Cate rolled her eyes again. “I can hear really well. It’s nonsense.”
Dimitris pulled his mate close and kissed her forehead. “I believe it was your hearing that really saved my life.”
“I guess it did.” She smiled and melted against him. “But enough about us, what’syourgift, Norah?”
Norah stuck her hands out and looked at them as they might tell her the answer. “I have no idea,” she finally admitted. “I don’t think I got anything.”
Lukyan pulled one of her outstretched hands into his lap and ran the pad of his thumb up and down the backs of her fingers. Norah couldn’t help but stare at the motion of his thumb as it caressed her fingers. The tenderness he showed her made Norah feel a little sick to her stomach. She had just embarrassed him in front of his friends and refused to entertain the idea of another mating ceremony. She pushed back the feelings of doubt that nagged at her conscience. She assured herself that this was the right decision. Until Lukyan said he loved her she would not entangle them more than they already were.
She took a deep breath to steady herself. She had rushed into this. Her desire for a family had been so great that she didn’t consider the consequences of mating with a shifter. Luckily this was a modern time and women were doing things differently. Lukyan and Norah had mated, but they hadn’t married. There was nothing that legally kept them together. Norah counted up the weeks in her head. The baby should be born in November which gave her just over nine months to find a way to make Lukyan love her. If by the end of the pregnancy, it was clear that his feelings for her were instinctual rather than real love, she would leave. It would hurt her tremendously, she knew, but she could not bear to bring a child into a one-sided relationship. She would rather be a single mother. They were both rational people and could figure out a custody agreement for the baby. Her wolf whined, at the idea.
“We’ll figure out your gift soon.” Norah tore her attention from Lukyan’s hand and looked up at Cate. “On a happier note, apparently we are both pregnant now.” Norah couldn’t help but blush.
“I guess the pack’s getting two new babies in nine months.”
“Actually, the pack will be getting a lot more babies than that!” Norah looked at her stomach. Just how many babies were in there? Cate laughed. “Not us, silly. All the females in the pack went into heat when I did, so we should have about twenty new babies. No one will get any sleep!”
Lukyan picked up Norah’s hand and kissed it. “You were wrong about the time frame, too.”
“How so?”Please don’t let it be less than nine months. What if that’s not enough time? What if I have to leave him before I’m ready?
He locked his green eyes on hers. “Fourteen months. Gestation for a wolf shifter is fourteen months.” A weight lifted from her shoulders. She had more time!
“Fourteen months? Shit!” Cate flopped back in her chair and made an exasperated face. Norah just smiled to herself.
