Wolf Bargain (Wolfish 3)

I guess being pregnant, if it turns out to be true, might have its perks.

As soon as we get inside, Romulus puts the whole house on lockdown in order to protect me. Those fringe members of his pack that made it back with us are set to guard every entrance to the house.

The level of tension in the air is higher than it has ever been because now there is something even more important to protect.

And it’s growing inside me.

18

Sabrina

Pregnant.

Just as I’d started to come to terms with the fact that I’d never be able to have children … I find out that I’m actually already carrying one inside me.

Or, at least, supposedly am. Though now that I’m thinking of it, I could kick myself for not noticing any of the signs.

The nausea. The exhaustion. The inability to eat.

More than that, my growing stomach despite all of that should have signaled to anyone that something was happening. But I’d just chalked that all up to the poison. The failed turning.

But now … now …

Now I wonder how I’ve been so blind.

Once word gets out that I’m pregnant, Remus’ pack won’t be the only one coming for me. All of the packs that have aligned themselves with Remus vision of pure-blooded wolf shifter lines will be come to try and kill me as well. And they won’t hesitate to kill everyone that stands in their way, even if it means decimating Romulus’ entire pack and family in the process.

There might be some law keeping them from killing me before the pups are born … but I doubt that will stop them after the fact. If it even keeps them at bay that long.

Remus doesn’t seem like the type to let this little surprise get in his way. It’s not him that needs convincing, but his pack. And there will be others that feel the same way as him.

This is no longer a personal pack-on-pack battle between Romulus and his brother. This is now much, much bigger.

As Romulus lays me down and the boys lay Kaleb down beside me on the bed, Lydia runs to go and get supplies to help treat Kaleb’s wounds. Kaleb reaches out his hand next to me and touches his fingers to mine. I reach back and wrap my hand around his. I can hear his struggling breathing as he tries to deal with the pain of the injuries he’s sustained.

“Is he going to be okay?” Marlowe asks as soon as Lydia gets back into the room with bandages and an armful of the tinctures that she had been making earlier.

“Yes,” she says. “But I’m not going to lie. It’s going to take him a while to recover.”

“What are we going to do now?” Rory asks his father.

Rory, Marlowe, and Romulus are all standing around the bed, with Kaleb and I lying between them and looking up at their stressed expressions as Lydia tends to us both. No one seems ready to address the main issue here.

They can barely bear to look at me, to show the mix of concern and excitement playing out on their faces until they’re certain all of this isn’t just some other nightmare.

No one, that is, except Romulus.

“There are going to be many more joining in this fight now,” Romulus says. “My brother will have hundreds come to his aid as soon as the word spreads about Sabrina’s pregnancy. We are going to have to look for help elsewhere or we won’t stand a chance.”

Romulus’ work over the years has forged many friendships … but made just as many enemies. It isn’t just Remus and his pack who will have waited for a chance like this to strike.

“Elsewhere?” Rory asks.

“I’ll write to all of the packs in the alliance,” Romulus answers. “It will take Remus time to calm and regroup his pack. Longer still to convince them to attack before the birth. Fortunately, time is on our side with that. He will not try to attack at full force until the discord in his pack has been settled and the confusion and shock has been managed. Even then, he will likely wait until he has others rallied to his side. He will want to make sure that we are not just outnumbered the next time, but that we are greatly outnumbered, so he will wait. He will not allow what just happened to happen again.”

Twice now, Remus has allowed his brother to slip from his grasp.

“How much time do you think we have?” Lydia asks as she looks up at him.