Cougar's First Christmas by Jessie Donovan Page A

imaginable is run on your male, I’ll take you to him myself. While waiting, we can confirm your pregnancy as well.”
    As Lisa pulled out onto the road, Lauren closed her eyes and sent good thoughts toward her shifter. At least she now knew he was alive. It was only a matter of time before she discovered for how long.
     
    ~~~
     
    Five hours later, Lauren watched as yet another doctor entered the room on the other side of the observation window. Her fiancée lay on a table, unconscious in his cat form. His tan fur was matted, and his body was limp in a way that seemed “off”; he was far too still. Even when he slept in cat form, he’d move every once in a while, not unlike how domestic cats would make soft noises or twitch a paw in response to their dreams.
    Yet for the last four or so hours she’d been allowed to watch, he hadn’t twitched once.
    Clenching a fist in front of her heart, she tried not to cry. She’d been strong up until now, but her exhaustion from the ordeal and the now-confirmed pregnancy was pushing her closer and closer to her breaking point.
    “Sean,” she whispered, “I need you.”
    She knew it was selfish, but even just being in the same room as him would ease the fears that had been building minute by minute.
    The door behind her opened and she turned to see Lisa carrying a clipboard. Lauren didn’t miss a beat. “Well? Did they find anything?”
    “No.”
    “Does that mean I can go see him?”
    For a second, Lisa stared at her and Lauren braced herself for another denial, but then the shifter female smiled, and hope bubbled in her chest. Lisa said, “You really do love him, don’t you?”
    Giving her a look of irritation, she answered, “Of course I do. Now tell me if I can see Sean or not.”
    “All right, all right. I do have good news and bad. The good news is that he doesn’t have anything that is airborne, which means you can see him.”
    Lauren clapped her hands together. “Then let’s go.”
    The doctor put up a hand. “Not just yet. You need to know that we’re still trying to pinpoint what’s wrong. So you’re wearing gloves until I give the all clear.”
    “Fine, fine. I’ll wear a pink tutu if it means I get to be in the same room as Sean.”
    Lisa gave her a long look before she nodded. “Okay, follow me.”
    They walked down a utilitarian hallway with white walls and black and white tiles on the floor. After making three turns and entering through a door Lisa opened with a code, they stood in a small room with another observation window.
    Sean was on the other side, much closer than from her previous vantage point, and was not more than fifteen feet away.
    Blinking back tears, Lauren took the gloves offered her, put them on, and looked to Lisa. The other woman nodded, punched a code, and the door opened. She gestured with a hand. “Go talk to your future mate and convince him to wake up.”
    Not needing any encouragement, Lauren rushed past the doctor and went straight to Sean’s side.
    She reached out a hand and brushed the top of his head until she could scratch behind his ears as she said, “Sean, babe, it’s me. Christmas is almost over. Wake up, so I can tell you about your other present.”
    Yet the cougar under her fingers remained both still and silent.
    As she continued to stroke his head, his back, and his legs, she told him about waking up from the accident, calling his clan leader, and meeting the other shifters. Then she said, “So in case you haven’t noticed by now, I can handle your clan. Wake up for me, babe, and I’ll say yes to being your mate and move to DarkStalker’s land if you want. I think our children will do best there, surrounded by love.”
    Beyond the rise and fall of his chest for breathing, Sean didn’t move. She wanted to kiss his cute pink and black nose since that had always been a surefire way to wake him up in the past, but she wouldn’t ignore Lisa’s warning about touching him. Instead, she bopped his nose