The silver eyes did not move closer. They hung in the absolute blackness of the thicket like two cold stars, perfectly fixed on Elena’s stomach.
Beneath her palms, the internal furnace grew hotter. The rapid triplet of pulses, *thump-thump-thump*, was hammering so hard against her ribs that her entire body shook with the rhythm. The gray fog of Julian’s tea was completely gone now. Her mind was perfectly clear, and the realization was a heavy weight in her chest: she was carrying his heirs, three tiny lives hidden away from his pack for six long months.
The low vibration in the ground beneath her head grew stronger. Slowly, the dark shape behind the silver eyes began to pull itself out of the deep brush.
Elena braced herself to scream. She expected a monster, a savage rogue wolf from th
