Becca pointedly ignored Brawn but was aware of him behind her. She swept a glance around the nice living room, spotted the cart with silver dishes and hunger gripped her hard. She walked to the three covered platters and noticed the second shelf contained juices, sodas and milk, giving her a large beverage selection.

Her hand shook as she lifted the platter covers and her stomach rumbled when the smell hit her. She almost dropped the lids to the floor, barely managed to keep them from falling off the edge where she rested them and grabbed for the one with the big steak. She groaned, lifted it and turned to the coffee table a few feet away.

Tiger handed her silverware when she just lowered to her knees and placed the food on the table. Her hands shook worse as she unwrapped the napkin to get to the fork and knife. She didn’t look at her guests, didn’t care what they thought, since she needed to eat.

She sawed frantically at the meat, got a bite and shoved it into her mouth. The taste exploded on her tongue and she groaned. Thirst hit next after she swallowed and she turned, grabbed one of the mini cartons of milk and yanked it open. She drank, barely avoided spilling it down the sides of her mouth and set it down hard to grab for the silverware again. Her stomach rumbled and hunger gripped her as if she hadn’t eaten for a week.

“Rebecca?”

Trisha’s voice startled her enough to cause her to stop shoving food in to her mouth and turn her head. “It’s Becca, and I thought you were staying at the medical place.”

The woman held up a bottle of pills. “I forgot to give you prenatal vitamins.” Trisha frowned, moving closer and Slade followed behind her. “When is the last time you ate? You’re shaking.”

“I’m always hungry. I had a snack early this morning, ran out of milk and ran to the store before breakfast. I got held up on the way to town and then your guy was waiting at my cabin.” She finished the milk and reached for the juice, opened the top and drank deeply.

“You weren’t that pale or shaky,” Slade rumbled. “She doesn’t look good.”

“I had you looking out for me,” Trisha answered softly. “Becca? You need to eat every few hours. Your body is exhausted from the pregnancy and you need to consume more food than normal. Have you been eating red meat? You need a lot of that.”

“Yes.” Becca stabbed another bite of steak, chewed and swallowed it and some of the pain in her stomach eased. She could enjoy the food more now instead of just shoveling it down. She grabbed a soda and popped the top. She lifted and drank half of it before she set it down. “Is the thirstiness normal too? I’m always thirsty.”

No one said a word. Becca looked up to find Trisha frowning. “No.”

“It’s not normal? I just thought it was part of pregnancy.”

“It probably is but I’m going to need to run some tests on you, Becca.”

Alarm struck Becca. “What could it be?”

“I don’t know but the baby is fine. You saw him yourself and listened to his strong heartbeat. You just may be doing too much. We aren’t designed to have twenty-week pregnancies and it’s really a strain on our bodies. You have to rest and eat more.”

Becca nodded. “Okay.”

She finished the steak and ignored the baked potato. She stood and took the prime rib dinner next. She sank back to the floor and dug in, cut up her meat and ate it slowly.

“Do you usually eat this much at once?” Trisha moved closer.

Becca swallowed and eyed Trisha. “Isn’t this normal? Pregnant women eat a lot. I bought a baby book. I usually eat about nine times a day.”

“This much each meal?”

“No. I missed breakfast and lunch.”

“What is wrong?” Brawn’s voice was soft.

“Maybe nothing.” Trisha shrugged. “We’ll watch her and see how she does.”

Becca finished the soda while she ate. She opened a second one, wished she had more milk, but wasn’t about to ask someone to order some. The room was silent. Becca finally stopped focusing on her food to turn her head. Four people watched her every move and it made her angry.

“You can leave if you all are going to just stand there staring at me. I’m sorry if my table manners aren’t up to par but you’re making me uncomfortable.” She glanced around the room. “There’s no dining room table and I’m not going to sit on the couch and bend until I’m uncomfortable to reach over here.”

“We’re just worried,” Trisha explained. “That’s all. You’ve been without medical care.”

“Maybe she has an illness,” Slade guessed.

“I’m as healthy as a horse.” Becca knew he probably meant well but she didn’t like the implication. “I’ve always gone to doctors regularly and I’d know if I were sick. I’m usually fine as long as I eat regularly and drink plenty of fluids.”

“There’s one major difference between you and her, Trisha,” Tiger said. “Slade took care of you. He made sure you rested and ate regularly. We should assign her a female to do the same.”

Trisha nodded. “I agree. We’ll see if that helps. I’m still going to run tests to make sure everything is okay. I checked the baby but I’m going to run a blood screen on her.” She walked to the phone. “I’m calling Doctor Harris to bring me a bag and I’m going to draw some blood immediately. We’ll need to test for gestational diabetes tomorrow morning. We have no idea how that would affect a woman’s body with a Species baby on board.”

“I think you are overreacting.” Becca hoped she was right. “I’ll feel fine once I eat and take a nap. I just went too long between meals.”

“Do not assign her a female to care for her. I will do it myself.”

Becca’s spine stiffened at hearing that familiar voice. She refused to look at Brawn. “The hell you will. Don’t you have a hot date to get ready for?”

The room was unnaturally silent. Trisha broke it finally.

“Date?” She whispered but Becca heard.

She lost her appetite, gripped the soda and struggled to her feet. “I’m going to go lie down. Feel free to come in to take blood, Trisha.” She walked toward the hallway and was proud she refused to even glance at Brawn.

“Becca,” he growled.

She froze. “Just go away and stay there.” Becca was proud of herself for not letting her anger at him sound in her voice. She was almost to the bedroom door when she heard Tiger speak.

“You should leave, Brawn. The female doesn’t want you here.”

Becca closed the bedroom and stared at her new home. The bed was big, the room large too, but she couldn’t take in any more details as tears blinded her. Damn it. Brawn had a date and it hurt so bad she wanted to scream. Instead she kicked off her shoes and sank onto the big, soft mattress. Her fingers gripped a pillow and shoved it under her head. It caught her tears.

Brawn tried to follow Becca but Tiger jumped in his way and spread his arms. “Don’t. Be smart.”

“Move.”

“She wants you to go.” Anger glinted in Tiger’s eyes. “And I agree. That was horrendous.”

“What happened?” Trisha stepped between them, hoping to prevent a fight and glanced at each of them. “What date?”

“Lover boy over there has a date with Breeze. We ran into her on our way up here and she mentioned she’d wear something sexy that he could easily remove from her body to share sex.” Tiger growled. “I could smell the human’s pain.”

“I wasn’t going to share sex with Breeze. I agreed to take her dancing and share a meal.” Brawn’s body tensed. “Move or I’ll throw you. I’m going to tell Becca the truth.”

Trisha faced him. “How many women have you had since Becca?”

He lowered his gaze. “None.”

She relaxed. “Good. That’s going to help some when you tell her that but right now you can’t go back there. Did you see how pale she was? How shaky? She needs rest, not to argue with you.”

“I need to tell her that there isn’t anything between Breeze and me but friendship.”