Chapter 148 POSITIVE

Chapter 148 POSITIVE
MERRIELYNN.

I was sitting on the edge of the bathtub staring at the pregnancy test in my hand.

Positive.

The word was right there in the little window. Clear as day. There was no misinterpreting it.

Emorie and I had gotten a pack of five tests yesterday after she’d dragged me to three different stores trying to find ones that looked reliable. I’d shoved them in the back of the bathroom cabinet the second we got home and tried desperately not to think about them for the rest of the day.

But tonight I’d finally worked up the courage.

I’d taken all five of them.

And they were all saying the exact same thing.

I was pregnant.

The other four tests were scattered across the bathroom floor around my feet. Each one showing that same unmistakable positive result like they were mocking me.

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My heart was racing so fast I thought it might actually explode out of my chest and splatter across the pristine white tiles.

I was barely an adult. I’d just become Luna of the entire werewolf realm two weeks ago. I was still trying to figure out how to navigate palace politics and protocol and traditions that had been in place for literal centuries.

And now I was pregnant.

With Cormac’s baby.

The bathroom door opened without any warning.

My head snapped up and I saw Cormac walking in. He must have been looking for me. His eyes found me immediately.

He stopped dead in his tracks the moment he saw me sitting there.

His eyes went to the tests scattered across the floor first. Then to the one I was clutching so hard in my hand that my knuckles had gone white. Then finally to my face.

I watched him take it all in. Confusion flashed across his face as he tried to piece together what he was looking at.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. His voice was careful and concerned. He started moving toward me slowly.

I squeezed the test even tighter in my hand. The plastic edges bit into my palm hard enough to leave marks.

Cormac bent down and picked up one of the tests from the floor. He stared at it for what felt like forever. Just looking at that little window with its unmistakable result.

Then realization hit him.

His entire face went still. His eyes widened and his mouth parted like he was going to say something, but no sound came out.

He looked down at me.

And I started crying.

I couldn’t help it. The tears just came pouring out like a dam had shattered. Great heaving sobs shook my entire body and made it impossible to breathe properly.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Cormac dropped to his knees so fast he probably bruised them on the tile. He was in front of me immediately with his hands cupping my face. “It’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here.”

“I’m pregnant,” I choked out between sobs that were making my chest hurt. “Cormac, I’m pregnant.”

“I know,” he said softly. His thumbs were already wiping away tears even though more kept falling. “I know, baby. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” I said. More tears streamed down my face faster than he could catch them. “Nothing about this is okay.”

He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. One hand cradled the back of my head while the other pressed against my back, holding me together while I completely fell apart.

“Breathe,” he murmured into my hair. “Just breathe with me. We’re going to figure this out.”

I cried into his chest for what felt like hours. Just letting everything out while he held me and whispered reassurances that I wasn’t sure either of us actually believed.

Eventually the sobs started to slow down. My breathing evened out into something that didn’t sound quite so desperate.

Cormac pulled back just enough to look at my face. His thumbs traced my cheekbones as he wiped away the remaining tears.

“I love you,” he said. His voice was completely steady despite everything. “I love you so much. And whatever you decide about this, I’ll support you. Completely and without question.”

I looked up at him through eyes that were probably swollen and red. “What do you mean whatever I decide?”

“About this,” he said. He gestured vaguely toward the tests scattered across the floor. “About the pregnancy. It’s your body. Your choice to make. And I’ll be right there with you no matter what you choose to do.”

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.

“We’re really young, Cormac,” I whispered. My voice came out broken and shaky. “You just became King like two weeks ago. There’s so much happening right now and I don’t know if we’re ready for something like this.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead that was so gentle it made my heart ache. Then he pulled me back into his arms and we just sat there on the cold bathroom floor holding each other.

The silence stretched out between us for a long time.

Then I pulled back again.

“But what if we are?” I said quietly.

Cormac looked at me. “What if we’re what?”

“Ready,” I said. The word came out barely above a whisper. “What if we’re actually ready to have this baby?”

Something shifted in his expression. Something soft and vulnerable and completely unguarded that I’d never seen on his face before.

“I would love to raise a child with you,” he said. His voice was rough with emotion that he wasn’t trying to hide. “It feels like a dream just thinking about it. You and me and a baby. Our own family.”

He paused. Swallowed hard.

“But having a child isn’t just about dreams,” he continued. “Being a family is harder than it looks. Especially with everything we’re dealing with right now. Running a kingdom. Making changes that half the realm thinks are too radical. All of it.”

He cupped my face in both of his hands.

“But I love you,” he said. Each word deliberate and certain. “And I know I’ll love our child. I know that without any doubt in my mind.”

Tears were streaming down my face again but these felt different somehow.

“It’s up to you,” Cormac said. “Whatever you decide, I’ll support you completely. Because child or not, we’re in this together. Forever.”

I looked at him for a long moment. At this boy who’d loved me since we were teenagers running around the palace gardens. Who’d fought for me when everyone else had given up. Who’d killed his own father to save my life.

Who was now kneeling on a bathroom floor covered in positive pregnancy tests and promising to stand by me no matter what I chose.

“I’m scared,” I whispered.

“I know,” he said. “Me too.”

“But I think I want this,” I said. The words felt huge coming out of my mouth. “I think I want to have this baby with you.”

Cormac’s eyes filled with tears that he didn’t try to blink away. “Yeah?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

He kissed me then. Soft and gentle and tasting like salt from both of our tears mixing together.

When he pulled back, he stood up and held out both hands to me.

I took them and let him pull me to my feet.

My legs were still shaky underneath me. My whole body felt wrung out and completely exhausted.

Cormac bent down and scooped me up into his arms in one smooth motion.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Taking you to bed,” he said simply. “You need to rest.”

He carried me out of the bathroom and across our bedroom. He laid me down gently on the bed like I was made of something fragile. Then he climbed in next to me and pulled the covers over both of us.

I curled into his side immediately. My head found its usual spot on his chest. His arm wrapped around me and held me close.

We lay there in silence for a while. Just breathing together in the darkness.

Then Cormac spoke quietly.

“We’re going to have a baby,” he said. Like he was testing out how the words sounded when he said them out loud.

“We’re going to have a baby,” I repeated.

His hand moved to rest on my stomach. It was still completely flat. No sign yet of the life that was growing inside me.

“I love you,” he whispered into the darkness.

“I love you too,” I whispered back.

And for the first time since I’d seen that positive test, I felt something other than pure panic flooding through me.

I felt hope.