A Mother Before A Mate
Chapter 38

Lexi's Point of View

I just left Jack's office for my daily update, and I'm so frustrated with him. I deserve to fight with everyone, and I'm good at it. This is the first time we've had a fight and I hate it. I can't help that I crave him, and if I'm upset with him, I have to resist the urge to touch him, and be close with him.

I pick up Molly and then head straight to Becka's house for a playdate. Jos is coming too. Ever since Jos moved here, the three of us have spent a lot of time together. I love that Becka and Jos get along so well. Becka invited us over today because she has something she wanted to talk to us about. "Hi, Lexi," Becka greets, as she opens her door.

"Hey!"

"Hi, Molly. Toby is in the living room if you want to play with him," Becka tells Molly, and Molly makes her way to the living room.

"Jos is already in the kitchen. Come in, wants some coffee or tea or-"

"Coffee, please. I could use the boost. I'm exhausted." I admit with a yawn.

"You've been tired a lot lately," she notices.

"I know, it's all this stress. It has really taken it out of me."

"Hey, Lexi!" Jos says as we come into the kitchen.

"Hey, Jos!" Becka hands me a cup of coffee, and I doctor it up with milk and sugar.

"So I called you both over because as I stated, I have news," Becka smiles.

"Okay..." Jos says hesitantly.

"What is it?" I ask.

She smiles and holds us in suspense for a few more seconds. "I'm pregnant!" She says excitedly.

"What? Really?" I gasp, and she nods excitedly.

"Congratulations!" Jos and I both say in unison and get up to give her a hug.

"I'm so happy for you," I add.

After talking about Becka's pregnancy for a few minutes Jos starts, "I wasn't going to say anything, but since we're spilling secrets... I'm pregnant too!" Jos admits, with a giggle.

My jaw is dropped, and my eyes are wide. "WHAT? That was fast? When did you replace out?" I ask.

"We just found out yesterday. We were going to keep it a secret for a little. I haven't seen the doctor yet, so I guess it's possible it was a false positive? I didn't want to get my hopes up."

"I don't think false positives happen very often, maybe false negatives? I'm so happy for you both," I beam.

"I'm so excited that I have a friend to be pregnant with. I'm 6 weeks, you must not be very far, you only found your mate 2 weeks ago," Becka states.

"Yeah, I think we conceived that night, on your wedding night, so only 2 weeks," Jos chuckles.

Werewolf pregnancy is only 6 months, so it won't be that long before our playdates, double in size. Two kids to four. "I wish I was pregnant too. It's so cool that you ladies get to do this together." "Are you sure you're not? I wanted to mention to you that when I was pregnant with Toby, I was tired all the time. You've been tired for weeks, I think even before this whole thing started," she states. "No, I have this app. It tracks my ovulation," I explain.

But I start to realize I haven't had a period since I've been with Jack. Wait? What? I checked it once, and I knew I wouldn't need to look at it until after my next period, but now that I think of it, my next period never came. My face must be showing confusion, because Jos asks me, "What's going on?"

"I haven't had a period since I've been with Jack. How did I not notice?" I ask, in shock.

The girls are looking at me with shock.

"Hold on, I have extra pregnancy tests, take one," Becka says, and jumps up to grab it. I sit in the chair and it's as if my limbs weigh a thousand pounds.

"Are you okay?" Jos asks.

"I don't get it. When? How? I had this app," I question.

"How? Really?" She chuckles. "I wasn't unsafe during my fertile days," I explain.

"Well did you take into consideration the way getting marked affects your hormones?" She asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your body will force an ovulation, regardless of where you are in your cycle when you get marked," she explains.

"What?" I ask in shock.

"Yeah, did you not know that?"

"NO!" I raise my voice. I've never heard that before. Becka walks in and hands me the test.

"Did you use protection when he marked you?" Jos asks.

"No..."

"Well then you're probably pregnant," she chuckles.

"Did you know about this? Your body will force ovulation when you get marked?" I ask Becka and she shakes her head.

"I've never heard of that," Becka admits.

I only looked into my cycle after we were together for a few months, and I was long marked by then. Looks like you might get your wish, you might be pregnant with all of us," Becka states. Still, in disbelief, I grab the test and rush to the washroom. I'm sitting alone and waiting for the 5-minute timer on my phone to go off, and I hear a knock on the door.

"You okay in there?" Becka asks. I open the door.

"Just waiting."

"Want some company?" I nod and smile. Soon Jos is joining us as well.

"How are you feeling?" Jos asks.

"Stupid! How did I not know that?" I ask.

"Hey, I've never heard it either," Becka admits.

"Which I'm really grateful about because it actually makes me feel a little better. I feel like I want to poll the pack and replace out how many she-wolves know this," I say in disbelief, and Becka chuckles.

I really want to have a baby with Jack, and Molly has adjusted really well.

"I'm going to check," Jos says.

"I still have another minute and a half," I say, looking at my phone. She picks it up and looks at me while making an O with her lips.

