“What do you mean she’s not a wolf?” the elder to whom Sinclair brought me seemed vaguely familiar; I was sure I’d met him at some event. Overwhelmed by the new information, I could barely process anything. My brain felt sluggish and muddled, but Sinclair remained beside me, patient and loving, scowling whenever I worried about my mental state.
The elder regarded us with barely concealed horror, and I burrowed deeper into Sinclair’s arms. I was still in his lap—he hadn’t put me down since my arrival. I was technically on bed rest, but I wasn’t complaining. His embrace offered the security I desperately needed. “She is, but her wolf is dormant. We only just found out,” Sinclair sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. He then recounted our story to the elder, starting from the beginning.
With each word, the elder paled. Finally, when Sinclair finished, he glowered. “You should have come to me the moment she conceived. I could have told you no human could bear a shifter child. You young pups,” he shook his head, exasperated. “You think you know everything!”
“I’m hardly a pup,” Sinclair replied dryly, though he didn’t seem truly bothered.
The elder looked down his nose at him. “I’d been roaming this world a hundred years before you were born, boy. I may not have your power, but I possess wisdoms you can only dream of.” My eyes widened at his age. I knew shifters lived longer than humans, but not this long. He looked barely seventy.
“That’s why we’re here now, Adolpho,” Sinclair said smoothly. “I didn’t come sooner because I thought protecting the secret was paramount.” His hand rested on my small, burgeoning belly. “I just wanted them to be safe.”
Adolpho softened slightly, observing our closeness. “Aye, I know how it is. Breeding is an emotional time for mothers and fathers.” He wagged a finger. “You can be forgiven for protecting your mate, but the deception is another matter.” He rose and paced, demonstrating remarkable spryness for a 135-year-old. “Do you have any idea what you’ve risked? If this gets out, your campaign will be over. The pack loves Ella; they’re obsessed with your romance. If they think this has all been a lie, it will be a betrayal of the worst kind.”
“My campaign was already failing before Ella. The only reason I’m winning is because of her,” Sinclair responded fiercely. “I don’t like lying to the pack either, but I was between a rock and a hard place.”
“The Alpha council aren’t fools. If it truly seemed the Prince would win, they would have aided you,” Adolpho said tiredly.
“Neither the people nor the council would put a bachelor on the throne—especially not one they believed was sterile,” Sinclair insisted. “We’re in this situation because King Xavier died without an heir; they want stability for the crown, and they’re right to.”
“Still, we could have found another way,” Adolpho conceded, sounding resigned. Like Henry, he seemed to wish for a nonexistent solution, another way to have handled the situation.
“If you want someone to blame, blame me,” I interjected. “It was my idea. I thought I could help Dominic win, and I was afraid for my baby if he didn’t… I was afraid for everyone.”
“You were protecting the pack before you even realized it,” Sinclair praised, kissing my cheek. “And the way I see it, this is what the Goddess intended. The fact that Ella appeared and conceived my child right when I needed her most? That this baby might save the united packs from a cruel, bloodthirsty tyrant? If that isn’t fate, I don’t know what is.”
“Maybe,” the elder acknowledged. “Or maybe it was someone else’s design. You said someone powerful was involved in switching the sperm samples, and now with this piece of the puzzle?” He gestured to me. “Whoever it was must have known Ella wasn’t truly human. And the fact that she was sent to that bank, right when your deposit was made—”
“What do you mean, sent?” I interrupted. “I went there because my sister is a scientist at the lab. My boyfriend—”
“My dear, you couldn’t get pregnant with your boyfriend because he was human and you are not,” the elder said, as if reading my mind. “It also means human medications likely didn’t damage your body.”
“But the doctor told me—” I began, the horrible conversation that started it all flooding back—the doctor who told me I had to conceive immediately, that very day. I’d been too shocked to question it, but was anything ever truly that simple with fertility? “Oh my Goddess, I’ve been so stupid.”
Adolpho nodded, watching my expression. “Let me guess, was this the first time you’d seen this specialist?”
“Yes,” I gulped. “My usual doctor was sick, so another physician stepped in.”
“And your sister—did she examine you?” he pressed.
“No,” I shook my head, feeling dizzy. “She just looked at the report.”
“Wait,” Sinclair interrupted, his tone making my stomach drop. Oh Goddess, what had he figured out? “If her body wasn’t actually damaged… are you saying Ella might be able to have more children?”
I froze, looking at the elder with a mixture of fear and hope. Everything was changing too rapidly. “A shifter physician would have to examine her, but I can’t see any reason why not,” the elder observed.
I could hardly breathe. Sinclair hugged and kissed me, wiping away tears I hadn’t realized I was shedding. “I can’t believe this,” I murmured, needing his strength. “It’s too much.”
“I know,” he reassured me, purring softly. “It’s okay; we don’t have to talk about it now.”
“But we do! We have to find that doctor,” I realized abruptly. “If you’re suggesting they knew what I really was, and that they sent me running to Cora knowing Dominic’s sample was at her lab… it’s too crazy. Who could possibly know so much, predict so much?”
“I suspect Dominic is partly right—the Goddess played a hand. But she didn’t do it alone,” Adolpho agreed. “More importantly, Ella, if those responsible knew you were a wolf, it means they know who you really are.”
“Then you don’t have any idea about her true identity?” Sinclair inquired, watching the elder closely.
Adolpho extended a hand, and I climbed out of Sinclair’s lap to stand before the old wolf. His gaze swept over me, lingering on my gold irises and strawberry blonde hair. “Her fur, in the dream?” he asked.
“The same color as her hair, except for a splash of white at the tip of her tail and on her belly,” Sinclair answered reverently.
Adolpho smelled me. He shook his head. “There’s something there… familiar, but I can’t place it. A rare smell for a wolf in these parts. It will be easier to tell once your wolf awakens completely.”
“Do you know a way to make that happen?” I asked anxiously, “other than Dominic claiming me, or giving birth?”
Adolpho nodded. “Give me a minute.”
He returned with a small ceramic box, painted with unfamiliar but strangely familiar patterns. He opened it, revealing dried flowers. “Our people have used these herbs for centuries in rituals to the Goddess; they’re meant to trigger a transcendent journey, a connection to your innermost spirit. If anything can reconnect you to your wolf, it will be these—but I think the doctor was right to advise you to wait until the pup arrives.”
I accepted the box. “It should only take a few. Wait, but keep them close… you might need them in an emergency, whether your baby is ready or not.”