Page 45 of Protector Dragon's Shattered Mate

Sofia knew she would find the humor in it soon. She just wasn’t quite there yet... First, she had a task to do. She stood up and took the test with her, knowing that all four eyes were on her. “No pressure,” she muttered to herself.

Five minutes later she was staring at a bright pink plus sign on the pregnancy test.

Oh my God. She was going to have a baby.

She was going to haveLevi’sbaby.

She shoved her way out of the bathroom, waving the little stick around. “It’s positive. Brynne, you were right. I’m having a baby!”

All four women stared at her. “You look excited,” Fallon said a little tentatively.

Oh shit. She had given them the impression that she was less than thrilled about the baby, which couldn’t be further from the truth. She wouldn’t have planned it, not right now, but now that it had happened, she was over the moon “Yes. I am. I’m really excited. I don’t know what in the world I’m doing, but I’m really happy.” Then she burst into tears for the third time that day.

Immediately she was enveloped in a five-way hug. There was a lot of screaming, jumping, and dancing.

“We are so happy for you,” they all said over and over.

“A new baby,” Fallon said. “I can’t wait.”

Once everyone had calmed down, she asked what she’d been wondering. “Will the baby be a dragon? Or will it be a bear cub?”

“With your magical ability, I’m not sure you’ll know until the baby is born. It’s possible that your child could be able to take on either form. And he or she will likely have some magic too.”

“It doesn’t really matter to me. It seems like you guys have enough mentors to go around either way.”

“That we do,” Fallon said. After one more hug she pulled herself away from them and went to find Levi.

By the timeshe got to his clinic, he had finished for the day. It was obvious that he was hanging around, waiting for her.

“I have several things to tell you. They are all pretty big announcements. I would suggest that we go to a nice restaurant or even for a walk, but I don’t have that kind of patience. I don’t have your self-discipline.”

He held up his hands. “Please put me out of my misery. You’ve been on my mind non-stop since I went over to Kellan’s and saw that you’d been crying.”

“I’m sorry about that. I should have known that my emotions would be apparent to you.”

“It’s not a problem,” he said. As he stood behind his desk, he crossed his arms, which showed off his sculpted biceps even in the drab blue scrubs that he wore.

She took a moment to admire his gorgeous body. She hoped he would agree to be her mate. But even if he didn’t, he was the father of her child, and that made her a very lucky bear shifter.

She wasn’t going to start with the baby. That was the best news, and she was going to save it for last.

She paced around the lobby of his waiting room. “This morning I decided that it wasn’t fair to either of us to keepliving in limbo. Neither of us are moving forward, but we haven’t committed to each other either because of me dragging my feet.”

He opened his mouth, but she cut him off. “I have been, and you know it. Don’t make excuses for me.”

He smiled and gestured for her to continue talking.

“So anyway, this morning after I had that realization, I knew that I had to leave Kellan’s house. Okay, maybe I didn’t have to, but it was time. Despite their hospitality, I need to make a life for myself. It was time for me to make a decision.” She took a breath. This was the part that was hard to talk about. “I’ve gotten it into my head that I should go off and live alone and by myself, so I texted Rhett and I arranged to go stay with his crew in Arizona.”

Although Levi kept a straight face, already she could feel the mood in the room plunge.

“But I realized that I didn’t really want to go. I didn’t want to move away from here. I didn’t want to move away from you. I wanted to try again, but I didn’t have the nerve to tell you.”

His mood rocketed up into the stratosphere. “Sofia…” He started to move toward her, but she held her hands up. She had to get the words out. If he touched her, she’d never manage.

“So, I was walking downstairs to tell everyone goodbye but as soon as I got there, I threw up all over the place.”

Once again, he looked like he was going to speak, but he stopped himself.

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