Page 26

Chapter 26

Sione

The Brit’s posture stiffens and his entire aura flickers like a candle being snuffed out in a windstorm. He jumps to his feet with startling speed and strides forward, getting right up in Hunter’s personal space.

“Absolutely not,” he snarls, hands wrenching through his perfectly styled hair.

He looks feral. Unhinged in a completely uncharacteristic way. It immediately puts my instincts to protect on high alert.

Rising, I hold out one hand to Garrett and Levi, silently signaling that I’ve got it.

“Spence.” Hunter’s voice is soft, one hand resting against her heart. “Hear me out—”

“Pregnant,” he seethes, the word a poison on his lips. “That’s not a fucking option. That was never part of the plan.”

I sidle up between them, careful not to make contact but casting out a sense of calm to support them each individually. In my mind’s eye, I encircle them both with healing, glimmering light.

It does little good.

“Magnolia already suspects that I’m not,” Hunter argues, her lips turned down. “You should have seen her today. The way she looked at me… the way she kept trying to trip me up.” A shudder racks through her, but it comes to an abrupt stop when she fists her hands on her hips and widens her stance. “Your plan is null and void if she doesn’t truly believe I’m pregnant.”

Spence sneers. “Null and void, my arse. She would appear unhinged if she implied that you aren’t pregnant. She won’t embarrass herself like that with her husband. He’s seen the paperwork. They both have.” He cracks his neck, tension still radiating off him in dark, angry waves.

Hunter takes a tiny step forward and lifts her chin. “And what happens when I don’t show? What do we do when she asks to see ultrasound pictures or presses me about the due date?”

“She won’t live long enough to ask questions.”

Hunter’s eyes go wide, then quickly narrow, her brows scrunched together in frustration. “What if she does? What then?”

Spence shrugs, regaining his composure with each passing second. He eyes me, then Levi and Greedy. The three of us haven’t uttered a word. Out of shock or respect for their right to hash this out on their own, I’m unsure.

Spence sets his sights on Hunter again. “You aren’t making a decision like this out of desperation. It’s ludicrous to even suggest such a thing.”

She rears back as if he’s slapped her, and a tear crests her lashes. “You don’t get to decide that for me.” She scrubs at her damp cheek, then lifts her gaze to me.

“Breathe, Mahina,” I remind her. “Just breathe.” I stand still, holding space for her feelings without interfering.

When her bottom lip quivers and her next few breaths grow even shakier, I feel her pain in my soul. It’s as if my insides want to escape my physical container.

“Come here,” I urge, holding my arms open to her.

With a whimper, she crumples into me.

Spence huffs, the sound indignant.

Greedy and Levi make their way over, bringing with them a modicum of relief from the tension.

“What do you think?” Hunter, clearly not ready to let this go, peers up at me.

I waver between comforting her only and sharing my true thoughts. In the end, the highest good is found in the weight of the truth, even if it feels too heavy for this moment.

“I agree with the Brit.”

With a small gasp, she stumbles back. She pulls herself together quickly though, her expression going calm and calculated. “Why?”

Sighing, I scrape my hair back and knot it on the top of my head to buy myself a few extra seconds. “A decision made from a place of fear will not serve any of us, least of all our future children. Creating life to spite someone is not fair to the soul of that child.”

A strangled sound escapes Levi. “Whoa.”

I side-eye him, silently conveying that I do not appreciate his commentary.

Thankfully, Garrett is gripping his shoulder and murmuring in his ear, no doubt reading the situation with a bit more care.

Hunter sniffles, then sucks in a slow, cleansing breath. Her eyes dance with unspoken words. I watch intently as she settles, her reactive urge to fight simmering as she comes back to herself.

That’s my girl.

“What’s on your mind, Mahina?”

She stands tall, takes one more deep breath, then looks to each of us before fixing her gaze on the Brit. “I truly want this.”

“Help us understand.” I ask the question before anyone else can speak or escalate the situation further. She deserves the opportunity to make her case. “What do you mean?”

“I… I want a baby.”

The room is silent, although the reactive emotions of the group hum at the highest frequencies. There’s excitement. Hope. Despair. Regret. The last one confuses me—it’s raw and real, but I can’t place its origin. Nevertheless, all feelings are valid. I respect what each person brings to the dynamic.

“I’m not doing anything out of desperation.” She takes Kabir’s hand. “I just got worked up before I could really explain.”

He hums noncommittally. Irritation bubbles on low inside me. She didn’t get worked up on her own. If not for his intense reaction, her thoughts may not have become so clouded. Accusing him of such won’t serve any of us now.

“Tem…” Garrett slots in by her side, a hand at her lower back.

