Chapter 146: Pregnancy Emergency.

"If you don’t believe me when I tell you that I wasn’t reciprocating the kiss and have no other intentions concerning Eli’s return, then why don’t you ask yourself why I kissed you in front of him?"

Dave asked, his eyes fixed on Vincent.

"If I didn’t want him to know that I’ve fallen in love with other people, why would I kiss you in front of him and tell you how I feel about you?"

Bryce stared at them in disbelief, momentarily caught up in the revelation that Dave had kissed Vincent.

He looked from one to the other, struggling to follow the argument that had suddenly taken a turn he hadn’t anticipated.

"Why are you so determined to talk about him kissing me? Why don’t we talk about me kissing you instead?" Dave pressed, his frustration mounting. "Are you so furious right now because of that? Because you hate that I kissed you and said what I said to you? I want to kno..."

"So did you kiss me just to prove that nothing was going on between the two of you, or did you kiss me because you wanted to, and you meant what you said to me?" Vincent interrupted before Dave could finish.

"I meant what I said to you, and I mean it when I say that even if Eli is back, it doesn’t change the relationship I have with either of you."

Dave’s voice lowered as he tried to make himself understood.

"Yes, his return has shaken me, but I know where I want to be, and that place is here, with you."

He turned toward Bryce.

"You know what? It’s fine," Bryce said.

His voice suggested that he had accepted the explanation, but neither Dave nor Vincent was fooled.

Bryce was trying to put an end to the conversation, not because his concerns had disappeared, but because he no longer wanted to continue it.

"If you say nothing has changed, then there’s no need to keep going over everything. So what if you kissed him? A kiss after years of suffering and believing he was dead isn’t a crime. Let’s end this here and go to sleep. I bet we’re all tired."

He rose to his feet, apparently determined to leave the argument behind for the night.

Dave and Vincent fell silent. Neither tried to stop him, and for a brief moment, the tension in the room seemed to settle. But as Bryce straightened, Vincent’s brows drew together. Something had caught his attention.

"Why do I smell blood?" he muttered.

His gaze moved over Bryce, searching for the source of the scent, convinced it was coming from him.

His expression tightened at once.

"Bryce, are you okay?" he asked, his voice suddenly urgent.

"Yes..." Bryce answered almost immediately.

The word had barely left his mouth when he swayed to one side. Dave reacted instinctively, catching him before he could hit the floor.

Panic seized both of them.

Vincent moved closer, and that was when he noticed the blood running down Bryce’s leg. For a moment, he seemed unable to accept what he was seeing.

"No, no, Bryce, please."

He reached for Bryce desperately, his hands searching for some way to help, though he knew he couldn’t stop the bleeding simply by holding him. He pulled out his phone.

"What are you waiting for? Call the doctor." Dave said urgently when Vincent stood there with the phone in his shaking hand without dialing.

"What if the problem is tied to the pregnancy?" Vincent asked, his voice strained.

"Are you seriously thinking about not being exposed at the expense of his life and the baby’s?"

"Why would you think that’s what I meant?" Vincent snapped, looking at Dave as though the suggestion itself was unbearable. "You think this is about not wanting people to find out we’re supernaturals? It’s about wasting time with a human doctor who won’t be able to help him!"

Dave’s grip tightened around Bryce as he tried to think of what they could possibly do.

"Then what the fuck do we do?" Dave demanded.

Before the question had even left his mouth, Vincent transformed into his full wolf form, and sprang forward and raced out of the house at a speed far beyond anything Dave had ever witnessed in an animal.

Dave watch him disappear, still holding Bryce in his arms. He lowered him onto the couch and gathered him into his arms, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

"Bryce? Bryce, please don’t do this. Open your eyes, baby please." He pleaded, gently coaxing him to respond, but Bryce remained unconscious.

A thousand thoughts raced through Dave’s mind, each one making the situation harder to bear. Perhaps he shouldn’t have told Bryce about Eli.

Considering everything they had gone through because of Eli, the news might have been too much for him to handle.

Of course Bryce would be bothered. How could he not be?

Perhaps he should have waited until Bryce had given birth before telling him. At least then, the risk to Bryce and the baby wouldn’t have been so great.

But there was no point regretting his decision now.

What was he supposed to do? Should he call a doctor anyway, even though Vincent had insisted that a human doctor wouldn’t be able to help?

Dave’s phone lay on the table, just a short distance away. Reaching for it meant letting go of Bryce, even if only for a moment.

The thought terrified him.

But staying where he was, holding Bryce without doing anything, wasn’t going to help either.

With considerable effort, Dave gently lowered Bryce’s head onto the couch, making sure he was settled before rushing to retrieve his phone.

He returned immediately and cradled Bryce again, his attention fixed on his face as he checked his pulse.

It was faint.

Fear gripped him as he dialed 911. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time, regardless of what Vincent had said about human doctors. He had to do something.

But before he could let the call go through, the door slammed open.

Two wolves rushed inside.

Dave recognized Vincent’s wolf immediately.

Both wolves shifted into their human forms, confirming Dave’s suspicion. One was Vincent. The other was the older woman who had visited their house once before.

Relief washed over Dave as the woman hurried toward Bryce.