The Shadow Luna - Book 2 of the Shadow Saga

Chapter One

Holly

"River, I'm pregnant." 

The two solid lines on the pregnancy test in my hands stare back at me with unrelenting confirmation. 

Holy. Shit. 

I look up to his face, trying to gauge his reaction, but I don't see much beyond the blur of my own tears.

I start to feel a sense of total panic set in; he doesn't want this, at least, probably not right now...We're still so young, we only just mated a few months ago, and we have enemies on our doorstep ready to literally fight to the death. 

        "I'm sorry, this is all on me—I was on the pill up until the attack at Half-Moon, and with everything going on with meeting you, and Lucas and the funeral, then Kyra and her crazy antics...I just totally forgot to refill my prescription and it all got away from me--" I begin to ramble off my explanation for how we have wound up here, but I'm cut off when River pulls me up and off the bed by one of my hands. 

Without a word, he pulls me into him and encases me in his arms, nearly crushing me as he does. I can feel his surprise, his total shock through our bond, but, no anger...no frustration, or disappointment. 

I'm taken aback by his intense embrace, but I don't question it, I simply lean in and allow myself to be folded inside his arms.

I have no idea what he's thinking. I might be able to sense he isn't angry, but beyond that, I'm clueless. 

"It's okay, Holls." his hold tightens around my frame a fraction more, and I feel a shuddering breath escape me as I try to calm myself down. 

I take refuge in the strength of his arms and his earthy, woodsy scent that I can't seem to have enough of.

This isn't really happening, is it? I know the test has been in my hands, confirmed for several minutes now, but...How can we possibly do this? 

The idea of starting a family with River has been floating around my head for a while now, I'll admit...I knew upon meeting and mating with him that it would likely be part of our shared future—having a family— but to have it happen like this? It never crossed my mind to think we'd be confronted with the reality of this now. Not so soon. 

How will we manage this, with Xander and the Strikers still out there? The threat they pose has been hanging over us for months now, following me from Half-Moon to the Shadows...It was a threat I was starting to feel confident in facing, at one time, but my confidence has been faltering ever since we received no retaliation from them following our assault. 

      It's just all too convenient, them falling silent in the weeks that have followed, causing us to have to send our Eastern pack members back to their homes, with winter approaching and our supplies low. 

"I know it isn't what we expected," River's voice draws me from my thoughts and I lock my hold around his neck just a little bit tighter. "But, Holly, it's..." he doesn't find the sentence, his words failing him.

I draw myself away from him and his warmth to scan his face, trying to read the look in his eyes. I watch the corners of his mouth tug upward gently, his gaze sweeping over my face with a type of adoration I still haven't grown used to seeing. 

I wait with racing anticipation for what he is trying to articulate. "Everything." he finishes, his hand trailing up my throat to skirt over my skin and rest on the nape of my neck, cupping it to bring me just a bit closer. 

"Everything?" I echo, brows drawing together as I continue blinking more tears down my cheeks. 

River smiles, shaking his head as he wipes my tears away, both his hands cradling my face when he does.