Page 23 of The Fall Before the Heat

“That would give us more time,” I said, crossing my fingers and resting my hand on my belly.

“We’re halfway through the semester. So, we should be able to wrap that up either way,” Rex said, his jaw tensing.

“Are you okay, Alpha?” I asked him.

“Yeah. Just thinking about a lot,” he said.

“I’m going to pry into your thoughts later over the mating link, but I guess we shouldn’t keep Lee waiting much longer.”

Chapter Sixteen

Rex

“There are rules,” Doctor Knight-Hemlock said as Del stretched out on the sofa.

“For getting an ultrasound?” Del laughed nervously and arched an uncertain brow.

“Mostly not for you, but listen up too,” Doctor Knight-Hemlock said. “I will not be bitten or scratched or eaten or chased around like a madman.”

“Has that happened at ultrasounds?” Del blinked up at the doctor sitting on our coffee table.

“Not often to me. Then again, I don’t make a lot of house calls,” he chuckled. “I volunteered for this one since your Alpha and I have worked together in the lab for so long. A lot of first-time sires get a bit wound up when they see their mate, naked from the waist up, belly exposed.”

Del glanced at me. I nodded. It was true. It was a joke in class even that the best indication of a first time pregnancy was if the Alpha of the pair really wanted to hunt down the doctor before they touched their mate’s exposed belly.

“You want to beat Lee up?” Del blinked, misunderstanding my nod.

“No,” I said fast. “I don’t want to beat Doctor Knight-Hemlock up, but it is a common occurrence in the ultrasound labs.”

“Call me Lee,” Doctor Knight-Hemlock said for the millionth time since I met him.

“You really should,” Del said.

“Fine,” I said, giving into Del.

“Good now, if you’re ready we can begin. No biting, though,” Lee said again.

Even in my thoughts it was strange to refer to Doctor Knight-Hemlock as Lee. He’d done more groundbreaking research into both vampyric genetics and mixed shifter species genetics than any other doctor in the world. While, I wanted to practice family medicine, I still sorta worshiped him. He came up from Frost’s Pit and still tried to do everything in his power to help others. It wasn’t hierarchy that kept me from using his first name. It was awe.

“The gel isn’t too cold. I think the apartment is colder than the gel this morning,” Lee said.

“He turned the apartment into a meat locker while I was in heat,” Del said, squeezing my hand.

I stood behind the sofa, looking down at him.

“He was sweating. I thought I’d have to set up an IV to keep him hydrated,” I laughed.

“That comes after heat, not during. Ripping out an IV by accident isn’t fun,” Lee said, as he slathered the ultrasound jelly all over Del’s stomach.

A second later, the whoosh-whoosh of the portable machine filled the apartment. For a second, I imagined every head in the building turned toward the sound. My heart pounded in my ears as Del’s eyes turned toward the monitor. I should’ve been more curious about the machine’s capabilities to pick up pregnancy this early, but I couldn’t think about that while I watched Del’s hopeful eyes locked on the monitor.

“Look, Alpha,” he whispered, and I glanced at the screen.

I leaned over the back of the sofa for a better look. It was there. They were there. Our baby was there. My thoughts spun in circles. They were the tiniest jellybean shape I ever witnessed on the screen, but they were there tucked safe and sound inside my mate’s womb.

“Is it?” Del asked, not finishing his whole thought.

“That’s our baby,” I said.

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