Chapter 26

Eva's POV

Tina and I both looked up horrified by the intrusive voice, not expecting anyone to have heard our confidential conversation. One Tina wanted to keep a secret between her and me.
Torey stood in the doorway, his hand gripping the door handle as his gaze followed between both of ours, his attention landing and staying on mine.
Confusion flashed through his eyes as if the information he had heard, sounded incorrect. A frown appeared soon after, and the room surrounding by an awkward silence as we all went into a state of shock.
Wanting to speak to Torey in private and knowing that Tina needed to rest, I gently squeezed her hand. Rubbing my thumb across her knuckles reassuringly.
"Why don't you go to bed and sleep on it? You don't have to make any rash decisions and it will make you feel much better."
She agreed before giving me a small smile and heading out the door, brushing past Torey as she gave him a respectful nod.
Torey copied her gesture as we watched her leave our bedroom in the direction of our spare bedroom since Elijah had duties to attend to tonight and Tina would often reside at ours when he was away for a few days.
Once she was out of view, Torey flew towards me, his body standing in front of the bed. A frown appeared on his features.
"Who's pregnant?"
"I'm not pregnant Torey, Tina is. Elijah doesn't know yet so you cannot mention this to him."
His chest heaved up slightly, disappointment rolling off him.
"I thought it was you for a moment." He admitted, sadness flashing across his face before quickly disappearing.
I shook my head at him, leaning up before standing on the bed, moving towards him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. His hands gripped my hips and pulled me closer to him.
"No, not me."
We stood like that for a minute or two, holding each other before Torey spoke. "Maybe you should take a test, it's not like we've been careful. We have been mated for a while now, it could be a possibility."
I pulled out of his hold to look at him, his hands still residing on my hips.
"I haven't had any symptoms, Torey. I don't feel it's necessary to take a pregnancy test unless I have at least one symptom."
"It wouldn't hurt to take one either Eva." He countered.
"No," I replied stubbornly.
"It's unnecessary and you will only be disgruntled by the results."
Torey had expressed to me that he was excited to have more pups especially since he hadn't experienced my first pregnancy and any of Luara's first things such as her first steps, her first laugh, and her first smile. I didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes when the test came back negative.
His wolf flickered within his eyes for a moment, his human and beast disagreeing with one another. I watched on as Torey took control of his wolf, pushing him to the back of his mind.
"I still think you should do a test Eva, for your safety and to settle my wolf."
His voice had a final tone to it, his wolf still lingering at the border of his control.
"I'll think about it." I replied, deciding to leave it on that note. Hoping to end this conversation before it turned into an argument and thankfully, it worked.
Torey kissed my forehead before undressing and getting into bed, snuggling up close to me as we both fell into a deep sleep.
He had a busy schedule over the next few days which meant I would be spending most of my time with Tina and Charlotte.
It was now Sunday and Elijah had arrived back to pack territory, and from what I had gathered, Tina had been avoiding him as much as possible. Her mind was still trying to accept that she was pregnant, and she was concerned about how Elijah would react.
Elijah had turned up at our house in search of finding his mate, only to be dragged into baking cakes with Luara.
They both sat at the kitchen counter, a wooden spoon in hand as they messily moved the cake mixture from the bowl into the cupcakes cases. Luara's fingers found their way into the mixture and into her mouth more than the cases.
Elijah wasn't exactly contributing much help either as he began to lick the spoon, the cake mixture smothered both their faces, Luara giggling as Elijah wiped some onto her cheeks.
"No Uncle Elijah, I want to eat it not wear it."
"I thought I could return the favor since you decided to pour flour into my hair." He replied, chuckling as he licked his finger, removing the excess cake batter.
"I'd rather you both kept it for the cupcakes." I laughed, interrupting their conversation as I walked into the kitchen.
"There's going to be about two cupcakes from the amount of cake mixture you've wasted."
I shook my head amused at the pair of them, they were both covered in flour while egg and other ingredients laid across the counter from the mess they had caused.
"It's Luara's fault." Elijah smirked as Luara frowned, poking his tongue out at her as he attempted to do the blame game.
"You're the one with cake mixture on your face." Luara sassed, her tone strong and adamant regardless of the sheer amount of cake batter that stained her face and top.
I ignored the pair of them as they teased each other, grabbing a cloth, and soaking it under the tap before wiping it across Luara's hands and mouth. I even repeated it on Elijah as Luara giggled, and he rolled his eyes at my mothering behavior.
We had been clearing up when Elijah turned around to face me, closing the fridge door as I wiped down the counters. Luara had moved into the living room, watching a movie as Elijah and I cleaned the kitchen.
"Have you spoken to Tina much while I've been away? She seems to be blocking me from her mind and when she does speak to me, it's one-worded answers. I came back this morning after being away for a few days and I haven't seen her."
Worry laced his voice, he was concerned about his mate and I could understand why. Tina had never been good with her emotions, she would always bottle everything up until she would explode. She was like me in that way.
"She's been keeping herself busy the last few days, I think she's just tired, Elijah. Maybe you should talk to her, and see if anything is up." I replied I didn't want to say too much and get involved in their personal business. Tina had told me in confidence, and it was a conversation for her to have with her mate.
"I thought I would check with you first, with you being best friends and all. She told me about twenty minutes ago that she just got back home, I just didn't want to go in there blindly."
"Just speak to her Elijah, you're mates. Nothing bad will come out of it." Elijah nodded at my encouragement before heading into the living room to say goodbye to Luara and then out the front door.
Since Elijah had returned, they would both be living back at his house. Tina had spent the last few days thinking about the pregnancy, she wanted to keep it but was fearful of Elijah's reaction.
I quickly sent Tina a quick mind link, preparing her for Elijah's arrival knowing that she would have wanted notice.
As expected, she was grateful and promised to give me the details as soon as she could.

