Page 72 of Forced Knocked-Up Mate

“Yes,” she says with a deep, rattling sigh. “But I’m not a damn invalid. I haven’t even been sick.”

A faint tingle of discomfort runs down my spine, but I ignore it.

Lena agrees to leave, but only if I promise to keep my eye on Leslie and not let her lift anything heavy. As soon as she goes, Leslie sighs in relief.

“I love that girl, I really do,” Leslie says. “But if she doesn’t stop hovering over me, I might have to wolf out on her.”

“How does that work?” I ask, curious. “Can you shift while you’re pregnant?”

“We can,” she answers. “But we shouldn’t, unless it’s an emergency. The way everyone is treating me, the emergency might be getting the hell away from well-meaning pack members.”

I chuckle, but it catches in my throat. I try to hide it, but Leslie is already taking a closer look at me.

“You look like hell,” she says with a frown. “Were you affected by the storm? You didn’t have to come in if it was that bad.”

“No, no,” I say, waving a hand. “It’s… well…”

I don’t want to unburden myself to a pregnant woman, but at the same time, Amanda was right. I need to open up more and learn to trust my friends.

“It’s Peter,” I say, letting the words out in a rush. “He… he left yesterday, and he hasn’t come back.”

“Oh, hun.” Leslie leans over and hugs me. “It must be a relief to have it all over with.”

I suffer through a moment of horrible confusion before I realize that Leslie only knows about the initial spell, not everything that happened afterwards.

“No, it’s not like that,” I mumble, trying not to cry. “We actually had something—or, I thought we did. Then my mentor said she was coming to break the spell, and he got really weird and distant with me. We found out there was no tether, that the spell had already been broken. I thought he’d stay, but he ran from me.”

“Whoa,” Leslie says in a hushed voice. “That’s a lot to take in. You said he got weird when you told him about your mentor coming?”

“Yeah. We were good before that. Like, really good. I couldn’t be sure if it was the spell or not, but I thought he was… maybe falling in love with me.”

“Hmm,” Leslie murmurs. “I think I see what’s going on here. I, too, know the love of a taciturn man. You announcingthat you wanted the spell broken might have translated to ‘get the fuck out’ in his mind.”

“What?”

“I know. It doesn’t really make sense, but guys carrying trauma are really complicated.”

I let out a breath. “You can say that again.”

“But you do love him, right?”

I nod, letting the tears come. “I do. I can’t stand the thought he might be hurting because of me.”

“Then you need to fight for him, girl! Don’t give up. Break down those walls and storm your way right into his heart! Well, once the roads are clear, I mean.”

“Okay,” I nod, feeling my courage return as Leslie’s words sink in. “I will. Thank you.”

“Hey, no problem! Thanks for getting Lena out of my face.”

“Happy to help,” I say, chuckling. I touch Leslie’s belly, and then I get that cold shiver again.

But this time, I know why.

Things are adding up in my head. No matter which way I spin it, the evidence is all pointing in one direction.

No, it can’t be!

“Leslie, I’m going to head off,” I say, trying to tamp down my rising panic. “Are you good here?”

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