Blue Moon: Blood Moon Trilogy #3 (19 page)

The bed dipped beside me as Miranda sat next to me, and she urged me onto my back gently. “Can you sit up, honey?” she asked. “Just lean against the headboard.”

I did as she asked, pushing myself up until I was almost upright and adjusting my shirt since it had ridden up when Nick set me down. When I lifted my head to meet Miranda’s gaze, she was staring at my abdomen, making me self-conscious because I’d put on a little weight with my binge sessions throughout the day. It was something that hadn’t really been an issue since I’d been bitten, so it baffled me now.

Again, I blamed the silver nitrate. It was the only common denominator. The only explanation. It suppressed my wolf abilities, so maybe it slowed the increased wolf metabolism back down to something more akin to my human one. It seemed like the only logical explanation.

Miranda opened her bag and rifled through it. “Nick, would you mind giving us a little privacy? Just for a moment.”

Nick didn’t seem happy about the idea, but he did so without question. Miranda watched as he closed the door, and she continued to look at the door for another couple minutes. I honed my hearing and realized that she was waiting until Nick had reached the main floor, giving us more than enough privacy.

She turned to me, her eyes more serious than I’d ever seen. “When was your last period, Brooke?”

The question caught me completely off guard. Why would that even matter?

“Uh, not for about three years? I spot here and there, but I get that birth control shot, so it’s not often…haven’t in about six months, actually.” I sat up straighter, suddenly afraid. “Why?”

Miranda bit the inside of her cheek. “Can you lift your shirt, please?”

Confused and growing more and more concerned by the second, I did as she asked. Her eyes focused on my very slightly distended abdomen before her warm hands encased it. Her fingers moved over my skin, pressing down every so often—sometimes almost uncomfortably.

Her eyebrows pulled together in concentration as she pushed on the sides of my surprisingly hard stomach. She was starting to freak me out.

“Miranda, you’re freaking me out. What the hell is going on?”

She withdrew her hands, settling them in her lap as I adjusted my shirt again. We sat in an uncomfortable silence, every second making me more and more anxious. “Having witnessed a few things since your return, and then today’s little episode…” She paused, and I wanted to shake her and demand to know what the hell was wrong with me. I didn’t have to wait long, however, but the second the words left her mouth, I wanted her to take them back.

“I think you might be pregnant.”

I
looked at Miranda like she’d lost her ever-loving mind. And then I laughed. Hard. “That’s impossible,” I argued, my voice wavering with uncertainty as I did some last-minute math in my head. “I’m on the shot, and I’m not due to get another for about five weeks.”

Miranda sighed, the sound heavy and somewhat remorseful. “Sweetheart, mainstream birth control isn’t compatible with our reproductive systems. The hormones aren’t strong enough to be effective, unfortunately.”

That got my attention, and I flew out of bed in a blind panic. “What the hell do you
mean
it isn’t effective?” I demanded, my voice higher than I’d ever heard it as I stood above her.

“The night you were bitten, the wolf genes took over quickly. It’s possible the birth control was effective for the first couple weeks or so…but after that? Definitely after your first full moon…” She shook her head solemnly. “I’m guessing this isn’t something you want.”

I froze, unable to even process what the hell was happening. “Want?” I finally managed to croak. “It’s definitely not something I planned or am even ready for.” Then something else occurred to me as I ran our entire conversation over in my head again: my birth control could have failed as early as a week or so after I’d been bitten.

My eyes glazed over. “H-how far along do you think I might be?”

Miranda stood up, trying to hold my focus. Nothing could. I was lost in a land of “what-ifs” and “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Brooke, honey. It’s possible you’re not pregnant and you’re just experiencing stress from everything you’d been through.”

Please let it be that
, I hoped silently. I wasn’t sure what I would do if this turned out to be true.

“But,” she continued, “if you are, by chance, pregnant, I wouldn’t be able to give you a definitive answer without a pregnancy test and ultrasound. It could be as far along as the night you were bitten, if I’m being completely honest.”

That was what I was afraid of. If I turned out to be pregnant, I couldn’t be sure who the father was. I had become
that
girl.

Feeling light-headed, I sat back down on the bed and pressed my face into my hands, unable to believe my luck. “When can we do the test?” I asked, my voice muffled in the palms of my hands.

“I can do a blood draw as early as right now. I’ll just need to go and grab a few things from my room.” Pausing, she laid a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll probably want to tell Nick.”

