Sera's POV
I barely made it to the bathroom before throwing up.
The sickness hit me like a wave, sudden and violent and totally unexpected. I knelt on the cold tile floor, my whole body shaking as my stomach emptied itself.
When it was over, I sat back on my heels, breathing hard and trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I'd felt fine when I went to bed last night. Perfect, actually, despite everything that had happened with Darius.
Then the smell of my morning coffee had sent me running for the toilet.
A terrible, wonderful thought crept into my mind.
"No way," I whispered to my image in the bathroom mirror. "It's too soon. We've only been... I mean, we haven't even..."
But even as I tried to deny it, I was counting days in my head. It had been three weeks since the wedding. Three weeks of Darius visiting me every night, of stolen kisses turning into something deeper.
Three weeks of falling completely in love with a guy who belonged to someone else.
My hands went to my stomach automatically. What if there was a baby growing inside me? A tiny life that was half me and half the most powerful Alpha in three territories?
The thought should have terrified me. Instead, I felt a burst of protective love so fierce it took my breath away.
"Okay," I said to my pale image. "First things first. Find out for sure."
Getting to the drugstore without anyone seeing me was like planning a military mission. I couldn't use the pack clinic – too many people would ask questions. And I definitely couldn't let word get back to Darius before I knew for certain.
I walked three miles to the human town that bordered our area, keeping my hood up and my scent suppressed as much as possible. The cashier at the store barely looked at me as I bought the pregnancy test, but my hands were shaking so badly I could barely count out the money.
Back home, I stared at the small box like it held explosives.
What if it was positive? What would I tell Darius? How would he react?
What if it was negative? Why did that possibility make me feel almost disappointed?
The waiting was torture. I paced my living room, cleaned my already spotless kitchen, and tried to imagine every possible situation.
If I was pregnant, everything would change. Darius would have to make a real choice instead of trying to have both me and his marriage. A baby would force choices that we'd been dancing around for weeks.
But what if he picked duty over us? What if he thought that a political marriage was more important than his own child?
The timer on my phone finally went off.
I walked to the bathroom on unsteady legs, my heart hammering against my chest. The test sat on the counter where I'd left it, holding answers that would change my entire life.
Two pink lines.
Clear, unmistakable, and totally terrifying.
I was pregnant with Darius Blackthorne's baby.
I sank onto the edge of the bathtub, looking at the test until the lines blurred through my tears. Happy tears, scared tears, confused tears – all mixed together until I couldn't tell which feeling was winning.
A baby. Our baby.
Despite everything complicated about our position, I couldn't help but smile. This tiny person would be loved fully, no matter what happened between their parents. I would make sure of that.
But first, I had to tell Darius.
The rest of the day crawled by like pain. I tried to eat but everything made me sick. Tried to read but couldn't focus on anything except the life growing inside me. Tried to plan what I would say when he came tonight.
Darius, we need to talk. I have something important to tell you. I'm pregnant.
Simple. Direct. Honest.
So why did the thought of actually saying those words make me want to throw up again?
By evening, I'd changed clothes three times and practiced my speech in the mirror until I had it memorized. When the familiar knock came at my door, I jumped like I'd been electrified.
"You came," I said as I let him in, noting the tightness in his shoulders.
"I'll always come." His voice was rough with tiredness. "Are you feeling better today? You seemed upset when you left the pack house."
"I'm better. Actually, I'm... I have something to tell you."
Something in my tone made him go very still. "What is it?"
I opened my mouth to tell him about the baby, but different words came out instead.
"I know about your engagement."
His face went carefully blank. "Sera—"
"I know you're going to marry Celeste Ravencrest next week. I know this has all been some kind of difficult situation for you." I wrapped my arms around myself. "I just need to know where I fit in your life. If I fit at all."
He moved toward me, his hands reaching for my face. "You fit everywhere. You're..." He stopped, seeming to struggle with words. "You're my mate, Sera."
My heart stopped. "Your what?"
"My mate. The one person I'm meant to be with forever." His thumbs brushed away tears I didn't know I was crying. "The bond formed three days ago, and it's been driving me insane trying to figure out how to handle it."
"But you're engaged to someone else."
"A political agreement that was made before I met you. Before I understood what a real mate bond felt like."
"So you'll break it off?" Hope bloomed in my chest. "You'll choose us?"
The pause before he answered told me everything I needed to know.
"It's complicated," he said eventually. "The alliance between our packs—"
"Is more important than me. Than us."
"That's not what I'm saying." But he couldn't meet my eyes. "I'm saying I need time to find a solution that works for everyone."
"What if there isn't one? What if you have to choose?"
Another pause. Another knife in my heart.
"Let me worry about the politics," he said gently. "Right now, all that matters is that we have this link. That we have each other."
We have each other. The words should have made me happy, but they felt hollow somehow. Like a promise with an end date.
This was going to be the moment I told him about the baby. The moment that would force all those careful political plans to crumble in the face of reality.
But looking at him now, seeing how he was already struggling with the choice between me and his job, I couldn't do it.
Not yet.
A baby would confuse everything even more. Would put pressure on him that might make him hate both me and our child. Would force a choice he clearly wasn't ready to make.
"Sera?" He was studying my face with worry. "What were you going to tell me?"
"Just that I love you," I said, and it was true. Even if it wasn't the whole truth.
Relief and something that looked like guilt flickered across his face. "I love you too. More than I thought possible."
He kissed me then, soft and desperate and full of promises neither of us could keep. And as his hands moved to rest on my waist, right where our baby was growing, I made a quiet vow.
I would wait. I would give him time to choose love over duty on his own.
But I wouldn't wait forever.
After he left at dawn, I sat in my kitchen with my hand on my still-flat stomach, talking to the tiny life inside me.
"Your daddy loves us," I whispered. "He just needs to figure out how to be brave enough to choose us over everything else."
My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number: Congratulations on your pregnancy. I hope you're prepared for what comes next.
The blood drained from my face. Someone knew. Someone had been watching me closely enough to figure out what I hadn't even told Darius yet.
I ran to my window and peered through the curtains. In the early morning light, I could see forms moving through the trees again.
But this time, they weren't hiding.
This time, they wanted me to know I was being watched.