Inevitably Yours

QUINN

When Michael came home, he told me about Alpha Hunter’s request. I was on the fence about the whole thing. Michael told me a lot about Haven; she seemed like a good person. But I knew you couldn’t judge an entire group of people on one, whether they be good or bad. We decided to wait for now and see how things progressed.

He agreed that the rogue was harmless, and we brought her to the packhouse the next day. She was immediately interested in finding a job and earning her own way. Nic and I helped her search for a job, accomplishing that goal pretty quickly.

Michael was only home for two weeks before leaving again. We spent every morning and every night together. During the day, he took care of pack business and caught up on the stuff he missed while he was gone. He and Nic trained together most days, and we squeezed in some training as well. I had to help him with his schoolwork, but I took it as more time to spend with him. He was most relaxed when he was teaching his little warriors, and we spent another evening letting them all challenge him. None were able to last a whole three-minute round with him yet, but they got closer.

Then, I was waving goodbye from the top of the driveway again. Enrique joined him again to learn how to instruct as Michael did. They were off to a pack that held territory right in the center of a major city, Midnight Shadow Pack. The Alpha threw around his money and came off pretty pompous but expressed not having the time to train his warriors. Michael gave him an inflated price, expecting the Alpha to argue, but he accepted it immediately. I was only sad that he would be gone for three weeks this time. We spent too long that morning saying goodbye in bed, but it was never enough.

–

Just like all the other times Michael left, by the second night, I was having trouble sleeping again. While he was gone, Sapphire was more of a guest, but I didn’t like to bother him with it. It was better if he wasn’t worried about me while he was gone.

“Why don’t you come to training with me today?” Andrea suggested one afternoon. Most of the warriors trained three or four days a week around their duty schedules. Andrea’s schedule was different from everyone else as she mainly watched over me. I tried to make her job easy and had Adi come to the packhouse some nights so we could all enjoy dinner together.

“I’m not sure that is a great idea,” I laughed nervously.

“No, it would be great. And I bet it would help you get to sleep later, getting a workout in,” she insisted.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” I said.

“What are you going to do? You have no schoolwork, and the packhouse is clean. I saw the inbox in your office; it’s almost empty. You channel all that heartsickness for Alpha into work while he is away,” she said, crossing her arms and giving me a pointed look. She had a point, but it was also because I had to do something when I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to cry when I sat in our room with his scent all around.

“Fine, I’ll come. But it isn’t going to be a regular thing,” I told her. “Where is Nic?”

“She’s still out with Towering Timbers’ Beta,” Andrea told me.

“Hmm,” I said. “He’s been here like five days already. I guess let me go change, and we can head out.”

I went up to our floor and changed into something more fitted for a workout. I quickly pulled my shoes on and raced back down to Andrea, who was waiting for me. “Ready?” she said.

“As I’ll ever be,” I joked.

We headed over to the warrior compound in her car. M and I were hoping to buy a second car soon, but we just hadn’t yet. When M was gone, I usually went places with Andrea anyway, so it didn’t matter too much. When we joined the group of warriors stretching on the training mats, they all watched us with curiosity.

“Looks like we have a guest tonight,” Melvin said, coming into the room and seeing me. “Daughter-in-law, how are you today?”

“I’m doing good. I guess I am here to break a sweat,” I told him. Melvin smiled.

“Well, then, let’s get to it,” he said.

–

After an hour of strength and conditioning, we broke up into pairs for technique drills. Andrea was the only one willing to partner with me. I assumed most of them feared accidentally striking their Luna and the Alpha’s reaction to that. While I was tired and ready for a nap at the end of the class, I could keep up with everything well, and it was a relief not to embarrass myself.

Before we left, Melvin suggested I start to come more. He argued that it would be good for the morale and unity of our pack if the Alpha and Luna were accessible in these ways, and I agreed. I yawned as Andrea pulled into the packhouse driveway. “I told you it wouldn’t be bad,” she smiled.

“You were right,” I said. “But now, I want my bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Night, Luna,” she said. I headed inside and immediately went for the stairs. My stomach rumbled in slight protest, but the best I could muster for the night was a granola bar. I stuffed it in my face as I got ready for a hot shower. Once I was clean, I pulled on one of my mate’s shirts and climbed into bed. If Sapphire was back in the morning, I would train with our warriors daily to ensure I got some sleep.

–

While the extra workouts helped, I was feeling under the weather by the end of the week. For the most part, werewolves didn’t deal with illness after maturity. Our bodies and wolves allowed us to heal from most ailments and fend off viral infections. It did still happen occasionally, especially when there were outside factors like being separated from your mate for extended periods.

It started with fatigue. I was suddenly far more tired than I should have been. I spent two entire days on the couch, avoiding everyone and napping on and off. Nic thankfully handled anything vital until I mustered up the energy to go downstairs.

After that, my stomach started hurting. I started cramping throughout the day, making me uncomfortable and cranky. One afternoon, I almost crumpled to the ground when Adi came running into the packhouse and slammed into me for a hug.

I did my best to keep it from M, but he knew something was wrong. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I also didn’t want him to cancel his trip to come back home because I had a bit of a stomach ache. It took a lot of debate back and forth on the phone one night, but I did manage to convince him that I could survive the remaining few days until he returned home.

Sapphire was acting weird. She was whinier than usual, pining for Eros and Michael. I was also missing my mate but knew his being away was a necessary evil. We had to take care of the pack and to do that, we needed money.

