“Stop.” He walked over to her and grabbed both her hands in his. “Take a deep breath.”

“This is no time for breathing. No time for doing anything other than panicking.”

“Panicking won’t help.” He gave her hands a squeeze. “I love you. We can get through anything. Just for the record”—he calmed right down— “you can’t be sick. I don’t know how I could’ve forgotten something so important. Since mating with me, you’ve become too strong. You couldn’t pick up so much as a cold.”

“Oh shit! I feel sick.” Candy pulled her hands free and went to sit down on a nearby sofa.

Torrent went and sat next to her.

“I’m fine.” She nodded. “Everything is going to be okay.” She sniffed and turned to look him in the eyes. Then she smiled. It was tense but there was also genuine happiness there.

“What?” He could feel he was frowning.

“I think I’m pregnant.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant. I can’t think of any other reason. Oh god…” She covered her mouth, still looking shocked. “My boobs, my weight gain. My lack of ovulation… shit! I must be. I don’t understand though, I’ve had my menstruation like clockwork.”

“Okay… back up.” He didn’t want to get excited, or to get his hopes up. It couldn’t be. Her scent. It hadn’t changed. She couldn’t be pregnant, could she? “What made you—”

Before he could finish, she interjected. “I felt him kicking. I felt it. Clear as day. At first I was sure that I’d imagined it. That maybe it was gas or something.” She giggled. “It wasn’t gas. No way it was gas.” She smiled. Her eyes were still a tad wide and her face was still pale but she looked much better. “Thing is, I’ve been getting a lot of gas feelings lately. I didn’t think anything of it. My tummy…” She stood and lifted her dress. “It’s more rounded than… I don’t know… look at it.”

“You can’t be.” He blurted, watching her expression change. From someone excited to one who had just had their hopes dashed. “I’m sorry but you can’t be…”

Then she lifted her chin and pursed her lips for a moment, seeming to come to a decision. “I know what I felt. It was, it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. It happened a couple of times and it was kicking.”

“You only scent of you. Okay, that’s not entirely true, my scent is there as a mate. It would’ve changed and become more pronounced if you were pregnant with my child. Unless…” No! Fuck! “Could it be a human child?”