23. Sofia

23

Sofia

F our weeks. That’s how long it had been since the battle with the wolves. In that time, much had changed. The wolves were back in Siberia. Davi and Max had already been to check on them once.

The wolves had chosen a new alpha, one that would listen to a Council of Elders, and not try to rule with fear and tyranny. No one thought enforcing the treaty with the wolves would be smooth sailing, but they were more hopeful than they had been with the witches’ coven. Many of the younger wolves had confessed to Davi that Koryak had been far too brutal for their tastes, and had latched onto the new system.

Levi had healed. To her shock, he was as good as new.

He had also become her friend.

She wasn’t entirely sure what to think about that. He talked to her, he texted her, he even invited her out on a few of his veterinarian calls. But he never flirted or touched her. And he sure didn’t try to kiss her.

He also never sent her any telepathic messages at all.

Isn’t that what you wanted?

She’d been in limbo for so long. She wasn’t sure what she wanted, not anymore. Part of her thought she’d gotten so used to refusing to make a decision that it had become her permanent state of being.

She had to make a move soon. She couldn’t stay in Kellen’s house permanently. As long as she was with Kellan, she was hiding. She wasn’t moving forward.

She wanted to spend more time with Levi. She wanted to date him. Or have him court her, as the older bears in her clan had called it.

But did Levi still want that?

He’d laid his heart bare. He had been vulnerable with her, and told her exactly how he felt about her, time after time. And what had she done?

Not a damned thing.

She had waffled, and gone back and forth, and strung him along to the point where he may have lost interest. Could she blame him?

She’d run away, and he’d come after her. She’d put herself in danger, countless times, and he’d rescued her. She’d said she didn’t want a mate, and he’d remained her friend.

She sank down onto the bed where she’d been sleeping. It was time for her to go. She texted Rhett, and he told her they were in Arizona and gave her the address. She could be there in two days if she took the bus. If she told Kellan where she was going, he’d have her there in a few hours, via private plane. She’d gotten spoiled with this clan. Having such solid support was priceless, and she would always treasure them.

But Levi was theirs first. And if she wasn’t going to be his mate, then she needed to go, and quit rubbing salt in the wound.

She cried as she packed her few belongings. Juliana and Clara had been so sweet. After the battle, they had taken her shopping. Thanks to them, she had everything any female could possibly need. She even had a cute backpack purse.

Once she had her suitcase and her backpack ready, she headed downstairs to tell them goodbye. Once that was done, she would go find Levi and tell him in person. He deserved to hear it straight from her.

As soon as her feet hit the bottom stair, her stomach revolted. Someone was cooking tacos and the spicy scent of the salsa hit her nose and made her gag. She vomited all over the floor. That made her start crying again. Because of course, there were several people in the kitchen.

Fallon rushed over. She ignored the vomit and put her hands on Sofia’s shoulders. “Oh no. What’s wrong? Is it magical? Could it be poison?”

Everyone knew shifters rarely got sick. When they did, it was a big problem. Across the room, Clara and Juliana were staring at her with abject worry. Juliana grabbed a towel and started cleaning up, which was mortifying, and Clara wiped her face and handed her a glass of water.

Only Brynne wasn’t freaking out.

Brynne was staring at her. Then she crouched down in front of her. “Sofia. I have a personal question. Would you like for me to ask it later?”

“No. Ask it now. You all are my family.” Clara wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed.

“I’m a shifter, like you. There’s another reason shifter females throw up, besides dark magic or poison.”

That was right. The women in the room all had shifter mates and shifter children, but only Brynne and Sofia were shifters themselves.

Sofia’s head was fuzzy. She couldn’t think. “Why?” She asked.

Brynne sat crossed legged in front of them. “You and Levi were intimate, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then there’s a very real possibility you could be pregnant.”

The world stopped spinning. “What?” She didn’t understand. She and Levi had used protection.

“It’s not perfect,” Fallon said. “Shifters are very fertile.”

“Very,” added Juliana, and they all laughed. Except Sofia. Because she was frozen, unable to process what was being said.

She was going to have Levi’s baby? Would it be a dragon hatchling? Or a bear cub? Or both? What was he going to say? Did he want children? He’d never said, and she’d never asked.

“But I’m leaving,” she wailed.

“When?” Clara asked.

“Right now. My bags are packed. I was walking downstairs to tell the three of you goodbye. And then I was going to walk over to Levi’s clinic and tell him goodbye too.”

“Are you going to stay with Rhett?” Juliana asked.

“Yes. I texted him just a few minutes ago.”

Juliana sighed. “Is this a recent decision?”

