Can you come over? Amy’s mindlink throws me out of bed before I can fully pry one eye open.
Be there in 10, I mindlink.
I expect to feel carpet beneath my feet, but I forgot we switched to sleeping at Noah’s place toward the end of his rutting cycle. I certainly remember now, sliding across the wooden flooring on one sock. My forehead narrowly misses Noah’s open closet door, forcing Noah to suck in a tight breath behind me. He must’ve been startled awake by my concern in our bond.
His quiet voice is rough with sleep. “What’s wrong?”
My sweatpants are still sprawled over the foot of Noah’s bedframe from when he teased them off me last night. I throw them on, letting out an exasperated breath. “I don’t know. Amy just mindlinked me to come over, and I’m worried.”
Noah is out of bed now too, grabbing yesterday’s black T-shirt from his nightstand. “Did she say anything else?”
“No, I just know something’s up.”
My mate is already reaching for his keys. “I believe you. Let’s go.”
A soft drizzle on Noah’s windshield gives us one last taste of spring on its way out. Clouds block the morning sun, and that’s nothing new; half the year, it feels like it’s perpetually dusk. But today, it makes my heart feel darker too.
Noah takes my hand, giving it a soft squeeze. “She’s okay. Now that I know her a little better, I can feel her.”
My eyes widen. “You’re that connected to the whole pack? That’s incredible, Noah.”
Noah clears his throat, as expected; my mate never likes to brag about his top Alpha abilities, especially the goddamn incredible ones. I stifle the adoration in my chest, too concerned for Amy to fully smile.
“What does she feel like, then?” I ask.
Noah winces. “She’s… afraid.” My heart thumps even harder, but Noah’s grip on my hand tightens. “It doesn’t feel like I should be worried for her safety, though. I just think she must need someone she trusts to be with her.”
I swallow hard. “I know. She wouldn’t ask for help if it wasn’t serious.”
The only thing keeping my wolf from ejecting me from the car and chasing after Amy myself is Noah’s thumb smoothing over the back of my hand. Now that I think of it, he just decided he’d come with me without question. His dark hair is still damp from his morning perimeter run. He must’ve snuck back into bed with me to reform our cuddle ball, and I must’ve been used to his schedule by now to sleep right through it.
But I definitely didn’t sleep through Amy’s mindlink. It triggered a beast in me I’ve attempted to bury, but I know burying things doesn’t work. My mind flickers through every possibility of what could’ve happened to her, unable to disprove their likelihood; they can happen. No, they did. To me.
“You okay?” Noah’s voice sharpens, snapping me out of my head.
I grip my chest, taking a deeper breath. “Yeah. Just a little triggered.”
Noah hugs my arm against his chest before pulling our interlocked fingers to his lips. “I can feel it. You’re right here with me. No matter what we see, I’m here to protect you both.”
I exhale, sinking into his passenger seat as Noah’s soft lips grace my fingertips.
But as we pull up to her apartment complex in the heart of Greenfield, my heart kickstarts from a thumping jog into a sprint. Noah is still turning off the car as I jump out.
I rush up Amy’s apartment steps, ready to ring the intercom like I always used to for Amy to let me in. But Noah taps his wallet against the digital lock system, and a sharp click tells me it’s open. Noah shoves open the heavy door with one hand, leaving space for me to enter first.
I softly smile. “Thanks, Alpha.”
He kisses the top of my head as we step through the door, keeping his hand on my lower back to let me know he’s following me up the stairs.
I take two steps at a time. I’m here, A. Almost up the stairs.
The door’s unlocked, Amy mindlinks.
“Should I come in with you?” Noah asks.
I stop in front of Amy’s closed door. The second her stressed pheromones hit me from beneath the threshold, I nod. “Please.”
Without wasting another second, I turn Amy’s doorknob, speed-walking through her living room. I follow her scent down the hall, but I already know where she is.
I find my best friend bundled up beneath her comforter, her nose redder than ever from crying.
“Oh, A,” I whisper.
This, of course, inspires Amy’s fresh tears.
I’m relieved she doesn’t seem physically hurt. There’s no sign of forced entry.
