The Lion’s Forbidden Mate

There was nothing mystical or wondrous about the feeling to Shifters, but there was definitely something that was mystical about it to humans. As far as she knew, they didn’t have it like they did. Sure, some women would get the feeling, but not until they were farther along than the night before. But Shifters weren’t humans; they were more connected to the primal and wild side of their bodies. They were members of the animal kingdom and they were fiercely loyal to that aspect of their mind. It was what gave Shifters their edge in many aspects of their lives. It was why so many Shifters could tell if there was something bad about to happen, whether they were in enemy territory, or if there was a storm coming. Sure, none of those were really that useful in the current, civilized era of the modern world, but back in the day, they meant something.

Right now, however, there was a different feeling she was experiencing. It was unlike anything she had ever been through before in her life. It was something wild and untamed, powerful and compelling. It was like someone had lit a fire inside of her and she was going to burst into flames if she didn’t control it. She wanted to control it, but there was nothing she could do to stabilize it. Something inside of her body was telling her that there had been a critical change in the past three hours.

The only reason why she didn’t believe her mind or the old wives tales that her mother and her grandmother had filled her head with was the fact that a woman couldn’t get pregnant in three hours right? Did it really happen that quickly? She wished she’d never listened to them when they had told her all of that trash, but every Shifter passed their information down to the next generation. So little about their people was known, but apparently all Shifter women were supposed to know the moment they were with child. It was an evolutionary thing, as far as Lucy knew. Female Shifters were supposed to know when they were pregnant so that they could be cared for and protected by their people, or group they were living in. It was a way to ensure that their people lived on.

As she ran the soap over her body and washed her hair, Lucy prayed that she wasn’t pregnant. How could she be pregnant? She was on the pill. Sure, she was certain that James hadn’t worn a condom last night and that was stupid. She should have protected herself better, but if she was pregnant, she had no choice but to keep the child. She felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach as a darkness swelled and swirled inside of her chest. If she was pregnant, then her parents were going to be furious. She could already hear the angry words raining down upon her as she stood in front of them with her head held in shame.

That didn’t matter right now, however. She had to go to them and she had to tell them the moment she was certain and if she was certain, then that meant she would need to talk to James first. She needed to tell him that she was pregnant and that she was going to be the mother of their child. All of this seemed hasty and she needed to take a test first. She couldn’t help but remember the old wives tales that her parents and grandparents had told her. This was the knowledge of her people and she should have faith in it. She should trust that she knew what she was being told by her body. She had all of the answers inside of herself; she just needed to listen.

By the time her shower was over, Lucy was horrified by the possibility that she was genuinely pregnant. She didn’t know James. It wasn’t like they had spent any time getting to know each other. They had basically shared their names, told each other that they were stressed and that they thought s*x would relieve the stress, and viola the s*x had quadrupled the stress that she was feeling right now. In fact, she was certain she was hyperventilating. She was going to pass out if she wasn’t careful. She knew that she was pregnant and she knew there were going to be some very basic things she was going to need to come to terms with. She was going to have to start facing the reality that she was living in a world where she was pregnant and there was no escaping that.

She needed to put on her big girl pants, suck down a deep breath and come to terms with the reality that she was going to get out of this bathroom, get dressed, and go about her day like there was nothing wrong with her. She was new to this job, but she was going to be smart about this new dilemma. She was going to take careful steps to make sure she didn’t screw things up more than she already had. She sucked down a brave breath and took a step forward, opening the door to the bathroom and going out into the room to get dressed.

She went about her routine with a kind of glazed over thought process, trying her hardest to keep her mind on the fact that she had a huge job in front of her and she had things that she needed to get done. She couldn’t waste any more time freaking out or panicking about things beyond her control. Sure, maybe she was pregnant—no, who was she kidding, she knew.

She knew that she was pregnant just like she knew that when she walked outside the sky was going to be blue. But it didn’t really matter. She was going to give her pack another child and she was going to make sure that all of them were happy with another addition to the family. Beyond that, what more could she really demand? What more could they ask for her. Sure, there would be rumors about her being a sl*t and about her going out there and screwing everything up that she was supposed to do, but that didn’t really matter. She would find James and she would talk to him, but beyond the few insults that would be thrown her direction, she knew that she was going to be just fine if she kept her head up.

By the time her make up was done and she was feeling pretty good about the day, she was all set to head out into the world with a brave new attitude. Sure, things were looking a little gloomy right now, but she was certain that if she approached James and talked to him about it, everything was going to be just fine.