Lupine

by Hanleigh Bradley

  Camden practically pushes Kalen off me so he can replace him, not waiting for me to come down from my high. He picks me up and flips me over so I’m straddling him. He moves slowly at first, getting me used to the different angle.

  Then his hands go to my waist and he lifts me off his cock only to push me back onto it. He repeats the process, only to chastise me when I cry out.

  “Quiet baby,” he growls in my ear before kissing me forcefully.

  We carry on like that well into the night and the sun is starting to rise before we finally fall asleep, my wolves finally satisfied. My hand goes to my stomach as I realize I still haven’t told them that I’m pregnant. I consider waking them up just so I can give them the good news but they look so peaceful asleep that I can’t bring myself to do it.

  Camden and Rehan are wrapped around each other and I can’t resist grabbing for my phone so I can snap a quick photo to tease them with later. There’s crying from somewhere in the house and I hurriedly pry myself away, wrapping my dressing gown around me.

  Jerome is standing in the hallway, tears in his eyes.

  “I had a nightmare,” he says into his pajama sleeves.

  “Come on, little guy!” I say, walking him back to his room.

  Tucking him up in bed, I sit beside him and allow him to curl into my side.

  “What’s that noise, Lupine?”

  “Noise?” I ask, confused.

  “A heartbeat… You have two heart beats…”

  Giggling, I decide I might as well tell the little wolf.

  “Can I tell you a secret?” I ask him.

  “Sure.”

  “I’m having a baby,” I whisper into his ear.

  “A baby?” he asks, suddenly sitting upright. He looks at me with wide eyes.

  “Yeah… Are you going to help me teach her to be a good little wolf?”

  “It’s a girl?”

  “I think so…”

  “I can hear it!” he says, his ear pressed to my stomach.

  We sit like that for a little while and eventually Jerome falls asleep, and I’m able to return to my own bed. I tuck the little wolf in and drop a kiss to his temple before walking out of the room, my hand on my belly.

  “I think you’ll have a good friend there, little wolf,” I whisper, rubbing a circle across my belly.

  Epilogue

  “Why am I doing this?” I ask myself.

  “For the children,” Camden answers easily.

  He doesn’t get it. When the kids want a pet, it means more work for us. If my wolves think it’s hard looking after the kids, they’re going to hate having a puppy or kitten. As cute as they are, they’re hard work. Kind of exactly like babies, actually.

  Maybe this will be good practice for them for when we have our own little wolves, starting with this little one, I think to myself as my hand goes to my belly. I’ve yet to tell the guys the good news. Maybe I’ll do it today. It seems like a lot to say. Usually when you’re having a baby, it’s just a baby, and it’s just about you and them, and your little wolf.

  But this is different. Our little wolf… She’s going to change everything for wolves like us.

  I’ll tell them today for sure… But then they’ll be even more protective. I’m not sure I like that idea. In fact, I know for a fact that they won’t be able to hold me responsible for my behavior if they start being overprotective alphas again. I’m the alpha. I’m the boss. And I won’t be bullied. Even if I do love them to death.

  And now I have an excuse to go crazy on them… Hello! Hormones…

  Giggling to myself, I wander around Beastie Besties, checking out what sort of pets, Calluna, the store owner has available at the moment. The girls want a cat and the boys want a dog and their lack of consensus has led to the orphanage becoming something akin to a war zone.

  “What about this little guy?” Rehan asks, holding up a puppy.

  I have to admit the dog is cute as hell, but he’s also a husky and gonna grow.

  “Nope,” I refuse. “We need something that won’t be bigger than the kids.”

  “Hiya,” Calluna comes towards me, having finished dealing with her last customer. Her hair is tied in a messy knot on the top of her head and she looks comfortable in black leggings and a loose black t-shirt, although the bags under her eyes show exhaustion. “Do you know what you’re looking for?”

  “Er…” I begin. Truth is, I haven’t got a clue.

  “A dog,” Rehan says just as Kalen answers, “a cat.”

  I guess it’s not only the children who are at war over the species of our new pet. It’s laughable. Sometimes my wolves are exactly like children.

  “So undecided?” Calluna asks with a small smile.

  “Yeah,” I say with a sigh.

  “We’ve got all sorts of pets in at the moment,” she tells me. “Cats. Dogs. Lizards. Mice. Rabbits… We have an adorable ferret that only has a teeny bit of a rash problem. Lars, where is Klaus?"

  "Right here, Cal." A large muscular man says, walking out of the back room with an adorable ferret. His sandy blond hair is slicked back and the sides shaved close.

  “I think we’re definitely looking for either a cat or dog.”

  “Well, you’re in luck. Have you thought about dog breeds?”

  “Er… Not really. It needs to be good with kids. Not too big. Friendly…”

  “Mhmm…” Calluna pauses to think but Kalen cuts her off, “Lupine, can’t we just get a cat.”

  “We only have two cats in the store right now. A jet black one called Monster… Worth noting he’s the sweetest thing, but he’s a monster on the furniture. Has a bit of a quirk that involves his claws lengthen to lion sized.” She makes clawing motions with her hands. "I just want everyone to know fully what they are in for, ya know?"

  “That’s a no go,” Camden pipes up. “Lupine’s more attached to the rug in the hallway than she is to my face.”

