"Let's go to the pack house," Lucas announced from the bathroom. "I think we should make a formal, public announcement of our happy news. A public appearance will mean everyone will get excited and Maya will get overwhelmed by the crowd."
Standing in front of the floor-length mirror in the room, I placed a hand on my stomach and drew a deep breath. "You want to make the announcement now? Isn't it a bit soon? It's only been a week since the rogue at the resort..."
He came up behind me and covered my hand with his. The show of protection calmed a lot of my nerves, but I still wasn't sure.
"I think it's the perfect time. We need something positive to help us work past what happened, as well as strengthen the unity of the pack. If there's another attack coming, we want everyone focused on the same thing. Protecting their future alpha or luna could be just the thing."
I chewed on my bottom lip. "Are you sure?"
He tightened my arm around my waist. Resting his chin on my shoulder, he thought through his reassurance before speaking.
"Karina, you are much more than my luna. You're much more than my mate. You are that part of me that I didn't even realize I was missing. You have become so integrated into my heart that I'll die without you."
"That's true," I shrugged. "With the mate bond, you will actually die without me. And darn it, I'll die without you."
"Hey..." He tugged me closer. "My point is that I want the world to know how important you are to me. So, I want to tell everyone in our pack that their luna is loved so much that she now carries the future alpha or luna."
My cheeks heated at his choice of words. "Maybe you can just tell them that I'm pregnant. They can figure out the rest."
A mere four hours later, we stood on the ceremony stage behind the pack house. The whole pack gathered to hear what their alpha had to say. Most of them looked happily eager, eyeing me every few seconds. Maya stood about four rows in, already seething.
Lucas squeezed my hand before stepping forward. I respectfully stayed a step behind.
"My pack!" he bellowed. A few howls answered in excitement. "For some time, you all have questioned the future of our pack, this family. When I found my mate, you accepted that we would still move forward. Now, I am pleased to give you hope for a bright future."
I glimpsed Maya's jaw tighten. She knew, and she despised me even more.
Lucas took my hand and drew me to his side. "Friends, I am honored to announce that my mate—your luna—is expecting our first child. He or she will, no doubt, carry our pack forward for years to come!"
The group went wild with applause and howls. Their joy reached my darkest fears and put them down. This news was great indeed, and we would all celebrate.
I looked up at Lucas to find him beaming down at me. While I was fulfilling an honorable duty to the pack, I could tell that he was proud of this proof of our love. His lycan would show even more love now that there were two to love.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" The chant echoed around us as the pack excitedly shouted as one.
"They can't be serious," I whispered. "What is this? High school? You're the alpha!"
Lucas grinned as he cupped my face in his hands. "They may seem immature, but they do love their celebrations. Besides, I have no objections to their demand."
"Lucas..."
He cut me off, sealing my lips with his. I gripped his arms to steady myself. His kisses often left me dizzy and breathless. The crowd erupted in applause, a few whistles clearly asking for more.
Lucas's tongue teased the corner of my mouth. My wolf edged forward just enough to make me part my lips just a little. Lucas used that to pry my lips open and plunge his tongue into my mouth. We both moaned a bit at the feeling. I caught a tiny taste of the mint he'd eaten right before we'd taken the stage. My wolf wanted more, so I let my tongue wander into his mouth.
I don't know how long we stood there practically eating each other, but eventually I broke free to catch a breath. The pack howled in approval as they slowly began to dissipate to the rest of the party we'd planned last-minute. Had they seriously watched us the whole time?
Lucas pressed his forehead to mine, heaving in a breath. "Dang, babe... If you weren't already pregnant, I'm pretty sure you would be by tonight."
My face heated and—no doubt—turned dark red. "Then I'm thankful that I already am..." I glanced toward the crowd. "Do we have to stay long?"
"Why do you ask?" he chuckled against my ear. "Eager to be alone again?"
"I'm not feeling up to partying right now," I admitted. "I just want to curl up and sleep." My stomach fluttered, but not in a good way. With a sizeable group gathered, it would be far too easy for someone to slip in and cause havoc.
He snapped out of whatever passion haze he was in. Pulling back a bit, he looked deep into my eyes for a moment. I nearly saw the protective instinct kick in.
"Do you feel all right?" he murmured, tucking some hair behind my ear. "Is the pup bothering you?"
I sucked in a breath to combat my swirling stomach. "...just a little. I thought I'd be okay."
"Of course. We'll go home, and you can rest."
"Thanks." I tucked my head under his chin and wrapped my arms around his waist. His heartbeat tapping against my ear calmed me, as did his general scent. Granted, now that I carried his child, one would hardly be able to tell the difference between us.
"Are we going to go home or just stand here?" he whispered, definitely teasing me.
I tightened my hold around his waist and groaned. "Just give me a second. I can't handle moving right now."
He rubbed my back for a minute, humming gently so his chest rumbled against my temple. "Would you like me to carry you back?"
"I can manage," I mumbled, not really wanting to look like an incapacitated weakling in front of the pack.
"I'm sure you can, but I can tell that you're not feeling well. Neither my wolf nor I like seeing you this way, so I am more than happy to help you in any way that I can."
I took a moment to consider my options, preferring to be strong but knowing that the pup would probably win. And in all honesty, I wasn't going to fight against my roiling stomach. It was too much.
"Thank you," I finally whispered. "I'd actually love your help right now."
