Page 105 of The Beta's Blind Date

He gives a genuine laugh at that. “No. Reid needs to fix this on his own. No one else can do that for him.”

He sits in the chair Reid vacated and a nurse enters, pushing a cart with various tools on it. I glimpse Reid seated on the floor, elbows resting on his knees, his chin to his chest. My lips press together to prevent myself from asking him to come back into the room with me.

“I have a few questions for you,” Dr. Russo says, pulling my attention back to him.

“Of course,” I say, resting against the pillows.

“When was the last time you had an alcoholic beverage?”

“Over a year ago. I stopped drinking after my parents died in a drunk driving accident.”

“Do you smoke or do any other drugs?” he asks as the nurse makes notes on her clipboard.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m a warrior—or, well, I’m training to be one. I can’t risk my reflexes and abilities by doing drugs.”

“Have you noticed any increased exhaustion or an increase in your appetite?”

“Again, I’m a warrior. I’m always working out and always hungry.”

“And when was the first day of your last period?”

“I—what?” I frown at him. “My period?” He nods. “Um…” I think back, racking my brain, trying to remember the last time I picked tampons up from the convenience store in Silver Ridge. “Probably about a month ago? I should be having my next one soon. I think.”

“Was it a normal period?”

“It was lighter and shorter than my usual,” I reply. “Why do you ask?”

He folds his hands and leans forward on his elbows. My heart skips a beat in my chest, and my stomach flip-flops as I realize what he’s about to tell me before he even speaks.

“Taryn,” he says, his voice low and calm. “You’re pregnant.”

My body goes numb, a pit forming in my stomach, gnawing away at my insides. “No.” I shake my head. “I can’t be pregnant,” I insist. “I had a period. And I haven’t had sex since I ended things with Dominic. Which was right around the time I had my period.”

“Well, your HCG levels indicate you’re probably around eight weeks pregnant, but since HCG ranges in early pregnancy can be so wide, we’d like to do an ultrasound to confirm the exact gestational age of the pup so we can give you a due date and move forward with your prenatal care.”

“But I had a period,” I repeat.

“It’s likely it was implantation bleeding. It happens in about fifteen to twenty-five percent of pregnancies. If you weren’t actively trying to conceive, I can see how you might have assumed it was your period.”

“Wouldn’t someone have sensed it? Scented the pup or heard its heartbeat?”

“Pups have their own unique scent, yes, but it’s not detectable until later in pregnancy. Same with the heartbeat—since it can’t be heard on a fetal Doppler yet, our hearing can’t detect it yet, either. It’s a werewolf adaptation to protect the fetus and the mother during the most vulnerable, early stages. Like how a mother can’t shift into her wolf unless she’s near her mate.”

“Can’t shift unless… Oh, my Goddess!” My trembling hands fly to my mouth, the wheels in my head spinning as the puzzle pieces click. “Is that why I could shift when I was here with Reid, but I couldn’t shift at my challenge?”

“Yes.”

My lip quivers and I shake my head again. “But I didn’t know Reid was my mate. How would my wolf know it was fine to shift here? When we were with him?”

“I don’t assume to know everything about the mate bond, but it is a powerful force. Even though you couldn’t feel it, it was there, working its magic. Some instinctual part of you or your wolf knew what Reid was to you, and that’s why you could shift when you were with him. Because he’s your mate.”

My hand moves to my stomach, hovering over where the pup grows inside me.

My pup. Mine and Dominic’s.

The tears I’d stemmed while Reid was in here fall from my eyes, and I cover my face with my other hand, squeezing my eyes shut. A pup. A pup and a mate all in the same day, but neither belongs to the other. How far will Reid’s change of heart extend? He says he wants me—he’s shown me he wants me, and I’ve felt how he wants me in the short time he was in this room—but will that hold true when he learns I’m pregnant with another male’s pup? With Dominic’s pup?

I slam my walls up, blocking him from the stormy conflict waging war within me. A choked sob works its way out of me, and I wipe at the tears on my cheeks, even though more replace them seconds later.

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