“Why not?”
I sat down in one of the curved wooden chairs. “It’s not a choice. I literally can’t.”
He crossed his arms. Tak was a formidable man who had built taller doorways to accommodate his height. I’d seen him strike the target on a board with an axe multiple times in a row, and I also remembered how easily he threw out potential packmates in the beginning. “Is it a defect? Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“It’s not that.”
“Then I’llmakeyou shift.”
I threw my hands out. “No! Please don’t.”
He gave an irritated sigh. “And why not?”
Resting my hands on my belly, I replied, “I’m pregnant.”
He stepped back, arms at his side. “What? When did this happen?”
Now or never.
“Before we arrived.”
Silence engulfed the room.
When Tak bent over with his hands on his knees, his long braid slipped forward. “Are you telling me this whole time I had you doing manual labor and lifting heavy wood, you were with child?”
It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that Tak might feel he had inadvertently put me in danger, but that was exactly how he was taking it as he stared at his feet.
“Tak, dinner’s getting cold,” Hope said from the back hall. She saw her mate’s awkward stance and hurried to his side. “What’s wrong? Tak?”
Catcher barked incessantly from the doorway, calling everyone’s attention. And one by one, my packmates filed into the room. Including Salem, who glued himself to the entrance as if he might flee at any moment. Lucian sat on a nearby table and watched with mild interest while munching on a raw onion.
Virgil swaggered in wearing hisIntrovertT-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that tapered at the ankles. “What’s the catastrophe? Virgil Nightingale is hungry, and that food isn’t gonna eat itself.”
Hope rubbed her mate’s shoulder, worry glittering in her dark eyes. “Tak? What’s wrong? Should I call a Relic?”
I waited in dread. Tak’s word was law in the Arrowhead pack.
He finally straightened up and took a deep breath. “Joy and Salem are with child.”
Hope’s mouth fell open, and she was the first to rush at me with a hug. “Oh my gosh! That’s wonderful news. Congratulations! How far along?”
“Almost eight months,” I answered.
The only sound in the room was Lucian taking a bite of that onion.
Catcher trotted over and sat close.
Meanwhile, Tak dragged a chair in front of me and sat down. “Now I know why you’ve been avoiding my wolf.”
Virgil pointed at me with an astonished expression. “Thatexplains why Salem always eats after you. And why you never drink alcohol.”
Everyone nodded while slowly putting together the pieces of our deceit. Archer sat on the table next to Lucian and whispered something to him. Bear still had an oven mitt on his hand when he joined his mate’s side, and if he didn’t already have a grey streak in his hair, he might get another after this meeting.
“Holy mackerel!” Mercy put her hand on top of her head. “All this time? How in the world did you hide it? We do yoga! I never noticed a bump.”
I wondered if Salem might jump in, but he held his position by the back entrance, his arms crossed.
Hope dragged her gaze to my stomach. “Eight months? That’s impossible. Why aren’t you showing?”
