Page 22 of The Fall Before the Heat

Del stood up and tugged my hand, pulling me to my feet too. He wrapped his arms around my neck, and I rested my hands on his hips. For a long second, I didn’t know what to say or do. Everything changed so fast. He’d gone from the roommate, I might’ve had a crush on in another lifetime, to my whole world. He was my mate, my life partner, and now the carrier of our child.

“What do we do now, Alpha?” He asked.

“Unless you’re up to breaking into the academy’s clinic for me to give you an ultrasound, we can’t do much until morning,” I grinned.

“That sounds fun, but I think security would smell me a mile away. I still smell like heat,” Del laughed.

“Take your shower. Then come to bed. Get some rest and tomorrow we’ll conquer everything else, okay?”

“Okay,” he grinned at me, and I kissed his forehead.

“It’s gonna work out. We’ll make it work out,” I said before leaving him to clean up.

Chapter Fifteen

Del

I woke the next morning to Rex talking to someone. At first, I thought he was on his earpiece again with his brother, Lost. When he first told me his brother’s name, I thought it was the strangest thing in the world for someone to name their kid. Loston was his actual name. Only, I didn’t learn that until Rex and I exchanged our claiming vows.

Just thinking about them, made me rub the spot where my claiming gland had lived until Rex laid his claiming bite onto my shoulder. I grinned and buried myself a bit further under the covers, pretty sure Rex still had the thermostat set to freeze the apartment.

“It’s not a problem,” another voice joined his and it wasn’t Lost.

It was Lee. I blinked. Why was he here so early?

“Probably dropping off makeup class stuff for Rex,”my wolf yawned into my thoughts.

“Probably,” I yawned aloud in agreement and closed my eyes again.

I’d sleep until Lee left. At least that’s what I wanted to do, but my brain wouldn’t shut up. I was pregnant. I hadn’t taken a second test to confirm, but why would the box lie? Would Doctor Bane Hemlock give out lying tests on campus? I didn’t think he would. If the tests worked most of the time, they were a huge advancement in medicine and testing.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Rex whispered as he opened the bedroom door.

“Is Lee gone?” I yawned.

“Doctor Knight-Hemlock has brought over his portable ultrasound machine. I think making a house call is how he plans to retrieve the stolen goods,” Rex laughed, walking into the bedroom and closing the door behind him.

“I think your wolf is more spot on than those tests,” I said, reaching out to him.

He sat on the edge of the bed, and I pushed myself up onto my elbows for a good morning kiss. It was a long slow one that left me wanting more.

“I can politely decline his offer if this is all moving too fast for you,” Rex offered.

“Is it moving too fast for you?” I asked.

“No. I think the sooner we find out for sure, the better. It gives us more time to plan and make things work out,” he said.

“I’m on board. Just give me a minute to get my brain together,” I laughed and flopped back down on my pillow. “This is almost surreal. All of it, but mostly the fact there is probably someone smaller than a tadpole swimming inside of me. At this point can the machine even see them?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, possibly. They pick up a lot at two weeks. I don’t think most people try it at one. You’re somewhere between eight and eleven days. Yesterday, had to be at least day seven for the green pixelated baby to show up.”

“Pregnancy is about three months,” I nodded. “That’s almost three months to plan if we round to our benefit,” I chuckled.

“That’s for wolves only,” Rex shrugged.

“We are wolves, silly,” I laughed and then stopped when Rex’s amber eyes settled on mine. “It’s like two weeks longer for lions, right?”

“One hundred and ten days give or take,” Rex grinned. “Remember Lost is a lion. So, there’s a chance. Less of a chance since I’m a wolf, but there’s still a chance.”

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