Chapter 260 The Unexpected Chef

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Two months in, and pregnancy hit Elara like a truck.

She woke up one morning feeling fine. Normal.

She even made it downstairs before the nausea kicked in.

Linda had made her favorite breakfast: a big bowl of fish chowder, the kind Elara had been craving for weeks.

She sat down, picked up her spoon, and leaned over the bowl.

The smell hit her like a wall.

Her stomach flipped. She dropped the spoon and bolted for the bathroom. She made it just in time.

Her body heaved over the toilet bowl, but there was nothing in her stomach yet. Just dry heaves that left her gasping.

Alpha Dominic was in the middle of his morning run when he heard it.

He was inside and up the stairs in under ten seconds.

He found her on the bathroom floor, forehead resting on the cool toilet seat, breathing hard.

He dropped to his knees next to her and started rubbing slow circles on her back. "What was it? What did you smell?"

Morning sickness. They both knew it. It had been lurking for weeks. Now it was here.

Elara leaned into him while he helped her stand up. Her face was pale. Green around the edges. "The fish. It was so strong. I couldn’t handle it."

"I don’t want breakfast anymore," she said. Her voice was weak. Defeated.

Alpha Dominic told Linda to swap out the meal.

Linda brought scrambled eggs and toast. Elara took one bite and threw it up.

Elara tried crackers.Same result. She tried plain rice. It came back up within ten minutes.

The only thing she could keep down was plain oatmeal. No sugar. No butter. No fruit. Just oats and water, boiled until it was gray and sad. That was it.

Linda felt awful. She stood in the kitchen wringing her hands. "Alpha, I’m so sorry. I should have known better."

"It’s not your fault, Linda." Dominic’s voice was calm, but his jaw was tight. "From now on, someone else handles the kitchen."

He hired a personal chef the next day.

A French-trained guy who had worked at a five-star restaurant in Manhattan.

Elara threw up his food. He hired a second chef.

A woman who specialized in prenatal nutrition. Elara threw up her food too. He hired a third. A fourth. A fifth.

Ten chefs in two weeks. None of them worked.

Elara stopped counting. She stopped hoping. She just stopped eating.

She lost weight fast. Her cheekbones jutted out. Her collarbone became visible.

The pregnancy glow everyone talked about? She didn’t have it.

She had dark circles, hollow cheeks, and a permanent look of exhaustion that made her look ten years older.

Alpha Dominic was losing his mind.He called his pack doctor. He called every werewolf he knew who had been through a pregnancy. Nothing helped.

Elizabeth showed up at the house with a Whole Foods bag full of stuff she’d picked up. Ginger chews. Saltines. Preggie Pops.

Some kind of acupressure wristband that was supposed to help with nausea.

She sat down next to Elara on the couch and rubbed her back while Elara stared blankly at the TV.

"Sweetheart, why is it hitting you this hard?" Elizabeth asked. Her voice was soft. Worried.

Elara hadn’t been to work in a week. She could barely get off the couch. "Grandma, I don’t understand how women do this. I feel like I’m dying."

Elizabeth sighed.

"I wish I could help more. Your grandfather used to cook for you when you were little. Remember? You’d cry, and he’d go into the kitchen and make you pancakes shaped like animals. I never learned how to cook like he did." Her voice had that sad edge to it. Regret. The kind that comes from looking back and wishing you had paid more attention.

Alpha Dominic stood in his home office, staring at the stack of resumes his assistant had just handed him.

He didn’t even bother reading them. He knew none of these people were going to work.

"Get me nannies who cook," he said. "Not chefs. Nannies who cook. Preferably ones who have dealt with pregnant women before."

His assistant nodded. "Yes, Alpha."

She left. Alpha Dominic looked at the resumes again. Then he dumped them in the trash can and sat down at his desk, running his hands over his face.

Something had to give. He just didn’t know what.

---

That afternoon, Nadia showed up at Wolfe Group headquarters carrying a thermos.

She walked up to the front desk. "Hi. I’m here to see the Alpha King."

The receptionist looked up. "Do you have an appointment, ma’am?"

"No, but he’s my son-in-law." Nadia’s smile didn’t budge. "If you let him know I’m here, he’ll want to see me."

The receptionist hesitated. She didn’t know if this woman was telling the truth, but she couldn’t risk being rude if she was. "Please wait here. I’ll call up."

Upstairs, Alpha Dominic was going through another stack of nanny profiles when his secretary buzzed. "Alpha, there’s a woman at the front desk. Says she’s your mother-in-law."

Dominic’s jaw tightened. "Tell her I’m not available."

He knew exactly why Nadia was here. She’d tried going through Elara and failed.

Now she was trying him.

Classic Nadia. Always looking for the back door when the front door didn’t open.

He didn’t have a single good thing to say about her. She’d spent years making Elara feel worthless. She’d caused more damage than anyone else in Elara’s life.

Nadia hadn’t even been invited to their Mating Ceremony. That should tell her everything she needed to know.

Alpha Dominic gathered his things and headed down to the parking garage. He had nanny interviews lined up and he wasn’t going to let Nadia throw him off.

He stepped off the elevator and walked toward his car.

And there she was. Standing right next to it.

"Alpha Dominic." She stepped forward, holding out the thermos. "I know you don’t like me. I know Elara is pregnant. I don’t have much to offer, but I made her some soup. The recipe came from her grandfather. He taught it to me years ago."

She held it out to him. "Please. Just take it to her. Let her try it."

Alpha Dominic didn’t reach for it.

"I promise there’s nothing wrong with it." She unscrewed the lid and poured some into the cap.

Then she drank it in front of him. She swallowed, wiped her mouth, and held the cap out.

"See? I drank it myself. It’s safe."

Dominic’s eyes narrowed. "What if it’s only bad for pregnant women?"

He wasn’t taking that chance. Not with Elara. Not with his kid.

"Thanks, but no thanks. The Wolfe family has plenty of chefs. We don’t need you to go out of your way."

He unlocked his car, got in, and drove off without looking back.

Nadia stood there in the empty parking garage, holding her thermos, alone.

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