THE FIRST ACHE

CHAPTER 10

The pain hit without warning.

One second, I was walking down the hallway.

The next, something pulled sharply low in my stomach, and my knees buckled.

"Mira!"

I barely heard him.

A second later, Roman was on the floor beside me, one hand hovering near my back as though he couldn't decide whether touching me would help or make things worse.

"The baby"

My breath caught as another wave of pain tightened through my stomach.

"Don't move."

His voice was sharp.

Not controlled.

Not distant.

Afraid.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Low everywhere."

I curled forward, fighting for air.

Roman's head snapped toward the corridor.

"Sable!"

His voice echoed through the hall.

"Someone get Sable. Now!"

"I can walk."

"You're not walking."

Before I could argue, he lifted me.

One arm went beneath my knees, the other supporting my back. His hold was firm but careful, as though he was afraid I might break if he moved too quickly.

I closed my eyes.

For the first time since arriving at Blackthorn, I felt something I hadn't expected to feel around Roman.

Safe.

Even while my body hurt.

Sable appeared at the medical room door before Roman reached it, already carrying her instruments.

"Put her on the table."

Roman lowered me carefully.

Sable immediately moved to my side.

"Out."

"No."

She looked up.

"Roman."

"I'm staying."

"I need space to examine her."

"You can examine her with me here."

Sable's mouth tightened.

"This is a medical room, not a battlefield. Stay where you are and don't interfere."

Roman's jaw flexed.

But he stepped back.

Only barely.

Sable began working.

She checked my pulse first, then my breathing. Her hands moved carefully over my abdomen, examining the area where the pain had been strongest.

I gritted my teeth.

"Tell me what you're feeling," she said.

"Pressure."

"Anything else?"

I swallowed.

"Something under my skin."

Sable's hands paused.

"Describe it."

"Like static."

The word sounded ridiculous.

"Like something moving beneath my skin."

Her expression changed.

Roman noticed immediately.

"What?"

Sable ignored him.

"Mira, has that happened before?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"I don't know. A few times."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I thought it was nerves."

Sable's eyes flicked toward Roman.

"How long?"

"Before I came here."

Roman went still.

Sable continued her examination, but I noticed that she was moving more carefully now.

"Any dizziness?"

"No."

"Fever?"

"No."

"Bleeding?"

"No."

Sable checked again.

Then she closed her eyes briefly, concentrating.

"Your pulse is stabilizing."

"What about the baby?" Roman asked.

Sable looked at him.

"The pregnancy is stable."

His shoulders lowered by the smallest amount.

But he didn't relax.

"Then what caused this?"

Sable didn't answer immediately.

That silence frightened me more than the pain had.

"Sable?"

She looked at me.

"Your wolf reacted."

My stomach tightened.

"My wolf?"

"Yes."

"To what?"

"I don't know."

Roman's expression hardened.

"You're the healer."

"I know what I observed."

Sable's voice remained controlled, but there was tension underneath it.

"I don't have an explanation yet."

She checked my pulse again.

"The baby's condition is stable. There is no sign of a normal pregnancy complication."

"Then why did she collapse?"

"I don't know."

Sable finally met Roman's eyes.

"But whatever happened wasn't random."

The room fell silent.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

Sable looked back at me.

"I don't know yet."

The pain was already fading.

The pressure slowly released from my stomach until I could finally breathe normally again.

"It's gone."

Sable checked me one more time.

"You're stable."

Roman exhaled.

But Sable didn't look relieved.

She gathered her instruments.

"I'll need to run additional tests."

"Tonight?" Roman asked.

"Not tonight."

She looked at me.

"She needs rest."

At the door, Sable stopped.

Her fingers tightened around the handle.

Then, so quietly that I almost thought I'd imagined it, she murmured,

"That's not supposed to happen."

She left before either of us could ask what she meant.

"You're stable."

Roman repeated the words after the door closed.

I looked at him.

"You heard her."

"I heard her."

He still hadn't moved toward the door.

"You can go."

"I'm aware."

"Then why are you still here?"

He didn't answer.

Instead, he pulled a chair beside the bed and sat.

His elbows rested on his knees.

His eyes remained fixed on the floor.

This wasn't the Alpha I'd seen in the council chamber.

That man had been composed, commanding, almost impossible to challenge.

This man looked like he'd been shaken by something he couldn't control.

"You don't have to stay."

"I know."

"Then why?"

His eyes finally lifted to mine.

"Because I want to know you're all right."

The words were simple.

Almost too simple.

I didn't know what to do with them.

So I looked away.

"I'm fine now."

"I know."

He reached over and adjusted the blanket near my shoulder.

The gesture was small.

Unnecessary.

And somehow more intimate than it should have been.

"Does it still hurt?"

"No."

"Tired?"

"Very."

"Then sleep."

I studied him.

"You're not leaving, are you?"

"No."

Something inside me softened.

I let my eyes close.

Exhaustion was already pulling me under when the words slipped out.

"I'm glad you're here."

Silence.

I opened my eyes.

Roman hadn't moved.

He was staring at me.

Not like an Alpha looking at a surrogate.

Not like a man watching over an obligation.

Like he'd heard something he hadn't expected to matter to him.

His breathing had changed.

His jaw tightened.

For one unguarded second, something raw passed through his eyes.

Then the wall came back.

"Rest," he said quietly.

His voice was rougher than before.

I wanted to ask what had happened.

But sleep took me before I could.

I woke near dawn.

The room was dim, the first gray light slipping through the curtains.

Roman was still there.

He had moved to the door and stood with one hand resting against the frame.

He looked like he'd been preparing to leave for a long time.

But hadn't.

"Roman?"

He turned.

Something about his expression had changed.

Not dramatically.

Just enough for me to notice.

He looked more careful now.

As though he'd spent the night thinking about something he wasn't ready to name.

"Something changed tonight," he said.

My heart gave a small, uneasy beat.

"What changed?"

His eyes held mine.

For a moment, I thought he might answer.

Instead, he looked away.

"I don't know yet."

Then he opened the door.

"Roman."

He stopped.

"What?"

"What aren't you telling me?"

He remained still for several seconds.

Then he looked back at me.

"Get some rest, Mira."

And he walked out.

I stared at the closed door.

The static beneath my skin.

Sable's whispered words.

That's not supposed to happen.

Corvin's question from yesterday.

What do you know about her maternal lineage?

And Roman's face when I'd told him I was glad he stayed.

Three mysteries had appeared in less than twenty-four hours.

Why had I been chosen?

What was happening inside my wolf?

And what exactly had changed between Roman and me in the darkness of that room?

I pressed a hand against my stomach.

For the first time, I wondered if those questions were connected.

And if they were, I had a feeling the answers were much older than Blackthorn.