Chapter 3

Elliot didn’t know I had gone back into his study that afternoon and hidden a camera.

On my phone, I watched him pick up one of Blair’s photographs.

“Caleb didn’t leave the state just to avoid you,” he told it. “Why do you only ever see him? Why did it have to be his pup?”

He sat down with the photograph still in his hand.

“Nora said she wanted to have my child today. It got to me. She’s a good woman.” He rubbed his thumb over the picture. “But she’ll never be you.”

I turned the volume down, though there was no one in the bedroom to hear it.

“Maybe I could love her more if she could give me a pup,” he said. “But that isn’t going to happen.”

I stared at the screen until my eyes hurt.

He did want a child. He might even have cared for me a little. But given a choice between that life and Blair’s happiness, he had already made his decision.

I set the phone beside me. If he wanted her that badly, I would stop standing in his way.

The next morning, Blair arrived with staff carrying her luggage. Luna Blair, moving into the pack house Elliot and I shared as though the place had been prepared for her.

I barely looked at the bags. Elliot was in the kitchen.

In two years of marriage, he had never cooked for me. I had never even seen him trying to learn. Now he was standing over the stove, carefully checking the food.

At the table, Blair took a shrimp dumpling from the breakfast he had put together and bit into it.

“Sis, how does Elliot not know you’re allergic to shrimp?” she asked. “I guess he just remembers that I love it.”

I tightened my fingers around my spoon.

“Last dish,” Elliot announced from the doorway. “A shrimp and egg omelet.”

He wore oven mitts and looked pleased with himself. He set the plate in front of me.

“Eat up, Nora. You need to build your strength.”

Blair laughed. “You really didn’t know? She can’t eat shrimp. Still, what do you expect after a rushed mating? You two hardly knew each other.”

Elliot looked from her to me.

“Nora, I’m sorry. I’ve never cooked before. I didn’t think—”

Nausea rose before he could finish. I hadn’t eaten any of it, but I couldn’t bear the smell. I covered my mouth and ran to the bathroom.

He followed and rubbed my back while I retched.

Blair leaned against the doorway, watching us.

“That’s exactly what I was like with morning sickness,” she said. “Poor thing.”

I reached for the faucet.

“Except that can’t be what’s wrong with you, can it?”

Elliot turned toward her. “You had morning sickness?”

His hand remained on my back, but his attention was already gone.

“Of course I did. I’ve been through so much for your brother, and all he does is argue with me.” She rested a hand on her stomach. “Honestly, sometimes I don’t even want this pup anymore.”

Elliot let go of me and took her hand.

“Don’t say that. You’re carrying the future heir of the Ward pack. Caleb will appreciate everything you’ve done once the baby’s here.”

Blair leaned against him.

“You’re lucky, Nora. Your husband is so much more considerate than mine.”

Color rose in Elliot’s ears. He steadied her with both hands.

“Be careful. You’re too far along to be careless.”

She drew in a sharp breath and clutched her belly.

“Blair?”

He lifted her before she had answered.

“Nora, I’m taking her to the pack physician.”

I was still bent over the sink when he carried her out. Water ran over my fingers. I watched it until I could breathe without crying.

He hadn’t asked whether I was all right.

As soon as my parents heard Blair wasn’t well, they rushed over. When she came back, they fussed over her, asking what she needed and telling Elliot and me to take proper care of her.

They even hired the best caregiver they could find for her.

No one asked why I had been sick that morning.