Chapter 48

Anastasia wasn’t sure if they were correlated, but she had noticed that the baby was much more active whenever she was in the pack house or around other wolves which ultimately, made sense. As she was carrying a full-blooded wolf, it only made sense that the baby would feed off the supernatural energy.

Harvey whistled lowly, his eyes widening slightly. “So, you’ll go into labour in two weeks?”

“I hope so.” She winced at a particularly hard kick, but was fine after a few moments had passed. “I’ve gotten so big that I can’t wait to get this baby out of me.”

“Yeah, a lot of pregnant women tend to say that when they get close to the finishing line.”

“Finishing line?” Anastasia smirked as she cocked a teasing brow at his strange choice of words. “This isn’t a race. I hope you’re aware of that.”

“Yes, of course! Bad choice of words, sorry.” Harvey guffawed. “It’s definitely not a race, especially since you’re doing such a noble thing for your friends.”

She shrugged and her eyes avoided meeting hers, never one to take praise all that well.

“Well, I don’t see this as anything noble.” Anastasia shrugged again. “I’m just helping out my friends.”

“You really are so amazing and you don’t even realise it.” Harvey hummed and while it looked like he wanted to say something more, it was evident that he was biting his tongue. Before she could prod him with further questioning, he was quick to change the subject and this time, it was him who avoided meeting her eyes.

“You never did get that dinner with me that you promised.” His lips curled up into a devilish grin, the previous red hue that adorned his cheeks now fading as his eyes returned to meet hers; the moment having passed already.

“You’ve got a good memory.” She chuckled lightly, her lips stretching into a grin. “But as of recent weeks, I’m not really in the mood to do much of anything so how about I make you a proposition?”

“Tell me more about this proposition.” He hummed quietly, a curious expression on his face as he waited for her to explain what she had in mind.

“Let me pop this little one out and then I’ll reconsider. How does that sound?”

“I guess I’ll start planning then.” Harvey laughed softly, his eyes glinting as they scrunched up slightly at the corners.

“You do that, and I’ll work on pushing out this baby.”

They both laughed at her joke and as the conversation fizzled out, Harvey left to grab himself a sandwich before heading back to work while she returned to the baby store

“Who was that?” Justas asked curiously as she joined in the middle of all the baby clothes aisles, Raphael currently running around trying to find the cutest baby grows.

“Just a friend.” She hummed quietly with a small smile on her face, glancing between the couple and not for the first time very aware of just how different yet perfect together her two friends were.

They were truly soulmates for a reason and once again, Anastasia wished she was more wolf than human so she would be granted a mate and her life would become far less complicated than it already was. However, she had no one but herself to blame for she had been the one to kiss the Alpha, a wolf who had made it clear to her that he already had a mate; even if things were complicated, as he had so graciously put it.

“He seems like more than a friend to me.”

“Says you.” She scoffed but then visibly winced slightly as her back started aching some more, needing to sit down before it got worse. “Mind if I take a seat somewhere while you both continue shopping?”

“I’ll join you.” Justas offered straight away, his eyes glazing over which she now recognised to be a tell-tale sign of using the mind link.

“Oh, there’s no need.” She tried to dismiss even though she would really enjoy the company, especially since she never spent much time alone with Justas.

“Don’t worry about it.” Justas chuckled as he reached around to place his hand on the small of her back and guide her out of the store and heading in the direction of the cafeteria.

While Anastasia and Justas spent some quality time together over some fries and chocolate milkshake, Raphael ticked off all the items off his shopping list, getting the few last things that they needed before the baby came. Within the hour, they were back in the car and on their way back to the pack, Anastasia purposely dodging more questions that both Raphael and Justas had about her newfound friend, Harvey.

While she wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between them, if there was even anything going on since all they seemed to do was flirt casually, Anastasia didn’t really want to discuss the ins and outs of whatever she had with Harvey. And she knew that if she stayed over at Justas and Raphael’s new cottage that night, she would do a whole lot more than incriminate herself and instead, she chose to allow the happy couple to spend their first night in their new place together alone.

She could only imagine all the things that had planned to christen the place, especially since she knew just how freaky Raphael could be due to his few conquests during his college days, despite how seemingly innocent he appeared on the outside.

Anastasia chuckled as she let herself into the packhouse and down the hallway that led to the guest bedroom she was staying in. She was laughing quietly to herself and clutching the few small purchases that she had made as she entered the room, but it was only when Anastasia turned on the lights that she realised someone else was in the room with her.