“You shouldn’t be awake yet,” Dr. Silver rebuked.
“I have to pee.”
“I’ve got you, sweetheart.” Ulric swept her into his arms and carried her. Dr. Silver wisely didn’t object.
Honey tucked her head into his shoulder and whispered, “I’m sorry I called you crazy. In my defense…a werewolf. Wow.”
“I wish I could have found a better way of telling you.”
“Don’t think it would have mattered,” she admitted on a soft laugh. “Even now I’m having a hard time reconciling what I thought I knew versus what I saw.”
“I’m still the same man.”
She snorted. “Who runs around the woods, howling at the moon every few weeks.”
“If it helps, I don’t have fleas, and I’m housebroken.”
“Oh, Ulric.” She said nothing for a moment as he crossed the living area and up the stairs to the master. The dawn light brightened the windows.
He didn’t set her down until they reached the bathroom. When he would have stood there to make sure she didn’t fall, she cleared her throat.
“Um, some privacy please?”
He exited the bathroom to find Dr. Silver and Quinn waiting.
“What do you want now?” He couldn’t help the grumpy tone.
The doctor held up a needle. “If she doesn’t want to keep the child, then she doesn’t have to.”
“Are you insane?” he hissed.
“Are you ever happy? First you want to abort, and now you’re acting pissy because I’m offering?”
The door to the bathroom opened, and Honey stared. “That’s a big needle.”
“Would you prefer a pill?”
“I’d prefer to not have something in my belly that wants to tear its way out. I saw how that went in the movies.”
“I would do my best to ensure that didn’t happen,” Silver promised.
“How?”
“For one, the change is chemical based, which means it can be halted.”
“With drugs?” asked Ulric.
“That’s one option. But a simpler solution is keeping her out of moonlight. For extra security I’d even say avoid it a few days before and, as you progress, the day after.”
“So become the opposite of a vampire and hide myself at night?”
“Only until the child is born.”
“Nine months of house arrest? Great,” was Honey’s dull reply.
“It wouldn’t have to be so stringent if you cooperated,” Dr. Silver remarked.
“You locked me in this room.”
“Because at the time you weren’t listening.”
“I am now,” Honey huffed. “How many werewolf babies have you helped birth?”
“You’d be my first attempt.”
Honey blinked. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. But keep in mind, the ban on Lycan pregnancy predates modern medical science.”
Honey snorted. “How reassuring.”
“You have a choice. We can remove the fetus right now.” Dr. Silver waggled the needle. “Or we could monitor you with all the amenities we have access to.”
Honey eyed the ultrasound unit Quinn held. “I want to see it before I decide.”
“Worried you’ve got a puppy in there?” Silver teased as she pointed to bed.
“Yes.” Honey didn’t even pretend.
It worried him, too, hence why he positioned himself close to the bed. As she lifted her shirt for the wand and the squirt of gel, she reached for his hand. He clasped it and glanced at her. She bit her lip. He leaned down to whisper, “I’m here and will support whatever you want.”
The screen came on, a jumble of dark shadows that moved around before fixating on the blob with the heartbeat.
It seemed bigger than when he’d seen it two days ago.
Honey bit her lip. “That’s a real baby in there.”
“Yes. No tail in sight,” Silver quipped.
“Is it me, or am I further along than expected given it’s been like two weeks? Am I going to have a shorter gestation?” Honey asked.
“It would appear that you will follow in the paws of canine pregnancy instead of human.”
“For a wolf that’s like two to three months, right?” she asked with a wrinkle of her brow.
Silver nodded.
Ulric had a question. “Won’t growing a baby faster tax her body? It’s my understanding a baby takes what it needs from its mother during pregnancy even at her detriment.”
Once more Silver had a nod. “We should be able to prevent that with a high calorie diet and supplement with vitamins.”
“A fast growth rate would explain my constant hunger,” Honey murmured. She chewed her lip before asking, “These questions don’t mean I’ve decided on a course of action.”
“Of course. Tell you what, think it over and I’ll be back later for your decision.”
Silver left with Quinn, and Ulric cleared his throat. “Do you want me to go, too?”
She shook her head as she sat up. “Stay, please. I’m finding myself less angry now that I know you were at least telling the truth. I’m pregnant with a werewolf baby. Oh god.” She flopped face down on the bed.
He crouched. “You don’t have to be.”
“I don’t,” she agreed, her reply muffled by the comforter. She turned her head. “But the question is, can I terminate? There’s a person inside me. A person we made. I don’t know if I can abort.”
“Even knowing it might kill you?”
“It’s not the baby’s fault. And Silver made a good point. Science has come a long way.”
“Science hasn’t dealt with werewolves.”
“Then it might be a good time to start.”
“Can’t it start with someone else?” he grumbled, only to add, “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Are you sure? I was a right bitch to you.”
“In your defense, my story was a tad hard to believe. Just a tad,” he said, squishing his fingers together with a quirk of his lips.
“You really are a werewolf. Meaning you didn’t lie to me.” She sighed. “And you’re not crazy. But I most certainly am.” She closed her eyes as if exhausted.
“I’m sorry, Honey. I never expected any of this to happen.”
“Then let me ask you, what did you imagine happening when you seduced me and told me you loved me? Were you going to disappear every full moon? Would you have ever told me you were neutered?”
“I don’t have to shift on the full moon. I do it because it’s fun. But if needed, I can stay inside and control it. As for the vasectomy, I had sperm frozen before I was changed.”
“So you would have lied to me.”
“I don’t know. Some partners can handle the truth, some can’t. Those that can’t…” His lips turned down.
Her mouth rounded. “What happens to people who don’t keep your secret?”
“Bad things.”
Her jaw snapped shut.
“I would never harm you.” He wouldn’t, but he couldn’t guarantee the others if she blabbed.