"You don't need another minute and a half... It's positive," she says while smiling and giggling. I grab it and look at it.

"This is for real. This is real life," I say in shock.

"Congratulations!" They both say with excitement. I replace myself laughing, probably in shock.

"I can't believe this," I admit.

"Wait... so he marked me like 6 weeks ago... so..." I pause. "Wow!" I lift my shirt and look in the mirror. It looks like it could be a little bigger. Maybe? Or maybe it's just in my head.

"At 6 weeks, the baby might not survive if you shifted. I'm really glad you figured this out before tomorrow," Becka says, with concern.

"I haven't shifted in a week and a half," I admit.

I feel anxious at just the thought of what would have happened if I had not found out today, and shifted tomorrow.

"How are you going to tell Jack?" Jos asks.

"I don't know. I feel like I should tell him in a really special way but with the battle tomorrow... I can't fight, so I need to tell him today. He'll wonder why I put up such a fuss about fighting, and then suddenly change my mind. What should I do?" I ask. "Maybe you can go out to dinner? Or we can go shopping, and you can wrap up a baby outfit or something?" Jos suggest.

It seems tasteless to go out for dinner when our pack is planning on fighting tomorrow morning. I decide I'm just going to wrap up the pregnancy test and head over to his office, while Becka watches Molly. I am chomping at the bit to tell him too. I don't think I would be able to hold off very long even if the circumstances were different. I was a little bit off with him earlier too, for involving the whole pack about me fighting. Now I just want to make up, and be happy together.

When I get to his office, I leave the gift bag in the hallway. I give a quick knock and poke my head in. I'm surprised to see Zac, Kyle, Alex, and a few other warriors. Jack furrows his brows, surprised to see me, but motions me in. "Is everything okay?" He asks and I nod.

"I didn't know you were in a meeting, call me when you guys are finished up, and I'll come back."

"You guys are dismissed, we'll talk after," Jack says.

“I can come back, finish your meeting," I insist, but Jack just shakes his head and motions for them to get out.

"Sorry guys," I say, and they all smile.

"It's no problem, Luna." I hear Zac say.

As soon as the door is closed, Jack is asking "What's going on?"

I can tell he's trying to read me. He's not sure if I've come to argue with him, or makeup. I move to sit in one of the chairs on the other side of his desk, facing him, trying not to give away what's going on in my head.

"I wanted to talk. I was thinking a lot about what you said..." I say calmly and without a smile.

"Okay?" He asks. He has one eyebrow raised, and he has no idea what I'm going to say.

"You were right," I admit.

"I was?" He asks hesitantly and I nod.

"About you not fighting?" He verifies. It's the only thing we've disagreed on, but he doesn't believe I could be talking about that. I nod again, trying to hold back my excitement still.

"I'm not going to fight tomorrow," I admit. He starts to smile but stops himself.

"Is this a trick?" He asks and narrows his eyes and I shake my head.

"So you're not mad at me anymore?" He asks with a small smile. I pretend to be thinking about it. Then I smile and shake my head.

"No, I'm not mad. I actually wanted to give you something..." I start, and get up to grab the bag in the hallway. I can't even pretend to not be giddy at this point. This time, I sit on his desk, right in front of him with my legs touching his, and I hand him the gift bag. "Open it!" I beam.

He looks so confused but starts. He opens the gift bag and replaces a wrapped box. He looks at me again and I start to giggle.

"Open it," I tell him again. He leans back in his chair and starts opening it. When the paper is off, he's about to open the box.

"Wait," I say. He stops and looks at me. I'm smiling so hard my cheeks are hurting.

"I just want to tell you I love you first," I add.

He smiles and lifts his body to kiss me. "I love you too, and I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore... Do I open this now?" he asks.

I smile and nod. He gives me one of those mega-watt smiles that I love so much and then looks down to open it. He takes the lid off. His head tilts to the side as he picks it up, and reads "PREGNANT" on the screen. He looks at me wide-eyed.

"Did you take this? Are you pregnant?" He asks. I start chuckling and nodding.

"I'm pregnant!" I squeal. His face was priceless! Nothing but joy. He jumped up and grabbed me along with him. He was laughing and full of excitement. When he finally puts me down, he puts a hand on my stomach.

"Our baby is growing in there!" he says as if he's amazed.

"Our baby is growing in there, and I think it's been growing in there since you marked me," I admit.

"How? Your app?"

"Apparently marking a she-wolf affects hormones enough to change her cycle. I didn't even make the connection that I hadn't had a period since we've been together, either. Moon Goddess' way of keeping the population growing, I guess. I didn't know this, and apparently, it's not common knowledge, because Becka didn't know either," I explain.

"I'm so happy, I can't believe it. Hey, wait, so that was a while ago... You can't shift!" he realizes.

"I know. That's why I can't fight tomorrow. I don't want our little one getting hurt," I smile and rub my stomach and Jack is beaming.

"I just need to get you pregnant every time there's a battle."

"Not funny," I say while playfully rolling my eyes.