I carefully move the strands of hair from her face. She was sleeping peacefully and I didn’t want to disturb her. Once she woke up, she’d want to know what had happened and it would make her worry. Worrying was the last thing she needed to do right now. My eyes darted down to her stomach. I couldn’t resist. My chest tightened.
Pregnant.
Val was pregnant. We weren’t sure how far along she was yet. We could’ve lost her. Val wasn’t safe in her own pack. They wanted her gone and after what happened yesterday, it was clear that they’d do anything possible to get rid of her.
I pressed my lips firmly together to stop the growl from escaping. Closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Once I had calmed down somewhat, I opened my eyes and stared down at my hand on her still flat stomach. One of these days it would be swollen with our baby inside.
The bedroom door opened, making me tense. I sat up and turned to flash sharp teeth at the intruder. David paused in the doorway. I slowly relaxed and turned back towards Val. The door closed softly behind him when he entered the room. His footsteps made no sound as he crossed the room to the other side of the bed. David hesitated and then took a seat on the edge of the bed.
“Did you talk to Alark?” I asked him softly.
He nodded. “Yeah. He’ll be here by tomorrow afternoon.”
I nodded and glanced back down at Val. It could be months before we saw her again. I didn’t want her to leave, and I was sure David felt the same, but we both knew that it was the safest option we had right now. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“It doesn’t feel right.”
“It’s the only option we have now,” I muttered.
“I know.” He stared down at my hand on her stomach. “I just don’t like the fact that we have to send her away to protect her.”
“I know.”
I slowly pulled my hand away and straightened. As I leaned back in the chair, my eyes darted up to her neck. She still had a white bandage on her neck from where she was cut with the knife. We still didn’t know who wanted her and why, but we were aware of the danger that lurked in our pack. My father had almost killed my baby. It was why the doctor was so panicked when the results came.
“Has he said anything?” My eyes darted up to David.
“Only what he told us last night,” he muttered. “Your father threatened his family if he didn’t give her the poison, but he swears that he hasn’t given it to her. He got the test result before that.”
“What would’ve happened if he gave it to her before. . .?” I trailed off.
“According to him, he was planning on giving it to her after we left and then saying that her condition deteriorated during the night.”
The growl that fell from my lips couldn’t be stopped. I gripped the arms of the chair tightly. He would’ve killed her and then we would never have known. My father needed to leave. I felt bad having to banish them from the pack, but what other option did we have? We couldn’t take that risk. He hated her and even if he said that he had learned to accept her, we couldn’t take his word for it.
“We need to eliminate the haters. With them still among us—”
“I know,” I interrupted. “She won’t be able to return until then.”
My eyes darted back to her. I took in her small button nose and soft pink lips that were slightly parted as she breathed. I couldn’t wait for her to open her eyes and give me that beautiful smile that lit up the whole room.
We’ve only known each other for a short time but she had become my world. I couldn’t imagine being without her anymore. And now she was giving us the most precious thing an Alpha could ask for; a baby.
***
***VALERIA***
I groaned as I stretched my aching body. I opened my eyes and blinked up at the dark ceiling. For a second confusion filled me, but it quickly cleared when I realized that I was in the master bedroom. The bed was empty except for me. A chair was pushed close to the bed from the right side. The bedroom door was slightly ajar too.
Throwing the blankets back, I slid closer to the edge of the bed and threw my legs over the edge. The moment I stood nausea hit me. I hurried into the bathroom and dropped to my knees in front of the toilet and threw up. What the hell is happening to me?
When I was done I flushed the toilet and stumbled over to the faucet to rinse my mouth. I stared at myself in the mirror. My face was pale and my lips were trembling. My whole body was trembling.
With one last glance at myself in the mirror, I used the toilet and then made my way back to bed. I had just pulled the blankets over me when the bedroom door opened. David entered and softly closed the door behind him. Without glancing at the bed, he walked over to the closet and pulled it open. I pushed myself up onto my elbows to get a better look at what he was doing. He reached up and tugged a black bag down from the top shelf. Opening it, he placed it on the floor next to him, and then he turned to grab some clothes. He shoved them into the bag without folding it.
“What are you doing?” I asked softly.
His body jerked. The clothes he was holding in his hands dropped to the floor when he spun around. Wide brown eyes caught mine, and then he was moving toward me. I giggled when he nearly jumped on top of me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and flipped us over so I lay on top of him. My giggle turned into a laugh when he started pressing kisses over my face.
“You’re awake,” he muttered in between kisses. “You’re awake.”
I pressed my hands against his chest and pushed myself up to stare down at him. My eyes were instantly drawn to the dark stubble covering his cheeks. It felt scruffy but it looked hot on him. His lips parted, drawing my attention to them. Before I could lean down to steal a kiss, he flipped us around again. David was careful not to crush my body with his. Dark eyes darted over my face.
“How are you feeling, doll?”
“I was a little sick, but I feel better now.”
“Sick?” He frowned. “You threw up?”
I nodded. Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around his neck. David pushed himself up on one elbow and reached out to cup my cheek with his other hand. His eyes searched mine. I stared up at him. Something was different. He looked tired. I traced the dark circles under his eyes. His hair was messy too.
“How are you feeling now?”
“Good enough to eat something.” As if on cue my stomach grumbled.
David’s lips twitched. “Come on, I will make you some breakfast.”
“Will you fill me in on what has been happening?”
