Fated to the Warrior Wolf (The Hunted Omegas #3)

2. Leigh

TWO

Leigh

O h my Goddess.

If you can hear me up there, help me now.

I could hear their footsteps, walking down the hall and bursting into a flat-out sprint before hitting the doors. The sound of Gael slamming it open hard enough to crack a doorframe made me flinch, even as I still clung to the toilet bowl.

That couldn’t have gone worse. So much for taking my time and telling Gael when the time was right. When I knew a tiny bit more than “So, uhm, I’m knocked up and sick as a dog.”

I didn’t even get to tell him, let alone couch the news so he didn’t hate me. Hate Petal.

The name is official now, I thought as I looked down at my perfectly flat stomach. Petal was perfect, just like my baby girl was perfect.

And I’d protect her, even from her father if I had to. But Goddess, I didn’t want to have to. We were both adults, and once he got over the shock, he might not be happy, but surely he’d be… present? Willing to co-parent?

I bit my bottom lip and stood on shaky legs. Those were all problems for later. Right now I needed a toothbrush to deal with the scuzz that was happening on my teeth.

Halfway through my second round of brushing, Shay appeared at my side like an apparition, silent and a little spooky if you weren’t expecting her.

“Everything okay? I heard the door slam.”

“Leigh?” Brielle called, stepping in a second after Shay. She didn’t waste time asking about Gael and Reed’s hasty exit, though. She gasped as soon as she spotted the tin-soldier line of pregnancy tests. Three sets of double lines, leading to the final stick which read PREGNANT like a harbinger of doom.

No, not doom. Never doom. My hand dropped to my stomach, as if the touch could protect her from outside judgment.

Goddess, there was going to be a lot of that. This just didn’t happen, and people were going to talk, which I hated. I didn’t want her to grow up feeling different or defective.

I’d already lived that shit, and I wouldn’t accept it for my daughter.

“You’re pregnant?” Brielle slapped both hands over her mouth, rocking back on her heels as her eyes welled up. Shay was just staring, an incomprehensible look on her face.

I quickly spit out my toothpaste and rinsed so I could talk to them without sounding like a swamp monster.

“Looks like it,” I murmured, suddenly shy. They were my best friends, so I knew they’d stand by me, but?—

Two sets of arms flew around me so fast, they almost knocked me onto the toilet seat.

I broke, the contact I didn’t know I so desperately needed breaking through the protective wall I’d put up in front of the guys. Sobs, deep, jagged, ugly ones, burst out of my chest as I clutched them back.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Brielle soothed. “We’re here now, and nothing is going to happen to you or the baby.”

Shay was silent, her usual stoic self, but she stroked my back calmly, not pulling away as I soaked the shoulder of her black tank top with a torrent of emotion.

When the tears finally abated, I scrubbed at my achy, prickling eyes with vigor.

I held one of their hands in each of mine and finally let myself sink back to sit on the toilet seat.

“If Gael was rude to you…” Shay said, low and threatening.

I shook my head quickly, even as another wave of nausea broke over me. “No.” I had to pause and swallow down the sick feeling. “He wasn’t rude, he just… he just left.”

“He left? He didn’t say anything about the baby?”

I shook my head again, a completely different feeling of misery hitting me as I relived the train wreck of a pregnancy announcement.

“He overheard Reed say I was pregnant. Then he said, ‘What the fuck did you just say?’ and Reed said they should take a walk. I was still a mess, so I asked them to go. And he ran for it.” I bit my bottom lip hard. This was an absolute clusterfuck.

“Well, that’s okay. He’s going to need some time to process, and maybe him doing that privately is for the best, so nobody says anything they’ll regret.” Brielle was chipper as she touched my forehead, closing her eyes as I felt a sense of cool wash over me.

It was so soothing, I could have cried, trickling down from where her palm rested against my face, down through me like a wave of blessed relief. I couldn’t tell you how long it lasted, only that she was swaying on her feet when I opened my eyes again, and Kane was calling worriedly from the hall.

He appeared in the doorway a second later, a frown etched into his handsome features. “Brielle? What just happened?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.” She waved him off, but he stepped into the now very crowded bathroom, threading his arms around her waist like he wouldn’t believe that until he could feel it himself.

The crease between her eyebrows disappeared as he slipped his hand under the edge of her shirt. Not in a feel-her-up sort of way, more in a skin-contact way. He braced his hand against her stomach, and she sighed contentedly as his power pulsed through her.

“You should feel better for a while. Hopefully at least until we land in Romania, and then if we need to, I can try again. I’m still not sure how all this works, exactly.” She gave me an apologetic smile, as if I would be upset that her miracle touch had taken all the sickness I’d been fighting on and off for weeks out of me with a touch.

“I feel better than I have in at least a week. Thank you,” I said, holding eye contact so she’d know I meant it.

Brielle still struggled with self-esteem, and it was part of my best-friend mission to make sure not to let that shit fester.

“You should still take it easy. Do you have more bags to load? Dirge and I can take them, and you can sit with us. Dirge will make sure Gael leaves you alone.” The muscle in Shay’s jaw ticked when she snapped it shut, and I could almost feel the fury radiating off my quiet bestie.

But was alone what I wanted, deep down?

Everything was so mixed up. I hadn’t even had time to process, and now the whole pack knew within an hour of me finding out.

“What did he do?” Kane asked, his voice ice cold even though I knew the two of them were tight. “He was just supposed to tell you that the plane was ready, and then I felt something in our bond.” He quickly looked down at Brielle, his concern flaring back up as he remembered.

“He didn’t do anything,” I insisted. “He overheard something he didn’t like and then left.” I waved bleakly to the countertop, where the proof lay .

Kane’s expression was incredulous when he finally looked down. “Congratulations, Leigh.”

“Thanks,” I said, though the words were weak.

It already felt like the world had shifted under my feet, and instead of gravity keeping me anchored to this rock, it was her. My Petal.

Nobody but Reed had asked if I was keeping the baby, but I was actually glad. I didn’t want Petal to be looked down upon, or something people looked at as a problem. Underneath the shock, and concern about Gael’s reaction, and worry for the future… underneath all that there was joy.

A tiny spark, fueled by my determination to love her better than any daughter—or son, I amended grudgingly—had ever been loved by their mother.

Certainly better than mine ever loved me . I shoved the bitter thought aside, letting my eyes slip closed for a second. That was ancient history, and none of it mattered. What mattered now was Petal and staying healthy for her.

So that’s what I was going to do.