by T. S. Joyce
She turned up the music to a country station and hummed along off-key. Creed shot her the occasional glance, but she understood. He was worried about her, as she was about him when he dealt with family stuff.
He pulled onto the long winding road that led to the country club on the outskirts of town. It was still nice enough weather to play golf, so the greens around the club were teaming with players. Creed parked and told her, “Wait right there.” Then he jogged around the back, opened her door, and helped her out. Sweet bear. Always taking care of her. He was a natural caregiver, which she hadn’t expected when she’d first seen him at Sammy’s Bar all those months ago. He’d been dark and broody. Quiet, with those bottomless dark eyes that she’d mistaken for cold. They hadn’t been. He’d just been observing everything around him as an alpha had to—assessing risk, managing his crew’s behavior in a public setting.
Her nerves kicked up on the walk inside, and she wrung her hands as she psyched herself up to see her parents again.
The last time she’d talked to them face-to-face, her father had looked her right in the eyes and said, “Because of the poor decisions you have made, we no longer want anything to do with your life moving forward.” He’d been so formal, so callous with those words, and it had been the most painful sentence she’d ever heard in her life. She’d lived and breathed to please them, and she hadn’t managed it. Not ever.
Gia felt like she was floating, and she had to anchor herself in the moment. She was really back here after hardly any time had passed at all, and she sure as hell hoped she was strong enough for this. Not just for her, but for Creed who deserved a mate who was as capable as him.
She smiled politely at the hostess. “We’re here to meet the Cromwells.”
“Sure, they’re already here, and the table is ready for you.” The petite blonde seemed to talk to Gia, but her eyes stayed on Creed. She hesitated, clutching the menus to her chest. “I know who you are. You’re the Gray Back shifter everyone in town is talking about, aren’t you?” The girl had lowered her voice.
Creed nodded once as he rubbed Gia’s lower back. “I am.”
“We don’t have any registered shifters around here, so I’m kind of nervous, but can I have your autograph?”
Creed’s dark brows arched high in surprise, but he recovered quickly enough. “Of course.”
“Really? Oh, my gosh, okay. Let me find a pen. I didn’t think you were going to say yes. Oh, here’s one.” She handed him a ballpoint and a scrap of paper. “My name is Laura. Like my nametag. L-A-U-R-A.”
Gia grinned at how cute Laura was, all nervous around Creed. She used to be like that too, a shifter groupie who got fidgety just thinking about talking to a real live bear shifter. She didn’t have to wonder where the gossip about Creed had started. Brittney and Kara could get the whole town buzzing in a morning. No doubt they’d told everyone who Gia’s baby daddy was the second after she’d told them she was pregnant.
As the scratching of Creed’s pen sounded, Laura turned to Gia and said, “Oh, and congratulations on your baby. It’s all anyone talks about in Minden anymore. One of our very own is having a real bear shifter cub. You must be really excited.”
“We are,” Gia said, feeling the nerves lift and the curdling in her stomach lessen. Even if her parents didn’t support them, others did.
Creed handed her the autograph and posed for a picture with Laura, taken selfie-style. Laura talked giddily about how her friends were going to freak out when she told them she met the alpha of the Gray Backs, and Gia was tickled at how sincere the hostess was in her excitement.
It made Gia even prouder to be on Creed’s arm.
But there was nothing like Mom’s puckered face and narrow-eyed glare to bring her back down to reality. Perfect highlighted blond bob hair sprayed into place with her impeccable make-up and glossy lips. Too bad she looked like she was sucking on a lemon. With her ten percent body-fat and yoga instructor physique, she stood tall and statuesque in a formal greeting beside Dad.
“Hi, Mom,” Gia said, reaching forward to hug her shoulders.
Mom stepped back and shook her head slightly, then looked around, as if she didn’t want anyone to see how close Gia had come to touching her.
Sadness washed through her. The baby hadn’t done that. Mom had just never liked touching her. Dad at least pretended he was going in for a hug, but shook her hand instead. God, they were ridiculous.
