SIENNA'S POV:
Two blue lines. That is what stares back at me. Five weeks since that rainstorm and I am still avoiding Dr. Greyson. And his wife too. I only look at him when the internship requires it. It is childish, and Elizabeth is too kind for me to be this petty, but I can't help it. My cousin Annie and I spend our time making excuses to avoid dinner when Patrick and Marcus try to rope us in. Anne Marie is tangled up with Marcus now; we both walk around with these “glowing” bite marks on our necks.
We layer foundation on our skin, wrap on scarves or do both, just to hide the glowing silver emblems. Elizabeth knows. I fucked her husband. And Annie did her brother-in-law. I see it in the way she looks at Patrick and then at Marcus (who just smirks like an idiot). None of us say anything when we do connect for a dinner in that overly lavish dining hall of theirs; we just sit there while my stomach feels like it is twisting into a knot.
I cannot stop thinking about it. I am at work, and my hands shake so hard that coffee spills over the rim of my cup.
"I don't know what to do," I say. My voice is low. "Morning sickness. Craving PB&Js like gourmet meals; which I usually hate. My boobs hurt. My period is..."
My throat closes. Annie is stuck in a board meeting because Marcus keeps her glued to his side now. Patrick pretends to give me space; I can still feel him watching me though.
Across from me, Dr. Laura doesn’t blink. The breakroom smells of burnt coffee and old bleach.
"You're what?" she asks.
I didn’t finish the sentence, but she already knows. My face feels hot, and my mocha skin turns beet red. I see it in the mirror across the way. I slide into the seat next to her, the plastic chair cold against my legs. I hate interrupting her break, but the test is shaking in my hand.
"I'm pregnant, Dr. Laura."
The silence makes my ears ring. Her eyes go wide (the kind of wide she gets when a brand new resident ruins a sterile field).
"Are you sure...?"
"It's Greyson's," I blurt out.
We are not just mentor and student anymore. She has been the closest thing to a mother I have here, since mine is still back in Lakeview.
"Are you sure, sweetie?" she asks again, covering my hand with hers.
I nod. I cannot forget losing my virginity to my boss, who owns this hospital. He slid right in like he had a key to the place. Smooth as a thief in the night.
"Okay, dear," she replies. She looks away to process it. "We'll talk to Dr. Knox. Lucas will know how to handle..." she pauses. "For now, let's keep this between us."
I clench the test. The blue lines are smug glaring back at me.
"Okay," I mutter.
The memory of that night loops in my head: rain soaking my clothes and his mouth hot on nipples. We were both exhausted. My wolf, Jinx, was not helping.
"Don't pin this on me, Miss Thing," Jinx huffs in my head.
"Wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been panting after..."
She cuts me off with a snort. She pushed me toward Patrick with every nudge and needy whine. Now his mark is on my neck and his kid is in my gut.
Nausea rolls through me again. It feels like a demon is doing backflips in my stomach. My scrubs strain over breasts that are tender and swollen.
I have not spoken to Patrick since that night. I ignore his calls, his texts, and those damn emails he sends from his encrypted account. But he knows. An ancient wolf king like him can always scent the change from miles away.
Now there is this connection. Mind-links buzz in my skull like static. Jinx is telegraphing everything to his wolf, Naeo; my body is a Morse code machine for his examination.
Ever since graduating from Wolf Springs University to starting my internship here (Greyson Medical), I’ve remained buried in ER charts, learning to patch people up. Now my own life’s falling apart.
Dr. Laura gives me a look that’s pitiful and says everything I need to know as she leaves the breakroom. One click of the door and it is dead quiet. I am pregnant with the Kindred Souls’ next spare heir. A bastard advisor in the making. A Blue Mooner linked to the hive that my pack has avoided joining like the plague. Goddess I’ve screwed up and father’s going to be pissed.
My phone vibrates; Annie’s name lights up the screen, finally. I answer.
"Where are you, love? Just got your message. I’m at..."
"Annie," my voice cracks. "I’m in the breakroom. I fucked up. Bad."
One second the door is shut, the next it flies open. Anne Marie moves so fast she is a blur. Phone still in her hand, she ends my call. I barely stand up from the table, the pregnancy test still clutched between my fingers. Her greenish blue eyes lock onto it. They widen like I just pulled a gun on her.
“Oh. My. Goodness... Cee-Cee?” The shock is there in her voice. “You’re having ‘his’ child?”
“Yes we are!” Jinx yips, bouncing around in my head like a over-caffeinated puppy. “And it’s boys. Three little ones...”
“Oh, my goddess,” I breathe, right before my breakfast tries to make a comeback. I gag. I hope she’s wrong. Three boys?
“Oh shit!” Anne Marie hisses, shoving the trash can at me so hard the wheels squeak.
I grab the thing like it owes me money, hunch over, and let loose. Cream cheese bagel. Banana smoothie. Regret. The whole damn menu comes up. Suddenly, it clicks; those dreams were not just dreams. Four boys. One girl. His kids. Our kids.
In my dream, we are already living the life; my family’s farmhouse in Lakeview, him playing wolf king while our pack (Blue Moon) kisses the ground he walks on. Never mind that we are not technically his. The hive king our rogue pack never got sworn to. Whatever.
Jinx knows what is coming. My parents’ faces flash behind my eyelids. My stomach drops.
“Time to go home, Cee-Cee,” Jinx murmurs, her wolf eyes glowing gold in the back of my twenty four year old skull. “Safe with the pack. Papa’s gonna lose his shit...”