“I just decided this morning. As much as I appreciate you all letting me stay here, I’m just delaying the inevitable. I’m keeping myself from making a decision. And I’m leaving Levi in limbo too. The both of us can’t keep going like this.”

Fallon nodded. “All of that sounds very reasonable. None of us want you to go. If it was up to us, you would say here, but I understand why you can’t. I understand how wrenching it must be to live so near Levi, but not be with him.”

“Exactly,” Sofia said with vehemence. “That’s exactly how I think of it. I was planning to put some distance between us and live on my own for a while.”

“But is that what you really want?” Juliana asked. “Or have you convinced yourself it’s what you should want?”

Once again, the flood gate of tears opened. Sofia buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

Above her, she could hear the four other women whispering to each other.

None of them told her to stop crying, and none of them tried to talk her out of it. They just sat with her, patted her back, and told her they would do whatever they could to help her.

She must have cried for fifteen minutes straight. Her skin was salty, and her eyes were gritty.

Finally, she stopped, and hiccupped. That’s when the other females jumped into action. Clara hopped-up and mopped the spot on the floor where Sofia had thrown up. Juliana brought her toothbrush with some toothpaste already on it.

“Brushing your teeth will make you feel better. I remember that clearly.”

Fallon grabbed her purse. “I’m going to go get a pregnancy test. That’s the first thing we have to do— let’s find out if you’re really pregnant.”

And last but not least, Brynne led her over to the couch. “Sit down. We’re going to sip some lemonade and chill out.”

As soon as she sat down, the back door flew open.

Levi came rushing in. “Where’s Sofia? Is she okay? I was at the clinic, and I felt her distress. It was worse than when the wolves were here.”

He turned his head and spotted her on the couch. “Oh. There you are.” He looked closer, probably noticing her red eyes and blotchy skin. “Did something happen?”

She swallowed. She wouldn’t use the word ‘distress’ about her current state. She was in shock. Just pure, unfiltered shock. “I just found out some information.” She waved her hand. “It’s nothing bad. I was actually going to stop by the clinic in a few minutes. Can I still do that? I’m sorry your work was interrupted.”

“It’s fine. I was about to head out to check on a pregnant mare.”

At the sound of the word pregnant, she jumped in her seat.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

She nodded vigorously, the point where her stomach almost acted up again. She put her hand on her flat stomach, willing it to behave. “Yes. I’ll tell you everything when I get there.”

“Okay…” he said looking at the other women who had all started cleaning the already-clean kitchen. “I’ll see you soon. Let me know if you need anything.”

Then he was gone.

“Well, that was awkward, but also very sweet,” Brynne said. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to talk to him. I’m going to tell him I’m pregnant, assuming the tests confirm it.”

“He’s not going to want you to go live with Rhett. I don’t know how bear shifter fathers are, but dragon-shifter fathers are very involved. And very possessive. He may not demand that you be his, but his kid…”

“I don’t actually want to go live with the motorcycle club,” she said. Wow. She had finally said it. She didn’t want to go. She had wanted to do it at one point, before the battle. Back when she was still so turned around and twisted up inside.

The only reason she was going now was because she felt like she needed to. She convinced herself that she had to live alone in the world and rely on only herself. But the last four weeks with Levi and the rest of the brothers and their mates had taught her that it was okay to rely on others.

It seemed trite and cliched, but it was true. She had finally accepted that being part of a clan was not a liability. It was a gift.

At that moment Fallon breezed back into the kitchen and held out a box. “Here it is. Let us know if you need any help. You have four experts right here in the room with you.”

“Thank you,’’ she said.

Brynne laughed. “You missed it, Fallon. We were all lounging on the sofa and Levi came charging in here. He could feel Sofia’s emotions and thought something was wrong. So, she’s sitting there, and she’s clearly been crying, and we get up and start like, polishing the silverware or something equally inane.”

Clara and Juliana joined in the laughter. “One day it will make a really good story,” Juliana said.

Sofia knew she would find the humor in it soon. She just wasn’t quite there yet... First, she had a task to do. She stood up and took the test with her, knowing that all four eyes were on her. “No pressure,” she muttered to herself.

Five minutes later she was staring at a bright pink plus sign on the pregnancy test.

Oh my God. She was going to have a baby.

She was going to have Levi’s baby.

She shoved her way out of the bathroom, waving the little stick around. “It’s positive. Brynne, you were right. I’m having a baby!”

All four women stared at her. “You look excited,” Fallon said a little tentatively.

