"You're pregnant?" Keesha exclaimed in complete disbelief. "And that horrible man is the father?"

I shut my eyes. I tried so hard not to think about it. To convince myself that the baby wouldn't be evil and mentally disturbed just because the father was. He or she wouldn't be anything like him at all and would be raised with love and taught everything important about how to treat other people. My baby would never be like Kemar. Ever!

"I'm sorry, Skylar. I didn't mean to sound rude. I just... Wow."

She stared at the flossy carpet in my room and rubbed her chin, and I nodded slowly. We'd been sitting on my bed and talked for hours about whatever came to mind while stuffing ourselves so full of fajitas that we almost passed out. Yeah, I know. A really bad choice of food to eat in bed, but thanks to mom's old picnic blanket, we managed not to make too much mess.

"And there are no other possibilities that it's someone else's baby?"

She sighed because she already knew the answer. She knew I was a virgin until I met Kemar, but I hadn't told her about Jared. Would she understand? I mean, even though it most likely was Kemar's baby, there might be a slight chance it was Jared's after all. However, explaining something I struggled to understand myself seemed pretty hopeless, but I still needed to try. Keesha was my best friend. She'd always supported me through thick and thin, and she deserved to know the truth.

"Keesh?" I asked quietly, and I closed my eyes to keep my nervousness from stealing my courage. I fiddled with a loose thread on my bed cover and found that it was long overdue to replace it with a new one. I just liked the flowery pattern too much to actually do it.

"Mm?"

She looked at me and tried to catch my gaze, and when our eyes finally met, I took a deep breath and let it out in a huff before I cleared my throat.

"If I told you something crazy, would you believe me?"

"That depends on how crazy it is," she chuckled, but her smile faded when she noticed that I didn't laugh with her. "I believe you, Sky. Just go ahead. I'm listening."

I curled my legs up and wrapped my arms around my knees and wondered how long it would take before my belly would be too big to do that. I still wasn't used to the idea that something was growing inside me. I wasn't even used to be back in civilization, even though it had been several weeks since I was rescued from the river that almost ended me. Things weren't the same anymore. I'd changed, and I wasn't sure if it was for the better.

"You know I talked to the police, right? About everything that happened with Kemar?"

Keesha nodded and it was one of these rare moments where she actually waited patiently for me to elaborate.

"I didn't tell them much about what happened after I managed to escape, though. I just told them I didn't remember much because reality is pretty insane."

I laughed a bit before I corrected myself.

"Too insane."

I appreciated that she reached out to hold my hand to prove that she meant it when she said I could trust her.

"Well, obviously I wandered around in the forest, trying to find my way home."

I paused and Keesha squeezed my hand.

"You can tell me everything, Sky. I won't make fun of you, and you know I won't tell anyone."

"I know. But this is so..." I started, but I couldn't find the right words. "Just, please have an open mind, okay?"

"Always," she announced solemnly and made a scout's honor.

"Do you believe in werewolves?"

She raised her eyebrows in surprise over my blunt and unexpected question.

"Uhm... Like the ones you read about in books and stuff?"

"I guess you can say so," I said with a shrug. And with that, I started from the top and told her about the snake and the bear, Buck and Jared, and the little girl. I left out the part about the demon, because it was so horrifying that I didn't even know if I believed it myself anymore, neither did I want to relive it in my memory. Sometimes denial is a bliss.

I talked and talked until I realized that I'd never experienced my best friend be silent for this long. She didn't even interrupt me once with one of her usual silly innuendos or snarky comments, which made my nervousness feel like a burning stone in my chest. And the longer time it took for her to answer, the more nervous I got. But eventually she seemed to have processed it all.

"So... You're saying that there might be a chance that you're pregnant with a werewolf?"

Her eyes changed from thoughtful, to curious, until they got the special glow she had when she was excited. And when I nodded and bit my lip, she squealed.

"Oh, my gosh! That's sooo... Is he hot?" she asked eagerly and sat up on her knees and rubbed her thighs. Then we looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"He is. He's really... Different."