  We all laugh at the memory of when we first completed our bond, and a fight had broken out between them. I had of course been worried about his nose but he’s right, I definitely didn’t want any blood on that rug. It was an antique.

  “There’s also this one over here. He doesn’t have a name yet though,” Calluna says, leading us through the store.

  Right at the back of the shop, hiding in a corner, is the perfect cat. It’s orange with white stripes, just like Lily, my cat shifter best friend. I should definitely snap a picture and send it to her. She’d love him.

  “We’ll take him,” I answer without pause.

  “Hang on, I want a dog,” Wren grumbles.

  “Nope. We’re getting this one.”

  Wren doesn’t look particularly impressed, and Rehan is definitely unhappy about it. They both sit down on the couch, grumbling between themselves. Removing my purse from my bag, I hand over my bag to Wren for him to hold.

  “Why is this so heavy?” he asks, looking inside.

  Pulling out Love Blooms, he gives me a weird look. “Why have you brought this?”

  “I was planning on returning it to the library,” I answer.

  “I’m quite attached to this book,” Wren says with a smirk.

  “Have YOU actually read it?” Rehan asks, taking the book from him and looking it over.

  “Yeah…” Wren answers with a shrug.

  Ignoring them, I go about picking up all the things we’re going to need for the cat, placing them on the counter.

  “What are you going to name him?” Calluna asks me.

  With a giggle, I answer instinctively, “Mafia.”

  I can practically feel the guys shaking their heads and rolling their eyes behind me. Calluna helps me pack everything, throwing in a few extras with a smile, and then I pay.

  The guys carry everything for me, leaving me just to carry Mafia and my bag. When we get back to the car, I go to put my purse back in my handbag, only to discover that Love Blooms is missing.

  “Where’s my book?” I ask.

  “S
hit. I must have left it in the store,” Rehan says from the back seat. “I’ll go in and grab it.”

  “Don’t bother, love,” I say happily. “I think it’s found a new owner.”

  There’s a buzz and then Kalen is saying, “got to go. Evangeline is on the roof.”

  “AGAIN?” I ask, my shoulders slumping. So much for telling them about our little wolf today. Looks like I have to go and talk down a naughty angel again. And what’s worse, with Amon at the academy, I’m all out of ideas for how to get her down.

  Then my eyes land on the kitten on my lap. Yup, that will work. There’s no way she’ll stay up there when there’s a kitten waiting for her on the ground.

  “Guess, you better step on it,” I tell Wren.

  Calluna by Jewels Arthur

  Calluna is sassy, snarky, and doesn't give a crap about, well, anything.

  Calluna doesn't believe in all this love garbage that she keeps seeing all over the town. Nope, she is just fine keeping to herself and her pet store, Beastie Besties, spank you very much.

  When a goofy romance book draws her in and she is given a meerkat shifter, a fennec fox shifter, a fallen angel, and a griffin shifter -- well, Calluna's views on love might be in for a whirlwind of change.

  Will this whirlwind romance get in the way of the mystery she has yet to solve? There is someone in town cursing animals with dark magic, causing her shop to become a land of misfit pets. Calluna is determined to break the curses and find the culprit but she'll have to travel down a dark road herself.

  Calluna is a paranormal romance that is a part of the Silver Springs shared universe. Calluna will not be choosing at the end.

  One Click

  If you liked Lupine,

  you’ll love these other Spell Library books:

  Violet by Mia Harlan

  Juniper by Eva Delaney

  Lupine by Hanleigh Bradley

  Calluna by Jewels Arthur

  Dahlia by Tabitha Barret

  Willow by Elena Gray

  Tiger Lily by May Dawson

  Sage by J.E. Cluney

  Iris by Aspen Black

  Buttercup by Helen Scott

  Magnolia by Melissa Adams

  Jasmine by Crystal North

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  Hanleigh Bradley’s Books

  Hanleigh’s Reverse Harems

  Reverse Harem books have one female main character with multiple male main characters. It is not just a ‘Love Triangle’.

  Lust & Lyrics – A Celebrity RH Trilogy

  His, His Or His?

  All Mine

  Less Than Conventional

  Kumari’s Kitsune – Fantasy/ PNR RH Series

  Cursed by the Crown

  Tainted by Prophecy

  Silver Springs – PNR RH Shared World

  Lupine

  Standalones

  First Snow

  RH Boxsets

  Lust & Lyrics

  Hanleigh’s London Saga

  All the books in this Contemporary British Saga have interwoven plotlines, returning characters and places.

  The Rules Series

  Broken Rules

  Enforced Rules

  Revised Rules

  A Secret Melody

  The History Series

  Repeating History

  Deleting History

  Forging History

  A History In Paris

  The Intimacy Series

  Damaged Intimacy

  Entangled Intimacy

  Forceful Intimacy

  Call Me Doctor

  The Fate Series

  Inescapable Fate

  Inexplicable Fate

  Irreversible Fate

  A Bleak December

  Hanleigh’s London Boxsets

  RULES

  HISTORY

  INTIMACY

  FATE

  Hanleigh’s Darker Romances

  The lives and loves of those who don’t believe they can be saved. The protagonists are broken, ruthless and downright deadly. You might even say they’re monsters.

  Utterly Betrayed – Organised Crime Romance

  Flip A Coin

  The Elite – PNR Vampire Romance

  INSTINCT

  CRAVING