My first trimester passed in a flash. I'd already stopped going to school, Esme had made arrangements for me to write any tests or exams online after I'd insisted. I didn't want to feel inhibited in any way so I wouldn't grow to resent the child. Talia had been staying with us since and of course no one had any problems with it and even if they did, I wouldn't care. Kieran became slightly less of a pain, and he made sure to check up on me or rather the baby every day. I never pictured Kieran to be the father type, but he seemed genuinely happy at the prospects of having a kid. I couldn't be sure that it wasn't just because of what the child would mean to his kind. I remembered the day Esme was in the room with me, and she was talking about how she could probably hear the baby's heartbeat already if she tried hard enough, and Kieran walked in. "If I tapped into my wolf senses, I'm pretty sure I could," She said, and then she spotted Kieran. "Oh, perfect timing, for once. Come here."

"And remember this child, not all of them can be trusted." Mrs Danbury’s final words to me as I left echoed in my head. How would I cope if I didn't even know who to trust? Was someone I trusted going to betray me? Who wanted to hurt my baby? I'd gotten lost in my thoughts, and I ended up walking all the way to town. I was so carried away that I didn't notice a vehicle coming towards me at full speed. By the time I realised it was too late and I froze in a spot waiting for the worst. At the last minute, someone came and pushed me out of the way.We both landed on the floor, but thankfully, I'd landed on my back and mlt on my belly. I only saw the back of the vehicle as it sped off. That didn't seem like I accident, my subconscious told me. "Eva! are you okay?" It was James who had paused me out of the way in time. He'd saved my life again. "Oh James, thank God" I sighed as relief washed over me. "What were you thinking Eva!" He exclaimed. There were only a few passers by and the

4 months passed, and I was already in my last trimester. Plans were underway for the mating ritual between me and Kieran. The pregnancy had begun to weigh me down more, something about carrying a wolf baby. The doctor said I would only get weaker because the child was taking more of my life force as it grew bigger. I still didn't know its gender because I wanted it to be a surprise. I twisted in bed and let out a grunt."Be careful, Eva," Talia said as she rushed to help me into a more conformable position. "It's fine, I'm fine. Just...""Extremely weak?""Yeah, that." "I'm really worried about you. You still have 2 months before you have to deliver, and you already look halfway dead. The baby is taking too much from you." This had been Talia's Countenance since the doctor first told everyone about the baby taking up my own life force."It's okay, Talia. I already made it this far. I'll be fine, both me and the baby. You'll see" "I'm just worried about you," "I know." I sighed

I was looking forward to mybdate with Kieran. I didn't do anything fancy, especially because I didn't have any nice dresses that could fit my baby bump. Talia managed to find me a cute summer dress that fit perfectly. and she helped me with my hair and a little bit of makeup."It seems Kieran is really putting in the extra effort," She said"Yeah." "I'm happy for you Eva, you deserve to be happy." I smiled at her through the mirror as she helped me detangle my hair. Kieran knocked on my door at exactly 7:40 pm."Are you ready?" "Yes, I am,""Shall we?" He offered me his arm to take, and I did so gladly. "Where are we going? I asked him as he held the car door open for me.""You'll see." I still hadn't seen most of Blackbourne since I mostly went from home to school and back, and the route the took was on the opposite side of the roads I was more familiar with. Wherever it was that we were going, I felt safe knowing that I was with Kieran. We ended up at a high-end restaurant ove

Lying on the floor was the same water that had given me directions to the bathroom. He was sprawled out on the floor, covered in his own blood.I let out a scream, but Kieran quickly held me and pulled me back so I couldn't see the body anymore. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm here. I'm right here with you. Nothing is going to happen." His voice was soothing, and he succeeded in calming me down."Come with me." Kieran led me back outside, and he notified the manager. Soon, the place was filled with cops. They questioned me, and I told them exactly what had happened. "Are you okay?" Kieran asked me while we waited for the cops to let everyone go."They threatened me, and then they used that poor man to send a message. What kind of people play with the lives of other people like that?" "Rouges can be quite brutish in their ways. They'll go to whatever lengths to prove a point. Whoever did that was here tonight, and they probably slipped out before we even saw the body" "That poor man did