Head Hunter (City Shifters the Pack #3) - Layla Nash Page 0,108

get up. “Fine. I’ll go to dinner. It better be good. Who the fuck is even coming over? We don’t have guests.”

Silas grumbled and stretched out, closing his eyes for a nap. The cat finally settled down on the wolf’s shoulder in a ball with his tail over his nose, his eyes still following Dodge with a curious intensity.

Dodge envied Silas. Things would have been easier if he’d remained stuck as a wolf, so long as he remained in his right mind. Even the cat was happier than he was.

He finally hauled himself out of the cellar and up to his old room so he could shower and find clothes that were mostly clean. Mercy had been after him to clean up and deal with the laundry, though he’d dragged his heels about that too. There didn’t seem to be any reason to worry about clean jeans or shirts without stains on them, not if Persephone wasn’t in his life. None of it mattered without her.

He stayed in the shower until the water ran cold – not because he enjoyed it, but because he dreaded facing the bed where they’d been together. He’d felt things he’d never felt with any woman before her. He’d never feel them again. Dodge groaned and let the freezing water run over him. Maybe it would numb him enough to get through the next couple of hours and whatever dinner Deirdre and Evershaw subjected him to.

He closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the pain. He could get through it and then return to the cellar and his bottle of booze. He just had to survive a couple of hours.

Chapter 50

Percy

I stared at the instructions, then at the test. Over and over and over again, because what I saw didn’t compute. It wasn’t possible. It just wasn’t possible.

Pregnant. A positive test. Pregnant.

I didn’t know how long I’d been sitting in the bathroom, trying to figure out what the fuck had happened, but eventually Deirdre knocked on the door. She, too, looked a little pale and shaken.

Our eyes met and it was clear we’d gotten the same news.

I couldn’t speak, my mouth hanging open as I held up the test I’d peed on. She held up hers and took a very, very deep breath. “So. Here we are.”

It was too weird. It felt like I hadn’t known her long enough to be showing her something I’d peed on, or leaning on her when I’d gotten life-changing news. Of course, she’d been there the last time I got life-changing news, that werewolves and witches actually existed. So maybe it was meant to be.

Deirdre tilted her head at the living room. “I’m going to go sit on the couch and try to get my head around this, if you want to join me. Whenever you’re ready.”

She staggered back to the couch to flop down and shake her head, staring off at nothing.

I’d always thought if I was pregnant, there would be a husband, a house, and a plan. That it would be an immediate barrage of joy and excitement, that there would be someone else with me who really, really wanted that little life. My chest felt tight and everything went hot and then cold. I had to hold onto the sink so I didn’t fall off the toilet.

My throat closed until it grew harder to breathe. What was I going to tell Dodge? Should I tell Dodge? Did he care? Did he deserve to know? I covered my face and leaned forward, trying to block out reality. First thing first, I had to find a doctor and make an appointment. ASAP. Maybe the test was wrong and a blood test would have a different result. But in my heart I knew it was accurate. I was pregnant with Dodge’s baby.

There had to be a good book to read on how to deal with things like that. To-do lists and checklists and a flow-chart or something to help navigate what the fuck I was supposed to do. What the hell was the step after the doctor’s appointment? Prenatal vitamins? Did I stop eating cheese? Was I going to get a raging caffeine headache from giving up my espresso, cold turkey?

I ground the heels of my hands into my eyes as my heart beat faster and I started to shake. I was going to be a mom, probably a single mom. Facing the world without a real job or savings, not paying for my own apartment, and surrounded