Page 18 of A Knotty Bond: The Claiming of Cadence

Was she…?

I stood abruptly, moving behind Cadence to pull her chair out.

“Dinner was lovely, but we should be going. I’ll check on the guards on my way out. Be sure to lock the door behind us and set the alarm.”

Eleni and my mother both looked at me like I was speaking another language, but there was no way I could sit here and make small talk until I was certain. This could change everything.

“Oh, well, it was nice to see the both of you. I hope we can do it again.”

I pulled Cadence up by her hand as Mother stood. Dropping a quick kiss on my mother’s cheek as I passed, I barely paused long enough for her to give Cadence a goodbye hug before I was tugging Cadence down the hall.

Cadence didn’t say a word, rushing to keep up so I wasn’t dragging her. I could hear Mother and Eleni following us, but I wasn’t able to slow down.

I pulled Cadence all the way to the car, holding the door as she ducked into the seat. Closing it behind her, I turned and jogged up to the front door to be sure it was locked before sliding into my seat and starting the car.

The wheel creaked with how hard I gripped it as I backed out and turned the car toward the front of the compound, but we weren’t leaving just yet. I drove around to the front of the building where I’d first seen Cadence in my father’s office, but I parked at the opposite end.

Her brow was furrowed when I pulled her door open and reached in to unbuckle her seatbelt when she didn’t move fast enough for the urgency burning through me.

“Leo, what—?”

She was cut off when I slid my arms beneath her and lifted her from the car. I didn’t want to keep dragging her around, but I couldn’t force myself to go at her pace.

I hit the door into the building with my back, the impact startling the omega in my arms. Her sweet honeysuckle scent had a bitter tang to it as I swung her through the opening and she got her first glance at the room we’d entered.

Four hospital beds extended from the opposite wall, giant lights hanging from the ceiling above them. Hooks waited for IV bags beside each one, monitors sitting on shelves behind them. They were dark and quiet now, but I remembered being in the room with each of them beeping at ragged intervals, a jagged chorus of moans filling the room with the horrid symphony of pain and looming death as our medics worked to save who they could.

Nicholas startled, the chair he was sitting in swinging around so he could face us when the door banged into the wall. His tan skin blanched when he realized I was carrying a woman, not one of our men like he would have expected. There was always someone here in case of emergencies, and the rest of the medics lived nearby for when there were true disasters.

“Trauma?”

He jumped up and lurched for the sink, starting to scrub his hands before I had the chance to respond. Blinking as the lights in the room came up, my mind groped for a way to explain why we were there.

“Omega?”

Cadence’s head tipped back as her focus moved back to me after looking around the room, and Nicholas turned to look at me as well as he pulled on clean gloves. Both of them wore confused expressions, and I had to suck in a steadying breath to remember how to think beyond single words.

“No trauma. She needs a… a test.”

Cadence’s ribs expanded beneath my fingers, her breath coming in short gasps as she realized why we were here, but Nicholas only cocked his head.

“What test?”

He was used to people coming in with gunshot wounds, lacerations, and broken bones. It wasn’t like this was a real clinic that did check-ups.

“For… For…”

The word didn’t want to come out of my mouth. It didn’t help that Cadence was squirming to be put down, and I wasn’t sure I could let her go.

“Leo, no. There’s no reason for this. I can’t be—”

She cut herself off, but Nicholas’ eyes widened in understanding. It might not be the typical request, but I knew there was a stash of pregnancy tests somewhere, just like there was birth control and boxes of condoms. Alphas tended to be randy creatures, and we’d found it prudent to supply the things they might need.

Too bad I hadn’t thought to use them.

Well,too badwasn’t quite the way I felt. The longer it sank in, the faster my heart beat, and I had to hold back a surge of excitement at the prospect. Cadence might not be willing to let me claim her yet, but my baby in her belly would tie her to me almost as tight as a bond.

Nicholas moved toward a cabinet as Cadence kept wriggling. I finally had to let her down or risk hurting her, but even once her feet were on the floor, I couldn’t release her.

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