I started to feel better, only to wake up nauseous on the morning Michael was supposed to be coming home. I spent an hour in the bathroom waiting for that awful feeling to pass. I didn’t know how humans handled getting sick all the time; it was the worst feeling.

After a breakfast of plain toast and clear soda, I started getting our floor cleaned up and ready for Michael’s arrival. I made sure our bed had freshly washed sheets, and our bathroom was spotless. I dusted and swept, leaving everything as clean as I could. Nic came up the stairs at lunchtime carrying two plates of food.

“Brought you some lunch,” she said happily. As she came over to the kitchen, where I was putting away the clean dishes, the smell of beans hit my nose. My stomach immediately turned, and I had to cover my nose.

“What is that?” I choked.

“Beans, rice, and fried plantains?” she said, confused. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head violently. “Oh, Goddess. It smells,” I g*****d, pushing past her. I went right to the extra bathroom and lost the crackers I had eaten for breakfast.

Nic was in the doorway quickly. “Did you actually just throw up?” I nodded with my face still over the toilet. She grabbed a washcloth and got it wet with cool water. She kneeled next to me, holding it to my forehead. “Michael being away has never made you sick like this.”

I flushed the toilet and nodded again. “I know. It’s weird,” I agreed. “At least he’ll be home tonight.”

“Maybe you should like lay down or something. I don’t really know what humans do but chilling out until he’s back is probably a good idea,” she suggested.

My stomach turned again, this time trying to force something out of its emptiness. The feeling was almost as horrifying as actually vomiting. Nic grabbed my hair to keep it out of my face until I sat back on my heels again. “Just take the food out of here. I’ll be okay,” I told her.

“Stay here,” she said. She left me in the bathroom. A few minutes later, she came back with water and mint gum. “Here, swish this in your mouth, then chew this. I think mint is supposed to calm an upset stomach.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking them from her. Nic got up again but hesitated in the doorway while I washed my mouth out. “What?” I asked her.

“You don’t think….” she trailed off.

“No. We are not going there. I am probably just really missing my mate. He’s just been gone a little too long this time. I’ll be fine in a few hours when he is back here,” I stopped her.

“Okay,” she said, putting her hands up. “I’ll see what I can do to cut down that pile of work on your desk.”

“Thanks,” I said with a small smile. She left me alone, and I took a few more minutes before I got to my feet. My stomach still felt woozy as I shoved the gum in my mouth; at least it tasted better than the remnants of my stomach.

I sat on the couch and leaned my head back. I rubbed gentle circles over my stomach. This could go away any time now.

–

“Sweetheart, this is the third morning in a row you have woken up sick. If it was your body rebelling from our separation, you should be feeling better by now,” Michael reasoned as he handed me a bottle of water on the bathroom floor yet again.

“We said no tests, M,” I reminded him. Whatever this was, I was not about to add the stress of another failed test to daily vomiting.

“Baby, we said no tests until we were sure. I’m sure that this nausea is a sign,” he argued. He sat down on the floor next to me. I still faced the toilet, spitting out the water into the bowl. M softly rubbed my back.

“I just don’t know….” I finally said.

“If you keep going like this, I am dragging you to the doctor. We don’t get sick like this. You and I both know very few things get werewolves this way,” he insisted.

“Yea, but I am also Fae. We don’t know what that will do,” I reminded him.

“Quinn, you have never been sick like this. Unable to sleep, sure. But not throwing up every day. Please, take one for me,” he said gently. I looked over at him; his face was pleading. My l*p wobbled.

“What if it’s negative?” I whispered, my voice not wanting to work properly now. Michael scooted closer and pulled me over into his lap. He wrapped his arms around me protectively.

“Then I need to take you to the doctor because either way, this isn’t normal,” he said. “And I’ll be right here with you the whole time.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “But can we do it later?”This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

“Sure,” he agreed. He nuzzled the top of my head. “Hmmm.”

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

–

I couldn’t even stand. This time, I sat on our bed while M stood in the doorway to our bathroom, waiting for the timer to go off. I wrung my hands nervously. I didn’t want to know. All day my mind would spin with the what-ifs. I couldn’t let my hopes rise because that could be easily met with more crushing disappointment. What was worse was the possibility that it was negative and something was wrong with me.

“Thirty seconds,” Michael said softly. I kept my eyes glued to the carpet, a tiny stain from years ago. I tried to imagine what it was from or what Michael had done to make it. Anything to keep my mind off the test.

The timer went off, and I held my breath. “Do you want to look?” Michael asked. I shook my head. I was a chicken; I couldn’t look at it. I closed my eyes as he entered the bathroom and retrieved it from the counter. I heard his steps coming toward me, and then he was kneeling in front of me. “Open your eyes, Blue,” he said, too calmly.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” I asked, squeezing them shut tighter. Michael kissed my forehead.

“Just open your eyes for me,” he whispered. I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. With a shaky exhale, I slowly wrench my eyelids open. I looked down at the test in his hand. “Two lines.”

“Pregnant,” I gasped. I swear my brain short-circuited as I said the word. My gaze came up to his, an enormous grin taking over his face. He nodded at me, giving me a second to catch up. “Pregnant!”

I jumped at my mate, my arms going around his neck. He fell back onto the floor, hugging me as my body crashed into him. “Yes, baby, we’re pregnant!” he exclaimed.

“Michael, Oh Goddess, Michael, we did it!” I cried into his shoulder.

He kissed the side of my face, happy tears now pouring from the corners of my eyes. The relief that washed over me was indescribable. It happened. “You’re going to be the best mom, Q.”

“Oh, Michael. We’re going to have a pup!”