I sighed as I plopped onto my dusty old couch. Medea meowed at me and curled her tail around my feet. With a chuckle, I bent down and stroked her back as she arched it upward.

"Medea, you lazy thing. You haven't done anything but sleep today, and yet you're acting as if you moved the earth a billion miles from where it already is," I laughed tiredly. I turned my head at the sound of my front door opening. Usually, my first instinct would be to grab the handgun I had hidden in the couch armrest, but now I had to look before I killed.

My new roommate, a gorgeous honey blonde-haired man wearing medical scrubs, walked through the door. He kicked off his shoes quietly and kept his head down. His body moved fluidly as he slid out of his light jacket; his hair slid down over his eyes like a melodramatic curtain.

"Are you alright, Samuel?" I asked as I stood up. A sharp pain sliced through my lower back. Gabriel had taken the week off to go on a family vacation, so I was stuck doing my own paperwork again. I hated doing paperwork because I always bent over my work and ended up nearly breaking my back.

Samuel shook his head slowly and walked to his room.

I raised my eyebrow. This is not like him at all, I thought to myself. Ever since the day I had helped rescue Adam Hauptman, my drop-dead-gorgeous neighbor, and his daughter Jesse, Samuel had never passed a day by without talking my ear off. I stood up and followed him to his room. Cautiously, I peeked around the corner to look inside.

He was laying on his side facing the wall with the small window. His sides rose and fell at a slow, steady pace.

For safety purposes, I got on all fours and crawled over to his bedside. Having your head higher than a dominant werewolf was on the list of Stupidest Things You Could EVER Do. I reached up and lightly touched his back.

He jerked his head back to look at me over his shoulder. His nostrils flared to pull in my scent. Once he was satisfied, he rolled his head back onto the pillow. "Mercy…" he whispered faintly.

"I'm here, Sam. I'm here," I cooed as I climbed carefully onto the bed.

He pulled himself up and leaned his back against the pillow. With a grunt, he opened his arms to me. A sad smile flashed on his lips as I folded my legs under me and hugged him around his waist.

"What's wrong, Sam?" I looked up at him, under his bangs into his pale blue eyes.

"There was a woman today, who came in for birthing. She was three months premature of her due date." He sighed before continuing. "It was a boy. Not very big, but not fragile, you know? He looked pretty good for being born under such circumstances… So, we let the mother hold him for a while. He was breathing fine, his heart beat was strong…"

I felt his heart pound against his broad breast...