"Who is pregnant?..." Thor asks with surprise as he walks into the room with the rest of the team behind him.
He looks from Ella's face to mine with a slight smile on his face, expecting one of us to give him the answer before he finally turns to Ella with a raised brow... "Or are you?"
"Wait, you're pregnant!?" Ivar doesn't wait for Ella's reply before he also jumps into the conversation. His eyes almost bulge out of their sockets in disbelief as he rushes to her side to grab her hands.
I roll my eyes in amusement at Ivar. The whole team knows how badly he wants them to have a baby. We also understand why Ella doesn't want one yet. It's a difficult time to get pregnant, especially with the impending war against House Denton. Imagine not being able to fight or shift into your wolf when in danger because you have to protect your baby.
"Ivar..." Ella says and sighs deeply. "Honey, we already talked about this, remember? We can't have a baby now because of the situation around us. We agreed we would wait until after we're fully settled in the pack remember? We can't get pregnant with the impending war and all..."
His face fell
"Yes, I know... I totally understand. It's good... We're settling down already, so it's good. Everything will be okay soon." He nods his head as he talks even though he doesn't look like he wants to wait.
"Yeah, everything will be okay soon," Ella replies with a weak smile before she let go of Ivar's hand to face Thor.
"General, I'm not pregnant. I was just telling the Beta about a movie I watched one time ago. You said to keep him company and entertained and that was what I was doing you know. In that movie, the woman didn't realize she was pregnant..."
While Ella is talking, my eyes are on Thor who keeps nodding as he listens like he's really interested in Ella's story but I know him more than anyone else.
"Okay, okay, Ella..." He finally says with a smile when he's had enough of Ella's cock and bull story.
He walks to my bed
"I'm sorry for..." We both say at the same time then stop and laugh
"I think I should go first. I'm..."
"No Thor. You don't need to apologize to me because you don't owe me any apology. I should be the one apologizing to you. To everyone– I'm sorry– I'm so sorry guys..." I say, looking at each of their faces. "I'm sorry for the worry and sleepless nights I put you all through..." I return my gaze to Thor.
"I should have listened and taken some men along with me as you have suggested. I didn't deliberately disobey. I felt we needed more hands with the pack's security. I thought since I would be gone and wouldn't be able to help out for however long I would be gone, then it wouldn't be fair if I reduce the little manpower we have by taking them with me."
He nods
"I understand your selfless thinking, Eric but we that you left in the pack have each other and could have easily helped each other should rogues attack the pack but you, you were alone on that road with no backup and no help. Do you understand me?"
"Yeah, I do now..." I nod. "I wasn't thinking in that line before but I do now. "Thank you, man, for taking good care of me, and the sleepless nights, and..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up already, we heard you. Now, it's time for everyone to get back to work." He says and they all start shuffling out. He turns back to me after they've all left.
"So are you going to spend all day on that damn bed like your ass is glued to it?" He says and chuckle
"Oh, but I thought you didn't want me to leave the bed. Isn't that why you asked Ella to keep me entertained and Bear to guide the door?" I reply with a raised brow and he shrugs
"Well yes. It's cuz I don't want you to embarrass yourself by toddling around like a baby. Now get up!"
"Uhm, actually I tried before but the moment I got up, I fell back. I guess my leg is still too weak to support my weight."
"Yeah, I guess so too but it's not going to get stronger with you staying on your ass all day. Now, c'mon. I'll help you."
"Wait, let me try again by myself. I guess I fell back before because I was walking for the first time after two weeks. It's no wonder my legs were weak and rubbery" I say as I hold on to the bedside table to pull myself up the second time.
My legs are shaky but I manage to stand by myself. With his support, I take my first few steps for the first time in two weeks before I'm finally able to walk by myself. While we're walking out of the part of the mansion we set up for Anders to use as a clinic, we meet Ella who was on her way back to us with a flask in hand.
"Aww, Beta. Look at you, you're walking now. Yay! Isn't that awesome!" She exclaims with a bright smile
I roll my eyes
"Yeah, yeah, isn't that awesome indeed. Don't go overboard with the praises, Ella."
She laughs and then turns to Thor
"I thought I should bring this for you Alpha since I don't know if you would be returning to the main wing or going out from here." She says, giving the flask in her hand to Thor.
"I don't think I need the tea anymore Ella, I'm perfectly okay now. My two eyes are back to normal. I'm calmer these days and I've not yearned for my mate's essence ever since she disappeared. So I'm okay."
"Are you sure? For all we know, you're getting better because you take the tea every day. What if you stop and you suddenly return to being feral?..." I ask him.
"I think you should continue taking it until the month we agreed on is complete and everything has been sorted."
He silently accepts the flask from Ella's hand, immediately down the content, and returns the flask
"Excuse me while I go make lunch," Ella says and hurries off
"So what has been going on with you while I was asleep?... I need to tell you something concerning the day I was attacked." I say
"Okay, but could it wait till tomorrow?... Whatever it is that you have to tell me and everything that happened while you were unconscious, let's talk about it all tomorrow. I don't want you to think about work today. Rest today and we resume talking about work tomorrow?"
"Yes, sure. That's okay by me."