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disheveled appearance, and the anxiety on her face, Regine assumed she was in a hurry.
    “Sure,” Regine said as she helped Elyse inside. Regine felt the curious stares on them and knew they were wondering who Elyse was to her and what she was doing on the compound. Regine would explain later. She brought Elyse to the kitchen and helped her sit on the stool.
    “First, let me assure you that we’re alone. Secondly, this better an emergency since I was supposed to pick you up. Now what’s wrong?
    “My plug came out this morning.”
    “Did your water break?”
    “Not yet. Which is why I came to the compound. But this little voice in my head kept saying not to wait for you to pick me up. From personal experience, I didn’t ignore it. I knew what I was getting into when Anik told me he was a lion shifter but I figured I was getting nervous since I’m so close to my due date.
    I tried calling you and Anik but kept getting your voice mail. I’m sorry.”
    Tears poured down Elyse’s face. Regine merely smiled and mentally chastised herself for bringing her phone into the kitchen to charge this morning. After everything that happened last night she completely she neglected to do last night.
    “It’s perfectly natural to feel a little scared and I’m sorry for not having my phone close. If you want, I’ll examine you here. We have a doctor that can take a look as well. Let’s get you upstairs.”
    This wasn’t the first time she had witnessed someone overreact as their pregnancy progressed. Regine helped Elyse off the stool and looked down just in time to see fluid land on the floor.
    “Okay, my water just broke.”
    “Well, don’t worry. We’ll get you to the hospital before you go into labor. Have you been feeling any contractions?” Regine asked going into nurse mode. She looked down at her watch and mentally recorded the time.
    “No.”
    “Good. That means we can wait for Anik to get here before we go to the hospital. Let me clean this up. Did you bring a change of clothes with you?” Regine asked making quick work of the mess.
    “It’s in my car.”
    “Let’s go get them and I’ll see if one of the men at the gate can run and get Anik for us.” Regine couldn’t leave Elyse alone.
    “No need in asking them anything,” Nathan’s voice boomed making them both jump in surprise. How long has he been standing there, Regine asked herself. He stood at the entrance with a scowl on his face as if waiting for one of them to respond. “Who’s your friend, Regine?”
    “This,” she cleared her throat and continued, “is Elyse. Anik’s mate.” Regine waited for Nathan to process what she just said but the scowl he sported didn’t change. “We’ll explain later, but right now I need you to get Anik since Elyse’s water just broke.”
    Nathan looked at Elyse for a moment before looking back at Regine. His face changed from the hard scowl to a softer more concerned expression and she smiled.
    “I’ll be back with him soon,” he promised then walked to the backyard.
    Twenty minutes later Anik, Elyse, and Regine made their way to the hospital.

    Word about Anik’s mating and his new cubs spread quickly among the pack. As soon as they arrived back at the compound, it seemed that everyone wanted his attention. They’d have to wait.
     “Thank you for bringing Anik to Elyse,” Regine said as she headed up to her room.
    Nathan simply nodded and made his way to his office. Angry about her keeping secrets, he was afraid of what he might say. It was better for him to put space between them so he went to his office. Dagger’s completed storyboards were on his desk, but he didn’t even bother looking at them. He was frustrated. Why didn’t Anik bring his mate to the compound? They had a good medical staff and they also had Regine. Why would Regine purposely withhold this information when being at the compound was the safest place for Elyse?Did she honestly believe he’d ignore the well-being of any of