Scion (Norseton Wolves Book 4) by Holley Trent Page B

Certainly, Vic could, though.
    By the time they reached the opposite curb, he was at her side. Her inner wolf seemed to collapse with relief, as if that was exactly where he belonged, and that he’d finally come home.
    Silly wolf.
    “I was going to tell you,” she said. “Probably right after I believed it for myself.”
    He jogged ahead of her and pulled open the clinic’s door. “I’d care either way, boy or girl. Every kid deserves a chance.”
    Of course he would think that. He’s a Carbone. And so was she now. She kept forgetting.
    She set the drug vials onto the reception desk and hitched her purse strap higher up onto her shoulder. When the clerk looked up, she said, “Is Jackie here? I need to see if she can squeeze me in for a shot.”
    “She was about to run out for a break. Let me get her before she escapes.”
    Vic leaned against the wall beside the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. He stared down at her, his gaze long and assessing.
    “What?”
    “Pregnancy suits you, is all.”
    If only I had that cloak… She’d probably pull it over her head to hide her burning cheeks. She’d never been one for blushing, but apparently, Vic possessed some black magic that kept her burning up. “How so?”
    “For one thing, you smell nice.”
    “What do I smell like?”
    “It’s hard to describe. It’s my scent, plus a little something else. Extra pheromones, I guess.”
    “Oh. That’s typical of my species of wolf. It’s supposed to keep daddy from abandoning mama during her time of need.”
    “I wouldn’t abandon you.”
    “Of course you wouldn’t, now that you’ve sniffed me.”
    “No,” he said softly, as if the word would break him. “I wouldn’t abandon you because I try to do what’s right, even when it’s hard.”
    Even when it’s hard . What they had at the moment was definitely hard.
    “And even if it’s late. I hope I’m not too late. Am I?”
    She opened her mouth to give him the answer her brain hadn’t even thought out yet, but didn’t have the chance to say it.
    The office door swung open and Jackie stuck her head out. “What’ve you got for me?”
    Ashley pulled her gaze away from Vic and all the sorrow etched in his face, and swallowed hard to force down the lump in her throat. He was trying—admitting he was wrong—and she knew how hard that was for wolves, especially male ones.
    Maybe there was some hope for them after all.
    To Jackie, she said, “Um, it’s that shifting suppressant I told you about. I need to get a stick once per week through the end of the pregnancy.”
    Jackie took the vials. “Come on back and have a seat in exam room two. I want to check this stuff out in the drug database. I trust you, I just want to know what all the potential side effects and off-market uses are. Not being wolves, the Afótama obviously don’t have full moon problems.”
    Ashley followed her through the door and Vic skirted in behind her before it shut. Obviously, he wasn’t going to be content to wait in the lobby. She was glad he wasn’t going to be content to wait in the lobby. She wanted him near and interested, and on his own accord.
    She settled onto one of the hard, institutional chairs adjacent to the exam table in room two and hugged her purse against her belly.
    Vic paced in front of the door, looking alternately from her to his feet. He couldn’t have been doing it very long—thirty seconds, at the most—but that was long enough agitate her inner wolf, who Ashley already had enough problems settling.
    “Vic, sit. You’re tying my stomach into knots.”
    “Sorry.” He sank onto the chair beside her, but even sitting, his energy was through the roof. He bobbed his knee and drummed his fingertips atop the armrests. Obviously, the tea’s calming effects was wearing off.
    She clapped a hand over his turbo-charged knee and stilled it, unable to suppress her chuckle. “Stop. It’s just a shot. It’s not a big deal.”
    “It’s not just the