Luke chuckled, and then went back to spacing out. Just then a mindlink came in from Mike to Luke and me.
“There’s a new scent on the northern border. We tried tracking it, but nothing was found.”
“We’ll be right there,”I mindlinked back, including Luke. I looked at Luke who was coming back out of his trance again.
“Shit. Let me text Jasmine and cancel our date,” he said. He almost looked relieved as he did it. While I was initially irritated by his blasé reaction, another stronger feeling came forth—maybe it wouldn’t work out between them. But I pushed it away, not wanting to get my hopes up only to be crushed later.
It was best if I prepared for the worst. I already cared too much, had gotten too close to Jasmine. And I knew that being with her mate was important to her. Once again, I pledged to myself that I wouldn’t meddle, tried my best to ignore everything within me that desired things to be different.
We stepped outside of the packhouse and threw our clothes off, shifting into our wolf forms. We ran over to Mike’s patrol station, where he met us in his wolf form. We followed him as we tracked the scent that was found. It smelled faintly familiar—I had met someone from this pack before, but I couldn’t put my nose on exactly who. We followed the scent deep into the woods, but it disappeared once we hit a brook. Whoever it was must have swum away, taking their scent with them.
We were a week into November now, so the temperature had dropped significantly. I couldn’t imagine that the culprit had gone far in the freezing water. We tried walking down the side of the brook for a mile with no luck. We backtracked and tried going a mile the other way. Nothing. Whoever it was, was able to swim more than a mile in freezing water.
After we returned to Mike’s patrol station, Luke and I ran the pack border, checking on all the other patrol stations. We confirmed with the senior warriors that the juniors were walking one hundred yards out at the beginning of each new shift, and that we were alerted any time anything suspicious was found. Luke and I finally returned to the packhouse, and Luke wrote up a report to send to all the warriors, informing them of the security breach and reminding them of patrol duty directions.
“I can’t wait to fuck these next assholes up” I grimaced. “These motherfuckers think they can come here and fuck with my pack? They’re going to regret the day they cooperated with the Bois Sombre Pack.”
Luke looked up at me from where he was working on his laptop and shook his head. “Please remind me to never get on your bad side. I think I’d like to keep my balls.”
Chapter 44
Lucy
OnTuesdaymorning,Lukemet me in front of the clinic. We walked in together, and Luke sat with me while we waited for my name to be called. He went into the examination room with me while the nurse took my vitals and had me produce another urine sample. Luke held my hand while the nurse took several vials of my blood.
The former luna came in after and asked me a bunch of questions about my health and eating habits. She then had me sit down on the examination table and gave me a full physical exam. After she was done, she asked Luke if he wanted to see the baby. He nodded and came over. She pulled out the ultrasound machine. After she was able to get the image up on the monitor, she turned it so it was facing Luke and me. Luke held my hand and said, “Wow, that’s amazing.” I watched as his eyes sparkled, engrossed in the image he was seeing on the monitor.
“I calculated the due date for March 24,” the former luna said. Luke squeezed my hand.
After the ultrasound was done, the former luna came and sat down with us to talk. “Luke, thank you for coming in and supporting Lucy. I know this must have been a bit unexpected and unplanned, but having a pup is a wonderful thing and I know you will be a great father. Congratulations.” She leaned forward to give him a hug.
After separating, Luke rubbed the back of his head and said, “Thank you, Luna. It was definitely a shock and I’m still wrapping my head around it, but I told Lucy that she’ll never have to worry.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less. Do you have any questions?”
“To be honest, I’m still processing all of this. But I’m sure you won’t mind if I call you another time.”
“Of course not. You’re practically a second son to me, Luke. I know this will be quite a shock to everyone at first, but everyone will eventually get used to it. I know your mother will be very happy—she loves all of her grandchildren, and I am sure she will dote over this pup as much as all your future ones.”
“Thank you, Luna. I appreciate it.”
After we spoke a little while longer, the former luna left and gave Luke and me some time alone. He took both my hands in his and said, “I’m so amazed, Lucy. Seeing our pup on that screen was incredible. I can’t believe that you and I created a life together.” He smiled at me, and my heart melted. I had missed seeing him smile at me like that. “I meant what I said yesterday. I don’t want you to worry about anything. I’m going to make sure you and our pup are always taken care of.”
I took my hands from his and leaned in to hug him. He held me against him like he used to. Then he asked, “Do you mind if I touch your belly?”
I lifted my shirt, and he rubbed my belly very gently. I had been feeling a little bloated lately, but my belly still didn’t appear pregnant. Feeling some courage, I said, “You know, Luke, we don’t have to raise this baby separately. We can be a family just like we always wanted.”
He pulled his hand from my belly and sighed. “Lucy—”
“Why not, Luke? We love each other, and the Moon Goddess wants us to have a baby together. Maybe this is her way of showing us we should be together.”
“Lucy, if she wanted us to be together, she would have made us mates.” He looked at me sadly. Looking into his eyes, I knew that he knew I was right. Maybe I didn’t win the battle today, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t won the war. I still had until March 24 to convince him. And if not him, I could always accomplish my goal through Jasmine.
We finally left, and he held the door open for me as we exited the clinic. He then walked me to my house. I didn’t live too far. Before I went inside, he stopped me and said, “Lucy, I want to be there for you. If you ever need anything, please let me know. I know we’re no longer together, but I still want to do the right thing and support you through everything.” He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Take care of yourself.”
Jasmine
Afternothearingfromher in over a month, I received a text message from Lucy on Tuesday morning while I was working. I was shocked when I checked my text notifications after the morning rush was over.