A tear slid down my cheek as I raised my face. “But what if he’s not the father?” I whispered, my voice cracking.

Realization dawned on her as her mouth fell open. “Oh,” was all she said.

“Yeah. That’s kind of where I’m at.”

“Well, then we’ll wait for the results. Give me a minute, and I’ll be right back.”

While Miranda gathered the supplies she’d need, I sat on the edge of my bed, fidgeting and cracking my knuckles nervously. I started out hoping that this wasn’t really happening—that stress was the cause of my ailments—but then I found myself sad about that possibility.

It was more confusing than my early days as a werewolf.

Miranda returned and sat next to me again. She tied a tourniquet around my arm, just above my elbow, instructed me to make a fist, and then wiped the crook of my elbow with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball. It was cold against my feverish skin, but that didn’t matter, because I broke out in a cold sweat when she opened the package containing the needle she would inject into the bulging vein in my elbow.

I had to look away as she pierced my skin and removed the tourniquet, and I appreciated Miranda’s attempt to keep my mind off of the needle in my arm, filling two vials with my blood.

“It might help to pinpoint how far along you might be if you could tell me a little about your sex drive.”

My face burned with embarrassment.

“As you already know, we’re only fertile once a year—twice if we’re lucky. During this time, our sex drive is heightened and, should you be mated, your mate won’t be able to keep himself off of you.”

I laughed, tucking my hair behind my ear as Miranda removed the needle and taped a dry cotton ball to my elbow. “Since being bitten, everything is heightened. My sex drive is through the roof all the time, especially around the full moon.”

“That’s true of all of us,” Miranda assured me. “Anything strange about Nick’s behavior? Has he ever been more intense than other times?”

Before I could answer, there was a light knock at the bedroom door, and Nick opened it a crack, poking his head in. Reflexively, I gripped my elbow with my other hand and bent my arm to conceal the cotton ball.

I decided not to tell him until I knew one way or the other. There was no need to freak him out or distract him while we were still waiting for Jackson to call.

Miranda cleared her throat before putting the vials in her bag discretely. “I’ll leave the two of you. Brooke, let me know if you’re feeling dizzy again. Otherwise, I’ll come find you later this evening.”

Shocked, my eyes snapped to hers as she turned in the doorway. “So soon?”

“I’m nothing if not efficient.” She winked and then left us alone.

When I flipped my gaze back to Nick, I saw him staring at my bent arm, eyes curious, nostrils flared. “You’re bleeding.”

Forcing a smile, I pulled the cotton swab from my elbow and showed him the already closed red puncture wound. “Yeah. Miranda wanted to run a blood panel to figure out why I’ve been dizzy and out of it lately.”

“You weren’t going to tell me?” The hurt in his voice wasn’t missed.

“Nick, I didn’t want to worry you. It’s probably nothing.” I pressed my palms against his chest. “We’ve got so much to prepare for, and we can’t afford distractions.”

Nick rested his hands on my hips, staring deep into my eyes. “You’re okay, though?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I feel fine. Sorry for worrying you.”

“Don’t apologize. I just worry about you more now after everything that’s happened. It wasn’t that long ago that Karl…”

I sucked in a sharp breath, not wanting to think about how Karl had attacked me. As the Pack’s newest female addition, Karl had seen me as free game, regardless of Nick and me insisting otherwise. Eventually, Karl had taken things too far, attacking us after we’d offered him his ultimatum: leave the Pack of his own volition, or kill himself. He’d had us almost beat until Nick regained just enough strength to break his neck. It was that turn of events that finally put me in tune with the wolf’s desires. For the first time since I’d learned what I’d become, I understood how everything worked, and I accepted it.

“That seems like a lifetime ago now,” I murmured. “So much has happened since then.”

Nick appeared crestfallen, and I knew he must have been thinking about how the truth of his involvement in my being turned lead to my being captured by Bobby. In light of all that, my recent health situation didn’t seem worth keeping secret. It wasn’t fair to keep it from Nick; keeping secrets from one another always came back to bite us in the ass.

Steeling my resolve, I took his hands in mine and looked up into his blue eyes. “Nick,” I started. “I need to tell you something.”

Nick remained silent, his eyes reflecting his curiosity, but before I could say anything, Marcus started calling for everyone from downstairs. At first, Nick didn’t move, looking at me expectantly.

My nerves suddenly got the best of me, and I forced a smile. “We can talk later,” I told him. “I promise.”

“You’re sure? The tone of your voice indicated it might be important.”

Nodding, I took his hand and led him toward the door. “Yeah. It’s really just a hunch, so until I know anything more, it can wait.”

He still seemed reluctant to leave the room without talking, but when Marcus called us a little more urgently, he dropped it. Soon, the entire pack was gathered in the main foyer, Marcus in the center while Miranda stood behind him, off to the right with her arm around Cordelia. Glancing around the room, I sensed the urgency as it rolled off Marcus and infused the air, affecting each and every one of us. Cordelia seemed to be the only one not picking up on the intensity between us, but I could only assume that was because she hadn’t been around for so long. Maybe because of this, she had a hard time empathizing or sensing what the rest of us could.

“Jackson has reached out,” Marcus announced. “He’s informed us that they’ve been recruiting—bringing humans to the compound. He hasn’t been able to get too close, but he’s seen them take humans into custody.”

I took a deep breath, part of me wanting to bolt out the front door to aide Jackson, but the other part of me worried about what Miranda and I talked about earlier. While it wasn’t something I planned, she successfully convinced me it was a possibility, and I worried that throwing myself into the fray like this might be too big a risk.

Marcus started handing out orders while organizing our plan of attack. The plan was for Miranda to stay with Cordelia while he would lead the rest of us into battle. That was when Cordelia broke free of her mother’s arms and approached her father.

“Daddy, do you have to go too?” she asked, her voice quiet, meek, and scared.

“Sweetheart,” he said, his tone shifting from authoritative to soothing. “I have to make sure these monsters can’t hurt anyone else the way they hurt you and Brooke.”

Tears fell from her eyes, and I pinpointed the exact minute Marcus’s focus shifted from the mission to his family. Confident—but still a little nervous—I stepped forward. “You should stay with them,” I said. “I’d be happy to step up and offer whatever guidance I can.” Pausing, I glanced around the room to find the Pack watching me. Instead of being met with confusion and the resentment I’d been scared of since Marcus approached me, I was met with acceptance.

Smiling, Marcus walked toward me, pulling me into a hug. “I’m confident in your ability to lead this pack,” he whispered into my ear. “Nick will be there the whole time. Everyone knows their role in a mission like this. Find your comfort zone and, more importantly, trust your gut. If you feel like something isn’t right, pull back. Don’t go in unless you know it’s right.” He stepped back, our eyes locking. “Just like that night we hunted the moose as a pack.”

Nervous butterflies fluttered wildly in my belly, and soon Miranda was pulling me aside. I had almost forgotten about my possible situation, and I wondered if she was going to choose now to tell me the results. I hoped not; whatever they were, I knew it would only distract me.

“I don’t have confirmation yet,” she said softly. “But a common concern is hunting and shifting.”

Truthfully, I hadn’t even thought of that, but you’d better believe it was catapulted to the top of my list of worries the second she mentioned it.

“Our bodies are far more resilient than human bodies. Shifting needs to happen. It’s dangerous to keep the wolf under lock and key, as you probably already know.” I nodded along. “Obviously, I want you to proceed with caution, but know that our limits far surpass a human’s.”

“So, I shouldn’t worry about…something bad happening?”

She shook her head. “Nope. I took down three nests when I was pregnant with Cordelia.”

This set my mind at ease a little, and I hugged her tightly.

“I should have a conclusive answer by the time you all return,” she told me. “Be safe, and watch each other’s backs.”

Nodding, I pulled back and turned toward the Pack. “Okay,” I said, my voice surprisingly steady. “You’ve been given your orders. Let’s go find Jackson and bring this operation down. You see a vampire, kill it. We’re taking no prisoners.” I turned to Marcus, and he nodded. “Not even Bobby. I don’t want any of you to think that I have some deep desire to end his life myself. Letting him go if you have the chance to end him might result in him getting away. Take no chances. I only ask you make it as painful as possible.”

A low chuckle moved through the ranks before we all turned and walked out the door, leaving our Alphas and their youngest child alone in the manor.

The eight of us walked around the back of the house before we started to shed our clothes. We’d be faster as wolves, and far less conspicuous as we raced toward the mountains. Every time I shifted, I found it came easier to me. I could sense Nick’s pride as he watched me adjust my wolf body, and soon we all headed for the frozen lake.