Page 120 of Shattered

“You’re welcome,” Danielle replied. “Let’s see how strong this little nugget is.”

She turned on the machine while Aurora lifted her shirt. Danielle pressed the wand to Aurora’s lower belly and within seconds, a strong, steady heartbeat echoed in the room. Mackenzie couldn’t believe it. The pup was strong. Healthy. He was going to be a father, again. This time, he promised he’d do it right. No matter what. He took Aurora’s hand as they continued to listen to their pup.

“What do you think?” Danielle asked. “If you’d have to guess the sex?”

Aurora bit her bottom lip before cutting her gaze to Mackenzie. “Boy.”

Mackenzie shrugged. “Girl.”

“I think you’re guess is right, Mac,” Danielle said. “Plus, it would follow the pattern.”

“Pattern?” Aurora quirked a brow.

“Everyone in this family has a boy and a girl. Usually a boy first then a girl or two boys and then a girl. For Caden, it was opposite. He had a daughter first then a son. For Kalkin, it was a boy and girl. Jase was the same twice. Me, I have Royce and now... Her.” Mackenzie pointed to Aurora’s belly then placed his hand there.

“Whoa,” Aurora said. “Crazy genetics.” Then she frowned, and her bottom lip trembled. “Oh, God.”

Danielle was there. “Don’t. Mac and I already talked about it. This baby is fine. She’ll or he’ll have wolf genetics, so it will negate any human malady. You won’t have to worry about PFO.”

Aurora let out a breath and laid back. “Thank goodness.”

“I’m going to go check on the kids and send them back to you. They were all pretty freaked out when you arrived.” Danielle walked to the door. “Congratulation.”

“Thanks, Dani,” Mackenzie said.

“I’m sorry,” Aurora said. “I should have said something before now.”

Mackenzie shook his head. “It’s okay. Everything was crazy. It’s not anyone’s fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Me, too,” she whispered. “Why do I have the IV, though?”

“Dani said you were dehydrated. So, she hooked you up.”

“Oh...” She glanced around the room. “A baby.”

“Yeah. A baby—pup to be exact.” He inched closer to her. “You okay?”

She shook her head as tears fell down her cheeks. “I feel horrible.”

Mackenzie gathered her up in his arms. “Why do you feel horrible? Are you sick? Is it the IV?”

She shook her head. “I feel like I trapped you, or the wolf and I trapped you. I didn’t want to get pregnant for the sake of getting pregnant.” She shuddered in his arms as she sobbed. “I wasn’t looking for this. I don’t want to be a burden.”

Mackenzie growled. “Girl, look at me.”

She shook her head. “No.”

The growl he let loose with, jerked her attention to him. “I’m happy.” He held her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “So happy.”

“But...”

“No buts. I’m not mad, and the wolf is pretty fucking impressed with himself. Chalk this up to another anomaly with our family. Not sure this has ever happened before.” He kissed her forehead. “We’re going to be just fine.”

“What about Royce and Liam and Riley and Abby?” She sniffed. “What will they think?”

“Guess we’ll have to ask them.” He brushed away her tears and kissed her. “Don’t cry.”

“Mumsy, why are you crying?” Abby came right to her, and Mackenzie cursed himself for not paying attention to the door.

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