Elijah's POV

Arriving back on pack territory had been comforting for my wolf, he had been stirring for days wanting to be back in the presence of his mate. Hating that we had to leave her behind as we carried out duties beyond pack lines.
While away, we had both noticed that our mate was being vague and cagey. She was putting up a block within our mind link, enabling me from sensing her thoughts and feelings.
It had been purposeful, and she hadn't been able to do it discreetly.
When I questioned her about it, she denied it and stated that she was just trying to figure out our mate communication line, but that was an obvious lie.
I decided to leave it while I was away, not wanting to agitate her until we were faced to face.
I approached Torey and Eva's house, assuming that Tina would be there only to find that Tina had gone over to Sam's house, to visit his mate, Charlotte. I was going to leave to find her when Luara distracted me, wanting to bake cupcakes.
Sam's daughter Tiannah was at her grandparents for the day and Luara desperately wanted to have someone to play with, and her pout was the only thing that had kept me from saying no.
I adored Luara but I felt indecisive about having my own, having children had never crossed my mind. Tina had brought up the conversation to me once, but it was cut off short. The idea of Tina carrying my pups appealed to me, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to be a father let alone be one.
I left the Alpha's property still feeling perplexed about the situation with Tina. Eva clearly knew more than she was giving up and that was understandable since they were best friends.
I was walking up the porch steps when a wave of anxiousness hit me all at once and it wasn't coming from me, it was coming from Tina. She had accidentally opened our mate connection, her worry filtering through my body.
I raced up the stairs, my feet carrying me straight to our bedroom, unable to shake off hers and my own anxiety.
I opened our bedroom door, finding Tina sitting on top of our bed crossed-legged, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes as she stared fearfully at me.
I took a step in, walking towards her and sitting beside her on the bed.
"Tina, what's going on?" I questioned, a concerned frown echoing onto my face as I analyzed her every move.
I got a whimper in return as tears began to rush down her cheeks, her face becoming red and wet.
I pulled her towards me, her head burying into my neck as she continued to cry, words spilling from her mouth but none of them making sense.
"Calm down." I whispered as her heart rate soared, the sound reaching my ears. Her chest constricting as she breathed loudly until she finally controlled herself. My hand held onto her head as she stayed glued to my chest.
I pulled her back once her breathing had leveled, her eyes red and puffy. My wolf was going insane inside my mind, he was demanding to know what had upset our mate and the look of fear that crossed her face didn't go unnoticed.
I stroked her cheek softly, staring into her fearful gaze.
"What is it, Tina?
She bit onto her bottom lip, a lone tear running down her cheek. She couldn't keep eye contact with me, constantly wanting to look elsewhere.
"Elijah. I'm, I'm…"
"You're what?" I replied when she began to fiddle with her fingers, the words unable to leave her mouth.
I grabbed hold of her hands, forcing her gaze as she stared at me only to close her eyes tightly, sighing and opening them back up before whispering.
"I'm pregnant."
Unintentionally, I dropped our hands, our fingers coming apart as I moved back slightly from her admission, my mind not comprehending what she had said.
"What?" I replied, dazed, and bewildered.
"I'm pregnant Elijah." She whispered lowly.
"Oh wow, erm…" I was completely and utterly speechless, my mind not acknowledging what she had said fully. My thoughts and emotions were muddling between my own and my wolf's unable to articulate myself properly.
"I know this is probably not what you had wanted but we have options and –". Tina quickly started mumbling, words falling out of her mouth as she rushed to get them out. She mentioned adoption and abortion before her crying caught me out of my daze position.
My hands flew up to her cheeks, cupping her face in my hands as her face scrunched up in sadness.
"No." I spoke
She shook her head forcefully within my hands, tears flowing consistently down her cheeks.
"I can't have an abortion Elijah; I just can't do that." She cried.
I shook my head at her, my hand reaching down to hold her stomach, gently rubbing.
"I want our pup, of course, I do."
"You do?" She replied instantly, hopeful, and relieved.
"Of course, I do Tina, it's unexpected and certainly a surprise but I'll be with you the whole way. You're my mate and I want whatever you want, whatever makes you happy."