Page 33 of Fat Forced Mate

Ruby hands me a damp cloth that smells faintly of lavender. Bless her for remembering my preferred scent. Her expression is carefully neutral in a way that sets off warning bells. "Luna... when was your last cycle?"

"What? I don't..." The words die as I count backward, each day bringing fresh realization. No. It can't be. Not now. Notwhen everything is so precarious. "That's not possible. It's only been three weeks since..."

Since Nic pressed me against that tree by Shadow Creek, his body hard and demanding against mine. Since his wolf howled in tandem with mine as we came together in a explosion of magic and need. Since power crackled around us like lightning, wild and uncontrolled and perfect…

And I was supposed to get my period last week. It never came. In all the stress, I didn’t even notice.

"Oh, Luna," Ruby says softly, my name tender on her lips. "I’m so sorry—”

"Don't. I can’t—” My magic surges, making the bathroom fixtures rattle ominously. It feels protective, possessive. My voice breaks. "Ican'tbe. The trial is tomorrow. I can't do this now. I can't..."

Ruby pulls a small bottle from the leather strap at her hips, where she keeps dozens of potions—this one a deep blue glass etched with symbols I recognize from hours spent watching my mother work. Protection runes, truth-seeking sigils, the marks of old magic that knows the secrets of life itself. "Here. Clarity potion. Mom's old recipe. You just need to..."

"Spit in it. I know." My hands shake as I take the bottle, remembering all the times I watched my mother make these for pack females. One drop of saliva, and it turns pink for pregnancy, stays blue for not. Such a simple thing to change a life forever. "Mom used to make these for everyone. Said they were more reliable than modern tests for shifter blood."

I've never used one myself. Never thought I'd need to. But my mother's voice echoes in memory, clear as if she stood beside me:"Hybrid pregnancies progress differently, Luna.Faster. The mixed magic accelerates everything. Your body will change quickly, adapting to create something entirely new."

The potion feels warm against my palm, responding to my magic in ways that make my heart race.

Ruby squeezes my shoulder once, her touch grounding me in reality. "I'll be right outside. Whatever happens, we'll figure it out together."

She slips out, leaving me alone with this tiny bottle that could change everything. One drop. That's all it would take to confirm what my body already seems to know. What my magic has been trying to tell me for days.

"Okay," I whisper to my stomach, the stomach I spent years hating that now seems so very different, one hand pressed against it. "Let's find out what you are. If you are."

My hands tremble so badly I nearly drop the bottle as I unstop it. The liquid inside shimmers with old magic—the kind my mother specialized in, the kind that knows truth from lies, life from emptiness. The kind that can't be fooled or bargained with.

One drop of saliva. I spit.

The change happens instantly, like watching a sunrise in seconds. Blue shifts to brilliant pink, swirling like aurora borealis in the tiny bottle. I slump back, head spinning, lightheaded and, nauseous, and feverishly terrified all at once.

Pregnant. With Nic's child.

"Oh gods." The bottle slips from my numb fingers. Ruby must have come back at some point, because she catches it before it can shatter, her reflexes as quick as ever.

"Luna?" Her voice seems to come from very far away. "Breathe, honey. You need to breathe. Focus on my voice."

But I can't breathe. Can't think. Can't process the reality of new life growing inside me—life created from the very combination of magic and wolf blood that Silvercreek has always feared. A child that will be even more hybrid than I am.

My magic coils tighter, and suddenly, I understand its recent strangeness. The way it's been reaching for Nic, the protective surges, the increased power—it's not just my magic anymore. This child, barely more than a possibility, already has magic of its own. I can feel it twining with mine.

"What am I going to do?" The words come out more sob than speech, echoing off bathroom tiles. "The trial is tomorrow. I have to forge alliances with pack members who already hate me. Who think hybrids shouldn't exist. And now I'm carrying..." My voice breaks, and I can’t go on.

Ruby grabs my shoulders, forcing me to meet her eyes. "No one has to know yet, Luna. Not until you’re ready. Not until you feel like it’s the right time. Not even Nic. It’s all in your hands, alright?”

My hand comes to rest on my stomach again, feeling the tiny spark of magic there. Three weeks. Only three weeks, but the longer I’m forced to stay here—forever, if the elders and Nic have their way—the tighter the net closes around me. How long before I start showing? Before Nic's wolf recognizes the change in my scent? For the latter, it could be weeks. Even days, if I keep getting sicker.

I can’t keep the question in. "How long can I hide this?"

The memory of Nic hits anew—his hands reverent on my skin, his eyes glowing as he claimed me against that tree. He never mentioned protection. Neither did I. We were too lost in each other, in desires we’d—or, at least,I’d—hidden andsquashed down for years, in the feeling of rightness that came with finally giving in.

"Luna." Ruby's voice breaks through my spiral, gentle but firm. "Whatever you decide to do, I'm here. But you need to pull yourself together. The Council will be looking for you. And you know Nic won’t ignore your absence for long."

Right. The Council. The trial. All my careful plans for proving myself worthy of pack acceptance, thrown into chaos by one pink swirl in a potion bottle.

I splash water on my face, trying to compose myself. But when I meet my eyes in the mirror, I see everything I'm trying to hide—fear, uncertainty, and underneath it all, a fierce protectiveness I've never felt before. My reflection shows someone changed, someone carrying a secret bigger than herself. A responsibility I never imagined, never asked for, never wanted—but it’s here now.

The thought brings fresh tears, but I force them back. I have a trial to prepare for. Alliances to forge. A place in this pack to fight for, not just for myself now, but for the new life I carry. The world won’t stop spinning just because mine has flipped upside down.

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