No one did. One by one each man plus their lone female swore his loyalty to the team. And that loyalty included Kalen. As he looked to each of them, he couldn’t breathe. Never had anyone stood up for him. Stood by him. Not even his own parents, the people who should have sheltered him and loved him the most. The idea that these people who’d come into his life so recently would have his back, even in the wake of him letting them down, overwhelmed him.
He could hardly speak. “I swear I’ll do my best not to fail all of you again.”
Or he’d die trying. Suddenly the chaos inside him seemed to settle and his purpose became clear—he’d fight Malik with everything in him. And when the time came, he’d make the right choice.
Whatever that proved to be.
“Excuse me,” Mackenzie said tightly. “But I think I’m going to be sick.”
Spinning around, she dashed to a woman’s restroom down the hall from Nick’s office and disappeared inside. He would’ve gone after her, but Nick blocked his way.
“You should probably let her be right now.”
It wasn’t a suggestion. Quelling his pissed-off panther again, he nodded curtly and strode in the opposite direction, putting as much distance between himself and everyone else as fast as possible.
Just as he’d done all his life.
* * *
“Mac?”
“In here.” Bent over the sink, Mac finished rinsing her mouth, then turned off the water. Glancing at Melina, she grabbed some paper towels from the dispenser, dried her face, and tossed them in the trash. “See? I’m fine.”
“I don’t think so.” Melina’s sharp scrutiny roamed over Mac’s face, and she apparently didn’t like what she saw. “To the infirmary with you. I’m going to give you a checkup.”
“I don’t need—”
“I didn’t ask. I’m telling you. Doctors make the worst patients,” she grumbled. “Let’s go.”
There was no arguing with her friend when she had a bug up her ass, so Mac relented. Though Melina was slight of frame and sort of resembled an elf with her short cap of dark hair, she was fully capable of making the toughest Pack member cringe in fear. She was a tough, militant bitch.
And that was when she was in a good mood.
Her friend hadn’t always been that way, but that was before her mate, Terry, the Alpha Pack’s former commander, had been killed in an ambush several months ago. Accepting Nick as the new leader in her mate’s place had been hard on the woman, and she and Nick didn’t always see eye to eye. But they’d found some peace between them, based on mutual respect.
Melina led Mac into an exam room and gestured to the table covered with the hated crinkly white paper. “Sit.”
Dutifully, Mac did, and proceeded to subject herself to a complete physical. Melina checked her eyes, ears, nose, and throat. Checked her reflexes. All seemed clear, but the woman still wasn’t satisfied.
“I don’t like it one bit that you fainted,” she said with a frown.
“For God’s sake, I thought Nick had killed Kalen! Give me a break.”
“How long have you been queasy? Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
She had? Mac blinked at her friend, hedging. “I don’t know. A few days, maybe.”
“How often have you been throwing up?”
Mac stared at her, silent. Shit, shit.
“O-kay,” Melina drawled, brows raised. “Here’s what’s going to happen. Noah is coming in to take blood for a complete standard workup. Then you’re going into the restroom to pee in a cup. Then you’ll come back in here, sit down, and wait for me. Got it?”
She sighed. “Yes.”
“Good girl.”
Melina patted her knee and left. Soon after, Noah came in, swabbed the crook of her elbow, and took three vials of blood. When he was finished, he pressed a cotton ball over the injection site and topped it with a Band-Aid.
Giving her a smile, he pointed in the direction of the restroom. “Go do your thing.”
She absolutely hated peeing in a cup. It was a dicey proposition at best, aiming just right. But she managed and in short order was sitting back in the exam room.
Where the clock on the wall ticked by with unbearable sluggishness.
Ten long minutes passed. Mac was starting to fidget when Melina walked in carrying a sheaf of paper. Her friend closed the door and slowly turned to her. The serious expression on Melina’s face sent a bolt of terror all the way to her toes.
“What is it?” she gasped, gripping the edge of the table. “What’s wrong?”
“Mac, honey. We have to talk.”
Two
“What? Am I sick?” Mac asked, her heart thumping painfully.
“Nothing like that.” Her friend blew out a breath and leaned her hip on the counter. “Mackenzie . . . you’re pregnant.”
The words blew through her like a hurricane. Left her gasping for breath. “What?”
“You heard me. Pregnant, knocked up—”
“Oh, God. But—but how?” Realizing how stupid that sounded, she flushed. “What I mean is, unmated shifters can’t get their females pregnant! Right?”
Melina’s voice was quiet, speculative. “A shifter, huh? Just who are we talking about here? I get that the father is none of my business, but I won’t share anything you choose to tell me.”
Mac paused, but just briefly. Even if their talk wasn’t confidential, she completely trusted that her friend wouldn’t say a word to anyone. “It’s Kalen,” she said hoarsely, searching Melina’s face for the slightest sign of censure. She found nothing but concern.
Instead, the other woman laid the paperwork on the counter and reached out, taking Mac’s hand. A surprising and welcome gesture. “That’s who I suspected, considering how weird you two are acting around each other. Honey, Kalen’s a Sorcerer first and foremost, and his black panther form is second. He’s never been fully human and that makes him very different from the others. Besides, there’s still so much we don’t know about shifters and how their individual circumstances come into play. We can’t take anything for granted.”
Her friend’s words struck a chord and she nodded. “Kalen said pretty much the same thing to me back when we were . . . together.”