Chapter 114

Selene

The moment we pull into the packhouse's driveway, Phoenix is already out the door, storming towards me. His expression is a whirlwind of frustration and concern. I barely have time to take off my seatbelt before he throws the car door open and pulls me into his arms.

My heart pounds, not from fear, but every instinct inside me is screaming to shield my belly. My wolf has been present ever since we were in the drug store, and I can't seem to push her back. Her instincts are thrumming through me, forcing me to the mother I'm not ready to be.

"A-Are you okay?" I stammer, my hand hovering just over my stomach as if it might somehow hide the truth a little longer. I'm definitely not ready to tell him. Maybe I never will be, but I know I'll have to rip the band-aid off sometime.

"Yeah, I just missed you. So fucking much." His voice is a low growl, rough with emotions my wolf responds to. It's only been a few hours, but both of us are acting like it's been years.

Oh, goddess. Is there a possibility that Phoenix's wolf can pick up on the fact that I'm carrying our pup too?

I let myself melt into him, my body betraying the tumult of thoughts that have been racing through my head ever since those two pink lines showed up. "I missed you too," I whisper against his chest, my voice soft but trembling.

It feels so good to be in his fucking arms again, and or a second, I almost want to tell him. But now's definitely not the time. Not when we have a hostage...Luther's secretary.

When I finally pull away, reluctantly detangling myself from his embrace, Makayla and Loki join us. Makayla shoots me a look, like she's trying her hardest to keep my secret, but thankfully, her lips remain sealed.

"Soo...what's the situation with the hostage?" Loki asks gruffly.

Phoenix flashes a grin, something dangerous and teasing all at once. "Hostage sounds bad. I prefer...unwilling guest."

I snort, trying to keep up with the banter, though my mind is still miles away, swirling with thoughts of a baby, of how I'm about to be a mother and Phoenix...he's going to be a father.

Fuck. How are we really going to do this? I guess I'll have to get telling him out the way before I even begin to think about anything else.

"That really doesn't sound any better," Loki mutters, pulling me out of my head.

Phoenix glances back down at me, his brows knitting together. "Are you okay? You look sick or something, baby."

I almost choke on the word 'baby,' but I manage to whisper, "Yeah, I'm good."

Phoenix doesn't look convinced by my response, but he leaves it alone...for now.

"Goddess, can you be any more obvious?" Makayla asks in my head.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying okay?" I snap back. "I never expected I needed to hide something this fucking big from him before."

"You don't have to if you don't want to. You can tell him right now."

"No," I reply, too quickly. "Let's just deal with this whole thing first, okay?"

"Where is she?" Loki asks, continuing their conversation about the hostage.

Phoenix jerks his back towards the house. "In the house. Luke's watching her."

Makayla raises an eyebrow. "You mean guarding her so she doesn't escape?"

Phoenix shrugs, shoving his hands into the pocket of his black hoodie like he has no fucks to give in the world. "She won't escape. Luther's on his way to get her."

As he speaks, I study his face, every little detail, trying to figure out when I'm supposed to drop this life-changing bomb. Fuck. Why can't I concentrate on anything else right now? I know Phoenix needs me to focus right now, to deal with what's right in front of us. But I can't seem to do that no matter how hard I try.

It feels like blurting it out would make me feel a thousand times better, it would lift this heavy ass weight off my shoulders.

It's got to be my instincts doing this, right?

I barely register Loki's voice as we walk up the driveway towards the house. "Are you suppressing her wolf?"

Phoenix takes my hand, brushing his thumb back and forth against my palm. The motion should be calming, but it does nothing to ease the swarm of bees buzzing in my stomach.

"Not until she gives me a reason to," he replies to Loki's question. "She's been pretty cooperative so far. Didn't even try to attack me when I had to drive her BMW."

"She has a BMW?" Makayla asks, sounding shocked. "For a secretary, the bonuses for working for the Devils must be good as hell."

"Um, can we focus on the fact that we have a stranger being held against her will in our house? What's the protocol for this? Do we like talk to her or something, or just wait for Luther to show up?" I ask, tightening my hold on my mate's hand.

Phoenix shrugs. "You can talk to her if you want. She might be a little hostile, but she won't harm anyone. I'm sure she's only doing that because she's holding Luther will do it for her, but that's not going to happen."

"How do you sound so sure?" Loki asks, tugging Makayla into his side as we walk.

"He wouldn't be coming here for her if she didn't mean something to him. That means we have someone of value to him, and possibly the entire organization. I'll threaten her life if I need to, but I have a feeling this is gonna go smoothly. Besides, it's just a talk. We don't really want anything else from them."

With the wall to his emotions down, I can feel exactly how confident he is about this, which makes me feel a little better about this situation. This absolute certainty of his—it's what I need to hold on to throughout this entire thing. If he really felt like any of us would be in danger, especially his Luna, he wouldn't be okay with us being here.

But that buzzing in my stomach...it isn't going away. And it feels like it won't until I tell him that I'm pregnant.