Page 149 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

"What?" I gasp, unsure what is happening.

Knox whirls to face me, his face paler than before. "The enemy is here."

The bond lurches, and all that warmth vanishes under the battle instinct, fear, and cold focus pouring off my Pack.

I shake my head, protesting despite the mounting evidence that the war has begun. "No. Shade said we still had two days—"

A deafening boom shakes the entire room, stifling my voice.

Another blast instantly follows, rolling through the stone under my boots, rattling objects off the shelves in the cabinets.

Viper's protective instincts ignite, and he drags me against him, his arms wrapping around me tightly.

"Fuck. Fuck, how did they get artillery close enough to strike without us knowing?" Shade gasps.

The sirens keep shrieking, warped by the stone walls until the whole room seems to echo with them.

Everlyn takes one step toward me, datapad held tight in her hand. "Halley, I can tell you the result right now."

My gaze drops to the screen. After two weeks of wondering, the answer is finally within reach.

Positive or negative. It's right there.

Then I look at my mates.

Knox is already half gone, mentally on the battlement walls, in the command room, and down on the road to the Pass. Shade is buried in his datapad, searching for a reason the attack has started two days early without his drones or the patrols realizing. Viper looks split open down the middle, torn between staying wrapped around me and running toward the fight. Blaze has replaced Blaise and is vibrating with the need to move and launch into battle.

If I know the test result, then they will know.

We were supposed to have time to process the answer before the battle began. A few days to get our heads in the game wasn't much, but it was what we were prepared for.

Now, if I am pregnant, they will go into this battle carrying a new sort of fear with them. One that they don't know how to handle or turn off. Every instinct they have will turn toward protecting me, their pregnant mate, at the exact moment they need to be thinking about the fortress, the enemy, and the Pass.

If the answer is no, they will carry that as a wound, too.

We cannot afford either distraction.

"Don't."

Everlyn blinks. "Halley?"

"Don’t tell me."

The words catch on the way out, and I clear my throat before I make myself say the rest with more control. "Please, not now."

The infirmary falls quiet beneath the wailing of the sirens.

Viper eases back just far enough to look down at my face, though his hands stay on me. "Pretty girl..."

I lift my chin and meet his eyes first, then Knox’s, Shade’s, and Blaze’s. Each one of them looks ready to argue.

"You said you’d support me no matter what the answer was," I say pointedly. "So support me in letting the result wait."

Knox’s eyes stay on mine, steady and intent, searching for any sign that I might change my mind.

"At least until we come back," I add.

He flinches.