Shadow Watcher (Darkness #6)(19)

“How come you’ve seen that pregnant farm place?” I asked Ann. “I’ve never been out there.”

“I was helping out the Watch and I don’t have the schedule you do.”

It was true. With finding humans filling in what should’ve been the downtime after Andris’ takedown, I hadn’t even been patrolling. Now I was a little fearful of what I’d be walking into if I spent any time at that weird retreat for pregnant women and families.

“Will we have to move there?” I asked in a whisper.

“First things first,” Ann said, sitting down. “How are you feeling? How freaked out? Do you want to get another test just to make sure?”

I settled back and let the world slow around me. I let my emotions align. “It’s still weird. I really wasn’t planning this.”

Ann nodded silently, letting me work around this new discovery.

A feeling of love welled up inside of me with the knowledge that Stefan would be excited. That we had created a piece of us. That we could raise a little troublemaker and have no idea which parent that trait came from. Or if it was both.

A smile formed on my lips as I felt a pulse of love answer my feelings through the blood link. I hadn’t realized I’d uncovered the muffle.

“Okay, good. That’s good. Phew!” Ann wiped her forehead in a show of relief. “If you didn’t want this kid, your life would’ve been hell, Sasha. Just sayin’.”

“Don’t speak like that, Ann,” Jonas warned.

“Not that it won’t still be hell.” Ann threw Jonas a look.

“Jonas said that most girls lose the first couple,” I said quietly, hoping Ann knew more about this than I did.

“His kind, maybe. You’re human, dearie. The first three months are always iffy, which is why a lot of people don’t tell anyone. But it’s way lower than their people. It’s like, twelve per cent or something. So you should probably try to keep it to yourself—“

“Won’t happen,” Jonas interrupted. “The Boss will want the reproduction specialists checking in with her every day.”

“Oh yeah, you’re going to hate your life.” Ann laughed this time. “They’re going to treat you like one of them, when you aren’t nearly as fragile as they are. You are going to go bat-shit crazy.”

“This isn’t a joke, mongrel,” Jonas warned.

“Well, if it was, it still wouldn’t be funnier than you.” Ann grinned at the thunderclouds on his face before turning back to me. “At least these people expect things to go wrong. That takes the pressure off.”

“Okay, so…this is going to try my patience.”

“Probably. But you’ll be treated like royalty—at least the people at that farm were--so I am totally going to hang around you every chance I get.”

Everyone fell silent for a moment, pondering what came next.

“Any news on that strange shifter?” I asked.

Jonas leaned forward, his substantial muscles popping as he leaned his elbows on his knees.

“We think he’s been around,” Ann said in a somber voice. “Your keys turned back up. I immediately brought Tim in to catch the scent. His eyes turned…scary. Very scary. It’s definitely an alpha with a lot of power. And he’s slinking around Tim’s territory. Tim…is…pissed.”

“No one saw him?” The shifter compound was like an army barracks. A stranger coming and going wasn’t normal.

“Bruce—one of the guys that patrol the compound—saw a blond guy he didn’t recognize this morning. He tried to follow the stranger but lost him. Bruce thinks he has some sort of elite forces experience by the way he moved around. Bruce also has elite forces experience, which is how he’d know.”

“Boss is going to make sure that filthy animal is taken out,” Jonas said with a growl.

“Stefan is letting Tim handle it,” Ann argued.

“That was before he knew his mate was carrying his child. He won’t allow that sort of danger in his town. Not now.”

“Stefan and Tim think this guy might be reporting to someone else,” I said.

A shadow passed over Ann’s face. “Tim checked in with the other packs. None have had intruders, so it’s just us. And this is the only place a shifter community is in close contact with Stefan’s kind. It probably isn’t a power struggle for alpha, which would mean…”

“Tim and Stefan are probably right. And here I thought it would be quiet without Andris.”

Jonas stood in a smooth movement. “Quit stalling, human. Grab one of those tests and let’s go see the Boss.”

Ann gave me a supportive grin. I exhaled and stood, scrubbing my palm on my jeans as butterflies swirled in my stomach. “Maybe I should plan a nice dinner and tell him then?”

“You need to interrupt whatever he is doing and tell him straight away, human. He will want to know immediately.” Jonas put a hand in the air, indicating I was to walk in front of him.

I couldn’t help the grin. “What’s up, Jonas? Not going to grab me by the collar and shove me along like usual?”

“C’mon, human,” Jonas answered.

In other words, no. He was no longer allowed to touch me forcefully. What a lovely course in self-restraint it would be for him. It was going to be a long nine months for a great many people if all the rules were about to change…