Page 68 of The Wolf I Sworn To Hate

Time went by so slowly. Xyla thought that she was going to lose her mind if two o’clock didn’t roll around soon.

Finally, it was time. The doctor welcomed her into the office and listened to her symptoms. She asked Xyla to pee in a cup and had a nurse take some blood.

Xyla paced the tiny room for the next half hour, wringing her hands together, a million thoughts racing through her brain.

“Girl, you are making me tired. You need to sit down.”

Xyla sat next to Abby for about thirty seconds and then bounced back up again.

Finally, the doctor came back in. “Congratulations. You are going to have a baby. I’ve prescribed some prenatal vitamins for you. They should be ready at your regular pharmacy. Schedule an appointment to see me in a month. If you have any cramps,bleeding, or lower back pain, call my office immediately or go to the emergency room.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

Xyla felt numb as she and Abby left the office. They didn’t stop by the front desk to make the appointment. She simply told the receptionist that she would call.

“You have to talk to Sean, now. You have to give him a chance to be a part of his child’s life.”

“I know, but I don’t want him to feel like he has to go through the mating ceremony just because I’m pregnant.”

“Easy solution. You tell him how much you love him and that you were an idiot for saying no in the first place. Then, if he says yes, you tell him you’re pregnant.”

“What if he says no?”

“Then, you tell him you’re pregnant and you know that the two of you can work out a parenting arrangement that will suit you both and make sure the baby is taken care of. Either way, you have to tell him.”

Xyla nodded.

“I don’t know a whole lot about it, but it is my understanding that shifter pregnancies are a lot different. For one thing, you don’t carry the baby for forty weeks. I think that shifter gestation periods are only six months. Plus, the baby will likely be bigger and have different needs. You need to have Sean’s help getting you in touch with a shifter doctor.”

“Actually, I would just go to Sawyer, regardless of Sean’s stance on us or the baby. Sawyer is a great guy.”

“He sounds like it. Maybe you can introduce us when I go to Angel’s Creek.”

Xyla laughed.

The next morning, she visited her father at work. She figured it would be safer to talk to him there than at home because hewasn’t likely to cause as big a scene in front of his partners and employees.

He rose from his expensive, leather massaging, desk chair, and held out his arms in a welcome. She allowed herself to be hugged by him, even though she still hadn’t quite forgiven him for how he acted on the mountain.

“This is a great surprise. You don’t often visit me here.”

“I wanted to talk to you about something extremely important.”

“Of course. I’m always here for you.”

She took a huge breath and sat on her hands to keep them from shaking.

“While we were at the resort, I fell in love with Sean. He loves me, too. Sean asked me to go through the mating ceremony with him, but I told him ‘no’ because of you.”

“Telling him ‘no’ was the right thing to do because he’s not human and you are.”

“He’s human and I honestly don’t see how you can still hate him so much after he risked his life to save Edward and then to save me. There were five men against two. They didn’t hesitate.”

“Be that as it may, he’s still not human. He is a dog. No daughter of mine is going to lay with a dog.”

“It’s a little too late for that, Dad. I’m pregnant with Sean’s child. I’m in love with him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I’m leaving for Angel’s Creek after we’re done talking and I’m going to beg him to forgive me for walking away.”

Elliot’s face turned bright red and he gritted his teeth. “You can abort the baby. If you marry that dirty shifter, you will no longer be my daughter. You have to choose between him and me.”

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