A Mate's Bite

6

Browsing through the multitude of organic vitamins, she grabbed her usual bottle of Iron and multivitamins. “Why? You know I get like this when I forget to take Iron and B12. I keep forgetting I’m probably the world’s only chubby anemic.”

“Not funny.” Jordan chastised Karla’s lame joke.

“I’m fine. Really.”

“Karla,” Jordan said slowly, “I want you to do something, but I don’t want you to freak out, okay?”

“If you ask me to buy you lube, I draw the line at that. I love you, but you can get your own.” She ran her fingers into her hair, pushing the annoying curls back.

“Karla...”

“Okay, fine. I’ll buy you lube, but don’t you dare tell the others.”

“It’s not that!”

She leaned on a wall of pills to hold back the lightheadedness she felt. Jordan was starting to worry her with how serious she sounded. The last time that happened they’d ended up getting put on probation at their school. It wasn’t their fault the fire alarms went off and everyone ended up wet from their science project. Thankfully, Karla’s brother Kel was the trial dean there. Being super smart got him through school early and he was handpicked after college as vice-dean at the school due to his great ideas on education and leadership. Recently, he’d been asked to lead when the dean took a leave of absence. Kel ignored some of the stuff they did. Okay, he ignored a lot of the stuff they did and treated them like five year olds who needed supervision. “What? Damn I need some food or I swear I am going to pass out.”

“I want you to pee on a stick.”

“What?” The room shifted. She saw a moving blurry wave of bottles. It happened so fast she swore she’d fall on her face. Her knees buckled under her and she slid down the wall. Plastic containers rattled on her descent as she knocked them down before landing on her ass with a thump.

“Karla, don’t panic, honey. But I really think you should buy a test,” Jordan said without actually saying what test. “The last time I saw you…”

Karla tried to rein in her fear, but it was hard. “The last time you saw me what?”

“You smelled different.”

“Different?” Karla frowned, lifting an arm to rub it under her nose. Nothing different there. “Different how?”

“Like your scent was mixed with another,” Jordan said quietly.

Nothing like a friend calling you up on the phone to tell you that you smelled pregnant.

Jordan knew Karla had always said she wouldn’t have kids until she was in a stable relationship and married. Right now, she was neither. She didn’t want to make the same mistakes as her mother. Living for a man that was never there for her. Ignoring the children most days because she was too worried about spying on their father. Karla knew that wasn’t what she wanted. She’d lived it from the child’s perspective. She was one-third of a triplet set and only got along with her brother, Kel. Her sister—her identical sister Kassandra—was the triplet from hell. Being neglected by their mom because she was too wrapped up in their father had been eye-opening and not something she ever wanted to put a child or herself through.

“I don’t need to. This is just my body reminding me I need vitamins.” Right? Right! There was no way she could be pregnant. It was only a few weeks since she’d had s*x with Nate. And that was only one night. Okay, an unforgettable night, but still only one night. She remembered how she’d wondered why her time of the month hadn’t arrived. She was on the pill to regulate her cycle. She was only like a day late anyway.

Oh, hell this couldn’t be happening. She and Nate… Yeah, she was going to be sick. Her stomach lurched. Bile slapped the back of her throat, leaving behind its acidic taste. He’d been so busy helping out Caleb they hadn’t seen much of each other. A fact that tore at Karla’s insides daily. And made her wonder on an hourly basis if she’d been a one night stand. The idea started to cement itself in her brain. Maybe that’s all she’d been to Nate. A challenge until he’d gotten what he wanted. The one night stand idea grew deep roots in her mind.

Whenever she thought of the scenting ceremony she wanted to cry. It had been such a great night. And then all hell broke loose. Her friends had been attacked repeatedly, and the possibility of spending any more time with Nate had been forgotten when he volunteered to help Caleb gather some men and start strategizing a way to get Caleb’s pack back. Everyone was involved in protecting Jordan from the bad guys. She’d been hurt pretty badly in multiple attempts on her life. It got to the point Aric had asked Karla, Emma, and Nicole to stay away for a few days in order to ensure their safety. Everyone was worried others close to Jordan would end up hurt. Pack politics kicked in, and Caleb needed Nate and Jake to help out. Things just took a turn into crazyland.

“Please, Karla. Look, I’ll come over. We’ll do it together,” she offered.

Wait, what? She gulped. “You need to pee on a stick too?”

Jordan sighed. “I think so. Let’s not freak out until we know for sure. Pick me up a test too, and let’s wallow in whatever the results are together.” The roar of an engine sounded. “I’ll bring the wine and ginger ale. No matter what the result is, I think we’ll both need a glass from one or the other.”

Yeah. Hell was breaking loose all over again. “Do any of the others know?”

“Ellie probably, but she won’t say anything. I’ll meet you at your house.”

“Okay.” She hung up and sat there. Frozen. How had her day gone from taking control to completely losing it? It couldn’t get more frightening than this. Not for her. Her mother had been a single mother. She’d chased after her father for years, hoping that he’d commit only to find that he was already committed to someone else. Karla couldn’t— wouldn’t put herself through that.

She headed to the dreaded aisle containing the tests, stomach twisting and churning. Her gaze drifted to the box of condoms sitting next to them. Nice. Where the hell were they when she’d needed them?

With ten different tests in her plastic carry bin, she ambled at a snail’s pace toward the register as if she were headed for the guillotine. She’d just gotten into her car when her cell phone rang again. Please, God, don’t let it be any more bad news. She couldn’t take it.