Page 31 of Claimed By the Goalie Alpha
"I'm a shifter and I can hear things humans can't. And I'm hearing two hearts right now." I placed my hand over his stomach. "Yours and another one."
"And because of that, you think I'm pregnant."
He pulled away and stood up. His hands were shaking. "How long have you known?"
"I just figured it out. Maybe five minutes ago."
"And you thought what? That you'd ease into it by asking if I wanted kids?"
"I needed to know if you'd be okay with it and if this was something you'd want."
"That's not how this works, Renard." He was pacing now, running his hand through his hair. "You don't get to decide whether to tell me I'm pregnant based on whether you think I'll react well."
"You're right." I stood too. "I was scared of how you'd react and whether you'd want this."
He stopped pacing. "You were scared I wouldn't want our baby."
The way he saidour babygave me hope, despite how I’d fucked this up. "Yes."
"When you said you wanted kids, were you testing me?"
"No. I want this baby, Julian." I took a step toward him. "But only if you do." The words were coming out all wrong. Damn maybe I should have just blurted out that he was pregnant but I’d never done this before.
That’s obvious. My wolf wasn’t impressed.
His hand drifted to his stomach. "How sure are you that I'm pregnant?"
"I can hear the heartbeat."
"We should take a test."
"Okay. I can go get one."
"No." He grabbed his jacket. "Let's go together."
Julian stood in the pharmacy pregnancy test aisle, staring at the options. I stayed close but gave him space.
"Which one?" he asked in a wavering voice.
I picked up the box closest to me. "This one says it’s ninety-nine percent accurate."
"Okay." He took it from me with shaking hands, then reached for a second box. "Just in case."
Back at his apartment, he disappeared into the bathroom. I waited on the couch and my wolf was as anxious as I was.
What if he doesn't want the baby?
The bathroom door opened. Julian emerged holding two plastic sticks. His pale face wasn’t reassuring.
"They’re both positive." He held them out. "I'm pregnant."
"How do you feel?"
He set the tests on the coffee table. "Not sure. Will the baby be a shifter?"
"Most likely."
"And you said shifters mate for life. That's what you said earlier. What does that mean exactly?"
