Chapter 48

JAX

Having Isabella here with us seems perfectly normal, like the missing piece of a puzzle. We haven't known her long, yet it's as if she's always been there.

If I had the chance, I'd graft her to my body so I'd never spend another second away from her. Well, maybe not grafted in the literal sense of the word, but you get the idea.

"Tomorrow I'm making dinner for you three. We can't eat takeaway every day." She tells us.

"And why not?" My brothers and I ask her in one voice.

She snorts, "Because home-cooked food is better and more economical."

"Are you aware that money is not an issue for us?" Ash asks her as she picks up the plates from the table.

"I suspect so, yes, but..." She sighs. "I want us to be like a real family. And a real family means having dinner together every night over a home-cooked meal, talking about the day we've all had." I look at her intently and sense at that moment that this is what she really wants. She wants to rebuild the family she clearly lost when her mother died, and I can't blame her.

"That's a very traditionalist view of family you have." Knox remarks as he helps them clear the table.

"I had a Catholic upbringing." She says with a shrug. "My parents met when they were students, they got married, they had me and my mom focused on my dad and me, until..."

"We understand. You know we were werewolves but we were a pretty classic family." I say and Knox snorts.

"No comment." Ash tells him with a stern look. "I'd dream of nothing better than coming home every day and having dinner with you every night and enjoying a good meal. But you don't have to cook every day."

"Yes, he's right." I agree. "Can't wait to get home and see you barefoot and pregnant."

A loud silence follows. Did I say that out loud? When I raise my head, glasses in hand, all three of them look at me.

"What?" I ask them. "It's true. I can't wait to see your rounded belly with our baby, it's a little more of you and I'd be fulfilled."

I look at Isa, who has moist eyes, she puts the dish in the sink behind her and leaves for the hallway, a few seconds later we hear a door close.

"What's wrong with her?" Knox asks.

"I don't fucking know." Asher replies, and the truth is, I don't know either.

ISABELLA Three years ago

When I wake up, my eyes are puffy from crying myself to sleep the night before. I waited for Dominic to leave before getting out of bed. I feel nauseous again and look at my calendar to check the date. Shit, I'm late. Shit, shit, shit, I have to take a test to be sure.

I get a message from Alex asking if I want to spend the day together. I pretend to have headaches, so we don't see each other. I don't want him to see me like this, I'll have to tell him about yesterday and that means hearing him tell me again what a jerk my husband is and that I should leave him.

I pluck up the courage to get out of bed and into the bathroom. I've always had trouble waking up, I think it must be from adolescence, but today it's different. As I brush my teeth, I'm overcome by a wave of nausea. I barely have time to open the toilet seat before I'm vomiting bile. Fuck, I don't think there's anything worse than vomiting on an empty stomach. Once finished, I quickly get ready to go downstairs and buy a pregnancy test, but I end up buying three. Just to be sure.

Back at the apartment, I take the first test. After reading the result, I do the second and third. All three are positive.

ASHER

"I'm leaving early tomorrow morning, I don't want to spend the evening separated from my mate." I say to my brothers in the hallway.

"You didn't even want to tell her you were leaving originally." Jax reminds me and I give him a dark look.

"I'm gonna go." Knox tells us, but I interrupt him before he can knock on the door of the room where Isa has locked herself in.

"I'll go." I don't give them time to stop me and knock gently on the door.

After a few seconds of silence, I'm about to knock again, but the door opens. Isa's eyes are red from crying, and she quickly tries to wipe away the tears with the back of her hand. I'm dying to take her in my arms, but I don't know how she'll react, so I refuse.

She surprises me by hugging me. "I need to tell you something." She says against my chest.

I drag her with me toward the living room past my brothers, still in the hallway.

Once we're all seated on the sofa, Isa starts talking and we all listen attentively. I didn't think I could go through so many emotions in such a short time. Jealousy, anger, sadness and disgust.

"I thought I should be honest with the three of you. Having kids sounds like something important to you so I wanted you to know that..." She pauses, bowing her head and shaking it slightly.

"That you'd lost a baby?" Knox finishes for her.

"That I might be... broken."

"Broken?! Seriously?" Jax rightfully insists. "What do you mean by that?"

"Jax, please." I interrupt. "Isa, you know this happens to millions of women around the world. They have miscarriages and they still manage to have other children."

"I know that. It's just that..." She pinches the bridge of her nose. "When Dom found out about the miscarriage he told me that even the thing all the women in the world were capable of doing I wasn't capable of."

Intense rage washes over me and my wolf howls to let it out and go rip the fucker's head off.

"Okay I'll fucking kill the son of a bitch." Knox says as he stands up. "I'll get a fucking shovel from the car so I can bury the pieces afterwards."

"Knox stop." I tell him curtly.

"Ah no but if you want we'll do this together. We can take it slow to make our fun last."

"Knox." I interrupt him again. "That's not the point right now." I turn to our mate, taking her hands in mine. "You're not broken, far from it. You're perfect. And you want me to tell you something? Even if you were infertile you'd still be perfect. It's not whether or not you have a child that defines your femininity. Not all women want children and that doesn't change the fact that they're women. The only thing you can be sure of is that your ex-husband is an asshole who made you suffer. Personally, I think he should see a shrink because you can't be normal and have that kind of attitude. Nothing that's happened in this marriage is YOUR fault. Do you understand me? Absolutely NOTHING."