E

    The ultrasound appointment card was sitting on the breakfast table when Alexander walked into the kitchen three weekster. I’d set it down for two seconds while I grabbed my coffee, and he had spotted it immediately.

    “What’s this?” He picked up the small white card and inspected it

    “My first ultrasound. It’s today.” I reached for the card, but he held it just out of my reach. “Can I have that back?”

    “Were you nning to go alone?”

    I shrugged. “It’s just a routine checkup. Nothing exciting. We won’t know the gender for another couple of months.”

    Alexander’s eyebrows shot up. “E, this is our baby’s first ultrasound. Of course I’ming with you.”

    “You don’t have to-

    “I want to.” He set the card back down on the table and fixed me with that familiar look of his that said the discussion was over. “I’ll clear my schedule.”

    Despite myself, my chest warmed pleasantly at his insistence. I’d gotten so used to doing things on my own over the years, especially anything rted to my health, that I hadn’t even considered he might want to be there.

    “Okay,” I said quietly. “If you’re sure.”

    “I’m sure.” Green eyes flickered with something that I could have mistaken for the very same tenderness he showed me at the banquet three weeks ago. “Get dressed. We’ll head out soon.”

    I nodded, and once I finished my coffee and gobbled up a couple slices of toast with jam, I hurried upstairs to change. I threw on afortable sundress–summer had brought with it a hot and humid spell that was not doing any favors for my early pregnancy difort–and some sandals, then pulled my hair up into a simple bun and headed out.

    Alexander was waiting by the car when I found him. He opened my door for me like a perfect gentleman, and I tried to ignore the difort I felt when I saw Gabriel sitting in the driver’s seat.

    The Beta didn’t look at me, which I wasn’tining about. I didn’t want to look at him either after what he’d done.

    Throughout the entire drive, Alexander’s leg was bouncing in the seat beside me.

    “You seem more anxious than I am,” I pointed out with a smirk as we pulled into the parking lot of the clinic a little whileter.

    “I’m not anxious.”

    “Right. And I’m the Alpha King.”

    He shot me a look, but I caught the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. It had been moremontely, that damn smile. He thought I didn’t notice, but I did.

    I knew it wasn’t because of me, necessarily. I knew he was just happy about the baby.

    But damn me if I didn’t find it utterly captivating. How many times had Alexander smiled throughout our marriage? I wasn’t even sure if I could count them on one hand. Not until now, when they were bing moremon than seeing him in a suit, which was every day.

    The appointment itself was everything I’d hoped it would be. Dr. Evelyn squirted cold gel on my slightly swollen belly and moved the ultrasound wand around until a grainy ck and white uage appeared on the screen.

    “There’s your baby,” she said, pointing to a tiny blob that looked more like a bean than a little life. “Everything looks perfect so

    far.b” /b

    My eyes blurred with tears as I looked at the screen. That little blob was our child. Mine and Alexander’s.

    “Is that the heartbeat?” Alexander asked, pointing.

    “It is. Strong and steady, exactly what we want to see.” Dr. Evelyn made some notes on her clipboard. “The pregnancy is progressing beautifully, E, Your wolf’s strength is clearly providing excellent support for the baby’s development.”

    “And my condition…?“.

    Evelyn beamed. “It’s remarkable, actually. Your wolf seems stronger than ever despite her dormancy. In fact, I dare say you’re on track to have the healthiest pregnancy I’ve ever seen.” She leaned forward and patted my hand. “You look fantastic, E. I’m so d to see you recovered.”

    Unbidden, my fingers fluttered toward the mark on my neck. It was a scar now, a raised patch of flesh in the shape of a crescent. Perhaps it wasn’t evidence of Alexander’s true love, but it was evidence that he’d cared enough for our child to mark me.

    And that was something, wasn’t it?

    We left the office with a strip of ultrasound photos and matching gins on our faces. I kept looking down at the pictures, trying to make sense of the tiny form that would be our son or daughter.