Something Real

Ragnar's POV

Where the hell was Lisa? 

Maren's note was on my desk when I got back from the morning briefing.

One folded sheet. I read it once, read it again, then tucked it into my pocket and went to find Lisa.

She was coming from the kitchen with an apple in her hand and her eyes somewhere ahead of her feet. She would have walked straight past me if I had not stepped into her path.

"Maren flagged something about the baby."

The apple stopped mid-toss.

"What kind of something?" She asked, pale silver eyes glowing.

"Walk with me."

She fell into step without argument, which told me the word baby had done exactly what I knew it would do.

I took the chair across from her rather than behind the desk. She sat without being asked, turned the apple over in her hands and waited.

"The baby's heartbeat is stronger than it should be at this stage," I told her. "Significantly."

"Significantly." She repeated the word back slowly, tasting it.

"Maren is not alarmed. She is curious."

"What is the difference?"

"Alarmed means something is wrong. Curious means something is unexpected." I leaned forward. "She thinks the child may be carrying something beyond standard Alpha genetics."

Her hands went still on the apple.

"From you?" she said.

"Possibly. Or from you."

A short silence. Then she let out a breath through her nose that was almost a laugh but not quite. "I am an omega, Ragnar."

"You were registered as one."

"That is the same thing."

"It is not."

Her jaw tightened. She set the apple on the edge of my desk and crossed her arms. "Then what is it?"

I sat back. "There are bloodlines in the wolf world that were deliberately suppressed generations ago. Lines that carried power the ruling Alphas of that era found threatening. They used curse work, passed it down through generations quietly enough that the descendants never knew what they were carrying." I paused. "They just knew they were weaker than everyone else. Registered omegas were dismissed."

The apple sat between us on the desk.

Lisa uncrossed her arms. Crossed them again. Looked at the window then back at me. "You think I am one of them."

"I think it is worth finding out."

"Based on a baby's heartbeat?"

"Based on several things."

Her eyes narrowed. 

"Your wolf's response to threat when my guards apprehended you. The speed at which the mate bond established…. the baby's strength has been accelerating." I held her gaze. "And the fact that no true omega has ever walked into this pack and remained standing the way you have."

Something shifted in her face. She looked away quickly.

"I need you to start paying attention to your body. Not just the pregnancy. If there's anything that feels stronger, different, or off in any direction—"

"I should inform you, right?" Her voice came out flat. "I know."

"Lisa."

She turned back.

"I am not collecting information on you. I am trying to make sure you are not blindsided by something neither of us saw coming."

She gave me a long stare, letting the silence stretch between us.

Then she reached out, picked up the apple and took a bite, keeping her eyes on the desk between us.

"Why did you come to tell me yourself? Instead of just sending Maren."

The honest answer sat in my chest and stayed there. 

"Decisions about this child belong to both of us," I told her.

Her chewing slowed.

"You keep saying that," she said quietly.

"Because it's true."

She looked at me then. "Most men in your position would have just taken the child and not bothered with the both of us part."

"I am not most men."

Her chin lifted slightly. "What kind of father are you planning to be?"

The question landed hard… I hadn't thought of that ever. 

Father never…

I was quiet long enough that she added, softly, "You do not have to answer that."

"I want to." I looked out the window. 

Two wolves crossed the training ground below and for some reason that grounded me.

I turned back to her.

"I grew up without one. What I had instead was a man who saw me as a problem to be managed. I was nine when he decided I was easier to remove than manage." I stopped there. "I know exactly what I will not do. The rest I am figuring out as I go."

The room sat quiet around us.

"Nine?" Lisa asked.

"Nine."

She turned the apple stem between her fingers. "My mother used to say that people who had bad childhoods either became the worst parents or the best ones. No in between."

"Which did she think you would be?"

Something crossed her face. But it was gone before I could fully read it. "She died when I was four. I never got to ask her."

Neither of us said anything for a moment.

"You will be a good mother," I told her.

She looked up sharply, like the sentence had come from an unexpected direction.

"You do not know that," she said.

"I know enough."

The corner of her mouth moved.

She stood, picked up the apple, and headed for the door. Paused with her hand on the frame without turning around. "Thank you… for telling me yourself."

Then she was gone.

I stayed in the chair across from the empty one. Our conversation had gone somewhere I had not planned.

Despite the fact that I had been the one to take it there. 

Heath one of the Pack's gammas knocked twice and entered before I had finished not examining it.

He crossed to my desk and set a folded report down without a word, which meant the contents required a steady hand to receive.

I picked it up.

Roman SilverMoon…. Border enquiries logged over the past three days. Entry points, patrol rotations, shift schedules and attached was a copy of a photograph — Lisa and I at the market festival.

Someone inside my pack had taken it and sent it to him. I set the report down. "Find out who sent it," I told Heath, my voice low.

He nodded, eyes acknowledging the unspoken threat, and left. The door clicked shut, and I was alone. Roman was coming.

Good.

My wolf stirred, senses sharpened, as if scenting the wind of danger approaching.