by Meg Ripley
We turned to find Javier, and when we spotted the back of him, Valentina and I bounded after him, closing the distance between us easily. Spinning suddenly, he’d hoped to catch us off guard, but Valentina jumped in front of me. I didn’t understand what she was doing at first, but when I smelled the hate radiating from her body and witnessed the need for revenge in her eyes, I stepped back.
She swiped at Javier with her thick paw and caught his arm. Yelping, he jumped back, pulling his lips back into a threatening snarl, the hair on his back raised.
I circled opposite Valentina, preventing the coyote from running if he tried, and she bellowed out a deep roar, swiping again. That time, she hit him hard enough to send him flying into the trunk of a nearby oak with a loud thump, and he slid to the ground, lifeless.
15
Valentina
Elijah waited several minutes, then moved closer to Javier’s body and nudged him with his paw. Javier didn’t move.
I sat on my rump and stared, unable to bring myself to shift or look away. He was dead. I’d really killed him. Not only Javier, but his second in command, too? No. It was impossible. How could I have done that?
My mind started to spin until I felt Elijah’s hand on my back, breaking my daze. Blinking my eyes, I saw him standing beside me, naked. I shifted back to my human form and fell into his arms, a flood of tears pouring from my eyes. So many emotions were running through me, I couldn’t contain them. I hugged him as hard as I could, and he squeezed back even harder.
My mind slowed after a long while. The thoughts came to me, and I had to hold each one for a moment before I could let it go.
I killed Angel. Right, okay. He’d endangered me and my baby.
I killed Javier. He almost killed my mother. Where is my mother? Safe? I picked up on her scent and instantly felt relief wash over me.
Elijah had shown up with his whole clan, here in Boquillas. Just when I thought all hope was lost, they’d come to our rescue—to my rescue. I’d started the whole fight, and they’d come to save us. How many of Los Aulladores were dead now? I’d seen many go down, but more had taken off running.
If Javier, Angel, and many members of the Aulladores are dead, is anyone going to come after me? I didn’t think they would. Those who ran off wouldn’t likely return to the area ever again. Coyotes were known for their easily broken loyalties, after all.
So, if no one is coming after me, and no one is stopping me from seeing Elijah, then I can really be with him. Right now, not ten years from now. Right now. I sobbed harder and clutched him even tighter. Not only that, we could now raise our—possible—child together. The child that I’d just put in major danger by starting a major fight.
When my sobs racked my shoulders and I started to hyperventilate, Elijah pulled me in closer and rubbed my back. In the back of my mind, I wondered who was watching, seeing us naked in front of my house surrounded by dead coyotes.
“It’s okay, Val,” Elijah said.
The more I heard his voice, the more I was able to calm down.
“Elijah.” I picked up my head and wiped my eyes so I could look at him. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”
“I am.” He grinned and wiped away a tear of his own.
“I have so much to tell you.”
He nodded and looked past me. “You reckon we should go inside and find some clothes first? Your family’s kind of staring at us.”
I looked back over my shoulder and shooed away my sisters. At least my mother had enough decency to go back inside. Miguel was with the rest of Elijah’s clan, cleaning up.
“Good idea,” I agreed.
I took him to my bedroom and found him a t-shirt while I threw some clothes on. I hated to get dressed once we were alone in my bedroom, but we had too much to catch up on before sleeping together again. My insides already tingled at the thought that it might come soon, though.
“Please,” he begged, “tell me what happened. Why did you stop talking to me?”
His face looked so pained, it brought new tears to my eyes. “I didn’t want to. Trust me, it was the last thing I wanted to do. But Javier made me.”
“I reckoned he might’ve had something to do with it.”
“You thought he might have? What else did you think could be going on?”
He blew out a breath. “I had to consider every possibility since I didn’t know. Even if Javier was the most likely reason, it could have been your family, or maybe someone else who was around before we met, or that you changed your mind, somehow...”
I guffawed. “Changed my mind?”
He chuckled. “It was definitely the most unlikely reason on my list.”
“Good.” I leaned forward to kiss him. “I could never change my mind about you. These last few weeks have been torture.”
“For me, too.” He squeezed my hands in his. “Why didn’t Javier want you seeing me?”
“He was convinced that, because you’re a Ranger, you were going to be watching him and getting information from me about his whereabouts.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Well, he wasn’t wrong about that. We’ve been trying to nail Javier for a long time.”
“And I would’ve gladly told you everything I could to take him down. Javier and his gang, Los Aulladores, are pure evil. Javier is the reason—” My words caught in my throat. Even in my happiness, the ache of losing my father was right there. “He got my father killed. He’d forced him into going on one of his drug runs.”
Elijah’s shoulder’s fell. “I was afraid of something like that. I know your father must’ve been in a bad place to be willing to do that.”
“Javier threatened to kill us if he didn’t do it. My father would’ve never put his family in danger.”
“I don’t doubt it for a second. He was a good man.”
