9 Chapter 9

The next morning I wake to a empty bed, which didn't surprise me. Somehow I felt disheartened, even if I'm glad he's not here.

Sighing, I drag my aching body from the bed. Being awake most of the night has put a serious dent in my energy. I manage to clean myself up and get dressed, but as for cleaning and doing chores, that's a hard pass for today.

Sluggishly I make my way downstairs, covering my mouth as I yawn with exhaustion. Turning to the kitchen, I jump in fright, letting out a short scream as a head of brown curls spins my way.

"Sorry!" Rosa immediately apologises, a guilty look on her face.

I stare at her with slightly wide eyes, my heart racing. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, only about ten minutes. Kyle told me to let myself in, I'm sorry." Rosa rushes, apologising again.

Kyle told her to come in without telling me? He knows how uneasy I get, and he thought it would be fine to surprise me like that?

"No, no it's ok. Kyle said you wanted to talk to me?" I ask, heading to the kitchen for a glass of water. Rosa follows behind me, her nerves higher than usual, I could smell her worry.

"I do, yeah. Um, I actually need your advice on something." She says, gulping down her nerves.

Raising my eyebrow slightly, I pour her a glass of water and gulp down my own. When my thirst is quenched, I place the glass down. Sitting at the island with Rosa, I nod my head.

"What is it?"

She fiddles with her fingers nervously, a strange thing for Rosa. I'll admit, it's making me curious.

"A while ago I thought I was pregnant, and I guess it took us by shock because I've never really thought about having a family." Rosa tells me, her eyes glancing around before settling on me when she sees my curious expression.

No judgments, I assume she sees that as she quickly becomes comfortable.

"When we found out it was a false alarm, we were kind of disappointed. I mean, we weren't exactly happy about possibly having a cub, but I felt sad, you know?" She says in a quiet voice.

I nod my head, smiling a little. "I get it, you started thinking about what it would be like, you got attached."

"Yeah! So we decided to start trying, and...well..." Rosa trails off, unzipping her large coat and removing her scarf.

The small bump that greets my eyes doesn't shock me, I wasn't surprised because I already knew. I couldn't help but smile, and it wasn't forced, it was genuine.

"Are you happy about it?" I ask, my tone slightly more open with friendliness.

Rosa's cheeks flush slightly. "I am, I'm just freaking out a little. I mean, my parents weren't around most of my life so I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

My smile falters slightly.

"You'll be amazing, Rosa. With or without your parents, you'll figure it out with Jackson. We're not our parents, and we shouldn't try to be, your baby will love you as long as you're part of it's life." I say softly, my smile reassuring.

"You don't think we're going too fast?" Rosa furrows her eyebrows, and for the first time since I met her, she shows me her vulnerability.

She's afraid, she thinks she won't be a good mother because hers was taken from her before she could learn everything she needed. Her family isn't the easiest to deal with, Kage especially.

"There's no such thing as too fast, if you're happy and comfortable, then that's all that matters." I assure her.

"Why aren't you surprised?" Rosa questions, still frowning at me like she can't quite figure it out.

"My wolf had very good ears." I say, glancing at her bunk briefly, a small grin on my face.

Rosa's eyes widen. "You knew? How long?"

"The day I told Kyle my moon cycle came early, he could smell the changing hormones in your body." I say with a small shrug.

"I thought that was weird, I knew you were lying!" Rosa declares with astonishment, yet a grin spreads on her face.

"Why didn't you just let him figure it out?" She suddenly asks.

"It's your secret to tell, you looked worried so I figured you weren't ready to tell anyone." I admit.

Rosa's hazel eyes stare at me, confused and guilty.

"You're a really nice person." She comments, and I couldn't help but to laugh at her strangeness.

"No, I mean it. Why haven't we done this before?" She wonders, smiling at me with her head tilted as if she can't understand it.

"Do you want to know the gender?" I ask, distracting her before she can question me.

Rosa's eyes widen. "How can you possibly know the gender? Kyle can't even smell the baby and here you are smelling it's genitals."

I grimace slightly at her choice of words.

"I haven't adapted to human life like Kyle, my senses are far better than his." I say, shrugging even if it's not the whole truth.

"Jackson wants a girl, but I'm happy with either." Rosa smiles, nodding her head.

Inhaling deeply, I close my eyes and focus, picking between the distinctive scent of male and female. Being so young it has hormones that spend time developing, the gender takes a while to decide but if you have a wolf like mine it's rather easy to figure it out.

I could smell Rosa's anticipation, and when I open my eyes, I couldn't help but grin.

"Jackson won't be disappointed." I state firmly. Rosa's eyes widen in surprise, a huge smile cracking open her face.

"It's a girl!?" She squeals, her arms dragging me in for a hug when I nod. Laughing, I pat her back awkwardly until she lets me go again.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask after a while of chatting about baby names and clothes. Rosa is beyond excited to have a baby girl, and I don't blame her.

"Sure." She nods.

"If Jackson started ignoring you and acting like he didn't care anymore, what would you do?" I ask, my tone quiet with curiosity.

You shouldn't have asked her, Adrielle. She's Kyles sister, she'll mention it to him. My brain whispers.

"I guess confront him, it depends really." She shrugs slightly, staring at me curious, frowning.

"If a man suddenly turns his attention away from his girl, then trust me, his attention is on someone else." Rosa says before I can open my mouth, like she knows I'm talking about Kyle.

It's obvious really, there's no one else I'd be asking about.

"Like another female?" I whisper.

Rosa takes my hand, nodding. "I know my brother, and as much as I love him, he's doing wrong by you. I think it's time for that talk."

She gives me a small comforting smile, and even though my heart sinks, I know she's right. I should have spoken to him weeks ago, when he first started acting strange. It's not just this week that I've noticed it, I've merely ignored it before this week, acted like it's just me being paranoid.

"I know." I sigh.

Rosa stays for a while longer, distracting me with her usually preppy self. I'll admit, it's nice to talk to another female without any guys around, I feel more at ease. Rosa is the kind of person you tell things to, she's not a gossiper and I like that about her. Still, my secrets are my own.

Rosa eventually goes home to tell Jackson the news, and I eventually find the energy to start cleaning. Half way through the living area, the front door opens. Knowing it's Kyle, I simply stand up and place the bag of rubbish aside as he comes in.

Planning to have this talk with him, I open my mouth. Kyle beats me to it, his eyes on the rubbish he made with Luke last night.

"Are you joking? You haven't done anything all day?" He asks, looking at me with a frown that says he's disappointed.

Speechless, I can only stare at him with wide eyes, completely taken back by his words. Kyles approach reminds me of how someone speaks to their maid, or cleaner. It takes me by surprise, he's never actually confronted me about not cleaning, which is rare anyway.

"I haven't been feeling good, I'll get around to it." I frown slightly, wondering why it suddenly bothers him so much. It's not like I haven't cleaned every other day with week.

Kyles blue eyes are dull, kind of like he's sad about something. Even if I ask I know he won't tell me, he's not very open with me anymore.

"Did Rosa stop by?" He asks, his tone slightly softer than how he previously addressed me.

Nodding, I finish cleaning up the litter, shoving it into the bag.

"She just wanted to have girl talk, It was kind of nice actually." I respond, shrugging slightly.

Kyle doesn't respond, and I take the rubbish to the bin in the kitchen, disposing of it. Something about the silence puts a pit of dread into my stomach, my breathing speeding up slightly as my heart pounds faster.

It's almost like I could sense his next words.

"Adrielle...I need to tell you something."