RANKS

Chapter Thirty Eight

FOUR MONTHS AFTER MATING MOON

Recently Mateo has been acting strange. 

Boomer has oh-so-graciously cut back on the amount of time he has to train. Now we can wake up together at the reasonable time of seven thirty. He's even able to regularly join me for dinner. The only downside is most of his training is now spent with Boomer instead of the warriors. 

Since the start of the private training with his father he's been more on edge. Some nights I wake up and expect to feel his precense beside me, only he is quietly pacing along the room. I sometimes find him muttering things to himself, unaware that I'm trying to engage a conversation with him. If it was even possible, Mateo has become more possessive over me and the baby. By this time most mate couples have started to ease out of the constant need for touching and closeness, but the level of affection with Mateo has only increased. When dinner is over we either spend hours hot and heavy under the sheets, or cuddling naked to increase the sparks that happen when the bare skin of mates touch. 

Not a word of what happens with Boomer ever reaches my ears, and for once I'm grateful for the work I do. The mindless motion of reading and typing for hours keeps my thoughts off worrying. Worrying about things that I may never know. Luca doesn't stand by my desk anymore, instead a nameless and emotionless guard has taken station by my side. 

I glance out the small window to my right. My fingers reach to play with the end of my hair. It took weeks to not reach by my ribs, but I've gotten used to tucking the strands behind my ear and having the ends tickle my jaw. Angling my body, now unmistakably pregnant, to the window almost gives me a feeling of peace. 

From this angle I can't see the man's looming presence. From this angle the March sun streams onto my face. From this angle I can see the woods that I haven't entered in my dominate state since leaving my old pack. 

My hands lazily rub over my growing stomach, and I arch my back away from the stiff chair I'm confined to for most of the day. Well, save for the bathroom breaks every twenty minutes. 

"I'm going to the bathroom," I announce to the man. 

He doesn't respond as usual, but I can still hear his footsteps behind me. I give him a death glare as I close the door on his face. The bathroom is ten steps away from my office, but I'm still under strict orders not to go anywhere unaccompanied. I quickly exit the restroom, hoping to slam the door in the face of the wolf. No such luck. 

My nose picks up a wonderful scent from outside the office door,  lunch! This pregnancy has made my weight fluctuate in the strangest ways. I first gained ten pounds in a month, but the almost constant morning sickness and avoiding most foods resulted in a weight dip to only two pounds over my weight prior to being pregnant. Now in the second trimester I've been putting on weight like clothes much to the delight of my mate. My waistband size isn't the only clothing item to increase. It's come to the point where he will almost casually cup my chest and marvel how it's doubled in size. 

Healer Ava said I only needed to gain twenty five pounds and shouldn't consume more than three hundred extra calories. Only Boomer, who is making instructions for my eating, has taken the "phrase eating for two" to heart. My breakfast and lunch are sent to my office, for I haven't been able to face the pack since the big chop. The food is usually hardy and dripping in butter.  

This meal is no different. A thick cut steak, steamed vegetables in a butter sauce, and a sweet potato topped with brown sugar and cinnamon are neatly sitting on my desk. Everything is in its place, down to the position of my water glass. However, there is something unusual tucked under the silverware.