Oh shit. She had given them the impression that she was less than thrilled about the baby, which couldn’t be further from the truth. She wouldn’t have planned it, not right now, but now that it had happened, she was over the moon “Yes. I am. I’m really excited. I don’t know what in the world I’m doing, but I’m really happy.” Then she burst into tears for the third time that day.

Immediately she was enveloped in a five-way hug. There was a lot of screaming, jumping, and dancing.

“We are so happy for you,” they all said over and over.

“A new baby,” Fallon said. “I can’t wait.”

Once everyone had calmed down, she asked what she’d been wondering. “Will the baby be a dragon? Or will it be a bear cub?”

“With your magical ability, I’m not sure you’ll know until the baby is born. It’s possible that your child could be able to take on either form. And he or she will likely have some magic too.”

“It doesn’t really matter to me. It seems like you guys have enough mentors to go around either way.”

“That we do,” Fallon said. After one more hug she pulled herself away from them and went to find Levi.

By the time she got to his clinic, he had finished for the day. It was obvious that he was hanging around, waiting for her.

“I have several things to tell you. They are all pretty big announcements. I would suggest that we go to a nice restaurant or even for a walk, but I don’t have that kind of patience. I don’t have your self-discipline.”

He held up his hands. “Please put me out of my misery. You’ve been on my mind non-stop since I went over to Kellan’s and saw that you’d been crying.”

“I’m sorry about that. I should have known that my emotions would be apparent to you.”

“It’s not a problem,” he said. As he stood behind his desk, he crossed his arms, which showed off his sculpted biceps even in the drab blue scrubs that he wore.

She took a moment to admire his gorgeous body. She hoped he would agree to be her mate. But even if he didn’t, he was the father of her child, and that made her a very lucky bear shifter.

She wasn’t going to start with the baby. That was the best news, and she was going to save it for last.

She paced around the lobby of his waiting room. “This morning I decided that it wasn’t fair to either of us to keep living in limbo. Neither of us are moving forward, but we haven’t committed to each other either because of me dragging my feet.”

He opened his mouth, but she cut him off. “I have been, and you know it. Don’t make excuses for me.”

He smiled and gestured for her to continue talking.

“So anyway, this morning after I had that realization, I knew that I had to leave Kellan’s house. Okay, maybe I didn’t have to, but it was time. Despite their hospitality, I need to make a life for myself. It was time for me to make a decision.” She took a breath. This was the part that was hard to talk about. “I’ve gotten it into my head that I should go off and live alone and by myself, so I texted Rhett and I arranged to go stay with his crew in Arizona.”

Although Levi kept a straight face, already she could feel the mood in the room plunge.

“But I realized that I didn’t really want to go. I didn’t want to move away from here. I didn’t want to move away from you. I wanted to try again, but I didn’t have the nerve to tell you.”

His mood rocketed up into the stratosphere. “Sofia…” He started to move toward her, but she held her hands up. She had to get the words out. If he touched her, she’d never manage.

“So, I was walking downstairs to tell everyone goodbye but as soon as I got there, I threw up all over the place.”

Once again, he looked like he was going to speak, but he stopped himself.

“They all freaked out. Except for Brynne, because Brynne is the only shifter female in the group. Do you know what she said?”

“What did she say?”

“She said, I don’t think you’ve been poisoned. I think you’re pregnant .”

Levi’s jaw dropped. His eyes shone. And his entire body lit up from the inside out. “Are you serious? Can I come over there now? Oh my God. Sofia! Are we having a baby?”

She whipped this positive pregnancy test out of her pocket and showed it to him. “ Yes . Come here.”

He didn’t hesitate. He wrapped his arms around her and scooped her up. “We’re going to be parents. I can’t believe it.”

“I can’t believe it either.”

He pressed a thousand kisses all over her face. “And before you said you were pregnant, you said some other stuff. Tell me what you meant.”

He put her down and led her over to the couch he kept in his waiting room.

“I finally realized that it’s worth it to let you in. To give you the place in my life that you deserve.” She held her hands out, and he wrapped both of his around both of hers. “I was letting the clan I grew up in dictate all of my choices. And as I stood there this morning, I realized I didn’t want to go stay with Rhett. I don’t want to go live in the Canadian wilderness as a bear. But I felt like I should.”

“And you didn’t know about the baby yet?” he asked.

“No. I had no idea.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “If Brynne hadn’t mentioned it, I’m not sure I’d know yet.”

She scooted to the edge of her chair. “You have proved yourself over and over. You are nothing like my family. I trust you.”

He lifted her and settled her in his lap. “I love you,” he said. “You’re my mate, and we’re going to be a family.”