Wolf Haven, Oklahoma

“How did you know?” I sign after a few moments of shock. “How did you know I’m pregnant?

The three exchange yet another look between them.

“Do you know who the father is?” I sign, my heartbeat ratcheting up to desperate.

Again, no answer.

Though I’ve spent the majority of my life trying to be a shining example of comportment and endless patience, something in me snaps.

“If you don’t tell me what you know, I will return with my father’s entire security force. Trust me, they care zero about your land’s ‘privilege’ status. Tell me the name of my baby’s father! TELL ME RIGHT NOW!”

To my surprise, Qim, not his mother, is the first to break. He turns to his parents. “K-Thunder brought Jandro to us,” he signs. “And he’s going crazy trying to get to her. This frightens us, but we owe K-Thunder.”

Grady shakes his head. “Not our place tell her.”

“Then whose?” Qim signs back. “J-Blessing is now our family. So is K-Thunder. We must tell her.”

“But North American Compact—” his dad begins.

“This not about politics. This about family!” Qim insists.

Grady looks to Tu for back-up. But she suddenly moves as close to me as the closed gate will allow and shakes her head back at her mate, signing, “Qim is right...”

She looks at me to speak-sign, “Plus, I love your mother. She is on my free-pass list, you know.”

“MOM, WHY!?” Qim signs emphatically, looking more like an embarrassed kid than a world-renowned med-tech billionaire.

In spite of the intense moment, my anger vanishes and I barely smother a laugh. This definitely isn’t the first time a woman has told me this. But I don’t want to stray off topic. “Okay, then. So, if one of you can just give me the name of…”

My hands bounce as I attempt to come up with the proper term for the guy who got me pregnant.

“Yes, we can tell you who your MATE is,” Tu jumps in, rescuing me from myself. “You should know he’s been looking for you everywhere. He is not easy to reach, but if you give us a moment, we can make a few calls and he’ll be here within the hour.”

My heart explodes with excitement. Yes! I’m finally going to get some answers—

The first cramp takes me totally unawares. It’s more surprising than painful. But the second cramp isn’t nearly as courteous. It slices across my abdomen with all the subtlety of a blade.

“Oh…!” I cry out, dropping to my knees with my arms clutching my middle.

Voices call out. And hands catch me, before gently placing me flat on the ground.

“Shimmer? Shimmer?!” Jared shouts down to me as he hovers protectively over my prone body. “Can you speak?”

I try but the words won’t come out. The pain is blinding. Miscarriage, I think dimly, tears pooling in my eyes at the thought. “Baby,” I gasp to Jared, spilling the secret. “I’m pregnant. Must help baby!”

I just found out that the father of this unborn baby has been trying to reach me the whole time I’ve been searching for him. I can’t lose the baby before we reconnect. It feels like the strange new voice is wailing—no not wailing, but full on howling inside my chest.

“Get her to our clinic!” Tu yells somewhere in the distance.

Even in my pain-laden state, I know my guards will never agree to bring me to some small-town clinic in the middle of nowhere.

Santiago’s already speaking over her, and I can hear Jared yelling for an immediate transport to the nearest Tier 1 hospital along with a bunch of codes I assume must mean pregnant woman down.

In the middle of it all, Tu continues to insist, “No! We have to take her to our clinic. If you want to save this baby, she needs to come to our clinic!”

And as if to punctuate her point, I can hear what I assume to be the electronic creak of the front gates opening wide.

That’s the last thing I register before I pass out.