David hesitated. His eyes darkened and anger flashed through them. He pursed his lips but gave me a stiff nod. I sat up when he crawled off the bed. David turned and held out his hand. I placed mine in his and allowed him to pull me to my feet. My eyes dropped to take in my clothes. I wore one of their shirts and my favorite pink socks. It must only be us otherwise he would’ve made me dress before we left the room.
I instantly searched for Devon when he entered the living room.
He was nowhere to be found which made my shoulders sag. I wanted to be with him too. I took a seat at the island and watched him as he mixed the ingredients for pancakes. He grabbed a pan, turned on the stove, and started making breakfast. The smell made my stomach grumble again. I was starving. He filled a plate with five pancakes and then turned to place the plate down in front of me.
“Eat up, doll.”
My eyes widened. Was he serious? My eyes snapped up to his but he had already turned back to the stove again. I frowned. I’ll question him later. For now, I was going to fill my empty stomach. I reached over to pull the syrup closer. After pouring a generous amount onto the top pancake, I cut off a piece and ate it. A moan slipped past my lips when flavor exploded in my mouth.
“This is the best damn pancakes I’ve ever had,” I muttered around another bite of pancakes.
I glanced up to find David staring at me with his mouth hanging open slightly. Color flooded my cheeks. I reached up and wiped at my chin but there was no sticky liquid. He cleared his throat and turned back to what he was doing before. I surprisingly finished all the pancakes on my plate. Pushing it aside, I reached for the orange juice and took a sip. David cleared the plates and then walked around the counter. He hesitated before taking a seat on the chair next to me.
“You look tired,” I broke the silence.
“I am,” he admitted. “Do you remember what happened?”
My smile faded. “Yeah, I remember. I was really scared but I knew you would come for me.”
“You have so much faith in us?”
I nodded. I trusted them with my life. I knew they would always be there to protect me. David reached out and gripped both my hands. He squeezed them as he sucked in a deep breath. I waited patiently for him to speak. Whatever had happened after I fell asleep must be the reason for his tiredness and the worry I could see in his eyes. David’s hands around mine tightened. His eyes lowered and then he started speaking.
“You were shot,” he said softly. “Do you remember that?”
I pulled my hand from his and reached out to tug the shirt down over my shoulder. There was a white bandage but I felt no pain. I frowned. “It doesn’t hurt.”
He nodded as if he expected it. “We gave you some of our blood. We had to.”
My frown deepened. “What do you mean that you had to?”
“Devon’s father ordered the doctor who was treating you to give you some poison.” My face paled. “He had some test done and the results made him tell us the truth. He was scared and he had reason to be.” David sucked in a deep breath, slowly blew it out, and then glanced back up at me. “I was hoping that Devon would be here so we could tell you together, but he had some things to take care of. You’re pregnant, Val.”
The room tilted. Hands gripped my arms. He was speaking but I couldn’t hear a word he said.
Pregnant. You’re pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant. I couldn’t be. It’s too soon. We barely knew each other. We weren’t ready to be a family. I wasn’t ready to be a mother. I wasn’t ready.
“Come on, Val. I need you to breathe for me.”
How? My lungs weren’t working. Nothing was working. Why wasn’t anything working? I was aware of David picking me up and pulling me onto his lap. He rubbed my back up and down with one hand while his other moved the hair from my face as he whispered soothing words against my skin.
“Breathe doll.”
I can’t, I wanted to scream at him, but all that escaped my lips was a whimper. Tears filled my eyes and slowly dripped down my cheeks. This was just a bad dream. I couldn’t be pregnant. Air suddenly filled my lungs, but then came the sobs. I clutched his shirt tightly.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said softly. “I know you’re scared. I’m scared too, but I promise you that we will be by your side through this.”
“Y-you don’t k-know that.”
“I know I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
I wasn’t sure for how long we sat there, but it must’ve been for a while. The door opened and voices drifted towards us. A familiar voice was one of them. I didn’t recognize the other male voice or the female voice. Who were they? What were they doing here?
“You told her?” Devon questioned loudly. “I thought we agreed to tell her together?”
“We agreed on a lot of things.”
David slipped an arm under my knees before he stood. I glanced at Devon over his shoulder. He had turned his back on us. My eyes darted over to the couple but then we rounded the corner and they disappeared. David carried me back to the bedroom and placed me on the bed. He crouched in front of me. Our eyes locked. It looked like he wanted to say something, but he changed his mind. David stood and walked over to the closet. He turned with a pair of pants. I took it from him and pulled it on.
Devon entered the room and closed the door firmly behind him. He turned, leaned back against it, and crossed his arms across his chest. His eyes trailed over me and then locked with mine. He opened his mouth, shook his head, and then closed it again. Devon sighed. He straightened and walked over to the bed. Taking a seat on the bed, he reached for me to tug me between his legs.
“We need to talk to you.”
David stepped closer but stayed standing. He gave me a gentle smile. My attention was drawn back to Devon when he squeezed my hand.
“What do you want to talk about?” I asked softly when he didn’t speak right away.
He licked his lips. I noticed how tensed his shoulders were and how his hand shook when he ran it through his hair. Devon swallowed loudly. His eyes darted over to David’s, and then he was looking at me again. Our eyes locked. He gave me a small smile as he reached up to cup my cheek. Devon was stalling and I was okay with that. There had to be a reason for him to be stalling. I wasn’t going to like what he was going to say.
“We’re sending you away for a while. Alark is here to pick you up.”