"Duh! Of course he is! He's a werewolf!" she exclaimed, and I had to shush her so my mom wouldn't hear from downstairs.

"Oh, Lord. Is he hairy? Like...down there?"

"KEESHA!" I shouted and slapped her arm. Needless to say, I blushed like a ripe tomato.

"What's his name?"

"Jared," I answered, and slowly my good mood disappeared. There were so many questions I'd wanted to ask him. So many things I wanted to know. About his family. About what he did for a living and where he came from. Silly things like his favorite topping on the pizza or his most embarrassing childhood memory. And here I was, heartbroken over a man who I didn't even know what his last name was. Did werewolves have a last name at all? Then I got sad, when I realized that I would never be able to ask him about any of that.

"What's wrong, Sky?" Keesha asked softly, and I suddenly felt the urge to cry.

"He died."

She gasped.

"Died? How? Why?"

"He tried to save me from another werewolf that attacked me and fell down from a cliff," I whispered, and clenched my stomach even tighter. But even though I tried, I couldn't stop the flood of tears that suddenly welled up in my eyes, and Keesha immediately crawled closer and gave me a long hug. Whether it was pregnancy hormones or not that made me so emotional, I didn't know, but the fact was that I missed Jared more than I'd missed anyone in my life.

"He was a true hero, then," she said after a while. I nodded and sniffled against her shoulder, and felt somewhat comforted by the way she stroked my back. Then I suddenly remembered something and pulled away so I could look at her.

"What happened to you that evening, by the way? Did Kemar strangle you too?"

Keesha shook her head and let go of me.

"Nah... The coward hit me in the head from the behind with a candlelight holder. I passed out for a while, and when I woke up, I saw him speed away in his car."

A shadow of sadness fell over her face, and she narrowed her eyebrows, clearly recalling the terrible night.

"I wish I could have stopped him. That I could have done at least something to prevent it all from happening. I didn't even know he had kidnapped you until I'd searched the entire house without finding you."

"But none of that was your fault," I said and felt terrible because she seemed to feel guilty.

"I know, but still..."

We hugged again and both of us cried a bit more. Then we giggled at how silly we looked with mascara running down our cheeks and discussed who of us looked most like a raccoon. I won. And when we were done laughing, we sighed and fell into a peaceful silence. Then Keesha stretched out her hand and placed it on my stomach. It felt strange, but nice.

"No matter what happens, Skylar, I'm here for you."

She hummed a little, probably envisioning the little baby, just like I'd done countless of times the past couple of days.

"I'll be the crazy aunt. The one who always has gum. No, wait. Gummy bears! I'll be the aunt who always has gummy bears."

I giggled when she squinted at me. Then she turned her focus entirely to my belly and leaned down to talk to it. That made me giggle.

"...even though I'm a little upset that I never get to meet your mommy's boyfriend."

Although I felt sad, I smiled at the thought of Jared being my boyfriend. That wouldn't have been possible even if he was alive. He was a werewolf, and I was just a random girl. A random pregnant girl.

"But we'll find a new dada for you, little one," she cooed. Then she got that typical Keesha face; the naughty one she had when she got some terrible idea that usually made me the victim.

"I already know one."

Of course she did, and I was pretty sure I knew who she meant.

"Keesha, no. I don't want any boyfriend."

"But he's so nice!" she whined. "And I'm sure he can grow some hair, both on his balls and elsewhere, and howl a little every full moon."

"Not funny!" I scolded and slapped her arm again. Because it really wasn't. And if anyone else said all those things, I'd be devastated. However, this was Keesha, who had this strange ability to even make sad things funny.

"Imma call him right away, now shush."

She grabbed her phone and pretended to dial a number and waited for the person she called to pick up. And I jumped her with a little scream and tried to take it from her.

"Keesha! Stop it!"

"Hello? Simon, is that you? Do you mind becoming a father in a few months?"

"KEESHA!" I laughed and hit her in the head with my pillow. And that was the beginning of a good old-fashioned pillow fight, just like when we were kids.