Lucas eased my arms from his waist to up around his neck. Once I'd resettled my cheek on his shoulder, he scooped me into a cradle hold. For a second, he stood still and held me tight. Every point of contact was like a little valve pouring calm into my body and easing my nausea. We left the platform and headed across the lawn. That's when the last person I wanted to see blocked the way.
"So now she's pregnant and we all have to scramble to suit her every whim?" Maya snarled, her eyes glittering a light shade of purple. "A real luna would never be so pathetic or weak. I would never be so needy."
Lucas's body tensed as his wolf surfaced in defense. Since he was holding me, he refrained from shifting. I pressed my nose against his neck, hoping to calm him. He relaxed a little but remained alert.
"Maya," he growled, "you should back down and walk away before you say or do something that you can't take back."
Even though I didn't see her, I could feel the indignation rolling off her. The hiss that followed was too feminine to be Lucas and it wasn't mine.
"Maya..." Lucas growled in response.
She rolled her eyes. "Lucas, let's be serious. You know that I would make a far better luna than her. Besides having babies for you, what can she possibly offer you?"
Lucas gripped me so hard that I actually winced. My wolf was clawing to get free, but the potential of hurting the pup held her back. She would dare risk it. I whimpered to let my mate know he was nearly causing pain. In his current rage, he wouldn't sense my discomfort.
He loosened his hold a bit and tilted his head toward mine, a sign that he understood me. After a second, he pressed his lips to my forehead before setting me on my feet.
"Can you stand on your own?" he whispered.
"I'm not an invalid, so yes." I stepped aside to let him take care of the wolf still hissing at me. If I wasn't still dealing with nausea, I'd do it myself.
He cupped my face and pressed a light peck on my lips. "You might not want to watch this."
With one smooth motion, he turned and jumped at Maya, shifting midair. By the time he reached her, his wolf jaws snapped at her neck. The evil girl dodged the blow and shifted into her own wolf. Lucas landed a few yards behind her and whipped around for another attach. What he probably couldn't see was that Maya's gaze was locked on me.
I wrapped my arms around my waist and took a step back. Surely Lucas would take her down before she got to me.
She lunged. I choked on the scream in my throat as I stumbled backwards. Her teeth and claws were dangerously close now.
A blur from behind tackled Maya to the ground. At the same moment, I tripped on a rock and landed on my butt. Unfortunately, that put me at eye level for Maya's execution.
With a vicious growl, Lucas sank his teeth into the back of her neck and jerked upward. A sickening crunch echoed as her spine snapped. The light in her eyes instantly faded, and she stopped moving. I couldn't help but scramble back a few more feet just in case.
Lucas looked up from Maya's dead body and scanned my body. Something flared in his eyes, and he lunged towards me. By the time he crossed the gap, he'd shifted back into his human self. I barely had time to blink before his naked body was hovering over me.
"You're going to be okay," he crooned, as if I was crying of fright or something. His gaze darted from my face to my stomach.
Out of instinct, I put my hand on my stomach. "Lucas, I—" I stopped as something warm coated my palm. I slowly pulled my hand back and glanced down.
Three angry slashes had torn through my shirt and into my skin. While I hadn't felt the cuts at the time, the pain roared through me now. Maya had gone for a kill shot to my pup, not me.
A shudder wracked my body as the first terrified sob broke out of my lips. "A... Lucas..."
He scooped me off the ground and crushed me to his bare chest. "I know, babe. You're going to be fine, both of you." He took off running towards the pack house.
Every possible bad outcome raced through my mind. While the cuts didn't seem deep enough, my pup could still die from the trauma. I could go into crazy shock and never come out of it. We could both die, which would all but kill Lucas. Or we could both be okay.
Lucas marched into the pack house and made a beeline for the infirmary, barking for the doctor. I focused on taking calm breaths. A fresh wave of pain ripped through my middle as he gently laid me on the exam table. For a moment, we just stared at each other in silent panic.
"Alpha?" Maggie stepped into the room. "What's wro— Oh! My goodness..."
I tore my gaze away from Lucas's face, thinking she'd seen my bloody midsection. Instead, I found her quickly looking away from my mate's naked body. In spite of the pain, my wolf growled possessively in warning.
"Lucas..." I ground out. "Shorts, please."
He glanced down before pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Right. I'll be back in a second. Don't die while I'm gone."
I found the energy to laugh a little. "I make no promises."
"You already did," he reminded me, "when you chose to be my mate. So stay with me."
Maggie cleared her throat and stepped up to the table. "Alpha... I'll attend to Luna Karina while you..."
He gave me one more kiss before ducking out of the room. Without him near, my physical pain became much more prominent. I sucked in a breath and blinked back a wave of tears.
"Luna, I'm going to cut your shirt so I can get a better look at these cuts. Okay?" She didn't wait for permission but scurried to do what she needed to do. I could feel my shirt being pulled away from my bloody skin. It rekindled my worst fears.
"Is my pup going to die?" I croaked. Gah! I sounded weak.
"...not if I can do anything about it." She quickly swabbed my stomach with an antiseptic to clean the wounds. The healing chemicals burned in a good way.
"These cuts aren't deep enough to hurt your pup," she declared, "but they will still take a few days to heal. I'm going to bandage you up, and then Alpha Lucas can take you home to rest."
I nodded, a couple tears trickling down my face. I would live. My pup would live. We would be okay.
A fogginess swept over me, and I passed out before she finished putting on the first bandage.