Chapter 56 - Pup?

Jude

I saw red.

Red from the blood oozing from my mate’s side and red from the fury burning through every nerve in my body as I stood in one swift motion and turned to face the culprit who stood there shaking like a leaf with blood dripping from the silver knife in their trembling hand.

Without another beat I lunged forward and my claws extended with a sickening sound as they pierced through the culprit’s chest as my hand closed around their heart and I ripped it out in one brutal motion. The person fell limp onto the sand, their eyes still wide with shock and terror but that didn’t stop the pain or the fury roaring through me as I dropped the still beating organ and immediately turned back to Rosie.

I cradled her in my arms, lifting her carefully against my chest. Her blood was warm and wet, seeping through my fingers as I pressed against the wound as I started running toward the pack house.

We met a stretcher on the way with pack doctors rushing toward us but I held Rosie tighter against my chest and a resonating growl escaped my lips when they tried to take her from me.

My mate.

My mom was suddenly beside me, her hand on my arm rubbing soothing circles. "Let them take her so they can treat her," she said in a gentle voice and a sad whimper clawed out of my throat because I didn’t want to let go but I knew she was right.

She was hurt because of me.

I lowered Rosie onto the stretcher and my hands were shaking as I pulled away from her and I trailed after them as they wheeled her through the pack house corridors until we reached the emergency room. I watched helplessly as she was wheeled through those doors and they closed in my face. I stood there frozen for a moment before I started pacing outside running my fingers through my hair and my heart was thumping so hard in my chest it felt like it might explode from the fear.

I didn’t think I’d ever felt that emotion in my life before but the thought of losing my mate, of her being hurt, of seeing her eyes closed and her lifeless body in my arms made my heart constrict like something was squeezing my chest so hard that it felt difficult to breathe.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the silver knife. She wasn’t a wolf so silver didn’t affect her the same way it did for wolf but a knife was still a knife and it had gone deep into her side and there was so much blood and what if they couldn’t stop the bleeding, what if—

I took a step back while my hand clutched at my chest as my back hit the wall and I was wheezing from lack of breath, my eyes were welling up with tears. I tried to open my mouth to regulate the air but it seemed nothing was working and my ears were ringing.

A soft warm hand touched my arm pulling me out of the haze and I stared down at my mom who was looking at me with soft worried eyes.

"She’ll be okay," Mom said as she pulled me into a hug and I buried my head against her neck heavily inhaling her familiar scent to calm me down.

"She’s hurt," a choked sound pulled from my throat and I couldn’t help but feel completely useless as a mate. If I hadn’t been so engrossed in my victory, if I’d been paying attention to my surroundings, my mate wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

"It was meant for me," I muttered against her shoulder. "Not her but she—" I sniffed hard trying to hold back the emotions threatening through. "Fuck!"

"It’s okay, son. She’ll be okay. Rosie is strong." Mom patted my back and continued holding me, and I let her because I needed it more than I wanted to admit.

I hope so. I prayed so. She had to be okay or else the entire of Carter pack would pay for it with their lives.

I didn’t know how many hours passed as I paced back and forth outside that door, waiting for good news.

Finally the door opened and the doctor came out with a grave expression as he removed his mask. I rushed to him immediately with my heart in my throat clogging every sound and I was terrified of what he’d say.

"How is she?" my mom asked from beside me and I was so grateful for her because I couldn’t form words.

The doctor smiled a little and I could feel my heart racing waiting for the news. Damn it, just talk before I go through another panic attack.

"Thank goodness she’s human and was able to escape grave injury, but—" I breathed in relief, but my breath hitched when he paused and the dread settled back into my stomach.

"But what?" I asked and my voice came out rough. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The doctor exhaled slowly. "The pup inside her was slightly affected by the silver."

"Pup?" I asked in shock and my brain couldn’t process the words. Rosie was carrying a child? My child?

"You don’t know?" the doctor asked like he couldn’t believe I wasn’t aware. and I wanted to hit my head against the wall because how could I have missed something so important.

"Yes," I answered shamefully because I was an excuse of a mate. I’d completely missed the change in her scent.

"Well, the young Luna is three months pregnant," the doctor explained. "Before we can do further examination to assess the extent of the damage to the pup we’ll need to wait until she wakes up."

The doctor walked away leaving me standing there blinking as my mind tried to catch up with everything he’d just said.

Pregnant.

Rosie was pregnant.

And we were going to have a pup.

I thought back over the past few months and suddenly everything made sense. She’d been eating more and I’d thought it was because she appreciated my cooking. She’d been sleeping more, and I’d assumed it was from the stress and tiredness of her thesis defense.

Fuck. How had I missed all the signs?

My mom touched my arm gently. "It’s good news, Jude. She’s going to be okay, and the child too."

I nodded absentmindedly because my thoughts were on a hig hway going a million miles an hour. We were having a baby. A pup. Our child.