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I tuck myself into a tiny, tiny ball. My knees curl protectively around my stomach. I sob and cry until I’m a mess. Until my stomach hurts and my head hurts, and I can’t freaking breathe.
I cry until I have nothing left.
I’m shivering on the couch when I feel something small next to my face. I snuffle, opening my eyes.
The ermine is there.
Blinking at me.
“Hey,” I whisper.
The ermine’s nose twitches.
“No. I’m not alright. Thanks though,” I say.
This is crazy. Not only am I pregnant. Not only have I just been abandoned by the father of my baby.
Now, I’m seeing things.
Because there is no way that an ermine, one of the most shy, most reclusive animals I can think of, is sitting here right now.
Staring me in my face.
It blinks again.
“I’ll be okay,” I whisper. “I just need…”
I don’t know what I need.
I shut my eyes and tuck myself closer. There’s a soft pressure on my hip, and when I look down, I see a little brown and white ball.
The ermine.
He’s tucked himself into a little circle. His eyes are still staring at me, and if I were assigning emotions to an animal, I’d definitely say that he looks concerned.
His body, though, is warm. It radiates heat in a little circle, perfectly perched at the top of my hip.
“Thanks,” I whisper. I shut my eyes again. I’m exhausted, and instead of fighting it or trying to do something for myself, I just want to sleep.
Maybe I’ll wake up and not be pregnant.
Or something.
That isn’t true, but the lie soothes me. I drift off to sleep, my heart shattered around me.
But at least there’s a small, warm ball of fur on my hip to keep me warm.
Chapter 7
Thorne
Iris is pregnant.
Pregnant.
With another man’s baby.
Iris has been seeing another man.
