Page 3 of King Luna

Rainn laughs. “You remember the first pup I birthed, right?”

“Yes, Goddess, he’s so precious.” I groan, picturing the energetic little tree-climber we met on the first day Rainn allowed me to observe her Forest School class. “He looks so much like Noah.”

Rainn beams, her eyes seeming to sparkle for the Lycan pup she carried as a surrogate. “Right? Well, do I have news for you.”

I freeze, hanging on her words. Even Amy grows serious, her stare locked onto Rainn’s animated hands as Rainn wildly gestures to her abdomen.

“Huge,” she hisses. “He washuge!He grew like a little beast!”

“Oh, my God...” I groan. “Don’t tell me. Your mom already terrified me with her eight-month, full-term Lycan pregnancy for a twelve-pound Noah, and I already know Noah carries the biggest-of-big-boys gene, so—”

Unfortunately, Rainn’s eyes bulge wider, her voice barely containing her laughter as she whisper-yells. “I gave birth within seven and a half months, Luna. And he was also full-term.”

My jaw drops. All I can do is grip my best friend for dear life.

But Amy’s mouth gapes just the same. “Seven?”

“And a half, she said,” I rasp. “But not premature?”

Rainn shakes her head, using her hands to give us a vivid picture of her pulling that massive baby out of herself, my eyes bulging at the gap between her hands as she widens her legs, reaches between them, and pulls the imaginary pup from her vagina. “Huge!I screamed my freaking ass off. The second he came out, Natalia took one look at him and told me he was camping out at least a week longer than he needed to. He was just a big, beefy Alpha pup.” As Rainn’s focus drops to my stomach, I glance at Amy in desperation. But she’s staring at my baby bump in stunned silence just the same. “Which could mean...”

I’m so shocked I can’t even speak, holding my belly that’s already as big as I expected it to be at four months or more, not three.

“But I— I’m part human, so we thought— I mean, my mom had a regular, human-like pregnancy, right? Didn’t your mom say that she heard that from my dad, Rainn?” Glancing at Lilian in the distance, I debate on calling her over to double-check I understood the true story of my mom’s pregnancy. “Isn’t this just some extra bloating?”

But there’s no point in rationalizing this away; the second I look at my best friend, Amy’s voice lowers to the this-shit’s-serious zone. “Girl, he straight up put a massive Lycan child in you.”

Fanning myself, I blink a few times. “I need to sit back down.”

“Oh, jeez—” Amy catches my elbow, guiding my wobbling legs to the nearest boulder.

“Hey, it’s a good thing!” Rainn’s voice heightens as she chases after us, waving frantically like she’s wafting my worriesaway. “If your pregnancy is more Lycan than human after all, that means you’re probably closer to the second trimester now, and in the clear like you were worried about, right?”

It fully hits me just as Amy says it aloud.

“Oh,Goddess. That baby could be coming out in like...” As Amy counts quietly on a single hand, I slap my palm over my mouth, only a pained whimper escaping my lips.

Noah!I mindlink.

My mate freezes in our bond’s inner world, the image of his wolf form sharpening in my mind’s eye. Noah’s black, puffy ears stand at full attention like I just caught him digging holes in our new rose garden again.

You got me pregnant with a huge wolf baby! And they really might pop out of me sooner, like we were worried about!

His wolf’s ears slink back, his dark, fluffy tail wagging furiously.I’m so sorry, I know. I was going to ask Natalia what she thought about how rapidly you’re growing, I just didn’t know for certain if it’d happen as quickly for you since there are still human genetics at work too. Especially since I still believe you when you feel like you’re mainly just bloated.

Well, I’m starting to think I might be wrong.All I can do is let out another whimper, unable to blink as Amy fans my flaming cheeks.

“Is she okay?” Rainn whispers to Amy.

“Yeah. She’s probably just grilling Noah.”

“Oh yeah, she does have her blank mindlinking face on again.”

I glare at them before responding to Noah.What are we going to do if we have a full-grown kid coming out of me in four, teeny tiny months?

Noah’s tail wags even harder.I guess we’ll just have to see the truth on the next ultrasound and figure things out in thosefour months. Plus, it could end up being five. Maybe we still have some time?

Dropping my forehead into my hands, I have to blubber through a delirious laugh. “Oh, Goddess. I guess this is what I get for mating with the biggest Alpha any of us have ever seen.”

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