I let out a shaky breath. Actually, my whole body is quivering. I take a deep whiff of Amy’s scent as I wrap my arms around her.
Noah’s voice softens behind us. “You want me to stay or go, Amy?”
Amy shudders through a bout of heavier tears. “Could you maybe stay?”
My heart warps as her eyes cloud over again. I glance at Noah, and his forehead is similarly scrunched in shared pain.
Noah crouches at my side. “Of course I can stay. We’re both here.”
I tuck Amy’s short, vibrant hair behind her ear to nuzzle her cheek. Her straight, red hair is messy from sleep and stress, but it’s still so silky that it glides from her ear, falling back in place.
Giving her a soft kiss on her cheek, I rub her shoulder. “Talk to me, A. When you’re ready.”
She huffs, a strand of hair puffing off her cheek. After a heavy silence, she reaches for our hands. “I need to get us a wolf pile going first.”
I flop onto Amy, making her let out a heavy grunt.
Amy sputters into nasally laughter. “Wow, okay! I guess I got what I asked for!”
Noah and I smile, climbing onto Amy and Kira’s bed - Noah against her left as I pull Amy into my arms from her right.
“Where’s Kira?” I ask.
Amy sighs, straightening against her headboard with a loud drop of her arms against the comforter in her lap. “She’s at work. I told her not to come home for my ridiculous meltdown, especially because we’re going to need the funding.”
Noah’s eyebrows furrow. “Are you having a hard time making ends meet? Be honest. I want to know, because that shouldn’t be happening in Greenfield, so if those Elders–”
Amy shakes her head. “No, no – we’re good, Alpha. It’s just, we’re budgeting for only two people right now, and–”
As if she didn’t realize what she was saying until it fell from her lips, Amy’s eyes bulge as mine pop open.
“What?!” I gasp. “Are you–”
“I’m not pregnant!” Amy squints her eyes shut.
My mouth is left hanging as I whir over the remaining possibilities. But the more I come up with, the more my heart hurts. Why didn’t she tell me any of this?
Amy groans, hiding her face in her hands. “I didn’t know how to bring this up with you this week, A. I was going to, but Kira and I just started talking about it, literally only on Wednesday, but then last night an opportunity came up out of nowhere - just three days later - and– fuck, this is all happening way too fast!”
“Hey, hey, let’s back up.” I grip her arm, pulling at her hand until she allows me to lace our fingers together. “Start from the beginning.”
Amy whistles out a slow breath. She bites her nails on her free hand like she always does when she’s anxious, peeking between Noah and I before dropping her focus to our clasped hands. “Remember how you, me, and Kira talked about potentially co-parenting next year?”
I clear my throat, sharing a surprised glance with Noah. My cheeks flush - Noah’s puzzled stare tells me he didn’t realize how serious I was about having kids so soon before meeting him. “Yes. But that was before I met Noah.”
“Exactly. And now that you did meet Noah, Kira and I were talking about having kids of our own too, not just co-parenting with you as your baby’s secondary caregivers.”
A spike of concern ripples through our bond. I glance at Noah, but his eyes remain trained on Amy’s anxious hands.
But Amy’s fearful glance pulls my focus back to her. “I hope that’s not disappointing, and I didn’t want to move ahead without you, but–”
“A,” I rub her shoulder, giving her a soft smile. “Breathe. I’m not mad.”
“You’re not?”
“I didn’t exactly ask your permission when Noah and I started having sex either. We could’ve already been pregnant. Plus, the three of us only discussed it as a possibility in the near future, but then I said I wanted to go on a few more dates first for a year or two to be sure I wouldn’t find my soulmate out there, remember?”
She shrugs, her lip wobbling through fresh tears. “I know, but I didn’t want to disappoint you. I just know how much this means to you, and–” She shakes her head, dissolving into full tears.
All I can do is rub her shoulder. I’m a little shocked, staring at my best friend through this severe of upset for what feels like the first time - at least other than the week Amy met Kira and had an epic meltdown the first night they spent apart.
But there has to be something deeper in Amy’s tears than just breaking our almost-agreement. I chew on my lip, struggling to figure it out. It’s not easy when I also have a whirlwind of emotions blasting through our bond, and I can’t figure out what my mate is thinking either.
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