The Lion’s Mate

“Annie, this case is strong, but it’s your decision,” Mark told her after she’d finished reading the statements. “Your case is stronger than these other shifters because you were valedictorian and belonged to so many groups. There is absolutely no reason a small university would deny you.”

“What about these other guys?”

“Two of them were in the top quarter of their class, and one was in the top ten. Most colleges would take them, but all colleges like to get valedictorians. You could have gone anywhere in the state and been accepted.”

“Gotcha,” Annie murmured, her thoughts a little scrambled. Leah had told her this morning that the decision was completely hers and she wouldn’t be interfering this morning. Besides, Annie had heard her throwing up that morning and didn’t want to bother her; she assumed Leah would go back to bed. But she had kissed Mark hello and gone to her office to work instead.

“Listen, Annie. You don’t have to make a decision today, but we’re going to need to move on this soon. The school’s lawyer has contacted me and would like to meet.”

“Why?”

“Discuss options,” Mark informed her. “May I make a suggestion?” She nodded. “Let’s set up a meeting with them and see what they have to say. We can make a decision then.”

Annie nodded again. “I like that idea. When can we meet?”

“I’ll call today and set up a time. I’d say tomorrow or the next day.”

“Sounds good,” Annie answered as Leah wandered into the kitchen. Annie looked at her, frowning. There was something different about her but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Everything ok in here?” Leah asked as she reached into the fridge for a water.

“Perfect. Listen, babe, I’ve got to run. How about dinner tonight?” Mark asked as he grabbed Leah and dipped her.

“You dork,” she cried as he lifted her back up straight. “What time?”

“Come to my place. I’ll cook for you.”

Leah’s eyebrows rose into her hairline. “What? You cook?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I am a man. I grill like a champion,” he replied with a grin. He walked to the door but stopped before leaving. “Just an FYI: if you want anything other than meat, you’d better bring it. I only grill.”

She yelled after him as he left, “You caveman!”

Annie had been watching the exchange, keeping her eyes on Leah more than on Mark. Her frown of perplexity hadn’t left her face, and Leah looked at her strangely.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You look different,” Annie murmured. She walked over to her and sniffed. “You smell different too.”

Leah was taken aback. “What? Smell different? Like what?” Leah raised an arm and sniffed, but she’d put on deodorant that morning. She smelled her hair. “I smell like I always do.”

“No. You smell like a shifter,” Annie mused, her fingers on her lips as she thought.

“Well, that’s weird. Maybe because I’m sleeping with Mark, his scent rubbed off on me?” Leah wondered. “Anyway, I’m hungry. Want something?”

“I heard you throw up this morning. I thought you didn’t feel good,” Annie said, her eyes widening as she realized what was happening. She waited for Leah to come to the same conclusion.

“I was just nauseous, I guess. I’m famished now,” Leah said. She pulled out a stack of lunch meat and cheese and began building a sandwich as thick as a table leg.

“Have you gained weight?”

Leah’s head jerked up. “How rude!”

“Leah. Have you?”

“I don’t know! You know I never weight myself.” She continued making her sandwich, moving with abrupt movements in her irritation. Then she froze. She dropped the bread she’d been holding and slowly turned to Annie. “Holy sh*t.”

Annie nodded at her. “I knew it would hit you after a few minutes.”

“It can’t be.”

“But it can.”

Leah stood where she was for several seconds, contemplating the glaring truth: she was pregnant. She looked at Annie. “Do humans smell different when they’re pregnant?”

“They do if they’re pregnant with a shifter baby,” Annie told her. “I learned that in an anatomy class.”

“Oh my God. I don’t know anything about having a human baby, let alone a shifter baby,” Leah said, a slight note of panic in her voice.

Annie walked to her and took her hand. She led her to the table and sat her down. “What you need to do right now is call your doctor and go see her. You need to find out how far along you are.”

Leah’s fingers drummed the table nervously, and her leg bounced. She nodded her head at Annie, who brought the phone to her so she could call. Without much thought, she found her doctor in her contacts and pressed send. She explained to the receptionist that she was sure she was pregnant with a shifter’s baby, and an appointment was made for her that afternoon at three.

Leah frowned after she disconnected. “I have an appointment at three. I normally can’t get in to see her with so little notice.”

“Yeah, but this isn’t just a checkup, Leah. Shifter/human pregnancies can be high risk. And the gestation is so short!”

“What do you mean?”

Annie rolled her eyes. “Leah, don’t you read any magazines? Shifter pregnancies only last ten weeks.”

Leah’s eyes widened, and the color dropped from her face. Her hands began to shake; the panic attack was imminent. Annie saw this and rushed to her side.

“Ok, I’m sorry. I thought you would have at least heard that before or I would have told you more gently,” she said. She pushed Leah’s head between her knees, but she shoved her hand away.

“Drive me?” she asked when she’d calmed down.

“Of course.”

*****

“Yep! You’re pregnant. Congratulations.” Her doctor had administered a urine test first thing, which had shown positive like a lighthouse in the dark sky.

Leah drew a deep breath, closed her eyes, and released it slowly. “What happens now?”

“Well, we need to do a sonogram so I can see how far along you are. Based on the sudden weight gain, I’d say at least four weeks. Have you been nauseous?”

“Just yesterday and today. I thought I had a virus or something.”

“Are you sure it’s a shifter baby?”

Leah curled her lip in offense. “One hundred percent.”

The doctor, her friend for years, lifted her hands in a defensive gesture and chuckled. “I have to ask, Leah. We treat shifter/human pregnancies differently.”

“Why?”

The doctor shrugged her shoulders. “Sometimes they’re high risk. A human woman’s body isn’t really prepared for a gestation period of ten weeks. Our bodies prefer forty.”

“Am I in danger? Is the baby in danger?” Leah put a protective hand over her belly.

“You shouldn’t be, and neither should your baby. You’re healthy, take care of yourself. I’ll have to see you every few days from now on, just to be safe.”

“Yeah, ok.” Leah’s mind was spinning as she laid back and pulled the paper gown up so the doctor could do the sonogram. What would she say to Mark? How would she tell him? What would he do? Leah knew he cared for her, and she cared for him as well. But a baby? She sighed as the doctor moved the sonogram device over her belly.

A thumping noise erupted from the machine. Leah gasped, then chuckled. A happy, proud tear escaped her eye. She watched as weird images flashed onto the screen.

The doctor pointed to part of the image. “Here is your baby’s head, and here the arms and legs.”

“Can you tell if it’s a boy or girl?”

“Not yet. Next week we should be able to, though.”

Leah laughed. “I have to admit, I was terrified at first. But look at that sweetie.”

“I love the look on a new mother’s face the first time she hears that heartbeat sound and sees the life inside her.”

Leah had an abrupt thought. “Do shifter babies come out looking human or in their shifter form?”

“I’ve only delivered human forms. Sometimes they have fur or feathers, but their features are always human.”

“Oh, ok.”

As she listened to the heartbeat for another moment, she smiled. She didn’t care what Mark said about this, or what he did. She wanted this baby now. Deep down, though, she was sure Mark would want to be a part of this as well. She just had to decide how that would look.