Our day had been easy. We shopped for groceries. Dropped off return packages. Bought him a new suit he needed for a meeting or something.
It was nice to run errands with him. He bought me a smoothie, but I could only get half of it down.
“I need to talk to you about something,” he said, turning to face me on the couch. My stomach rolled. Crap. Bad news? Had I done something wrong? Was he angry with me?
“Okay,” I choked out.
“Hey.” He took my hands in his. “It’s nothing bad and you did nothing wrong.”
I let out a long exhale. “Tell me.”
“Lately, I’ve noticed your smell change.”
I sniffed. “I stink?”
Chuckling, my mate shook his head. “You never ever stink, Hudson. But your scent has become sweeter.”
“What does that mean?”
Evander opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking. The show was paused. The world seemed to go silent waiting for him to speak. “Do you think with your changed scent and your new aversion to foods that you might be pregnant?”
“Do you think so?” I asked, unable to quell my smile.
“I think so. I’ve thought so for a couple of days now. I bought a test at the pharmacy yesterday. I told myself that if you were willing, you could take the test while you were here.”
“You planned this,” I whispered.
“Not against you, omega mine. Not against you. I’m not plotting your demise. I’m trying to help you. Don’t you want to know if you are?”
I nodded. I did. Having his baby, our baby, would mean the world to me.
And I had to remember that Evander, my alpha, wasn’t my enemy. Sometimes my mind made him the enemy, relying on old patterns of thought and behavior. I put up walls when there was no need for them anymore.
“I want that. Yes.”
“Good. Do you want me to be there with you?”
Instead of answering, I got up from the couch and extended my hand. Evander took it and we went toward the master bedroom and then into the attached bathroom. True to his word, there was a test underneath the sink and I took it.
“How long?” I asked him since he was holding the instructions.
“Two minutes,” he answered. “The longest two minutes ever.”
My brain began to work overtime. I viewed his statement as proof he didn’t want this baby. If I was pregnant, he would leave me. We hadn’t spoken about having kids or a family. This would change everything.
Evander tried to hold me while we were waiting, but I wrapped my arms around myself, convinced that this was the end. I would have to raise this child alone.
Again, my trust was misplaced.
The timer on Evander’s phone went off and he looked at me. “Do you want to see it first?”
“No,” I replied coldly. “Go ahead.”
He walked over and checked it. He put the stick down and then picked it up again. My heart plummeted to my stomach.
All my fears were coming true.
“You’re pregnant,” he said, turning to face me. His expression was blank but then, as I made contingency plans in my head, a smile broke out on his face. “Aren’t you happy, omega?” His brow furrowed as his scent grew tangier. “You didn’t want this…”
