The following is a reworking of a scene from Kelley Armstrong's "The Summoning". All characters, and a portion of the text belong to Ms. Armstrong. The author is merely borrowing them for their own amusement. This piece is rated M and features supernatural themes, male pregnancy and birth. Readers are advised to use their own discretion as to whether to continue past this point. Having been suitably warned, the author takes no responsibility for any eye erosion or the provision of any brain-bleach that may be required. The scene is intended in good humour.

Not What You Think

Chapter 1

I turned slowly. The sound stopped. Then came the stifled cough, and as I wheeled toward it, I saw a white sock peeking from behind the shed.

I dashed over. Derek was there, deep in the shadows, on all fours, his head and upper body barely visible. The stink of sweat rolled off him, and the breeze brought a sharp bitter smell that made the back of my throat constrict, reflexively gagging.

His body tensed as he retched, a dry, ragged heave.

"Derek?" I whispered. "It's Chloe."

He went rigid. "Go away." The words were a guttural growl, barely intelligible.

I stepped closer, dropping my voice another notch. "Simon's gone. I convinced him to go on ahead while I found you."

His back arched, arms stretched out, pale fingers digging into the soil. A low moan, cut short by a grunt.

"You found me. Now go."

"Do you really think I'd leave you like this?" I took another step forward. The stink of vomit made me clap my hand to my nose. I switched to breathing through my mouth. "If you're throwing up, that's more than a fever. You need -"

"Go!" The word was a snarl and I staggered back.

"His head dropped. Another moan, this one ending in a high-pitched sound, almost like a whimper. He wore a t-shirt, bare muscles bunching as he gripped the ground again.

"Derek, I -."

His back arched, stretching so high I could see the rigid line of his spine, T-shirt pulled tight, muscles writhing and rippling. Then he sagged, his panting breaths as ragged as the rustling leaves. My gaze was drawn to his stomach, though, as the t-shirt bunched higher, revealing something that wasn't there last night when I'd caught him shirtless. I couldn't seem to tear my eyes away from the glistening, taut expanse of skin there.

I took yet another step forward, reaching out a hand toward him, intending to get a better look at his stomach. When I'd almost made contact, though, he pulled his t-shirt down in a jerky movement and moved just an inch closer to the back of the shed, but it was enough for me to get the hint. No touching.

Shaking my head, I blinked a couple of times to get the image from my mind, surely it was a trick of the light.

"Please. Go." The words were a deep mumble, like he wasn't opening his mouth.

"You need help -"

"No!"

"Simon, then. I'm getting Simon. I'll be right -."

"No!"

He twisted, and the shirt rode up again, allowing me a better look at what I'd just moments ago dismissed. There, protruding from Derek's well toned body was a quivering, round belly. I couldn't help myself. I gawked. Derek tried to pull the t-shirt down again, but it was too late. I'd already seen it, clear as day. His hand fell away, as if defeated, and he plopped into a sitting position, leaning against the wall of the shed, one hand coming up to rub the side of his bulging stomach.

My mind continued to rebel. This was not at all what I'd expected. Simon's words ran through my head. "Guys like Derek have... physical enhancements, you might say. Extra strong, as you saw. Better senses, too. That kind of thing."

After that kind of an explanation, I'd jumped to the werewolf conclusion because really, what was I supposed to think? The guy was big, muscled, gruff looking, super strong with super hearing. I'd seen enough movies to know that they all pointed toward werewolf territory, and I'd kept the knowledge in the front of my mind to avoid being the clueless heroine. But this...

Derek convulsed, his head flying back, jaw clenched, an awful moaning howl hissing through his teeth, ending on a yelp.

"Derek?" I inched forward on my knees, eyes darting between his pained expression and the glistening orb of his stomach, trying to work out why the sight of it seemed vaguely familiar. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Pants," he gritted between panting breaths.

I must have misheard him. "What?"

"Pants," he repeated, fumbling for the button fly of his jeans under his belly. "Off," he added, hand working at undoing the fastenings.

"Wh-why?" I stammered, trying frantically to think of a logical explanation as to why Derek would want to be a step closer to being naked in my presence.

"Coming," he moaned, his hand stopping it's action to press against his sides as his belly tightened. He hissed out a sharp breath and suddenly the ground was flooded with liquid, soaking into my own jeans as well as his. "Right now!" he growled, working himself up so he could slide his pants down a little. It appeared as though the liquid was coming from him.

His pained cry as he clutched the sides of his stomach and his body tensed seemed to jerk me into action. I leaped to my feet, helping him to stand as well, encouraging him to lean against the shed when it appeared he couldn't support himself. As quickly as I could, with trembling hands, I managed to pull his jeans down to his ankles before they got caught on his shoe. This was a problem. I couldn't manage his laces with my numb fingers.

I stood there a moment, not sure of what to do. Finally, I opened my mouth to tell him I couldn't get his pants all the way off only to be cut off.

"It's fine," he panted, kicking the pants off the foot that had no shoe and pushing his boxers down to follow the same way before lowering himself to the ground once more.

"D-Derek. Wh-wh-what's g-g-g-." I took a deep breath, determined not to look anywhere but his face, and tried again. "Wh-what are you d-doing?"

He didn't seem to hear me as he grunted and curled around his stomach. I found myself staring at the orb, as a scene from a movie flashed through my head: Arnold Schwarzenegger in a business suit, shirt undone and belly bulging out.

I shook my head. No. It couldn't be. Stuff like that only happened in the movies.

Like seeing ghost and raising the dead?

That's different. It's a mental thing. What Derek is doing is physically impossible.

If he's doing it, clearly it's not impossible.

I gulped back bile that rose in my throat and glanced down below the mass. He was definitely male, which meant there was no way I could be right about him being pregnant. It was physically impossible.

Derek continued to grunt and pant and curl for a while before shifting positions again. He ended up on his knees, bracing his hands against the shed. His rear end was facing me and I could see that his butt cheeks were slightly parted. As he grunted and tensed again, they flared open and I could see something poking out of his anus just a little.

A strangled gasp left my throat and I stumbled back a few steps into the fence.

"Can you see it?" he panted a moment later, rubbing his lower back as if easing an ache there.

"I-I-... I-... Th-th-there's a-" I was cut off again by his moan and tense routine, this time the thing there pushed him open further an began to slide out, revealing what looked to be a snout. The world went fuzzy and white and my knees gave way. Every part of my body seemed to have disconnected from my brain so that I was sat in the grass, staring in horror at the sight before me.

Slowly a head emerged from Derek's behind, it's wet nose and furry ears twitching slightly as he continued to push. I have no idea how long I sat there, unable to look away, before the entire wolf pup – for that's what I realised it must be – slid free of his anus and he collapsed to the ground, puffing and panting and staring at small furry thing that had just come from him.

"That's not how Dad said this would happen," he managed to say after a long moment.

"Wh-!"

"I came out here thinking I was going to change," he explained tiredly, scooping up the pup and gently laying it in his arms. "I figured the belly was the wolf bits forming inside me ready to come out. I just... I didn't think it would be like this."

"Y-you j-j-just g-gave bir-irth," I stuttered, wrapping my arms around myself as a chill breeze blew.

"Yeah," he said calmly.