Raven shrugged. “After the month we’ve had, anything’s possible.”
“You make is sound like I might spontaneously combust. I’m pregnant, Ray. Not a nuclear bomb.”
“You still have to tell Luke and his family.”
“Wrong. I have to tell Luke. His family can eat rocks.” Gabby scowled, scooting to sit off the side of the bed. She looked at her dangling feet, shaking her head. “That comment was unfair. Marie Laval and her girls have been nothing but sweet. It’s Luke’s father who can eat rocks.”
“Amen to that.”
Gabrielle turned quickly. “I’m serious, Ray. No one says a word before I talk to Luke. We’ll decide who we tell and when.”
“Lose the death stare, cher. Neither Tanya nor I are going to tell anyone.” Raven held her robe out, and Gabrielle took it, but didn’t put it on. “But speaking of tattlers, why didn’t you wake me? I’m your best friend. If I can hold your hair while you puke, I can hold your hand while you pee on a stick.”
Gabby made a face, and her hand went to her stomach. “You and your absinthe. Rumor has it you’ve got a fancy bottle waiting with our names on it.”
“I do.” Ray grinned, picking up Gabby’s clothes from the floor. “Aiden’s been trying to get me to open it, but I told him not until this demon mess is done and dusted.”
A small smile tugged at her lips. “You sound just like him. Next, you’ll start looking like each other the same way people start resembling their pets.” She paused. “Jeez, Ray! Will you stop cleaning? I can pick up after myself.”
“You can, but you don’t. You’re going to be a mother, Gabs. Your slob days are over. As for becoming fanged and furry the more time we spend with our shifters, I’d check myself at the next full moon. You’re a lunar witch, knocked up by a lunar wolf. It doesn’t get more fanged and furrier than that.”
“I’m an Elemental witch, with just a splash of lunar magic. In case you didn’t notice, the moon is full, and will be for the next three days, yet not a pelt in sight. Just a bunch of mosquito bites tingling my forearm.”
“Mosquitos?”
Gabrielle shrugged. “And to answer your question, I didn’t wake Tanya on purpose. Her room is closest to the bathroom. Either she’s a light sleeper, or she’s nosy as all fuck. Unlike some people who sleep like the dead.” She cleared her throat, giving Raven a look.
“I have trace undead blood. Sleeping like the dead comes with the territory.”
“Shouldn’t that mean you’re up all night and sleep all day?”
“Ha! You’ll wish that was the case once Wolfy Jr. arrives. Still, even if Auntie Raven needs her beauty sleep, I’m sure Auntie Tanya won’t. Trust me, the woman never sleeps. Aiden and I have the room next door to her and Jared, and the after-hours acrobatics are no joke.”
“Theirs or yours?”
Raven winked, but didn’t answer.
“Just as I thought. You really are a downward dirty dog.”
“Woof.”
“Exactly.”
Raven draped the clothes she collected on the back of a chair “Seriously, though. You should have woken me. You don’t have to go through this alone.”
“I know, Ray, but still—” She went to get up, but a wave dizziness hit before she finished her thought, and she sank to the mattress, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Gabs, you okay?” Raven rushed to the side of the bed.
“It’s too soon for morning sickness, right?”
“With a baby that’s half wolf shifter, half elemental witch? Who knows?”
Gabby cracked one eye open, and then the other. “This has been a one hell of a week for revelations, Ray. First Capiria turns me into Lightning Lass, and then I find I’m knocked up.”
“Your boobs aren’t big enough for you to be Lightning Lass. DC Comics doesn’t skimp on cleavage.” Raven smirked. “Then again, now that you’re preggers?”
“I really hate you sometimes.”
Ray laughed. “Aw, you love me, and you know it.”
“You’re not the only one who packs a mean zap these days, so you better hope so,” Gabrielle shot back, shoving her arms into her robe.
Raven tugged her up from the bed, closing her friend into a tight hug. “Elemental witch or not, pregnant or not, I wouldn’t change you for the world, Gabs. You’ve been there for me no matter what, and I’m here for you. Whether you know it or not, Luke will be, too.”
“I hope so.”
“He will.” Raven stepped back from her friend. “Or I’ll sic Aiden on his lunar ass.”
“I wish had your faith. I’m a crossbreed, Ray. Gregory Laval is not going to love the idea. I’d hate for Luke to feel he has to choose between me or his family.”
“You and this baby are his family.” Raven squeezed Gabby’s hand. “As for good ol’ Greg, screw him and his old wet blanket. That man is so tight, he squeaks. I’m surprised Marie hasn’t sunk him six feet under out in the woods. Even a splash of Lunar magic means the fates were on the money when they threw you and Luke together, and if his father is too buttoned-up and butt-clenched to see that, then the rest of us will have to pry his eyes open. Even if we have to sit him down and force it Clockwork Orange style.”
Gabby angled her head, unconvinced. “The fates were on the money how?”
“Luke is a Lunar wolf.”
“You keep saying that.” Gabrielle pulled her hand from Ray’s grip, and walked to her vanity for her toiletry bag. “Aren’t they all lunar wolves? Isn’t that the point of shifting?”
“Nope. There are different kinds of shifters the same way there are different kinds of witches. Different kinds of vampires, different kinds of demons, etcetera and so on. You’re an elemental, but Capiria and her coven
