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I close my eyes. For years, I have carried the memory of losing Elise. Now there is another loss inside it. A pup I never knew existed. A pup I never had the chance to hold. Selena’s fingers move against mine.

“Rylan?” I open my eyes. She is watching me.

“What’s wrong?”

I look at her belly. Our pup is alive. Here with my mate. My Lycan presses close to her. Protect them. I lean down and wrap my arms around Selena. She holds me.

“Rylan?”

I press my face against her hair. “I’m happy,” I whisper.

“I know.”

I close my eyes. I am. I’m happier than I know how to explain. But beneath that happiness, something cold has taken hold. Elise had been pregnant. I lost her. I lost our pup. And now Selena is carrying my pup. My arms tighten around her.

We will not lose them, my Lycan says.

I want to believe him. I want to believe that knowing this time will be enough. That I can protect her. That I can protect our pup. But all I can think is: What if I lose Selena and our pup too?

*****

The bedroom door clicks shut behind us, and the familiar scent of cedar and old books wraps around me like a second skin. Selena stands by the bed.

I close the distance between us. My hand finds her jaw, tilting her face up. "Let me," I say. Not a command. A plea.

She nods, and I guide her onto the mattress, laying her back against the rumpled sheets. The mate bond hums between us, warm and tingling, building heat that spreads through my veins. I start at her ankles, pressing my lips to the inside of her calf, working slowly upward. Her inner thigh. The crease of her hip. I need to touch every inch of her, memorize the landscape of this body that now carries my child.

My thumb traces circles around her nipple, watching it tighten into a peak. She inhales sharply, her fingers curling into the sheets. I lean down and drag my tongue across the stiffened bud, then suck it into my mouth, gentle, deliberate. Her back arches off the mattress. I kiss the valley between her breasts, then her ribs, her stomach, dipping my tongue into her navel before dragging my lips lower.

"Rylan..." Her voice cracks. "Please."

I spread her thighs wider and breathe her in. Wet. Slick. Ready. I press my mouth to her core, licking a slow line, circling her clit with the tip of my tongue. She grabs my hair, hips bucking against my face. I taste her, swallow her, work her until she's trembling and gasping my name into the dark room.

"Inside me. Now. I need..."

I rise over her, positioning my cock at her entrance. The head nudges through her slick core, just the tip, stretching her open. She whines, trying to push her hips up to take more, but I hold her still with a hand on her hip.

"Patience," I murmur against her ear.

She makes a frustrated sound that dissolves into a moan as I push deeper, inch by inch, until I'm buried in her tight, wet heat. Her pussy clenches around my dick, and I groan, forehead pressed to hers. I pull back slowly, then thrust, setting a rhythm that builds like a tide. She matches me, rolling her hips up to meet every stroke, her nails raking down my back.

The bond blazes between us, white hot, fusing us together. I drive into her harder, deeper, and she wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me closer, taking me to the hilt with each thrust. Her core tightens, fluttering around my cock as she gets close.

"Come for me, Sel," I rasp.

She shatters beneath me, her pussy clamping down, and I follow her over the edge, burying myself deep as I spill inside her.

30

Rylan's POV

The doctor tells me a Lycan pregnancy lasts approximately four months instead of a werewolf’s six. As our pup develops, Selena’s Lycan will redirect more of her energy toward the pregnancy. Shifting will become increasingly difficult, and eventually she may not be able to rely on it to protect herself.

I understand the explanation. I hate it. Selena has always been able to protect herself. Now the very thing making our pup stronger is making her more vulnerable.

My Lycan presses close. We protect them.

“I know.”