Page 53 of Possessive Mate

Hanson agreed, though in truth, he and his own sister didn’t get on all too well. Sure, he had spent most of his adult life looking out for her, but they weren’t nearly so close as Eddie and Elena seemed to be.

Eddie clapped him on the shoulder again and started to walk past him. “I’ll head on down there and see her.”

That, at least, was some relief to Hanson. She could be the one to decide how much to tell him. After all, she was already beginning to heal, and soon there would be no trace left of the injuries she had endured. The pregnancy was another matter entirely, and somehow, Hanson didn’t think it was his secret to tell.

Still, as he watched Eddie head on out of the yard, he couldn’t help but think, I had better make the most of my last night on earth.

Chapter 24 - Elena

“Elena?”

The voice was as gentle as the hand that rested upon her shoulder.

For just a second, she imagined Hanson had come back to her, but when she opened her eyes, it was a gaze similar to her own that looked back at her.

“Eddie!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him with relief. Luckily for her, it seemed her ribs were mainly healed, and there was only a dull ache where before there had been agony.

“Whoa, hey, settle down!” Eddie said, pushing her back down into the bed. “Layla’s just told me what happened. Why that coward Hanson didn’t tell me, I’ll never know!”

He growled low in his throat, and not for the first time since she arrived in town, Elena felt the urge to hit her brother.

“Probably because he knew you’d react like this!” she snapped at him, giving him a little shove for good measure. “Stop being such a prick, Eddie.”

Her brother actually had the good sense to look hurt. He raised his brow and looked her up and down. “What’s the matter? Layla said you were already healing faster than any wolf she’s ever seen.”

Elena gulped. That had to have been the pregnancy. She remembered it well from her last. Every cut or scrape seemed to heal just like that, as if her body was determined to keep her baby safe. If only it had worked.

“I…I’m fine,” Elena said though her voice was shaky as hell.

Eddie dropped down onto the edge of the bed beside her and placed his hand on hers. “You don’t sound fine.”

A lump formed in her throat. How much should she tell him? A small voice in the back of her mind said, everything.

“Eddie, you should probably sit down,” she suggested, gesturing to the chair beside the bed. Eddie scowled at her, clearly concerned.

“Elena, what’s the matter? You’re scaring me.”

“I…um…I need to tell you the truth,” she admitted, playing with a loose thread on the blanket that covered her legs.

“The truth about what?”

“Please, would you just sit? Don’t make this any more difficult,” Elena grumbled.

Finally, Eddie did as she asked, though he never took his eyes off her as he did.

“Eddie, I…um… before I left the home pack, I was…well…I was carrying Jason’s pup,” Elena said, struggling more than ever to get her words out.

Eddie glanced at her stomach, as if he expected her to look pregnant still. Luckily, this time around she hadn’t started to show yet. That would only raise a heap more questions than she was ready to answer at this moment in time.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I…I went into labor halfway through the pregnancy,” she explained, biting the inside of her lip to hold back the tears. “The baby didn’t make it and I almost died.”

The tears were too strong. When she blinked, she saw her own hands as she laid her baby to rest for the final time upon the funeral pyre. That body, that tiny little body, wrapped in its tiny shroud. It was almost too much to bear.

Eyes still closed, she laid her hand on her stomach and imagined the small lives growing inside her now. She remembered Hanson’s words and took strength from them, praying he would be right and that all would be okay.

“Elena, I’m so sorry,” Eddie said, reaching for her hand again. Elena moved it. She couldn’t have him touch her, not right now.

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