With a shake of her head, she holds up one hand. “Let me try and get this out.”

He nods and stays put. The tension in the atmosphere rises again as, collectively, we hold our breaths.

“I’ve dealt with enough pain and joy and sorrow over the last few years to know who I am and who I want”—she looks at each of us, her eyes imploring—“I know what I want, too. I want this so badly. To grow our family. To have a little one to take care of and love on. Now. This isn’t desperation talking. It’s desire. In my heart of hearts, I want to have a baby.”

“I’m in,” Levi declares.

Kabir chortles, the sound dripping with disgust.

“You’re always in,” Garrett gripes, his jaw ticking and his eyes roving over the room, as if he’s sorting through his thoughts.

None of us expected this. It’s a lot, and we each have to handle it the best way we can.

Levi play-punches Garrett’s arm. “Hell yeah, I am. You guys have awesome grandparents”—he nods at me—“a supportive dad”—he elbows Garrett—“and a shit ton of family money”—this directed at Kabir. “But when you’re raised by shitty parents…” he says, zeroing in on Hunter, his eyes softening, “and you’re given the chance to do better, you take it. Let’s fucking take it.”

For the first time since she said that word, pregnant , Hunter smiles.

Focused solely on Levi, she straightens. “You’re in?”

His grin is so wide I fear his jaw will be sore as a result. “So fucking in.”

Hunter releases a relieved, joyful sigh, but then her expression quickly turns sheepish as she looks to the rest of us. “The timing isn’t great, I know that. We’re all still figuring things out. Hell… we don’t even have a place to live.” She snaps her mouth shut, wrings her hands.

Garrett leans in, catching her attention, and gives her a subtle nod. “We’re listening, Tem.” His focus shifts to Kabir, and his expression goes stony, a clear warning.

When no one interjects, she takes another deep breath. Her aura settles, and sincerity flows through her. “I want to try to get pregnant. All this pretending and talk of what-if got me thinking, and now that the idea has formed, I know with absolute certainty: I want to try.”

The authenticity of her statement is palpable. Judging by the way the others stare at her in awe, they feel it, too.

“If you get pregnant and your menses pauses, your condition may worsen.” I’m not trying to warn her against it. I just want her to truly think this through before committing.

Lips pressed together, she nods. “I thought of that. But my PMDD may also improve while I’m pregnant.”

Fair point. I’ve long wondered how the hormonal changes of pregnancy might affect her monthly moods. PMDD is a debilitating endocrine disease first and foremost, but it’s considered a mood disorder as well.

All is well with my soul as I soak in her enthusiasm.

If she wants this—which I truly believe she does—I want this, too.

Two in. Two still out. There’s another heavy pause amongst us. We’re teetering on a precipice, so close and yet so far from consensus, it seems.

After a few more moments, the energy shifts again. It’s sharp. Urgent. It’s loaded and weighted and sure .

Garrett surges forward, his face alight. “You really want this?” He cups her face and grins.

She smiles right back. Tears leak from the corners of her eyes, but they’re no longer tears of anguish. “I really, really do.”

He smashes his mouth against hers, and she kisses him back with just as much intensity.

When they break apart, he runs his nose along her jawline. “Playing pretend is fun, but putting a baby inside you for real?” He groans, the sound deep and primal. “I want it. I want to fill you up and put a baby in you, Hunter.”

“Wait. This would be a group effort, right?” Levi asks.

With a smirk, Hunter loops her arms around Greedy’s neck. “Yes. As long as everyone wants this, too, I fully intend for it to be a group effort.”

I don’t allow myself the luxury of sorting through my own emotions. Not yet. The energy inside this room is too charged. It’s impossible to distinguish where my life force ends and another’s begins. I’ll process my personal reactions later. For now, there are logistics to discuss.

“The full moon is in three nights’ time.”

“What does that mean?” Levi frowns, brows pulled low, clearly certain I’ve just taken the entire conversation off track.

“It means Hunter will ovulate in three days. If we want to try to get pregnant this month, it needs to be decided now.”

Hunter’s aura erupts with hope, her optimism and desire so intense, they breach my own energy shields.

Levi worries his bottom lip, but his mouth is tipped up, as if he can’t stop smiling.

Greedy shifts his gaze from Hunter to Levi, then back to Hunter again.

Spence stands stock-still, his walls erected to full height, an impenetrable mass of projected indifference.

He shakes his head once. “We’re not making this decision tonight.”

“Why not?” Hunter releases Garrett and turns to Spence.

Before she can make it to him, his reserves combust into fuel, his repressed emotions bursting into flames.

“Because I can’t .” Fists balled and chest heaving, he storms out of the room, leaving us all shocked and jolted in his wake.