I nodded. “And that’s why I had to do what Javier wanted. Javier said if I saw you or had any contact with you—and they were watching, believe me—he would kill you, then me and my whole family.”
Elijah sucked in a breath. “I guess I can see why you acted the way you did.”
“I feel so awful about it.” I scooted closer to him until my folded knees touched his. “You have to know how hard it was to do that. And when I saw you at the fire…I almost died having to walk away from you.”
“I almost died when you did.”
I wiped tears from my cheeks. “I’m so sorry for all the pain I caused you. It’s terrible that I—”
“Shh, shh,” he said. “You had no choice. I’d never hold that against you.”
“But I hurt you so badly.”
“It hurt you, too.” He brushed the fresh tears away and kissed me. “I’m sorry for what Javier did to you and your family. I’d kill him again if I could.”
“That’s why I jumped in front of you. There was no way I wasn’t going to take him out myself.”
“You knocked him plumb into next week.” He grinned and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “It was terrifying seeing you in action like that. I wanted to jump in front of you so many times to protect you.”
“He was no match for me. But I do wish…” My throat grew tight again. “I wish we’d taken Javier out before my father had been killed.”
Elijah held my hand and rubbed his thumb over mine. “I can’t imagine how awful it must feel. I don’t see my parents every day, but I can’t imagine losing them.”
“No one can live forever, but it was too soon for him.”
He nodded. “Much too soon.”
We grew quiet for a time and I closed my eyes, focusing on the feeling of his fingers caressing mine.
He chuckled. “I know we only knew each other a few days, but I’ve missed you like crazy.”
“I know what you mean. I thought I was going to die. But then, when I saw you at the fire, and when you sent those gifts, Javier knew both times. Every plan I thought of to sneak out to see you, he had someone there, watching me. Even my own brother and Oscar.”
I bit my lip. Now was the time to tell him. Before he made any new commitment to me. “I think the threat is gone. But before we’re together again, there is one thing I have to tell you.”
16
Elijah
My heart sank at her words. She had to tell me something before we could be together? Nothing good could come from that statement, I was sure.
I clenched my jaw and asked, “What is it?” I refused to even think the words of my worst nightmare. My whole head felt hot and it seemed like she took hours to answer.
“Well…” She twisted her fingers together and looked nervous. “I haven’t been feeling well.”
My fear instantly switched gears. No. She couldn’t be sick.
She looked up at me, then back to her hands. “Well, I have all these symptoms…and my period is really late. After doing the math since we were last together, I’m pretty sure that I’m pregnant.”
My mind stuck on the last word. Pregnant. Of all the subjects the conversation could have been about, pregnancy was the last thing I’d considered. Pregnant? It had been weeks since we’d been together. But that must have been enough time for her to know.
How could I not even have considered that might have happened? We hadn’t exactly planned to sleep together, so we hadn’t used any sort of protection. How stupid I’d been not to even think about that. When we were together, it had been so overwhelming, my mind had skipped those important details.
“Say something.” Valentina’s expression was pleading. She still looked nervous.
The adrenaline had only started to fade enough for me to think clearly. Pregnant. “We’re going to have a baby?”
She laughed and shrugged. “I think so. If you want to…”
If I want to? I’d been ready to settle down. I’d found my mate and was madly in love. Maybe we would have done things in a different order if we’d planned it, getting married first, for instance, but since the moment I’d met her, I’d wanted a full life with Valentina, kids included.
“Are you kidding? Of course I want to,” I said. “There’s nothing I want more.”
“Really?”
I laughed and pulled her into my lap. “What did you think I was going to say?”
“That’s what I hoped for. But after all I did to you, and so many weeks apart, I didn’t know for sure if you’d still want me.”
I kissed her neck and squeezed my arms around her. “I take it back. There is something I want more. You.”
She gave me a glowing smile and looked up from under her long, dark lashes. “I love you, Elijah.”
“And I love you—and the idea of having a baby with you.”
“Probably,” she said.
“Huh?”
“I haven’t taken a test yet. But I’ve thrown up, I’ve been crying nonstop, my breasts are sore, my period is weeks late. I don’t see how I couldn’t be, but I couldn’t bring myself to find out for sure. I needed to keep some piece of uncertainty.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know what Javier would do when he found out, and I was terrified. I didn’t know if he would have believed we hadn’t seen each other, or if he would try to hurt the baby or me. And the way he had people watching me, I was afraid he would’ve found out right away.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you during all this. It must’ve been so difficult to deal with.” I put my hand to her cheek. “Is this what you want?”
She nodded and wiped away a fresh tear. “I’ve been so afraid about people finding out that I haven’t really let myself get too excited. I didn’t want to raise a baby alone, but I didn’t think there was any way we could be together. But still, knowing I had part of you inside me was the only thing bringing me joy.”
Her hands rested over her belly and I placed my hands over hers. “I’m still in shock, I think. Everything between us has happened so fast, but every step has felt so right.”
