Finally, I am able to see Grace once her parents have interrupted their bedside vigil. As soon as I walk into the room, I ask the nurse, "How is she?"

"She's stable for now and she's sleeping. Right now, we're focusing on keeping her condition from worsening," he says.

I sit on the edge of her bed and hold both of her hands in mine. I'm careful not to touch any of the needles stuck in her. Another nurse walks in, a bundle of papers in her arms. She takes notice of me. She crosses over to the other nurse and whispers in his ear. He murmurs a reply and she nods.

It's the male nurse that speaks up. "You are Grace's boyfriend, am I correct?" When I nod, he says, "We have decided that there is information that should be disclosed to you, though you are not technically her family."

Both his words and his expression cause my anxiety to spike. Are they going to tell me there's nothing they can do? That Grace will die and I should be saying my goodbyes? My heart starts to race. "What is it? Just tell me?" Whatever it is, it can't be worse than the waiting.

"Well, we ran a few tests on Grace to try to pinpoint the cause of her symptoms. One test was a pregnancy test." He hands me one of the papers the other nurse brought in. "As you can see here, the results were positive."

I can feel the blood drain from my face. My stomach churns. I hate to leave Grace's side, but if I don't I'll vomit on the floor. Or worse, on Grace. I run out of the room and into the bathroom across the hall. My knees give out and I collapse. It's all bile and stomach acid that burns as it comes up. Oh, God. I honestly thought Grace dying couldn't get any worse. I rinse my mouth with water and drag myself out of the bathroom.

I sit back at Grace's side. I say to the nurses, "Could you give us a minute?" They do. I take her hands and I say, "I wish you could hear me, Grace. Can you hear me? No? Well, I'll say it anyway. You're a mom, Grace. It doesn't matter that we'll probably never get to meet our baby. I love the baby and I love you. I love you so much. I feel horrible. It's my fault that you're pregnant and—" I am pulled up by the back of my shirt.

Mr. Brisbane's bright red face presses into mine. "Did I just hear you say you got my little girl pregnant?"

I stand my ground. "Yes, sir, you did."

His fist strikes my jaw and my head snaps back. Blood fills my mouth. "Get out of here. You're not family and you don't belong here."

I could argue that it's my baby and that I am family, but that wouldn't help the situation any. Instead, I leave feeling like I've got my tail between my legs.

When I get home, Cole is filling a syringe with something in the kitchen-turned-lab. His eyes are lit up. "I know what's making Grace sick. She never changed so the wolf has just been building up inside her, waiting for something to spark the change."

"How would you do that?"

"Well, the most natural way to do it would be to bite her, but we obviously can't do that. What we can't do is inject my saliva into her bloodstream." He holds up the syringe he was preparing when I came in. "Hey, what's with the long face, Ringo?"

"Grace is pregnant."

This actually elicits a reaction from Cole. "Woah, seriously?" I nod. "And she didn't tell you?"

"I don't know. She might not have realized. She's not very far along. Plus, we used protection."

"You might want to put some ice on your jaw. What happened?"

"I think it's too late to help it." I touch the bruise and I wince. "Grace's dad heard me talking about the baby and punched me. He's why I left."

"I can try to make her shift when they leave."

"I just get a bad feeling about this. How are you gonna get her out of there before she shifts?"

"There are windows in her room. We can go out through them and take her into the woods."

"What do you think the shift will do to the baby?"

"I have no idea. We'll just have to wait and see. Do you think you can handle going back to the hospital?"

"Yeah. Just make sure I don't see her parents."

"Yeah, okay. I'll keep an eye out."

When we get to the hospital, we have to argue our way back to Grace's room. Luckily, the nurse that told me about the pregnancy shows up and takes us to Grace.

"Her parents aren't in there. Grace made them leave." He drops us off at the door.

I lock the door behind me. Grace lies in her bed. She's awake, but her face is blank. At least it is until she sees Cole and me. She opens her mouth to speak, but I hold a finger to my lips. Cole already has Grace's arm and is putting the needing to her skin. He meets my gaze and I nod. The needle pierces her skin. I throw the windows open.

Cole is the first to climb to the ground. I rip the IV from Grace's hand and carry her over to the window. I lower her to Cole and then jump down.

I take Grace in my arms. I already see the pain in her eyes. Her muscles tighten and twitch. "You're shifting, Grace. It's the only way to save you. I know you're scared. Just know that I will find you. I promise to keep both you and the baby safe. I love you." When I lean in to kiss her forehead, I see her shock. She didn't know.

The wolf over comes Grace and I end up kneeling before a gray wolf with her brown eyes.

"I can't be a wolf again," I say.

Cole nods. "I know. I'll get her to the woods. You can trust me." I am left with only a bloody hospital gown and fear.