That didn’t feel like a totally out of the ordinary request. Maybe it would be fine..
“You can talk to him then. In secret, of course. But he’ll have better information about how Hailey is doing. You can make your call with all the information.”
I nodded. “Fair enough. But nothing in the meantime. This is too risky. I need to keep my head down, or she’s going to be suddenly shy one of her alphas.”
Rune grimaced, but he gave a solid nod. We both knew the type of danger I was in with this. Especially since it was someone higher up the chain of the command. Those positions not only came with power and influence; they came with resources.
Resources Ididn’thave.
“Well, good luck, then.” Stepping back, Rune shook my hand this time, turning to sneak off down the hallway. “Don’t get your ass killed.”
I sighed, bobbing my head. “I’m working on it.”
Chapter 32
Hailey
“Hello, Hailey, how are we doing?” the doctor asked as I entered their office. “The receptionist flagged your case as urgent.”
I nodded. “I’m having some interesting symptoms, and I'm not sure if it's linked to the separation sickness, all the pregnancy hormones, or what. I don’t know what to do,” I explained as I sat in the chair, getting straight to the point.
“What are the symptoms?”
“I feel like I'm going into heat,” I whispered. “That's impossible, though, isn't it? Because you don't get heats while pregnant. Everyone knows that.”
“It's not impossible. What we’ll do is start by taking your vitals. Why don't you hop up on the table, and we'll take your blood pressure and temp?”
I did as the doctor asked, my leg bobbing anxiously up and down.
“How often has this been happening?”
“It's been getting more frequent. It was every few days, and now I'm having them fairly regularly.”
“And the last I heard, you told me you'd managed to bond with an alpha. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Merrick. He's amazing, and he's been giving me all the physical touch. It's helped me feel tons better. For a while, I was feeling practically back to normal. Well, other than the morning sickness but even that is starting to ease.”
“I'm happy to hear that. Is it just the one alpha you bonded with?”
“Yes. I've also been spending time around the pack members of my first bonded alpha. The one who I accidentally bonded and then he absconded. Good news is, he's coming back soon.”
“So your new alpha has joined this pack.”
I smiled with a nod. “He's been really good to me.”
“And you haven't bonded with any of the other pack members?”
I shook my head. “Given how I bonded with their pack mate, I've been erring on the side of caution.”
“Normally, I would commend you for that, but in this instance”—the doctor put his stethoscope around his neck—“I think being around them may be aggravating your missing bond.”
“What do you mean?” I asked while he removed the blood pressure cuff from my arm.
He nodded with confidence. “Judging by your temperature, you’re going into heat.”
I stared blankly at the doctor for a few moments. “What do you mean?”
“While heats areextremelyuncommon during pregnancy, they do occasionallyhappen. Especially when there are extenuating circumstances like this. It's most likely that the separation sickness, being around alphas, being near a freshly bonded alpha, and the pregnancy have all exacerbated everything. Your body is trying to go into heat to make you bond to more alphas to stabilize.”