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“I fainted.”

“I know that.” She gives me a small, tired smile. “Then why did you ask?” I lean down and press my forehead against hers. My Lycan settles the moment her scent reaches me.

Mate is here.

“Yes.”

She is breathing.

“I can see that.”

He ignores me and presses closer. Then I notice it. Something different beneath Selena’s familiar scent. Faint. Warm strawberries. I draw another breath. My Lycan goes still.

Do you smell that?

“Yes.” I know that scent. I know I do. But I can’t place it. The doctor steps closer. “Alpha, I’ve examined your mate.” I straighten. “Is she all right?”

“Yes. She’s stable.”

“Then why did she collapse?”

The doctor smiles. “Congratulations, Alpha. Our Luna is pregnant.” For a moment, I don’t understand the words. Then Selena’s hand tightens around mine.

“Pregnant?” The doctor nods. “Yes.” I look at Selena. She is staring at the doctor, her lips parted. Then she looks at me.

“Rylan…”

I laugh, tears of joy slowly coming to my eyes. I can’t help it. I lean down and kiss her, then pull back just enough to look at her. “We’re having a pup?” Her eyes fill with tears. “We’re having a pup.”

My Lycan throws his head back inside me. Pup!

I laugh again. “Yes. A pup.”

Ours.

“Ours.” I kiss Selena’s forehead, her cheek, then her lips again. She laughs through her tears.

“Rylan.”

“What?”

“You’re going to make me dizzy again.” I stop immediately.

“Sorry.”

She smiles and reaches for me. I take her hand. I hold her in my embrace. I take a deep breath and listen closely. Then I hear it Selena’s heartbeat and a little heartbeat in her stomach. A pup. Our pup. I look down at her belly, and something inside me opens so suddenly I can barely breathe. Then the scent reaches me again. That faint, familiar sweetness. My smile falters. My Lycan goes quiet.

Rylan.

“I know.” I know where I’ve smelled it before. Elise. The morning before she left pack territory. She had been standing beside me, and I had pulled her close before she went. I remember kissing her. Remember her scent against my face. And beneath it, something different. Something I had noticed but never understood. My hand tightens around Selena’s. Elise had smelled exactly like this.

My Lycan makes a low, wounded sound. Pup.

The room seems to shift beneath me. No. I look at the doctor. No one ever told me. I’m sure they had her examined, but no one ever told me.

“Alpha?” he asks. I can barely hear him. Elise had been pregnant. She had been carrying my pup when she left. And I never knew. I never knew.

My Lycan recoils. We lost them.