“Her uterus,” Caine said gravely, his expression full of pity as he looked at her. At least she thought he’d said her uterus, but that was impossible.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Christofer demanded. “What does her uterus have to do with her being marked?”
And just like that, she lost the ability to breathe.
They knew.
“When a shifter marks a human,” Ephraim explained, looking disgusted, “they make it impossible for their property to have a child. They want their property sterile. They might tolerate their property ha**ng s*x with someone else, but they refuse to allow anyone else to set any type of claim.”
And just like that, her stomach dropped with the realization of why tearing her back apart hadn’t been enough for the beast that attacked her. He’d wanted to make sure that she could never have a child, because he’d seen her as nothing more than a thing to do with whatever he’d wished, even making sure that she was never able to live a full life and to-
“She’s definitely pregnant,” Caine announced. “It’s a Pyte,” he added, sounding relieved and making her wonder what else he’d expected it to be when his announcement registered.
“I’m sorry, but what did you just say?” she asked, absolutely positive that she’d misunderstood him.
Caine opened his mouth only to quickly close it and shoot Ephraim a panicked look. Ephraim simply rubbed the back of his neck as he muttered, “We f**king suck at this.”
“There’s no way that I could be pregnant,” she said, expecting all three men to quickly agree, but they didn’t.
“Can we have a minute?” Christofer asked, suddenly looking exhausted.
“Congratulations, Cloe,” Ephraim said with a warm smile as he headed for the door. Caine said something, probably congratulating her also, but she couldn’t hear him over the loud buzzing going off in her head as she struggled with the news.
“Are they sure?” she found herself asking as she sat there, feeling numb.
Christofer walked back over to the bed and sat down next to her, he took her hand into his, entwining their fingers and nodded, slowly, looking shell shocked. She expected him to say something, to explain how this happened, to reassure her, to tell her that everything was going to be okay and that this wasn’t some sick joke, but he just sat there, staring off at nothing. She didn’t know what to say or do at this moment. It wasn’t something that she’d ever expected to hear and it sure as hell didn’t feel real by having three men sniffing her.
A small knock sounded at the door, followed by a hesitant, “Cloe?”
Damn it, she’d forgotten all about Marc, but as much as she wanted to stay here and let everything sink in, she couldn’t ditch Marc. The poor kid needed a distraction and as she looked up at Christofer, sitting there looking like he’d just been kicked in the balls, she decided that perhaps she did too.
*-*-*-*
“That looks like a fun game,” Cloe said, picking up another copy from the shelf.
“Izzy would love it,” he said, calculating how much money he had in his pocket and how much he had in his sock drawer at home. He quickly realized that he was about ten dollars short. He’d have to wait until next week when he got his allowance to buy it, he decided as he reluctantly put the game back.
“What about you?” Cloe asked, looking at the game.
“What about me?” he asked, looking around the large game section, hoping to find a game that he could afford for Izzy.
“Wouldn’t you like this game?” Cloe asked as she turned the game over.
He shrugged. “I don’t have time for games anymore.”
“Why not?” Cloe asked, putting the game into the hand basket that he was carrying for her.
“I just don’t,” he said, shrugging as he moved down the aisle only to stop when he’d spotted the game that he’d asked his father to reserve for him last year. He’d forgotten all about it. His fingers shifted anxiously by his sides, anxious to pick up the game and buy it, but he forced himself to look away and move on.
“That’s a shame,” Cloe said with a shrug as she picked up the game that he’d forced himself to walk away from and dropped it in the basket.
“Why’s that?” he asked, looking towards the toy section, wondering if he should just buy Jessica and the babies something to keep them occupied so that Izzy could rest when he spotted Christofer.
He didn’t know Christofer that well, but he liked him. He especially liked the way that Christofer was able to tap into his bloodlust strength without losing control, something that he was hoping the Pyte would show him how to do once he went through the change. Marc was about to turn his attention to the toy section when he realized what section Christofer was standing in.
The baby section.
He felt his stomach drop as he caught a glimpse of the expression on Christofer’s face, the same one that his brother Chris had worn after he’d found out that Izzy was pregnant the first time. He looked miserable and terrified as he picked up a pink baby blanket and stared at it as though he wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at.
“Because I was going to ask Mr. Grumpy pants over there to take us to-”
“You’re pregnant,” he blurted out, hoping that he was wrong.
Cloe sighed as she dropped another video game in the basket. “Please tell me that you didn’t scent it,” she said, cringing slightly.
“No,” he said, his stomach turning as he swallowed back bile.
This couldn’t be happening. There were already four babies at home with two more on the way. Six babies to watch over and protect was going to be hard enough, but seven? He couldn’t protect them all, Izzy and his mother. It was too much. It was-
“Hey,” Cloe said, sliding her arm around his small shoulders as she pulled him into her side, “relax, kiddo.”
“I can’t,” he said, shaking his head as he struggled to take a breath, but it wouldn’t come. He couldn’t get enough air, the store wouldn’t stop spinning and the image of Jessica’s bleeding head and the sounds of Izzy screaming in pain because of him blared in his head, growing louder and louder with each passing second until-
“Shhh, relax,” Christofer said soothingly as he suddenly found himself being held like a child in the large Pyte’s arms.
“I’m fine,” he tried to tell him, but the only thing that came out were choked sobs as he embarrassed himself by crying like some little kid.
He wasn’t a little kid. He was a man now. He had responsibilities. His little brothers, his nephew, Jessica, his mother and Izzy were all counting on him to take care of them. He shouldn’t be losing it like this. He should be manning up!
“Let it go,” Christofer said, holding him tightly.
He stubbornly shook his head, desperately trying to get himself under control. He needed to stay in control, needed to keep a level head, especially with so many people counting on him. He needed to-
“Let go,” Christofer whispered again and just like that, he did.
Chapter 55
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Marc said, looking miserable as he sat across from them, absently playing with a French fry.