144

144
Brinley's POV

It was 9pm and the knock on my door was hesitant, like someone was afraid they might be turned away if I answered.

“B?” Maeve’s voice was so soft, almost shy. “It’s me.”

I pushed back from my desk so fast my chair scraped the floor and fell on the impact. Books spilled to the ground, I ignored them and rushed to the door. I opened the door and nearly forgot how to breathe.

Maeve stood there, pale and smaller than I remembered, holding a tray with two mugs of tea. Steam curled into the hall light, and her smile looked like it was trembling, but for once it was a real genuine smile.

“I brought tea, I thought… maybe we could talk. I’ve missed you, B.” she said, and I swear the words nearly broke me.

For once, I didn’t think and I pulled her into my arms.

She froze for a heartbeat, her usual flinch, the way she’d recoil since she came back.. But then she melted into my arms. Putting the tray beside us, Her hands than gripped the back of my shirt, pressing me closer. I held her even tighter, my throat aching.

“I’ve missed you too,” I whispered. And for the first time in months, it felt like maybe she believed it.

Settling Into my room she carried the tea to my bed, set the tray on the nightstand. She perched at the edge, shoulders drawn, knees together like she was afraid of taking up too much space.

I sat beside her, close enough our arms brushed.

For a while, the only sound was the wind hitting my window. Finally after some comfortable silence, Maeve spoke, her voice fragile.

“So much has changed over the last five months, and everything looks the same… but it doesn’t feel the same.”

Her words sat heavy in the air. I wrapped my hands around the mug, letting the heat bite into my palms. “Yeah. We’re different now. All of us.”

Her eyes lifted, searching me looking at the mark on my neck. “You and Rowen… before the battle?”

I swallowed. “Yeah. We mated while you were gone.” The confession tasted strange, sharp with guilt. “It umm.. we used sex as a distraction after Kieran dissapeared.. And well, one thing led to another.”

Her lips twitched, sadness, curiosity, maybe envy. “Does it feel different? Being with him like that? I remember what it was like with Keiran.. and You.. But youd been inlove with him for years before hand.. ”

Heat rose in my cheeks. “It’s… grounding. Messy. Scary sometimes. But good. It makes us feel… anchored, like how it was with you before you know.”

She looked down at her hands, fingers tightening around the mug and nodded “Did you… feel anything after you guys you know.. had sex? Nausea? Changes or anything?”

I blinked. “Not really.” I looked at her puzzled..

The words hung there.

Maeve’s breath caught. She froze, and for the first time since she came back, I really looked at her. The her skin wasn’t just pale. The softness at her stomach wasn’t just from her starting to eat. The fuller curve of her chest wasn’t just chance.

My heart stuttered.

The question fell out of me, too loud, too sudden.

“Maeve… are you pregnant?”

The Silence that followed set an unesasy feelling into the room.

Her eyes widened. For a moment she looked like I’d struck her. Then her shoulders sagged, and she gave the smallest shrug.

“I don’t know.”

I stared at her, the tea forgotten in my lap. “You don’t… know?”

She shook her head, lip trembling. “umm.. When all the symptoms started I thought it was from dying and coming back to life. My body’s so different now, I thought maybe it was just… the cost.. The price the moongoddess warned me about. But…” Her eyes filled with tears as her voice broke. “I don’t know.”

I reached for her hand. It was cold, so fucking cold.. I squeezed it gently. “Maeve, you have to tell me everything.”

She looked down, voice dropping to a whisper. “When I was with Selene, she told me things. She called me her child. Her Golden Flame. She said when I rose again, the world would see what that meant. And that death wasn’t always an ending. Sometimes it was a dawn. Righting every wrong.”

Goosebumps rippled down my arms at her words.

Maeve swallowed hard. “I thought she meant bringing me back weaker, smaller. I thought maybe she stripped me of everything to balance the world. But sometimes I wonder if this—” She pressed a hand against her stomach, fingers shaking. “if this is what she meant. That I came back not just for me, but for something else.”

I couldn’t breathe as I looked at her, really looked. The nausea I’d brushed off as healing, the way her wolf’s coat shone white instead of gold, we knew that was becasue she was stripped of her power..

She had been remade. And maybe not just for herself.

“Have you seen the school doctor?” My voice came out too sharp. “You need to be sure.”

Maeve shook her head quickly. “No. I’ve been too scared. I wanted to talk to you first. And… I think Kieran knows or at least suspects. The way he looks at me, like he already guessed. But I can’t… I can’t handle it if I’m right.”

Her voice cracked. “I’m too young for this, B. I’m not ready. Im only 16.. My mom was 18 when she had me..”

Her fear gutted me. I pulled her into my arms again.

“Maeve, listen to me. You didn’t ask for this. If it’s true, it’s not your fault. Selene, she’s cruel, even when she calls it love. You made a deal with her, and no ones ever been able to do that with her..”

Her body trembled against mine. “What if this is the price? What if she gave me back only to tie me down like this?”

I stroked her hair, voice rough. “Then we’ll figure it out. Together. If you’re pregnant, we’ll find a way. And if you’re not, then we’ll know this is just your body healing. But you don’t get to carry this alone.”

Maeve sniffled, curling closer. “Promise you won’t hate me if I am?”

“Never,” I whispered into her hair. “You’re my best friend. Mate or not, That doesn’t change anything”

We sat like that for a long time, the silence broken only by her shaky breaths.

When she finally pulled back, her eyes were damp but steadier. “Okay. We’ll go to the doctor. But, Brinley—” She looked down again. “If it’s true, if I’m pregnant… what then?”

I swallowed the fear clawing at me. “Then we protect you. Protect both of you. .”

Maeve blinked at me, and for the first time in months, I saw a spark of the girl she used to be. The stubborn, reckless, furious Maeve I’d fallen for.

It gave me hope. Even if it the thought of our future scared the hell out of me.