She calls him that when she is feeling sentimental. Technically his inner wolf is her spirit dad. Meanwhile, Anne Marie is scrubbing vomit off the breakroom table, and all I can think is how the hell I let this happen. Jinx might be thrilled, but Daddy is going to stroke when he finds out.
“I don’t want an abortion. I want to keep the boys. All of...” I blurt, slapping a hand over my mouth before I can finish; then I vomit again. Damn Jinx, always taking over when she wants to argue a point. I would’ve never said that.
“Boys...?” Anne Marie says, her face doing that weird twitch where Nix pokes through. “It’s three? Oh, how love...” She claps a hand over her own mouth. Yeah, that is Nix, thrilled for her spirit sister, Jinx. Our wolves lose their minds over these men; men the Moon Goddess never even assigned to us.
“Sorry... Nix took the wheel...” Anne Marie mutters, her hand still glued to her face. “But Sienna. What are we going to do...?”
“What am I saying...?” I snap, shoving Jinx back, ignoring my cousin.
I won’t answer her question. I just can’t right now.
“Keep them? I slept in his wife’s bed. He has a whole damn family. And Daddy is going to kill me. Pat is his best friend, and the man is old enough to be my great great great great great,” I pause for a moment, and it really sinks in. “...grandfather and...” My voice cracks. The pregnancy test snaps in my grip; plastic edges bite into my palm.
I collapse in my seat. Anne Marie slides into the chair beside me, one hand rubbing my back while the other pries my fingers open.
“Stop, Cee-Cee,” she murmurs. “You’re gonna bleed. Then Naeo will feel it, and we both know how that goes...”
And she is not wrong. I drop the broken pieces, staring at the little dents they leave in my skin, then bolt for the bathroom. False alarm on the tinkle (now I can feel it), but my feet are freezing cold; socks on tile, sneakers kicked off because my feet feel like sausages.
The fluorescent lights stab my eyes, reflecting off the chrome walls. Everything feels wrong. The breakroom is too quiet, but outside? The hospital noises buzz like a swarm of pissed off bees. Too loud. Too much. The weight of it presses down on me, and the tears will not stop falling.
Then, warm hands; a tissue dabbing at my cheek. Anne Marie, my cousin (but really more like a sister), brushes my wavy hair back. That helps. Just a little.
"You gotta pull it together," she murmurs, her fingers working through my tangled mess of curls. "You’ll bring him right to..."
"I know!" I say, my voice cracking. "Just let me freak out for a second, okay?"
I fumble in my pocket, pulling out another test. Ripping the plastic off, I yank my pants down and hover over the toilet. I shove the stick under the stream. My hands shake. My lungs burn from holding my breath.
The screen lights up fast; one word, bold as hell: Pregnant. Like I did not already know that. Like the first test (a different brand) was just playing some game. But some stupid, hopeful part of me prayed that Dr. Laura was right, maybe I was wrong. Maybe Jinx is wrong too. Maybe. Except nope. Not a medical anomaly. Babies.
"Sienna, listen..." Jinx starts in my head, that low growl of hers vibrating my skull.
I cut her off aloud: "Shut. Up. Jinx."
Anne Marie leans in, staring at the test. Pity is all over her face. I want to scream. Want to rip something apart. Mostly, I just want to collapse.
Cold porcelain bites into my palms as I grip the sink. A mom. Me. That was never in the plan. Never even a daydream. And the father? Yeah, that is its own disaster.
"I screwed up," I choke out, meeting Anne Marie’s sea glass gaze. "But goddess, it didn’t feel like a mistake then. Felt like the best thing that ever happened to me. Still does, if I’m being honest..."
Jinx howls inside me. It sounds like she's mocking me, but really, I know the drill. She's happy. Then, weirdly, the storm in my chest settles. It doesn't leave, but it's quieter, like someone just turned down the volume on a loud radio. I feel a presence. I bolt from the bathroom, and Anne Marie is right on my heels.
Then, a flicker of movement. A face I know, gone before I can even blink. Wolf speed. My breath catches. Oh, hell. It's him.
"Patrick...?" The name slips out.
Anne Marie snaps her head toward me.
"You see, Sienna. You gotta stop. That was..."
"Yeah," I breathe. The air feels less thick. That gnawing emptiness in my gut is gone. Even the nausea that has been making my stomach churn all morning fades like a light switch was flicked.
Jinx's voice floats through my mind. She sounds smug.
"This is what your mate can do for you," she says, bumping my twitching fingers with her nose in my mindspace. "They heal more than just scratches. Soul stuff. Emotions. Even sickness. They are settling now; the pups' father is close."
I swallow hard. There’s heat pooling in my abdomen. Is it comfort or something hotter? I don't even know. My thoughts are a mess. He mentored me harder than any other intern. We were student and teacher. Until I became the knocked up secret. The after hours mistake. One reckless, stormy night when the professional distance felt like a tight collar that finally snapped, freeing us both. The pregnancy test clatters to the floor. My hands are too numb to hold the plastic.
Anne Marie chews her lip. Her eyes look worried.
"Maybe we should go talk to Dr. Stephanie...?"
"Hell no!" I hiss, glancing over my shoulder at her. "She's literally his adopted..."
"So?" Annie shrugs.
"So she'll march me straight to him!" My voice gets frantic. "He might not even know yet. Or he's waiting for me to crack first. Stephanie? She'd rat me out in a heartbeat; you know how she is about doing the 'right' thing..." (I throw air quotes)
My gut twists. I imagine those old wolf ears of his picking up every word. Maybe he's listening right now. Still hiding around some corner. Handsome bastard.