Page 93 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

I open my eyes.

Wilder meets my gaze across the table, and I can tell he’s just done the same thing I have.

“Well, damn,” Nate says. “How about that! We’re going to be parents!”

He kisses Emlyn, then reaches over to shake my hand, and Wilder grins at me.

Parents.

It’s not something I ever planned on. But suddenly, a baby with this little family is the best thing I can imagine.

56

NATE

AndIswear,I’mso into the idea of being a father—the father to Emlyn’s baby, even—that it doesn’t even occur to me to mention the obvious thing until the wine has already been poured and Milo’s gone looking for something for Emlyn to drink.

There’s tension in Wilder’s face, so I know he thought of the same thing I did. Probably right at the same moment, too.

Babies don’t survive.

It’s the reason alpha mates are so important. It’s the reason women Emlyn’s age are so prized.

It’s the reason all our people—shifters and Moon Casters alike—are in trouble.

We don’t know why. We don’t know how to fix it. But we know that almost no babies have lived through childbirth since the Lunar Reversal. And there’s no reason to think that this one will be any different.

If it was just that, it would be bad enough. Because I want to be a father. But there’s also the fact that a lot of women die in childbirth. It happened to my mother. It happened to Emlyn’s mother. It’s common—disturbingly common. I know it’s something that happened to women before the Reversal, but the older generation tells us that deaths like that were rarities back then. Not the norm. They were signs that something had gone wrong.

I feel like my throat is closing up.

What if Emlyn dies because of something I did to her? What if she doesn’t survive this pregnancy, and we lose her, and it’s all my fault?

Not that we know I’m the one who knocked her up. It could have been any of the others just as easily. But I know that if the baby survives, I’ll always feel like it’s mine. I can’t pass the buck if it doesn’t make it.

“What’s wrong?” Emlyn asks.

Has she really not thought of it?

I’m surprised it took me as long as it did, and I’ve only known about this for a few minutes. By her own admittance, Emlyn has known for days.

I don’t know what to say, so I’m relieved when Wilder speaks. “Emlyn,” he says gently, “pregnancies are…risky.”

“I know that,” she says. “But I always planned to try to have children. You know that. It’s always been what I wanted to do with my life.”

“I guess I didn’t know that,” I admit.

“I was happy when I was mated to Victor,” she says. “At first. Because it was the first step toward starting a family. And that’s what I was born to do.”

“That’s pack brainwashing,” Milo says, emerging from the back with a bottle of soda, which he hands to Emlyn. “I know what packs do. Women have told me as I’ve tried to help them give birth. They make you believe the only thing you’re good for is making babies, so you don’t think twice about getting pregnant.”

Emlyn shakes her head. “You know I don’t believe the only thing I’m good for is making babies,” she says. “I’m good for lots of things. And I know it. I’m a fighter. I’m a powerful Moon Caster. Plus, you guys love me.”

She’s right. Still, Milo’s words have shaken me even more. “Remember when we met Milo?” I ask Emlyn.

“It won’t be like that for me,” she says positively, anticipating what I’m going to say.

“He tried to help that woman,” I say. “He tried to save her baby.”

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