Lucas stepped into the library and quickly scanned the room. It only took a second before he saw his adorable mate stretched out on the window seat. Her left hand rested on her abdomen where her baby bump was just starting to show.
"Hey."
She turned her head as he approached her. She smiled and held out her right hand. "Hi."
"What are you doing in here?" He took her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles.
"...just listening to the rain," she sighed. "It calms me down."
He knelt next to her. "Are you okay? You've been unusually quiet for the past week."
"Yes, I'm fine." She squeezed his hand. "I'm trying to stay calm and avoid stress."
"Well then, allow me to help de-stress you." He tapped her shoulder to indicate that she should make room for him. She caught his intention and scooted forward. He eased onto the seat behind her and braced his back against the window frame.
Karina relaxed back against his chest, resting her arms on his knees. Her head rested against his collarbone, the perfect height for him to rest his chin on the top of her head. He wrapped his arms around her waist and splayed his fingers across her stomach. A very satisfying little kick responded to his touch.
"Fascinating, isn't it?" she murmured.
"What is, love?" He rubbed one palm over her stomach, hoping to feel his child move again. He was rewarded moments later.
"Little one has been doing that a lot today," Karina sighed. "Seems that he or she wants to make their presence known."
Lucas smiled, relishing yet another tap against his palm. "I didn't think there would be so much movement this early."
"I think my ultra-supernatural powers may be helping things along. My mom said her pregnancy was only four months long. I don't want to know what any faster will be like."
"I have every confidence that you'll handle it like a queen." He kissed her temple and stilled his hands, sensing that the continued movement of their child was wearying her.
For a moment, they sat in blissful silence. Rain gently pattered against the window. The world outside soaked up the moisture like a sponge.
"We need to do something," Karina whispered. "First the attacks on the packs, then the rogue in Greece, and then Maya... I can't go on like this."
Lucas took a deep breath, calming his wolf despite the fact that his mate had stiffened in his arms. "You're thinking of the message that rogue gave you." He didn't like to think about it himself, but deep inside he knew that they would eventually need to address it.
"He said I needed to control my powers. How do I do that when it's not exactly me?"
Even though he hated to ask, he did so anyway. "What does your guardian say about it all?"
Karina didn't answer for a long time. She hugged his arms around her and absently traced patterns with her fingertips.
"It's my guardian that the supernatural world fears," she finally said. "There's a lot more going on than we realized."
"How much more?"
She drew a slow, shuddering breath. "She is the first of her kind in over 2000 years. The last so-called guardian was able to overpower her host wolf and went into a killing spree. A witch finally killed her as well as any future line of guardians."
He tightened his hold around her. "But you..."
"Therein lies the mystery," she sighed. "Amy doesn't know how she was able to emerge, but she did. And now the supernatural world wants to see her erased."
"The last guardian..." Lucas swallowed. "What happened to the host wolf when she was killed?"
"Because the guardian had forcibly taken control of her body..." Karina trembled in his arms. "...she died too."
She didn't need to spell out the implication. The very idea that she might die nearly sent him into a rage, yet he forced himself to remain still.
"There must be some way to solve this," he growled, "without you dying."
"Amy is willing to surrender herself if it means protecting me," his mate assured him. "But you might not like the process."
"If there's a way... What do we need to do?"
Karina squeezed his hand. "First: we need to find a witch willing to help us."