“It’s a dream come true.”
I leaned down and kissed her stomach several times. “Howdy, little one,” I whispered. “I’m your daddy.”
She giggled. “We’d better find out for sure before you start doing that. If I’m not pregnant, it’ll get weird real fast.”
I laughed and scooped her into my arms, then stood, cradling her. “Then let’s go find out for sure.”
She threw her arms around my neck. “Take me out of here. Can we go to your place for a while? I can’t be in Boquillas another minute.”
“Of course; let me just check in with my clan. I probably should’ve been helping them clean up.” I carefully set her on her feet and held her for a moment before we left her room and found my clan outside.
“We’re about finished,” Sawyer said. “You guys okay?”
“We’re great.” I wove my fingers between Valentina’s and grinned at her. “Thank you for taking care of all this.”
“Sure’nuff.” Sawyer dipped his head to me and her.
I said goodbye to each of them as I introduced them to Valentina, and after they’d gone, we returned inside.
“You need to officially meet my family,” Valentina said, pulling me toward the kitchen.
“So…are they…?”
She turned and raised an eyebrow.
“Mad at me? Or anything?”
“They were never the problem. My mother might prefer if you were Mexican, but she’ll get over it.”
My eyes widened. “That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“It’ll be fine. Mama!”
Three women stared at me when we entered the kitchen. The younger women, Valentina’s sisters, smiled and held hopeful looks. Their mother didn’t look so happy. At all.
“Howdy.” I raised my hand to them. “I’m Elijah Tucker. Pleased to meet you all.”
Valentina pointed out her mother, Rosa, and Isabella.
“I’m going across the border to Elijah’s for a while,” Valentina announced.
Her mother narrowed her eyes and wagged her finger at me. “You’d better make an honest woman of my daughter! You can’t get her pregnant and then leave her!”
The surprise hit me; I had no idea they knew. I held up my hands in surrender. “I would never leave her. I want nothing more than to have a family with your daughter.”
She narrowed her eyes and harrumphed at me. “We’ll see.”
“Mama,” Valentina hissed.
Her mother faced her. “What happens when Los Aulladores return, huh? Then what will you do?”
“They’re not coming back,” Valentina said.
“And I’ll make sure of it,” I added. “Rangers have been watching Javier and the border activity for a while now.”
“You hear that, Mama?” Valentina said. “He’s going to make sure no more men have to die like Papa. He’ll keep Los Aulladores out.”
“Good. Someone needs to.” Her mother turned back to the bowl on the counter and resumed her stirring.
“Anyway,” Isabella jumped in. “We’re very happy to meet you.” She walked over and embraced us with one arm around each of us.
Rosa hugged us next. “She’s been miserable without you,” she told me.
“That’s for sure,” Isabella agreed.
“I’ve been miserable without her.” I squeezed my arms around Valentina. I was starting to get restless, though. I wanted to get a test and know for sure if we were having a baby.
“I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of you,” Rosa said.
“I hope so,” I said.
“And for right now,” Valentina added, “I need to be the only one seeing him. We have a lot of catching up to do…alone.”
Her mother waved her off. “Ay, a mother doesn’t need to hear these things. You should be married first!”
“Have fun!” Isabella said, waving.
“But not too much fun. Come home soon,” Rosa said to Valentina. “The village will be uneasy for a while.”
“Just give me tonight,” Valentina pleaded. “I’ll be back tomorrow to make sure things are settling.”
“Go.” Isabella gently shoved Valentina toward the kitchen’s doorway. “Get out of here, you love birds!”
“Nice meeting y’all!” I called as we hurried from the house.
“Well, that’s over,” Valentina muttered as she took my hand. “Want to ride, or run?” She looked from the stable to me.
“Running is probably faster.”
We stuffed our clothing in her bag, shifted, and took off. I found my pace to be faster than usual. I wanted to be home with her, and the run was taking forever. At least the scenery was beautiful, taking in the sights of the desert shrubs and boulder cliffs with her by my side. Finally, I saw my house in the distance, an array of rocky mountains behind it.
I shifted near my truck, yanking on my clothing and turned away from her as she dressed.
“Are you shy all the sudden?” she asked.
“No.” I glanced at her and when I saw her bare breasts, I swallowed hard. “But we have to go get a test, and if I see you naked, we’re not going anywhere for a long time.”
She laughed. “Good point.”
I helped her into my truck and got in the driver’s seat beside her.
“Most of the time, I’m glad to live out in the country, far away from everything,” I said. “But today might be the one day I regret it.”
“Oh, it’s only what, a half hour to Marathon?”
“At least. And then back.”
“Hey, I’ve been waiting for weeks to find out. You can wait an hour,” she teased.
I reached over and squeezed her hand as I turned onto the main road. “I can’t believe you’re really sitting in my truck—or that we’re going to get a pregnancy test.”
“I know. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up at any moment.”