Chapter2
1145 Words
Astrid POV
Dr. Lena steered me into the lab before I could take another step or get a better look at the couple. The door clicked shut behind us and I sat down on the exam chair, my heart still beating a little too fast.
"We will draw some blood and run a few basic checks," Dr. Lena said cheerfully, snapping on a pair of gloves. "It will not take long at all, Luna Astrid."
I nodded and rolled up my sleeve, but my mind was still in that hallway.
The man had only been facing away from me. Tall men with dark hair and strong shoulders were not exactly rare among werewolves. I was being silly. My emotions were all over the place today, which made complete sense. Of course my mind was playing tricks on me.
I pulled out my phone with my free hand and typed a quick message to Damon.
Hope your day gets better. Are you still stuck in meetings?
Dr. Lena slid the needle in cleanly. I barely flinched. After seven months of injections, I barely noticed needles anymore.
My phone buzzed before the first tube was even full.
Buried in paperwork. Missing you. He had added a little wolf emoji at the end, which made me laugh quietly.
Then a second message came through. A photo of him sitting behind his desk, chin resting on his hand, looking dramatically tired. His dark hair was slightly messy, the way it always got when he had been running his fingers through it all day.
The tight feeling in my chest melted away completely. I sent back a string of heart emojis and put the phone face down on my knee.
I had imagined things. That was all.
The tests took about two hours. By the time Dr. Lena finished, I was starting to feel the happy nerves settle into something calmer and sweeter. Tomorrow we would have the full results. And then I could tell Damon everything.
I drove home through the long stretch of trees that lined the road leading to Damon's estate. Ironwood Pack land spread out wide on both sides, deep green and quiet. Most of the pack lived in the homes scattered across the property. The pack house sat near the center, big and busy even on ordinary days. Our house sat closer to the woods, with a garden out front that bloomed in every color I could name.
I loved this place, even on the days it made me feel small.
I pulled into the garage and noticed Damon's dark green car already parked in its spot. He had made it home early after all.
I went inside calling his name, kicking off my shoes at the door the way I always did, which drove him slightly crazy in the most loving way.
He was not in the kitchen. Not in the den. I checked the back porch and found it empty too.
I finally heard soft sounds coming from the basement. I went down the stairs and followed the noise to the storage room at the end of the hall.
Damon stood with his back to me, surrounded by boxes and bags. He was carefully stacking things along the far wall. A baby bouncer still in its box. Tiny folded sleepers in soft yellows and greens. A white bassinet box leaning against the shelving unit.
He had been collecting baby things. Quietly, privately, without saying a word to me.
My eyes filled up fast.
He heard me breathe and turned around. The look on his face, the mix of love and embarrassment and something close to pain, nearly broke me open right there.
"Astrid." He stepped toward me quickly, reaching out. "I was going to be upstairs before you got home. I am sorry. I did not mean for you to see this yet."
He started to close the storage room door but I had already seen enough. Enough to know how much this man wanted a family. Enough to know he had been hurting quietly right alongside me all this time.
I walked into his arms instead of letting him pull away. "It is okay," I whispered against his chest. "I know how much you want this."
His arms tightened around me. I felt his heartbeat against my cheek, steady and strong.
That night we stayed up late, tangled together and soft and slow, the way we rarely let ourselves be anymore. No pressure. No trying. Just us.
The next morning I kissed him goodbye while he was still half asleep and drove straight back to the clinic.
Dr. Lena met me with a smile so bright I knew before she even opened her mouth.
"Congratulations, Luna Astrid. You are officially going to be a mother."
I threw my arms around her before I could stop myself. She laughed and hugged me back, warm and genuine.
When we finally sat down she folded her hands on her desk and said something that made my mouth fall open.
"Here is the surprising part. Based on the test results, this baby is already about eight weeks along. Which means this pregnancy likely happened before your treatments began to take full effect. Your body may have managed this largely on its own."
"But how?" I asked. "Every doctor said it was impossible."
"Every doctor was working from old information," she said simply. "You, Luna Astrid, are clearly full of surprises."
I walked out of that clinic holding the printed report against my chest like it was made of gold. I was already thinking about how I would tell Damon. Dinner? Somewhere quiet? Would I give him the report directly or make him guess?
I was so lost in my daydream that I nearly walked straight into someone coming out of the side hallway.
I stepped back. Looked up.
It was Sable Voss.
Sable Voss. Daughter of the retired Beta, sister of the current Beta, Rafe. She had grown up running through the same woods as Damon. She was tall and striking, with white blonde hair and grey eyes that always seemed to be measuring you for something.
She had never been unkind to me in an obvious way. She just had a way of looking through me, like I was a smudge on a window she was trying to see past.
She was being walked out by two clinic staff members. Her hand rested on her belly.
A belly that was clearly, unmistakably, rounded.
I noticed the medical folder tucked under the arm of the doctor beside her. The same kind of folder Dr. Lena had just handed me.
Before I could even think of what to say, one of the doctors glanced at me and smiled.
"Oh, Luna Astrid. What good timing. You should be the first to know. Sable is carrying Alpha Damon's heir."
- Writer
