skin and muscle on the abdomen -- a delicate procedure that only the most qualified of surgeons was allowed to perform.

Chu Yun would undoubtedly have to go through the same ordeal, regardless of whether the child survived to term or not. With the added complexity of his alpha biology muddying the waters.

Xiao Zai felt foolish for his quick joy at the initial news.

"His Grace is stable for now, and I've written a prescription of supplements to strengthen the body, which are usually effective in cases where the child and the dam's blood is incompatible." He smiled self-consciously. "Of course I'll be happy to make adjustments depending on how his Grace reacts."

Xiao Zai thanked him for his services and told him to hand the prescription to the maidservant waiting outside, so that she may file it at once.

Once the physician had almost opened the door, Xiao Zai stopped him. 

"I ask that what you have discovered, and what was discussed here today doesn't leave this room."

The Physician took off his hat again and bowed deeply. "It will be done as his Highness commands." 

---

Chu Yun came to in stages. First he noticed the unfamiliar smell of the sheets bellow him, the unpleasant softness of the mattress.

His eyes fluttered open and when his gaze focused he noticed a dark shape bent over the side of his bed. Xiao Zai had fallen asleep on the floor, his upper body resting over Chu Yun's lap.

The sight made something twinge in Chu Yun's chest.. He couldn't help but run his fingers over the strands of Xiao Zai's hair, spilled on the white sheets like an ink stain.