“Mom, Dad, this is my…” She straightened her spine and lifted her chin primly. “This is my Creed.”
“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Creed said in that sexy baritone that curled her toes in her heels. “Ma’am.” He offered Mom a handshake, but she refused, choosing instead to rub her hand on the back of her neck and look uncomfortable. Why the hell had they decided to do this in public if they were going to be so weird about everything?
“Please, sit,” Dad said, gesturing to the four-top in front of them with sparkling wine glasses and etched silver cutlery around fine china plates.
She imagined what the Gray Backs would do to this table and snorted.
“What?” Creed asked low as he pulled her chair out for her.
“Can you imagine Beaston eating at a place like this?”
“Like a bull in a fuckin’ china shop,” he muttered too low for Mom and Dad to hear.
Gia laughed a lot louder than she’d intended, so naturally Mom offered her best stop-having-fun glare.
This wasn’t funny at all, but for some reason, Gia was hiding a smile. Creed settled his hand on her leg under the table, and she clutched onto it like a lifeline.
“You know, when I was pregnant with you, I was very careful to only gain thirteen pounds,” Mom said. “You’ll get stretch marks at the rate you’re going.”
“Got my first one this morning.” God, she wished she could drink right now. Heavily.
Creed was staring at Mom with a befuddled look in his eyes, but if she knew Mom, the old bag was just getting started.
“So Creed, what do you do for work?” Dad asked. “Because I have to tell you, my daughter is used to a very privileged life.”
“Oh, she’s settling into the trailer park just fine, Mr. Cromwell.”
Gia pursed her lips and bit them hard to keep her giggle trapped inside.
“I’m sorry, trailer park?”
“Yes, sir. I work as a lumberjack up in the mountains near Saratoga. My boss sanctioned my crew a trailer each, and we’ve set up a community.” Creed tipped his head to Gia and squeezed her leg. “I can see what you mean about your privileged daughter, though. She’s got her very own singlewide out there and everything.”
Oh, God. She imagined what Mom’s face would look like if she told her about Nards. She’d shit a brick and pop a wrinkle straight out of her Botox-laden forehead.
Dad stared at Creed for a long time before he cleared his throat and focused on a waiter pouring them all a wine that was probably older than Gia.
“None for me,” she said with a smile at the server.
“A glass for her,” Mom said in a stern voice. “Wine won’t hurt a baby like the one she’s carrying. You could feed the critter cheap whiskey, and it would be fine.”
A low snarl rattled Creed’s chest, so Gia rubbed his back to settle the noise. The server could pour all he wanted to. Didn’t mean she had to drink it.
Dad ordered escargot and caviar as an appetizer. Gia knew for a fact he didn’t even like eating snails, so the show was unimpressive to her.
“So you plan on keeping my daughter at this…trailer community…and raise the child there as well?” Dad asked. “How will that work when it needs to go to school?”
“Our kid will go to a school with the Ashe Crew’s children until he or she can manage the animal inside enough to go to public school. And then it’s up to Gia and me whether we want our kid to go to Saratoga for education or continue with schooling near where we live.” Creed offered Dad an empty smile, and the two men glared at eac
h other until Gia cleared her throat.
“We’re going to find out the gender in a few days. We can call you if you want and tell you if you’ll have a granddaughter or grandson.”
Mom’s composure was slipping as she bit the side of her lip and shook her head. And was she about to cry? Oh, she looked pissed. “Let’s get one thing straight,” Mom hissed low, leaning forward over her shiny, white plate. “This isn’t what we want, and I didn’t want to agree to this luncheon, so let’s cut to the chase. What do you want?” She swung her gaze to Creed. “Are you here to ask for money?”
Creed glanced between Mom and Gia, then back to Mom. “Are you serious?”
“I want this to be done. I know my daughter has standards of living, and you obviously can’t provide that for her. And for all I know, you knocked her up to gain advantage from our wealth. Tell us how much, and let us decide whether we will help or not.” Mom leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms over her silk blouse. “Quickly, because this was an awful idea to meet here. A shifter.” She scoffed and shook her head. “This luncheon alone ruins the Cromwell name. And you!” She glared at Gia. “Flaunting your shame in that skintight dress. You should be hiding that little monstrosity you are carrying.” Her voice shook with rage. “If I would’ve known you were going to shack up with this trailer trash and bare him animal babies, I would’ve never had you.”
