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Chapter Twenty

Freya

One month later…

Iwalked out into the cold night knowing that Zark was somewhere nearby. In fact, I knew exactly where he was. I remembered that one time when he first brought me to his home and I walked out to this very tree. He’d caught ankle and then caught my fall. It was on that morning that we’d had the conversation about the possibility of me leaving and sending me back to the dorms. Even if I had gone back, it wouldn’t have mattered. At one point or another, my intuition would have led me right back here.

He was on the ground, beneath the tree with his eyes closed. Sleeping. Or maybe just pretending to be asleep.

I knelt down on the ground and was able to stretch out right beside him. I laid out the blanket I’d brought with me so that it covered both of us.

“You shouldn’t be sleeping out here, love,” he said quietly, which confirmed that he wasn’t sleeping at all.

“I was cold without you.”

“I was coming back.” He lifted me off the ground and placed me on top of him. He felt so warm. He was solid, yet secure and soft. I laid my head against his chest.

“I was only meditating,” he said. “And looking at the stars.”

“So, that’s what you do out here when you’re alone.”

“Yes, sometimes it can be more fulfilling than sitting in the cave of reflection,” he said.

“What were you thinking about?” I asked.

“Us.”

I smiled. “And what else?”

“Something has changed…”

I lifted my head from his chest and looked at his face. It was dark, but I could still make out his ǔre gleaming in his eyes. “Something?”

“There’s something different about you.”

I sighed and smiled and knew in that moment, I couldn’t keep my news from him. Because if he knew that something had changed in me, he probably already suspected what I came out here to tell him.

“I’m pregnant.”

He exhaled a long sigh on contentment. “I knew it.”

I swallowed. “Is that okay?”

“Of course, it’s okay. I am so happy I could leap for joy.”

I giggled. “I would like to see that.”

He stroked my chin with his fingers. “You’ve known for two weeks haven’t you?”

I nodded. “I just wasn’t sure. Meriuam left me the tests because she suspected it too, but I didn’t need to take them. My cycles are regular. I’ve missed too many days. I know I’m pregnant. But how did you know?”

“You were sick a few days ago right after we ate breakfast. And then the week before that, I scented that something was off about your body. When our mates become pregnant with our young, they give off a very distinct scent. I’ve smelled it before but I didn’t know what it was. I had to think on it for a bit.”

“It makes me so happy to know that you’re happy about this too,” I said.

“I’m going to be a father,” he said.

“What do you think the sex will be?”