Free Two Minutes (Seven Series Book 6) by Dannika Dark Page B

remembered Denver’s wolf sleeping by my side. Having him there had been a comfort and made me realize his absence might have been the reason I’ve had trouble sleeping over the years.
    My head was pounding when I crawled out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. I wasn’t sure if it was a hangover or the fact my head had been literally hanging over the bed all night. I made all kinds of promises to never drink again.
    When I reached the bathroom, the door was closed.
    “Can you hurry up in there?” I knocked and pressed my ear against the door. Someone was gasping for breath. When I reached for the knob and jiggled it, I found it was locked. “Who’s in there?”
    “It’s just me, Maizy. Go back to bed,” Lexi said.
    Something was wrong. “Lexi, let me in. I want to know why it sounds like—”
    The door swung open and Lexi looked at me with a tear-stained face. “ Shh . Don’t let anyone hear you.”
    “What’s wrong?” I pushed my way inside and locked the door behind me.
    Then I noticed small droplets of blood—a stain on her thigh and on the toilet. I walked past her to look and grimaced when I realized what had happened.
    Lexi sat on the floor, and I’d never seen her so distraught. I knelt down and blotted her face with a few folded sheets of toilet paper.
    “We should call a Relic,” I said.
    She shook her head. “It’s over. There’s nothing else to do.”
    “Has this happened before?”
    Lexi drew in a deep breath and wiped her nose. “Years ago—just after Naya and Wheeler got together—I had sex with Austin while I was in heat. I didn’t know I was pregnant until after I lost it. I told Austin, and we decided to keep it between us. After that, he kept putting off kids. He said we weren’t ready and the pack was too young, plus I had the business and maybe it wasn’t meant to be.”
    I leaned around her to make sure no one was listening at the door, but I didn’t see any feet or shadows beneath the crack at the bottom. “Go on.”
    She wiped her wet lashes and rubbed her eye. “A couple of years ago, I talked him into it. Having kids, that is. The sex is amazing when you’re in heat, but I really want to have a family with Austin. I got pregnant right away again. I started getting sick but kept it hidden from the pack because I wanted to make sure it would keep, you know? Anyhow, it happened in the morning. I woke up and… God, Austin saw the blood. So I went to a Relic, and she said maybe it had something to do with my first change happening so late. Maybe my body had repressed functionality or something. She told me that sometimes women lose their babies, but they keep trying and eventually one stays. It’s been devastating. Twice more it’s happened, and I can’t have the pack know what’s going on between us.”
    “Why not? They should know what you’re going through.”
    She shook her head adamantly. “This is our personal business, Maze. I’m afraid they might not see Austin as a competent alpha, even though it’s not his fault… it’s mine. We didn’t try to get pregnant this time. He tried to be cautious and pull out, but… God, I can’t talk about this with you.”
    I smirked and brushed her hair away. “You’re my sister. We can talk about anything. I can’t imagine how hard it’s been for you to keep this a secret, but you need someone to confide in. Anytime you want to talk, or cry, or just yell at someone, come see me. Okay? Well, maybe not so much the yelling part.”
    Lexi laughed quietly and patted my leg. “Thanks. Maybe after a while, but not today. I’m trusting you to keep this a secret, Maze. I don’t want Austin to worry. He told me once we shouldn’t have kids because he couldn’t stand the thought of losing me. I just feel like I’ve failed him as a mate.”
    When the tears came, I held her. “Shhh. You haven’t failed him. Your body just needs more time, and maybe you need to find another Relic who specializes in this kind of