“Judy!” Dad said.
“No, Graham. She has shamed us. Destroyed our name in this town because she couldn’t keep her legs closed. She was perfect before she met him.”
Creed slammed his hands on the table, toppling two of the wine glasses. “She’s perfect now.”
Mom gasped and clutched her chest, no doubt seeing Creed’s scary, blazing silver eyes.
“We didn’t come here for money. I have a home that’s paid off, a truck that’s paid off, and a lot of money in savings. I’ve run my own crew for years, and I’m not afraid of hard work. Your daughter will have everything she needs. If she wants to find a job and work to be happy, I support her. If she wants to stay home and raise our cub, I support her. Either way, we will never need anything from you. This wasn’t a meeting to leech something from you. This was a meeting so that you could meet me and see that Gia is okay. Look at her.”
Mom dragged her fearful gaze away from Creed and looked at Gia, who waved with her fingertips and smiled.
“She’s beautiful, glowing even. She’s growing a child, and I know you don’t approve of shifters, but other than the animal our child will have to sometimes turn into, he or she will be a person. One with feelings and good days and favorite foods. I wanted to give you a chance to be a part of our child’s life, but clearly I was wrong to have faith that you could see past your narrow-mindedness and realize you’re throwing away your family. I didn’t have one of those growing up, so it’s baffling the shit out of me that you could so carelessly throw it away because you don’t see how fucking awesome your daughter is.” Creed turned his inhuman eyes on Gia. “Are you ready to go?”
“Desperately ready. Enjoy your snails, parental units,” she muttered as Creed helped her out of her chair.
She turned to leave, but hesitated. “When I think about my baby, I think of all the things he or she will go through in life, and at the end of the day, I want my child to be happy. To lead a fulfilling life. Yes, I live in an old trailer park with a bunch of shifters who have to work hard every day at a job you scoff at. But my heart is full, and I’ve found friendship—the real kind, not the kind for show like with Brittney and Kara. Friendships that do nothing to elevate my social status but do everything to make me feel like I belong to a group of people who accept me. I want to raise my baby around that. So, in case it means anything to you, I guess I just wanted you to know that I’m happy.”
The baby bumped against her hand, and Gia smiled because she was making the right decision to leave this place and explore the meaning of home. She hadn’t ever had that before—a place where she felt completely comfortable to relax into the person she was. Not until Creed. He was home. The Gray Backs were home.
She offered Mom and Dad one last sad smile and left them there in their silent anger. This had gone as expected except for one thing. She’d thought she would be broken all over again at their rejection, but she wasn’t. She felt relieved she finally had someone who stuck up for her, and that for the first time ever, she’d been brave enough to defend herself against their callous words.
Dad had called her privileged, and she was.
She was privileged to have found Creed to open new possibilities at a life she’d never dreamed of. To open the possibility of family and friendships she hadn’t known existed.
As she looked up at Creed walking beside her, his churning gray eyes worried as he pulled her against his side, she realized something life-changing.
Money didn’t make a home.
The people she surrounded herself with—that she loved and allowed to love her back—they were home.
Chapter Thirteen
“Trailer park, how I’ve missed you!” Willa crowed, flopping out of Creed’s truck onto the gravel road that curved through the Grayland Mobile Park.
Gia shook her head and laughed as her friend kissed the ground, then flicked her tongue all around, spitting and complaining about dirt in her mouth.
Peanut Butter Spike barked constantly, his Mohawk bouncing as he jumped up at her knees in a happy doggy greeting. Jason and Clinton surged forward and hugged her and Willa up as if they hadn’t seen them in years. They took turns clapping Creed on the back and shoving Matt in the shoulder.
Damn, it was good to be back here. She’d even missed Nards.
