Chapter 218

Justin’s POV

“I’ve already talked to Lisa about getting pregnant,” Helen said. “She doesn’t think there should be any adverse effects from the Huntsman. Even after finding the witches and wizards who are more powerful than her, none of them have ever heard of this specific situation, but none of them could think of any reason why the baby wouldn’t be okay. I think we need to trust Lisa’s opinion and the opinions of those that she respects.”

“Still, I want this whole pregnancy monitored,” I said, “start to finish. Let’s not take any chances.”

I ran my hand across Helen’s cheek, cupping her face lovingly. “I don’t want to take any chances with your health either. Pregnancy can be hard on the mother. I want to make sure that you’re getting what you need so that you stay healthy. I want you to fully enjoy having a child when the time comes. I don’t want you drained and exhausted, or worse.”

She put her hand over the top of mine, snuggling her cheek against my palm. “Thank you for worrying about me.”

I pressed send, and my phone rang. My palm was so sweaty with my nerves that I worried I might drop the phone. I had no idea that something so good could cause so much stress.

A woman’s voice answered. “Dr. Peterson’s office.”

I fumbled with the phone, nearly dropping it. “Hi, this is King Justin, and I was wondering if Dr. Peterson was still seeing new patients?”

“Yes, she is. If it’s for the king, she’d be happy to take on new patients.”

“She?” I asked, confused. “I thought . . . well, the Dr. Peterson I’m familiar with from this number was a man.”

The receptionist laughed. “Oh, you must mean the current Dr. Peterson’s father. Dr. Emily Peterson took over Dr. Aaron Peterson’s practice when he retired five years ago. Emily Peterson is his daughter.”

I glanced at Helen, and she gave me a nod. “All right. That’s fine with us.”

“May I ask who the patient is and what’s this regarding?” the receptionist asked.

“The patient is my Luna, Helen. And it’s regarding pregnancy.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,” the receptionist said. “Is Luna Helen expecting already?”

“Yes. We just took a pregnancy test, and she is expecting. We’d really like to see Dr. Peterson soon because, given everything that Helen went through shortly before we conceived, I want to make sure that both she and the baby are in sound condition.”

“Understandable,” the receptionist said through the phone. “I have an opening on Friday of this week if you’re interested.”

“That sounds fantastic,” I said.

“Can you wait three days?” I asked Helen.

Helen giggled. “Three days is no problem. We can wait.”

“Excellent.” I went back to the receptionist. “Are you guys in the same offices as before?”

“No need to worry,” the receptionist said. “Dr. Peterson will make a house call for the royal family. You’ll be her last appointment of the day, and she’ll be at your house at 5:00 PM. What is the address?”

I gave her the address and finished working out the rest of the details, and then hung up. Helen and I grabbed each other, hugging and laughing again. This was all so exciting, almost surreal, in that life had been so horrible for so long, and now everything seemed to be going right. I guess the world really did run on balance. We paid our share of the bad, and now it was time for the good. And all signs pointed toward things continuing to get better.

Randy’s POV

I had paced around my office so many times I felt sure I would wear a path on the brown carpet. On my desk sat piles of papers. Justin kept delegating tasks to me, and I was trying my best to get them all done, but I was pretty sure he had no idea how much he’d actually given me.

Not only were we starting the new businesses to get the True Mates pack’s finances up and running, but I was still working on weeding out the last of those who might have sided with either the Huntsman or King Juden.

I spent a good deal of time setting up trials and arranging for the evidence for those we already had incarcerated. I still had my duties with the training of our warriors, especially since we’d lost some. Now the ranks needed to be rearranged to be fully efficient. And on top of that, there was this harebrained scheme that Justin and Helen had for getting pregnant.

I had seen what the two of them were capable of during their sexual interludes, and it frightened me that they would consider being left alone for conception. Though, I did find it strange that I hated them for having sex without me present because, honestly, the last thing I wanted to do was watch them have more sex together.

And it wasn’t just them. I was so sick of everyone else having someone. Justin and Helen had gone at it like rabbits, all to get this lycan pup of theirs. Now Lisa and Russo were getting married, and somehow Helen had made friends with Julianne, who came with Peter.

I found myself completely surrounded by couples all the time now.

My single state had rarely bothered me before. It wasn’t like I sat around moping because I was by myself. In fact, until I’ve been surrounded by all of these squishy, lovey-dovey, fairly recently brought together couples, I hadn’t given being single a second thought at all.

Now I felt like an oddity. I wished I had someone to distract me more than being single bothered me. I didn’t begrudge them for finding their partners if that made any sense. I just didn’t want to spend my time jealous of their good fortune.

I switched the direction of my pacing, pausing at the window to look outside. The earliest hints of spring were touching the forest. The naked branches had turned red with their buds, and here and there, an early bloomer peaked hints of green. In another couple of weeks, everything would look like spring.

Spring made everything look different, the way it carried new life. And this year, Helen would be included in that. I didn’t know how long it took for a woman to show. I’d never really been around pregnant ladies before. Justin said Helen was at eight weeks . . . nine weeks, I don’t know. I don’t know how they count these things.

For me, the part I worried most about was my reaction to seeing Helen show her pregnancy. After all the abuse Justin put Helen through, a nasty little part of me kept hoping she would reject him. I’d tried my damnedest to bury my feelings for her. But the best I’d done was tuck them away. They still existed, no matter how much they tortured me.

While I’d never experienced a mate bond myself, I knew they were strong enough to defy logic. So when Helen insisted on staying with Justin, I swallowed it because her biology left her little choice. But there was always a sliver of hope.

Once she started showing, all that would disappear. Every day I saw her, I’d be face to face with the growing evidence that Justin had gotten exactly what he wanted, despite having treated her miserably. And the dumb look on her face told me she liked her life that way.

If she had stayed miserable, she might have turned to me for comfort eventually. But with a baby . . . And worse, they’d expect me to be delighted with the child. All the while, I’d wonder if I couldn’t have given her better. If I’d had a child with Helen, would the false happiness she felt now be polished to gold?

I would have loved her, treated her like a true luna, like an equal. Our child would have been the apple of my eye, not the chance to save my species. Would her happiness with me have been better? I’d always wonder.