Wolf's Ascension (21 page)

When Kari and Andreas came down, Laurent saw them and his face broke into a gigantic grin. Kari, of course, didn’t have the time to do anything herself before Anna had set a cup of coffee and a heaping plate of pancakes before her.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Laurent said, smiling into his cup and Kari groaned.

“Why’s that?” Skye asked, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

“From all the groaning, screaming and thumping next door. I wish I’d had earplugs. I did, however, learn what Andreas’s name sounds like when screamed, moaned and being ordered around.”

Kari put her face down on the table and her hands up over her head. She’d never hear the end of it.

“Ordered around? Do tell,” Skye said, laughing.

Laurent proceeded, in detail, to describe just what she’d ordered Andreas to do.

Andreas tried not to laugh but Kari really was vocal in bed and Laurent was quite an accurate mimic.

The conversation went on for at least twenty minutes until even Jack was laughing, though he’d clapped his hands over his ears a few times and begged them to stop talking about his sister.

“Okay, okay, enough!” she ordered, trying not to laugh herself. “I’d like to finish eating but before I do I have a few words for you, Laurent Cole. Paybacks are a bitch.” She cut into her pancakes as they all made
I’m so scared
noises.

Later, Jack and Kari took a walk around the lake. He wanted to give her his thumbs-up over Andreas and his family but also to get her to tell him whatever it was that was being left unsaid.

“Well, you know I hate to admit I’m wrong. But in this case, I’m happy to. Andreas is a great guy and it’s pretty clear he worships you.”

Relief lit Kari’s face. “I’m so glad you like him! He’s a good man, Jack.”

“Not just him but his whole family. They all seem really nice. A bit touchy-feely but you know, whatever floats your boat.”

“Why don’t you tell me about what’s going on with Alyssa?”

He took a deep breath and exhaled. “It’s complicated. I’m ready to either move on to marriage or break it off. I don’t see myself dating her for the next however many years. I want to be married, Kari. I’m twenty-seven, almost twenty-eight, and I want a family. On the other hand, she doesn’t know what she wants. I understand she’s got a kid to worry about, but you know, I’ve proven to her time and again that I’ll put him first. I’m reliable with him. I want to make a life with them both. Love them both. Be their family.”

“So what’s her problem then?”

“She says she’s not ready to be serious right now. She doesn’t want to break up but she doesn’t want to move to the next level, either. We’ve been dating for a year now. I asked her to marry me and she balked. I asked her to move in and she balked. I don’t know—I think at this stage that she likes the way things are and I don’t see that changing. I care about her deeply. No—I love her. But I’m not willing to wait around for god knows how long when she doesn’t even know if she wants me.”

Kari squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry, Jack. She’s a fool if she can’t see how great you are.”

“Kari, how would you feel if I moved out west? To Seattle or even to Star Lake?”

Kari stopped and grabbed both of his hands. “Are you serious? I’d love it. I miss you like crazy.”

“When I was here when you were in the hospital, I talked with a few folks I know at the Seattle PD. And one of my commanders at the Boston PD knows some people here in Star Lake. Small world, huh? Anyway, I talked to Carey last night and he seems to think that I could come on here or in one of the surrounding towns. The only thing holding me in Boston was Alyssa, and since that looks like a bust, I’d like to be near you again.”

She hugged him. “That would be so great.” Kari wanted to tell him about her new life, about her new family but she had no idea how to broach the subject, so she remained silent. Thing was, she wasn’t just a Pack member, she was an Alpha and their house was werewolf central. If Jack did move out west, she’d have to find a way to tell him.

“I’ll start the ball rolling once I get back home. I thought I’d give it one last try with Alyssa and if she says no, I’ll give notice.”

Even as joy at the idea of Jack moving west swamped her, Kari felt a wave of dizziness hit. Overwhelmed, she staggered to the bushes and threw up.

Phillip ran over. “Kari? Are you all right?” Alarm sharpened his voice.

“Must be something she ate,” Jack said, sounding puzzled at Phillip’s strong reaction.

“I feel nauseated,” she mumbled.

Phillip picked her up and carried her quickly toward the house. “Get Elaine. Now,” he barked at Skye, who’d come running toward them.

“What the hell is going on? She just threw up. What aren’t you telling me, Kari?”

