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The weight of the meal settled in my stomach, demanding time to digest. If I had to sit here all night, so be it. But my pup had other ideas. A few sharp kicks to my bladder sent urgency crashing over me. I clenched my jaw with a steely determination to hold off just long enough to ensure I didn’t lose my dinner onto the floor.

Another kick.

How other females could get through pregnancy astounded me. All the kicking of our pups made the pain from their tiny feet striking my organs and even my ribs unbearable. I spent most of my day sprawled out on the couch so I could endure the kicks from the inside.

Nathaniel leaned in and cleared his throat—a subtle reminder that I had drifted too far into my own thoughts again. I often lostmyself in the quiet hum of my mind until someone pulled me back. I lifted my head just enough to meet his gaze and found him smiling, patient as ever, waiting for me to return to the moment.

“You need a doctor,” he said. “Maybe they can help you more than you think.”

Charlotte laughed. “There’s no cure for the sickness pregnancy brings on. If anything, they would give her some antacids and call it a day.”

“Then let’s get her some antacids.”

Another laugh rang out. Charlotte and Nathaniel had no children of their own, but as the alpha and luna, they were parents to every pup in the pack, especially Charlotte. She had told me once how she had been present at countless births, assisting mothers and tending to the nursery. It was one of her favorite places, a space filled with new life and quiet devotion. Her experience had given her more knowledge than most—she understood pregnancy in ways that went beyond textbooks and knew which remedies failed before anyone even tried them.

“You know as well as I do that those things don’t work on most females. Even human females struggle with things not working for them when they are pregnant.”

He looked at her, amusement in his eyes. “The female body fascinates me.”

“Of course you’d say that.” She laughed while shaking her head. “We’ve been together for almost a century, and you still say the female body is fascinating.”

“Because it is! You take something as small as sperm and turn it into a child. Your body creates the food for the pup, which is known to make the pup stronger. Your body can create life! Yet, for unknown reasons, your bodies can’t cooperate with certain medications.”

When he framed it that way, it did sound absurd. How could that even make sense? Our bodies could nurture and grow life itself, yet somehow, in other ways, they completely failed us.

“We would be unstoppable if we could grow life, feed them from the same body, and have every medication work like a charm. That’s why the Moon Goddess didn’t allow it.”

I couldn’t help but giggle along. It felt so natural, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed it. The idea of leaving my new home for something better felt out of reach, a dream too fragile to hold onto. But the Moon Goddess had guided me when I ran, steering me away from a cruel fate. I could have been lost, left to struggle on the streets. Instead, I found Charlotte and Nathaniel. Or maybe they found me. I wasn’t alone anymore.

My stomach had finally settled enough to convince myself I could make it to the bathroom. However, my vision faltered when I was halfway there, causing the room to twist and swirl into dizzying spirals. My body swayed, unsteady, before darkness swallowed me whole. The last thing I heard was my lycan’s furious roar echoing in my mind.

I found myself in a stark white room when I came to. There were machines humming quietly around me and an IV taped to my arm. My friends were on both sides of me, their hands wrapped around mine. Their heads rested near my legs, and I could hear their soft, steady snores breaking the silence. I couldn’t help butsmile. These two could have easily left me here and slept in their own beds, but they hadn’t. They stayed and never once left my side. The realization made my chest tighten with the warmth of their love.

I refused to wake them. After the worry and exhaustion they had faced to get me here, they deserved this rest. It was a quiet reprieve after the chaos. So, I lay still so they could sleep. It was my way of showing gratitude for their unwavering support.

Their eyes snapped open in the dim light. Together, they pushed themselves up in perfect sync and looked over me for signs of harm. Worry etched deep into every crease of their faces. Charlotte’s breath hitched, her chest rising and falling in uneven waves. When she realized I was whole and unbroken, her eyes brimmed with tears of relief.

“Oh, sweetheart, we were so worried!” Charlotte choked before moving further up on the bed to wrap her arms around my shoulders and pull me into a hug.

“You scared the hell out of us, kid,” Nathaniel blurted out when Charlotte let me go.

Pain was a constant companion. It settled into my muscles like a shadow that never fully dissipated. By some miracle, it wasn’t there this morning. There wasn’t a dull ache gnawing at my ribs, and no sharp sting curling along my spine. I stretched, expecting the familiar pull of soreness, but my body remained pain-free.

Even my lycan was silent, her presence tucked deep within me like a slumbering beast. She never stood still, always thrumming beneath my skin and ready to snap to attention at the faintest sign of danger. She had remained on high alert for years dueto the suffocating grip of my father’s rule. I hadn’t realized she could drift into sleep, that she could trust the quiet enough to let go.

“What happened?” My voice was hoarse from dryness.

From what I could see, I had been here for a while. My throat felt raw, as if I had been swallowing sandpaper, despite the steady drip of fluids from the IV. The urgent and unrelenting thirst clawed at me. I wanted to drink an entire gallon of water in one breath.

Charlotte moved with instinctive certainty, anticipating my needs before I even knew I needed them. She rose smoothly, grabbed a pink container from the stand nearby, and poured water into a waiting cup. She handed it to me without a word, and I wasted no time bringing it to my lips. The first gulp was a massive relief. Cold liquid slid down my parched throat, soothing the rawness that had scraped at every swallow. The chill of the water eased the scratchiness. When I lowered the cup, Charlotte immediately refilled it. Her movements were quick, steady, and deliberate.

“You collapsed, baby girl, and we didn’t know if you’d wake up. We got you here to the clinic as fast as we could, and we’ve been here since,” Nathaniel explained.

I swallowed hard as I mulled over my situation. What if Charlotte and Nathaniel hadn’t been there? The question coiled around my mind and suffocated me. My trembling hands drifted toward my stomach, splaying my fingers across my belly where the life inside me remained. Still growing. Still alive.

A fragile beginning. A heartbeat I had barely allowed myself to believe in.

The realization crashed over me like a wave. If I had been alone, I would have lost the baby. The cruel thought carved into me like a blade with unforgiving sharpness.