Elias considered this for a long moment. I could see how badly he wanted to say yes. He wanted Emma safe, and Rachel was his best bet. He wanted the wraith dead, but his mate back more so.
I didn’t care what he wanted if it put Rachel or our unborn cub in danger. I didn’t care how strong she was, or if she could save us from the wraith. Letting her get in harm’s way went against every instinct in my body. My wolf growled in agreement, ready to fight the instant Elias gave in.
“You need to stay in the back,” Elias said. “And you’ll need some iron. I’m also not going to let you go in there alone. You’ll have one or two of my men as backup. We’ll come up with the specifics as we—”
“No!” I cut in, stepping into the conversation again. “That’s not going to happen. Rachel, go back to the house.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Rachel snapped. “You just heard your alpha. If you aren’t going to listen to me, then you should at least listen to him.”
“I don’t care what he says,” I growled. “You’re not going, and that’s—”
“Enough,” Elias snapped. He turned toward me. “Sam, over here.”
I snarled, rounding on him. He growled in response, meeting my eyes in challenge. I glowered, but after a moment, I broke eye contact and stalked after him until we were well out of earshot of Rachel or anyone else. He rounded on me.
“What the hell is going on?” Elias growled.
“I’m not letting my mate waltz into danger like that,” I said. In truth, it was so much more than that. Just the thought of her getting hurt because I let her do something this reckless sent my wolf and me into an anxious frenzy. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if anything happened to her. More than that, should the worst happen—if she died—I didn’t think I would be able to live without her. But if I said any of this, Elias would know the truth, and I wasn’t going to do that. Not without Rachel’s permission.
But Elias was my best friend, and he knew when I was holding back. He frowned, scrutinizing me as if he could sense something.
“While I appreciate you looking after my sister, the way you’re acting is absurd. I’ve never seen you this protective of her, and I know that doesn’t just come from the mating bond.” He stalked toward me, lowering his voice as his expression darkened, daring me to lie to him. “What’s really going on here?”
I couldn’t keep it from him forever, and if Elias was hellbent on having Rachel help, then he deserved to know all of it. Still, I wouldn’t do it unless Rachel said it was okay. I glanced over at her, then back at Elias, hesitation written all over my face as I debated what to tell him. Her eyes met mine, and I could see her features grow taut and uncertain as if she could tell what I was thinking. I felt that anxiety and fear through the mating bond. Then, it changed, twisting into determination. She gave me a curt nod as her hands went unconsciously to her stomach.
Elias continued staring at me as I took a deep breath. Even as I knew what I needed to do, the words refused to come, as if saying them would make everything real in a way that I had refused to admit, even to myself. But it needed to be said. Every bit of it, including the parts I had shoved to the side.
“Whatever is going on between Rachel and me isn’t just on paper,” I finally managed to say. “It started out that way. But then things sort of changed. Then things happened and…” I trailed off for a long moment, glancing over at Rachel, who was waiting, watching. As if she could read my mind, I saw her suck in a deep, nervous breath before nodding, telling me to go ahead.
“Rachel’s pregnant,” I told Elias.
Elias stared for a long moment, as if he was trying to convince himself that he had heard me correctly. I saw his entire body grow tight, could sense the anger wafting off him.
“What did you say?” he growled.
“You heard me,” I said. “The mating bond is real. Rachel’s pregnant, and it’s mine.”
He stayed silent, his face unreadable, even if everything else about him screamed of barely contained fury. He turned to look at Rachel, who stood off to the side, biting her thumbnail. She caught Elias’s gaze and stiffened. He beckoned to her, and she shuffled over, her eyes locked on the ground.
“Is it true?” he asked, with no preamble or explanation. He didn’t need one. Her hands ran along her belly as she met his gaze.
“It’s true,” she admitted.
Elias took a half-step back, the only sign of his shock as he stared between the two of us. Then his eyes narrowed.
“Why the hell would you keep something like that from me?” Elias demanded. “You don’t think it’s important that I know if my beta and my kid sister are about to have a cub?”
“It just sort of happened,” I said. “Neither of us planned on it.”
“I don’t care if it ‘just sort of happened,’” he growled, marching until he stood inches in front of me. “I’m the pack alpha. I need to know what’s going on. You should have told me the second you found out.”
“What are you angrier about? The fact that I’m pregnant, or the fact that it’s Sam’s?” Rachel asked.
“He’s my best friend.” He jabbed his thumb at me. “You’re my little sister. You lied and said the mating bond was only to appease the Oracle and her sight. You don’t think I would have liked to know when that changed? I have thoughts about the two of you together, but that doesn’t matter. You two are adults; you can sleep with whoever you want, whether I like it or not. But keeping the fact that you’re pregnant from me is an entirely different story.”
“We were going to tell you,” Rachel said. “But we wanted to wait until the stuff with the wraith going after Emma was taken care of. You had more than enough on your plate.”
“Yeah, well, so much for that,” he grumbled, but I could hear some of the anger ebbing. He shook his head. “We’ll talk about this later. All of it. For now, I’ve got to rescue Emma.”
