As Sarah moved to sit next to the small fire, Hale tossed the hares to Jewel. Skillfully, she caught one in each hand.
Hale said, “Gut those for me, beautiful.”
Jewel stood, rolling her eyes. “Such a charmer.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Alder said to Jewel. “Night watch is mine anyway.”
Sarah watched as Alder and Jewel left. Caim glanced back at Sarah and Snow before following the duo, shifting back into his wolf form in mid-stride.
“He’s very independent,” Hale said, offering Sarah a cup of water. She accepted it, not realizing how thirsty she had been until she had downed the contents in one prolonged gulp.
She thanked him and set the cup on the floor as Hale sat down beside her. The queasiness in her stomach returned as she watched Hale casually lick at his bloodied fingers.
“Caim likes you,” Hale said, still focused on his fingers. Matter-of-factly, he added, “All the pups do. You’ll make a good mother.”
Sarah frowned. “Lots of kids like circus clowns, too. That doesn’t qualify them all to be parents.”
Hale gave her a sideways look. “Circus clowns?”
“Never mind,” she said with a sigh.
Her mind was still a chaotic mess, but her nerves had calmed since earlier that evening. Now thinking a little more clearly, she was glad that it had been Alder and not Hale that she’d run into. She wasn’t particularly interested in hearing Cain’s excuse, and it was hard for her to imagine wanting to stay, but making such a huge decision immediately after receiving the shock of her life was probably not a good idea.
Sarah turned her attention to Snow, who was busying herself by picking at the fabric of Sarah’s gown. Gently, she pulled the little girl’s hand away, pressing a kiss to it. Sarah turned to Hale, planning to ask him if he could get Snow’s doll, but she paused instead.
While the young male cleaned the blood from his fingers, she took the opportunity to examine his features, searching for the resemblance between him and his daughter. There were flecks of gold in Snow’s brown eyes, and they shared the same dimpled chin. But with her dark hair and pale skin, it was clear that she favored her mother.
After seeing the close bond between Cain and his son, it was strange to Sarah that Snow and Hale could sit side by side without expressing any interest in one another.
Before she could consider them any longer, Clover came barreling into the room. Sarah sucked in a breath as Clover enveloped her and Snow into a tight hug.
“I knew it!” Clover exclaimed. She turned to Hale, sticking out her tongue. “I told you! You’re washing the floors for a week.”
“I never took your bet, runt,” he said flatly.
“Oh, Hale,” she said, sounding disappointed.
It surprised Sarah that even their own sister couldn’t tell them apart at a glance. Than, all at once, she realized what they were talking about. Had they seriously made bets about whether or not she was pregnant?
Struggling to bite back her anger, she asked, “Everyone knew?”
“I did not know,” Meadow said, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.
Clover said, “We weren’t sure, but we were all kind of hoping…” she trailed off, her face falling. “You don’t look happy, though.”
Sarah looked between the three of them, her head throbbing. It drove her crazy that everyone was being so cavalier about her pregnancy. For lack of anything better to do, she fell back onto the floor and flung an arm over her head.
* * *
Though it’d seemed hopeless, the night had improved. Most of the pack was considerate of the fact that Sarah didn’t want to talk about being pregnant, and from time to time, she was able to put it out of her mind as well. She knew that it wasn’t the type of problem that would solve itself, but decided the best thing she could do was to sleep on it. Problems always seemed more manageable after a solid rest.
Despite how tired she was, rest didn’t come easy the next morning. Most of the pack had gathered in Meadow’s room to sleep. The clutter had been pushed back against the walls, and Jewel, Fern, Clover, and Grace had stretched out in their wolf forms on the floor.
Sarah shared the bed with the children and Meadow, the latter of whom was none too happy about the sleeping arrangements. When she wasn’t taking up half of the bed, Meadow was kneeing and elbowing Sarah throughout the morning. After several sleepless hours, Sarah selfishly picked up a conked-out Sable and placed the pup between her and Meadow to act as a buffer. It worked out pretty well, because the first time Meadow elbowed Sable, the pup bit her arm. As far as Sarah could tell, Meadow stayed on her own side of the bed from then on.