The Pack's Nemesis (Quirin's Story) novel Chapter 85

Kennedy

“What’s going on with Christy, Mom?” I ask as she gets me strapped up.

“I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, I’d say the feeling of your pack is scaring her. I smelled her fear when I stepped into the room, but not having a mind link with her, I can't say where it’s coming from.”

I connect with Quirin’s mind, listening to him talk with Christy. He’s being so gentle with her. I send love and pride through the bond, so he knows I appreciate what he’s doing. I can tell that even though he’s talking to Christy and still paying attention to what’s going on with me, he’s also focusing on the pack and what’s happening with Slater. My mate is so perfect.

“Okay, I’m set here. Once Quirin returns, we’ll get started,” my mom says.

“I really hope we can see our pup. That would be so exciting,” I say.

“We’re not sure how far along you are, so just don’t get your hopes up too much. If nothing else, we should be able to get a heartbeat. Actually, let’s get the heartbeat monitor wrapped around you now. I’ll still wait to turn it on until Quirin comes in. I want him to hear his pup’s heartbeat the same time you do,” she says.

I know that Quirin can feel my excitement and I can feel that he’s getting excited too. He’s also very nervous, which is sweet.

“Was Dad nervous when he found out you were pregnant?” I ask her.

She smiles. “He was so excited. I only had the heartbeat at first. He listened to it over and over, played it on repeat that first night while we slept. I didn’t know until I had the ultrasound that there were actually two heartbeats in there. It’s not always easy to find the second one, especially if you don’t know to look for it. Then, I told him we were having twins in front of the pack. He was about to go to war with Brady and I wanted to make sure he knew he had a family to return to. He went a bit crazy at first. He actually started mumbling to himself. It was pretty funny.”

“Dad was mumbling? I’ve never heard him do that before, only you.”

“He only does it when he’s really stressed out. I’ve only heard him do it a few times. Both times he found out we were having twins,” she says laughing, “and maybe one or two other times when he was worried about you kids. It’s pretty rare. Your father is as tough as they come.”

Dad’s pretty awesome, but personally, I think my mate is tougher than Dad.

I immediately hear Raif purring in my mind, listening in. I hear Quirin warning Leo to be careful with Christy before he comes into our room.

“How is our sweet Christy?” I ask him as he walks over to kiss me.

“Better now, I think. I’ll check on her again after she moves back to the packhouse. The energy in the pack was scaring her. Did you know Leo was her mate and he rejected her?” he asks me.

I just raise an eyebrow at him.

“Right. Of course you did,” he says, leaning over the bed to kiss me again. “What is all of this?” he asks, gesturing to the equipment Mom brought in for the heart monitor and ultrasound.

“This is so we can hear your baby’s heartbeat. Knowing how much Warren liked hearing our pups’ heartbeats, I thought you’d like to hear it when Kennedy did for the first time. Even if we can’t see anything on the ultrasound, we’ll be able to hear the heartbeat.”

He reaches out and takes my hand, squeezing it. He doesn’t say anything, staring at the equipment. Through the bond, I can feel his nervousness ratchet up along with his excitement.

“Do you want a chair, Quirin?” I ask him. Mom turns and looks at him, but he shakes his head.

“No, I want to stand.”

She smiles at us. “Are you ready?”

I look at my mate and smile before nodding. Mom flips a switch and suddenly we can hear the whooshing sound of a heartbeat.

I squeeze Quirin’s hand, realizing that he’s stopped breathing.

“That’s our pup?” he asks, his voice so soft I almost can’t hear him over the sound of our baby’s heartbeat. His emotions are getting stronger, swirling around inside him, and I swear I feel his heart, nearly ready to burst with excitement. I know mine is.

“That’s your pup,” my mom says distractedly, looking at the monitor.

“Mom?” I ask her.

She shakes her head, but she’s frowning when she turns back to me. “Let’s see if we can get an image of this little pup,” she says.

“What’s wrong, Kennedy?” Quirin asks, looking from me to my mom.

I raise a finger, letting him know to wait. My mother should start mumbling any minute and she doesn’t disappoint me.