"Jenna, are you pregnant?"
It took a full moment for Tyler's words to register as Jenna stared at her book in shock. She'd put her mother to bed an hour ago, and had escaped to her room and a good book so she could keep her obsessed mind off of Daniel for a few hours.
No matter what she did, she couldn't seem to forget about him, and the pain of being separated from him never seemed to ease. In fact it did the opposite, the heartache growing worse as the days went by. She tried her best to put on a happy face around her family, but she knew they were concerned about her.
She couldn't fathom how she'd managed to fall so hard for someone she'd only spent a night with, but he had consumed her thoughts for the last few months.
Jenna spent most of her free time reading to distract herself from Daniel and was considering getting a job. She'd barely left the house since she'd arrived in Pennsylvania, but now that her mother was doing so much better, a job wouldn't be unreasonable. She'd need a car though, and a phone.
But now, Daniel was shoved to the forefront as Tyler stood in the doorway of her bedroom judging her with a critical eye.
"No!" Denial was of course the first thing that popped out of her mouth, before she had any time to think about it. When had she last gotten her period? Not since she'd been home, she realized. She'd been so busy with her mother, she'd never given it any thought. "I don't know," she admitted.
"Come in my room and let me draw your blood. We'll find out," Tyler reached a hand out to her and Jenna took it, standing up. He gave her a quick hug, then led her to his room.
Jenna's mind was racing as she thought back over the past few months. She'd never been sick. There were mornings she'd felt nauseous, but she'd always attributed it to thoughts of losing her mother and missing Daniel so desperately. She'd been tired too, but she had also attributed that to her mother's care. Some nights she was thankful she'd been too tired to lay in bed and think.
Tyler grabbed his blood draw kit off of his desk and brought it over to the bed. "Sit," he told Jenna. "Have you been with anyone since you came back from New York?" he asked quietly.
Jenna gave him an exasperated look. "When have I had time?"
He shrugged and opened the box. "I don't know. Maybe you're sneaking out at night," he joked. Tyler knew she wasn't, but he was also trying to lighten the mood. He pulled out a tourniquet, gauze, gloves, a needle, a tube and tube holder. He screwed the tube holder on the back of the needle. "Hold out your arm."
Jenna held her arm out for him and watched him tie off a tourniquet then gently palpate it with his fingers. If she was pregnant, it was Daniel's baby. He was the only man she'd ever been with, and at the rate she was going, the only man she might ever be with. Which meant her child would be half werewolf. She groaned internally. How she wished she still had Talia's number.
Tyler cleaned her arm then slipped the needle in her vein with ease. He pushed a tube into the tube holder and Jenna watched her blood fill up the tube. He pulled the tube out, freed the tourniquet from her arm, and then removed the needle, immediately covering the spot with a cotton ball.
"I'll take this to work with me tomorrow. If you're pregnant, you need to be on prenatal vitamins," Tyler said as he cleaned up.
"Okay." Jenna watched him quietly. "Tyler, why did you think I was pregnant?"
"Pregnant women have a certain look, Jenna," he smiled at her. "You have that look."
"The look of a tired pigeon?" She muttered, looking at herself in the mirror.
Tyler laughed. "No. You just sorta..glow."
She scoffed at that.
"Do you know who the father is?" He asked as he closed his box.
Jenna nodded. "There's only been one man I've ever slept with."
Tyler looked at her in surprise. "The guy you had the one night stand with before you left New York City?"
"Yeah," she murmured. Daniel
He leaned forward and gave her a hug. "It's going to be okay. Get some sleep. If you are pregnant, you need it. You know we'll support you any way we can."
She gave him a half smile. "I know."
Jenna walked back to her room in a daze. She closed the door behind her, then sat back down in her chair. Pregnant. Part of her was scared to death, but another part of her was extremely excited. This baby would be a part of Daniel that she would always have. She lifted her shirt and looked down at her belly. A slight bulge was visible that she hadn't really noticed before. She rubbed her hand over it and smiled. "Hi baby."
***
Daniel laid back on his bed staring at the ceiling. It had been four months now since he'd last seen Jenna. He'd hired a private investigator the moment he'd returned home, but so far, the man had come up with nothing.
Rafe had been very quiet lately, which worried Daniel. His wolf was a constant companion, his best friend, and he felt somewhat abandoned.
'I'm sorry,' Rafe suddenly spoke up. 'I just miss mate so much. It's been too long.'
'I know, Buddy. I miss her like crazy, too. I hate that she's always so sad,' Jenna seemed sad all the time, and it made Daniel melancholy more often than not. He knew his own family was worried about the way he'd withdrawn. He spent a lot of time alone since he'd returned. He'd been shirking his responsibilities for the last few months.
Fortunately, Caleb had taken over, since he knew somewhat what his son was going through. Between him and Daniel's pack, they kept up on everything.
Regal Eclipse was not a typical werewolf pack. It was small, with less than one hundred members. Everyone had a job to do to keep things running smoothly, and to monitor the werewolf community and keep the peace.
Certain members traveled quite a bit to and from different packs as needed to monitor negotiations, help out in times of crisis, or counsel in times of need.
There was a cyber security team that monitored the werewolf community internet, keeping hackers and humans out, and maintaining secrecy.
There were those who stayed on packlands and maintained the day to day running of the pack. They kept the packhouse in order, fed the pack and took care of the small details of business dealings and communications from other packs.
Regal Eclipse ran like a well-oiled machine. If only other packs ran just as well, Daniel could retire. But that was just a dream.
A sudden surge of excitement surged through Daniel, causing his eyes to fly open.
'Mate is very happy,' Rafe stated the obvious.
Daniel waited a bit. He always feared he'd feel the pangs of betrayal, and the sudden surge of happiness made him nervous. He sat up on the bed staring into the darkness of his room.
Occasionally, he could tell that she was aroused. Those were the moments that drove him crazy because it aroused him too, and always worried him if she was cheating. He scoffed at that. Cheating. You can't cheat if you don't even know you're in a relationship. But so far, she never had, and he could only guess that she was probably alone. He loved and hated those moments.
'Let's go for a run. We will drive ourselves crazy if we just sit here waiting,' Rafe suggested.
'Good idea. We need to get out for a bit.' Daniel stood up and walked over to the French doors leading to his deck. He opened them and stepped out into the humid night before quickly stripping his clothes off. Daniel let Rafe have control, and the wolf jumped over the third floor railing, shifting mid-air before he hit the ground. Rafe stretched his muscles, shook out his fur, then took off into the woods behind the packhouse.
They ran for all they were worth through the woods, zipping over logs and through underbrush. Rafe had a good sense of direction even in the dark, but he was headed somewhere the pack rarely went. Daniel watched from his position in the backseat of Rafe's mind. He knew the wolf was hurting, aching for his mate, and he wouldn't interfere.
They finally came to stop close by the backside of the property, near the lake. Rafe stood quietly in the clearing, staring at the houses in the distance. Human houses, which was why the pack rarely came this way. The lake bordered quite a bit of packlands, but it wasn't the only body of water on their lands, and they generally only came to this lake as humans.
'Why are we here?' Daniel asked Rafe. He knew Rafe would never do anything stupid, and his senses were on high alert.
Rafe was quiet for several moments as he stared at the houses and Daniel waited patiently for him to answer. 'Not sure. Just needed to come here.' He sat down for a while, watching through the dark before he finally turned around and headed back towards the pack house.