Phillip looked down at him. “She was poisoned last week. It started like this.”

“She was what?” Jack yelled and Kari started crying. She felt like crap and he was upset and she hadn’t wanted him to know and now he had to know everything and she didn’t know how she’d explain it.

“I’ll explain later. Please.” She pressed her face into Phillip’s neck, breathing in his scent.

Phillip laid her down on her bed and went to get a washcloth from the bathroom. Elaine rushed in, followed by Andreas and Laurent.

“What the fuck is going on? Why didn’t anyone tell me that Kari had been poisoned?” Jack demanded of them.

“I’ll explain it all when we are sure she’s okay.” Elaine calmly but quickly moved him aside. “Kari, what’s wrong?”

“I just felt very dizzy and nauseated. I threw up in the bushes. Phillip ran over and carried me back here. I’m feeling better now that I’m still. I don’t have cramps like I did before. I just feel tired and nauseated.”

“Have you felt this way at all before?” Elaine asked, using an ear thermometer to gauge her temperature.

“I felt butterflies yesterday but I thought it was because of the wedding. I’ve been tired, but again, I thought it was because of the wedding and recovering from the poisoning.”

“Your temperature is normal. You’re not showing any of the signs from before.”

“All of her food’s been tasted,” Andreas said and Kari turned a narrowed eye at him. He returned the look without guilt.

“What? I told you I didn’t want that.”

“I did it anyway. In the kitchens so no one knew but Anna, Gregory, Sean, Phillip and me.”

“Bastard,” she said, although she was relieved that she probably hadn’t been poisoned. She burst into tears. “How could you lie to me?”

Andreas quickly came to her side and pulled her into his arms, looking confused. Kari was not a woman given to tears like that. Being pissed off, sure. Yelling, hell yes, but not tears for no real reason.

“Kari...well, nevermind.” Elaine turned to everyone else. “I’d like to talk with Kari alone please. You can all wait outside.” She ushered them all out over Andreas’s strident protests and Jack’s glowering insistence that someone tell him what was going on.

Once they were alone, Elaine turned back to Kari. “How long have you felt moody?”

“My whole life?” She snorted and Elaine laughed. “I don’t know, about three or four days.”

“Coinciding with the tiredness and the nausea?”

“Yeah. What, do you think I’m pregnant?” Kari snorted with amusement.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do,” Elaine said and pulled out a needle stick and a test paper from her medical bag.

Kari sat up. “What? I’ve only been having sex with Andreas for a little over a week. Before that I hadn’t had intercourse for a month. I had a period in between.”

“Kari, werewolves have a different physiology. Our pregnancies mature very quickly. We have four-month gestations. You’d start feeling the symptoms of morning sickness within two days of fertilization of the egg. Tell me, where were you in your cycle before this last week? Count from after the poisoning, because I think if you had been pregnant that would have caused a miscarriage.”

“Um, I had my period a few days before Michael bit me.”

“Twenty-eight-day cycle?”

“Yes. Oh my god, I ovulated this last week.”

“Let me take some blood from you. We can’t just pee on a stick like human women can. About ten years ago, a test strip for human-wolf growth hormones was developed. The werewolf version of the home pregnancy test.” Efficiently, she used the needle stick and pressed Kari’s finger to the test paper.

Elaine smiled as the paper turned bright blue. “Kari, you’re pregnant. You’re bearing the next generation of Alphas for Cherchez.” She grabbed the bleeding finger, cleaned it again with an alcohol swab and put a Band-Aid on it.

“Oh my god! I’m pregnant?” Kari lay there, stunned.

Elaine looked at her and sat down next to her on the bed. “Yes. Are you okay with that? I mean, I know you started out on shaky ground about the whole idea.”

“I am. I really am. I mean, I know what condoms are. I’m a big girl. I knew this might happen, although not this soon. I was human not too long ago, this is all new to me.” Kari smiled, tears flowing again. “I’m going to have a baby in four months? It’ll be a baby right, not a puppy?”

Elaine laughed. “I asked that same thing! Yes, a baby. Our young can’t transform until they hit puberty. They do mature at a much quicker rate, though. Your baby will be walking by six months, for instance.”

“Oh my goodness. How about prenatal care? Who do I see for that?”

