Isabel's Choice

Epilogue 1 - Lars

"Come on, Alpha Waverider, you almost made it," Isa tells me, in her ever-encouraging tone.

There are a hundred degrees of mastery between my almost and actually managing to disperse the fog curtain that hovers mockingly in front of me. Since five minutes.

"Luna, you are a more demanding teacher than the Master Healer herself," I whine frustrated, letting my arm hang to my side.

"Try one more time," Isa asks. "If you do, I'll show you something nice."

She's so kind, my Luna. But as I already told her, flashing her boobs at me is a counterproductive distraction. Ignoring my frown, she smiles and reaches for the edge of her shirt. 

The fabric is nicely taught over a round belly in which our pup has been living happily for almost five months now.

Now we laugh, but the day we found out about it we didn't laugh at all.

***

I came back from a long raid with my brothers only to find my mate crying over two white sticks.

Beta Nura was sitting next to her with a desperate look on her face. When I am away, she and Knox are responsible with their lives for Isa's well-being. Based on the way my mate was sobbing, she was obviously unwell.

I would have lounged at the Beta to remind her with claws of her duties, but she was carrying her first pup.

"Why are you crying, Isa?" I asked, hugging my mate tightly, but she just shrank into me, unable to speak. "Nura, why is our Luna crying?"

The Beta bowed, long ebony locks storming over her face, and pointed with a shaky finger to the sticks on the table.

"What are these?"

"Human pregnancy tests. Luna Gia sent them to us claiming that they are more accurate than a Lycan's male senses," Nura whispered and added ashamed: "Isa and I thought to try two of them for fun, just to see if they really work..."

I glanced at the two plastic bars on the table, which looked identical, to the last detail. They both had a little dent crossed by two red lines.

"And you are upset that they obviously don't?" I raised Isa's chin, to comfort her with a kiss. "What are they supposed to show?"

"Two lines pup, one line no pup," she smoothed the piece of paper she had been abusing in her hand and waved it in front of me.

"Impossible. We were careful," I said, taking the leaflet and cursing my appalling reading skills. I glanced over the pictures and then I eyed suspiciously the contraptions that competed with my Lycan abilities. I picked them up and twisted them in my hand, not really knowing what I was looking for.

"They are broken," I concluded. "Or you ladies must have done it wrong."

"Maybe we did. Although I don't really know how. We peed on them and everything," Isa huffed. Luckily, she didn't see how I dropped the plastic devices back on the table, because she was too busy drying her tears.

The salty scent dispersed, making room for the familiar honey one. 

It did have a faint citrusy note I had smelled before.  And I hugged her a little tighter and inhaled a little bit longer until I was sure I could accept defeat in front of the human-made baby finder.

I didn't have to say it out loud, Isa probably guessed it from the crazy speed at which my heart was thudding, happiness and concern messing with its rhythm.

"But we were careful!" she whined, echoing what I had said a minute before, and then she gasped, and then she leaned her forehead against my chest whispering guiltily: