KEISHA’S POV

I stepped out of the bath and reached for my towel and caught my reflection in the mirror.

Suddenly, I stopped and my hands went still on the towel.

I turned slightly and looked at my reflection, noticing something. My chest was different. Like not dramatically but enough to be noticeable.

I pressed one hand carefully against my left side and winced.

Fuck.

I pulled my hand away.

No.

I looked at my reflection with shock flashing in my eyes.

No, that’s— no. That’s not what this is. Bodies changed. Bodies did strange things under stress and I had been under an extraordinary amount of stress for weeks now so this was just that. This was just my body reacting to everything that had been happening and there was nothing else to read into it.

I picked the towel back up, put it down again and stood there as another thought crashed into my mind.

My period.

When was the last time I had my period?

I stood very still in front of the mirror and tried to remember. Somehow, the trying to remember was its own kind of answer because if it had been recent I would have known immediately without having to search for it.

No. I said it out loud this time. Just to the mirror. No. It was stress. Stress delayed periods all the time. I had been running on anxiety for weeks, barely sleeping properly, eating inconsistently, dealing with Orin and Riven, the bond and Callum and Dane and all of it at once. Of course my body was off. Of course things were irregular. That was biology. That was normal.

The nausea?

What explained that one?

I gripped the towel.

The nausea was the fish. I had already decided the nausea was the fish. I had eaten the same fish the next day and felt nothing which meant— which meant—

Which meant it wasn’t the fish.

Oh goddess.

Oh no.

I sat down on the edge of the bath because the room felt like it was spinning. I sat there and felt fear actually grip me.

The cabin.

The heat that wasn’t natural heat. The bond locking permanently before any of us understood what was happening.

After the cabin there were other times we had sex.

Several other times.

My hands were shaking the more I thought about it.

I pressed them flat on my knees and stared at the bathroom tiles and thought— no. No no no. This wasn’t happening. I was twenty one years old and I was four months into living in a pack that wasn’t mine and I was secretly bonded to the Alpha and his Beta in something that was categorically forbidden and there was a lunch at noon today for the woman the elders had chosen for Callum and—

No.

Absolutely not.

I was not pregnant.

I stood up, then sat back down and pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes.

Fuck.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Okay. Okay.

I lifted my head. Think about this like a rational person. Think about this clearly. There was a list of symptoms. There was a possible explanation for those symptoms. The explanation was not confirmed. The explanation could not be confirmed by sitting on the edge of a bath in a state of quiet internal collapse. What I needed was to confirm or deny it properly and then deal with whatever the answer was.

One thing at a time.

I stood up again and this time my legs cooperated. I went, got dressed and went to the kitchen where I made toast because I felt hungry as hell.

I stood at the counter eating and staring out the window at the quiet pack grounds and tried to think clearly.

"Callum," some part of my brain said helpfully.

Stop.

"Dane," it continued to offer.

Stop!

Both of them. A triple bond. A pregnancy in a forbidden triple bond that nobody— not Nadia, not the elders, not the pack, not anyone — knew existed.

I put the toast down, feeling irritated. I definitely couldn’t stay at home. I needed something to do.

****************

The pack grounds were emptier than usual.

Most of the staff had taken the day off like the notification said. The few people I passed were moving purposefully toward the mansion rather than away from it, dressed slightly better than usual.

I moved in the opposite direction.

Becca was in the kitchen garden behind the mansion when I found her, moving between the herb beds with a basket over one arm and she looked in a haste.

She looked up when she heard me coming. "Keisha." She said. "You have the day off."

"I know." I nodded. "Do you need help?"

She looked at me for a second. "The maids are off today. I’m preparing everything myself." She gestured at the basket. "There’s a lot to do."

"Then let me help." I offered.

She studied me quietly. "Rosemary and thyme from the far beds." She said. "And if you can get me four of those large onions from the store shed I would be very grateful."

I took the basket and went.

For a while, I was so deep in my own head that I didn’t hear the footsteps until Nadia was right beside me.

"You’re picking herbs." She pointed out.

I looked up. She was dressed for the lunch, her hair done, a nice coat. She looked slightly pale.

"Helping Becca." I cleared my throat.

"Becca has you picking herbs on your day off?" She frowned.

"I offered." I said.

She looked at me for a long moment. "Come to the lunch." She said. "Please. I don’t want to sit through it alone."

"Nadia—"

"You’re family." She grumbled. "You’ve always been family. Nobody is going to question you being there." She grabbed my arm. "Please. I’m going to lose my mind sitting there making small talk with a woman who is about to become my stepmother while my dad sits there looking like he’s been asked to defuse a bomb."

Despite everything I almost smiled. "That’s not a small thing you’re asking."

"I know." She said. "I’m asking anyway." She squeezed my arm. "Please."

I looked at the herb basket in my hand. "I’ll serve the meal with Becca." I said.

Nadia opened her mouth.

"That’s as far as I go." I said. "I’m not sitting at the table."

She looked like she wanted to argue but she exhaled instead. "Fine." She sighed. "But you’ll be in the room."

"I’ll be in the room." I agreed.

She nodded and went back inside while I stood there in the kitchen garden with the herb basket while Diane hovered in the back of my mind.

"You’re going to have to tell them." She said. "Soon."

"I know."

"Before the lunch would have been ideal."

"That ship has sailed." I sighed.

"Before Vanessa becomes a serious prospect would be the next best time."

I picked the last of the rosemary and put it in the basket.

Trust me. I knew.