“I’m it. Don’t worry. I’ve done it several times before. I delivered Josh and Julia, as a matter of fact. I can come here for a lot of it but you’ll have to come to Seattle to see me at the hospital for other things. The ultrasound, for instance. If you have a good pregnancy, there’s no reason you can’t deliver here at home. Our births are notoriously easy and fast. It’s a big plus, quick gestation and quick deliveries. Still hurts like hell, but it’s much less than a mother birthing a human baby deals with.”

Andreas began pounding on the door, demanding to know what was happening.

Elaine went toward the door. “He’s a handsome one but I don’t envy you having to deal with him.”

Kari laughed. “Yeah. He’s worth it but still a pain in the ass.”

“I’d wager he’ll be hard to manage while you’re pregnant.”

Kari heaved a sigh. “Yeah. Well.”

Laughing, Elaine stopped and made a note to herself. “I’ll get you some special prenatal vitamins. You’ll have to eat even more than you do now. We can talk more about it later. Shall I tell them?”

“No. I want to tell Andreas first. Privately. Tell everyone else to wait downstairs. I’ll have to explain it all to my brother. Oh god, won’t that be fun.” She rolled her eyes. “Just a minute!” she yelled to Andreas, who stopped pounding.

Elaine nodded and opened the door. “Just you, Andreas. Everyone else downstairs,” Elaine ordered as she closed the door behind Andreas.

“Baby? Are you okay?” He rushed to her, pulling her into his arms.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” she said, waiting for him to catch it.

“What is it? ‘We’?”

“I’m pregnant.”

“You’re what?” The biggest grin she’d ever seen broke out over his face and he howled so loud she had to cover her ears. He picked her up and danced her around the room until she begged him to put her down.

“I’m nauseated enough as it is, don’t spin me.” Chastened, he carefully put her down.

“Oh thank you,” he said, kissing her cheeks, her lips.

“Thank you? For what?”

“For being okay and not poisoned. For bearing our child, the future king.” He beamed. “We have to tell everyone.” He rushed toward the door.

“Wait!” she ordered and he stopped. “I have to tell Jack everything now. He knows about the poisoning. He’ll know it’s impossible for a woman to be showing symptoms just a few days after conception, especially after being poisoned. He’s planning on moving out here. He’ll have to be told anyway, so let’s do it now.

“But like me, he’ll need proof. So why don’t we go down there? Explain it all and then you’ll need to shift to show him. Or Skye or Phillip. Sean and Emma left, right? No more humans here now?”

He sighed, clearly impatient and wanting to shout the news to all and sundry. “Okay. You’re right.” He started to pick her up.

“What are you doing?” She slapped his hands away and stood up on her own.

“You need to rest. I’ll take care of you. You don’t have to lift a finger until our son arrives.”

“Could be a daughter and that would be just as good. I don’t want any of this pro-boy nonsense around me. I’m already annoyed with this whole emphasis on having a son, as if daughters don’t matter. Our children will be just as loved and important if they’re female.”

Werewolf culture was already class-bound, which caused all sorts of negative situations. There was no way Kari would raise a child whose worth was measured by what was between their thighs.

He kneeled down and nuzzled her stomach. “Of course. A daughter bearing your beautiful eyes and curls will be heavenly.”

“Fine, you pass. And I’m pregnant, not dying. I can do my own walking, thank you very much. Elaine said that I’d need to eat more and that I could even have the baby here if the pregnancy went okay. I don’t need to be treated like an invalid.”

They walked downstairs and everyone who was left had gathered in the great room looking nervous. Except for Jack, who looked furious as well as upset.

“I’m fine. Before I say anything else, I need to talk to Jack for a second.” She went to sit next to her brother, pushing Skye bodily out of the way. He’d started to nuzzle into her side before Andreas went over, picked him up and took his place. Disgruntled, Skye settled in at her feet. Jack raised his eyebrows at that.

She sighed. “This is going to sound completely outrageous, but please hold on until the end. I wasn’t attacked by a dog in Seattle, I was attacked by Michael.” She motioned toward Michael, who sat across the room. “Elaine checked me out of the hospital, drugged me and brought me here. They told me that I’d been attacked by a werewolf and that I was going to change into one at the full moon on that Saturday. Not only that but I was a Mate to their king, and as such, I’d be queen of their Pack.”

Jack’s brows rose with alarm but she waved at him to stay quiet.