Page 30 of Big Bad Mate

I tuck myself into a tiny, tiny ball. My knees curl protectively around my stomach. I sob and cry until I’m a mess. Until my stomach hurts and my head hurts, and I can’t freaking breathe.

I cry until I have nothing left.

I’m shivering on the couch when I feel something small next to my face. I snuffle, opening my eyes.

The ermine is there.

Blinking at me.

“Hey,” I whisper.

The ermine’s nose twitches.

“No. I’m not alright. Thanks though,” I say.

This is crazy. Not only am I pregnant. Not only have I just been abandoned by the father of my baby.

Now, I’m seeing things.

Because there is no way that an ermine, one of the most shy, most reclusive animals I can think of, is sitting here right now.

Staring me in my face.

It blinks again.

“I’ll be okay,” I whisper. “I just need…”

I don’t know what I need.

I shut my eyes and tuck myself closer. There’s a soft pressure on my hip, and when I look down, I see a little brown and white ball.

The ermine.

He’s tucked himself into a little circle. His eyes are still staring at me, and if I were assigning emotions to an animal, I’d definitely say that he looks concerned.

His body, though, is warm. It radiates heat in a little circle, perfectly perched at the top of my hip.

“Thanks,” I whisper. I shut my eyes again. I’m exhausted, and instead of fighting it or trying to do something for myself, I just want to sleep.

Maybe I’ll wake up and not be pregnant.

Or something.

That isn’t true, but the lie soothes me. I drift off to sleep, my heart shattered around me.

But at least there’s a small, warm ball of fur on my hip to keep me warm.

Chapter 7

Thorne

Iris is pregnant.

Pregnant.

With another man’s baby.

Iris has been seeing another man.

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