Easton paced along the tree line outside of the park, limping on his bad leg. Gia waved and strode toward him to reunite with the last of the Gray Back Crew.
“Hey Easton,” she said, slightly out of breath from the walk.
“I made you something,” he said, eyes flicking to her, then over her shoulder where she could hear the rest of the crew trailing her.
“Another knife?”
“No, better. A present for the cub.”
Shocked, she ghosted a glance to Creed behind her, who was donning a slow-spreading smile.
“Well,” Creed said easily, “show us then. I want to see it, too.”
Easton headed off into the woods, his gait uneven, and Gia followed right behind.
“I’ve decided you aren’t going to die,” Easton said, allowing her to catch up.
“If Beaston says it’s true, it must be so. She’ll live!” Clinton said from behind them.
Easton threw him a lethal glare with those unsettling green eyes of his. “I bought a book about it and read it. You’ll be okay.”
“Wait, you went into town to buy a book? And you let him?” Creed asked, turning a glare on Jason.
“It’s not like I can control him, Creed. You can barely control him. I felt like living, so no, I didn’t stop him from going into Saratoga.” Jason’s voice dipped to a grumpy mutter. “I value my life.”
“There,” Easton said, slowing down to gesture at an ancient pine.
A sturdy ladder led up to a rough plank porch, and on top of that sat a sprawling treehouse.
Gia skidded to a stop and stared at the structure. It even had a cedar shingle roof and refurbished glass windows. “Oh, Easton, it’s incredible!”
“Willa said you had a treehouse growing up,” Easton said, watching her. “Now your baby can have a treehouse, too. Cubs like trees.”
She approached it in awe. Above the door was a wooden rafter that read Willamena Junior or Darth Vader.
Willa giggled and wrapped her arm around Gia’s neck. “I may or may not have told Easton if you had a boy, his name would be Darth Vader.”
Gia laughed as Creed and the boys scaled the ladder to check it out. Gia climbed up last, and she was surprised at how much room was inside the treehouse. Easton’s craftsmanship was incredible. It was one large room
with a little wooden table against the wall and branches snaking through the corners of the house.
It did remind her of the sanctuary she’d found in the treehouse in the woods behind her childhood home. Gia lay down in the middle of the floor and looked up at the vaulted ceiling. Little dust tornadoes swirled in the bright morning light that filtered through the warped windows. Willa lay down on one side of her and Creed on the other, their heads creating a semi-circle. Easton and the others settled onto the smooth wood floors, too, completing the circle.
Willa handed Gia a can of squeeze cheese she’d pulled out of somewhere. She wasn’t even going to ask why her best friend was carrying the snack around in her pocket. Gia squirted a dollop in her mouth, then handed it to Jason, who was waving his fingers impatiently. And here with the Gray Backs, listening to them banter and laugh in a make-shift house in the woods, Gia felt whole.
Cradling her belly in her hands, she grinned up at the ceiling as Clinton told them about all the fights they’d missed when they were away. Her crew was made up of blood-lusty little monsters, but she didn’t care about that. Right now, right here, everything was perfect, and flawless moments like these were hard to come by.
Creed rolled his head against the wood floor and kissed her temple, then slid his big, powerful hand over hers. Her skin went warm with his touch. She could see her happy smile reflected in Creed’s dark eyes.
Her protective, patient mate.
He’d given her more than he would ever know.
She wasn’t Gia Cromwell of Minden, Louisiana anymore.
She was Gia of the Gray Backs.
Chapter Fourteen
A girl.
Creed grinned and dragged his legs through the shallow waves. Once upon a time, he’d banned women in his territory. He’d thought they would wreck his crew and ruin everything. He thought they wouldn’t be safe with the broken bears he was trying to manage.
He’d been wrong.
A girl.
He imagined a tiny baby with soft hair the color of dark whiskey, like Gia’s. With brown eyes that held bottomless understanding, like Gia’s. It would be months still until he met his daughter, but he couldn’t wait for the day he could see his mate holding the baby they’d made together, staring down at her with the same look she got at night when she looked at her rolling stomach with wonder.