“I don’t have a morning class today. Why don’t we go get some cocoa?” He meant well, but it was too peopley out there.
“You know what I really want to do? I want to go do some target practice.”
“No.” It was the answer every time I asked lately. Didn’t stop me from asking.
He was worried I was going to pull a muscle with my balance being off-kilter. And he was right, but I hated it. I hated it so much.
“I think I’m just gonna rest instead,” I said. “Why don’t you go grab some on your way to class.”
I kissed his cheek, left my breakfast uneaten, and climbed back in bed, chasing sleep.
I must have found some, because the next thing I knew, it was afternoon and my mate was gone. I didn’t like how my emotions switched randomly lately. Go, pregnancy, go.
Looking back, there was no reason for me to have gotten that upset this morning. Phelan deserved a gold medal for putting up with my hormones.
Watching the clock wasn’t getting Phelan home any earlier. I got dressed and headed to meet him as his class got out. I needed a hug. That was something I’d never thought would be a driving force in my life, and I chalked it up to pregnancy hormones. It would give me practice for walking around campus during normal hours. Better to have people stare at me now and be used to it, than right before an exam. At least that was what I told myself as I made my way toward his building.
Of course, who did I run into? Freaking Atticus. And he couldn’t just walk by me. No, that would be too nice. But what surprised me was that he didn’t lead with a “knocked-up” joke. Although it shouldn’t have surprised me, because what he led with instead was, “You really should be more careful not to bump into the top archer of Sombertooth.”
I wanted to argue back, tell him it was unfair to pick on a pregnant person, tell him that his position was temporary, but I held it in.
That was until he said, “Didn’t think Phelan would stoop so low as to be with the likes of you. He should’ve wrapped it up.”
Something inside me snapped. It was one thing to put me down, but another to put down Phelan, not when he was the one who stood by my side no matter what.
“You are only the best because I’m not there,” I seethed. “So count your days, because they’re going to be short. This baby’s due soon, and when they’re here, they will watch me kick yourass again and again and again. And don’t youevertalk down about my mate again. He’s a million times the alpha that you are!”
His beast flashed in his eyes, and I put my hands over my belly. I refused to allow him to hurt me or the baby.
And then came the voice,Calm down. Breathe.
It was weird, because shouldn’t he be telling me to be afraid? To run or maybe fight.
Calm down. Breathe.
“I was... Sorry… Pregnancy hormones.” It wasn’t the best apology, but his eyes went normal, so it worked enough to keep me safe.
“Yeah, pregnancy hormones made you think you’re a big shot. But you know the truth. I’m the one with the skill. You just had a little luck.”
And with that, Atticus walked away.
That should’ve been the end of it. He was gone, and I could focus on getting to my mate. But what in my life had been going as it should’ve? Nothing.
I closed my eyes, continuing to try to calm myself, and instead of relaxing, I envisioned following Atticus, stalking him into the woods, making him my prey. And that terrified me more than anything else, because in that moment, it felt like exactly what I should be doing.
It took all the strength I had to force the thoughts from my head. I hurried toward Phelan’s class. I needed his calming touch.
FIFTEEN
ATTICUS
I sat in the dining hall swirling strands of spaghetti on my fork.
Zev was talking about some shit about what the Sable Hounds were getting up to. I fumed because my effort at getting Rawling kicked out of school was a failure, and trying to humiliate him by having him run around campus naked and serenade a squirrel didn’t work. Even the attempt at harming him by getting him to walk the plank between two buildings was a dud.
And now he was pregnant, probably with a shifter baby, and mated to my best friend. But could I really call Phelan that now? Because we not only didn’t share a room anymore, but we hardly spoke, and more often, he avoided me in class or when we passed in the hallway.
Phelan was a damned wolf shifter, and while my beast could take on and destroy most others in Sombertooth, his wolf was freaking magnificent and scary. I wouldn’t want to fight him, not that that would have even been a consideration before that freaking latent appeared on the scene.
