She chuckled, making my heart break in the best possible way, and then come together again at another sign of glee from her, and whispered, “I like this room.”
My brows rose. “There’s nothing special about it.”
“There is.” She huffed. “It’s your room.” A grin appeared on her lips, and it made me want to kiss her hard and deep and fast.
She loved me, that was clear to see, because this room was anything other than special.
It probably even smelled a bit like jock, but hell, I was a jock. An overgrown one who was being forced to grow up fast.
But I could deal with that for her.
A howl sounded outside, and I wasn’t shocked that the pack was running hard and fast. It startled her though. She jerked and almost fell back against me.
I kissed her temple as I hugged her tight. “You’re safe here with me.”
Plus, the she-wolf.
She was outside, roaming around, and the howl she shot back at the running pack was just as annoyed as Sabina’s jolt.
How tied to each other were they?
I wasn’t sure.
It was strange though, damn strange, but so much about this situation was.
I didn’t think we’d ever get some answers to our questions, but maybe some questions weren’t supposed to be asked?
I hated that, because I liked to know shit, even if I wasn’t book smart, but you couldn’t question what was set in stone.
You could know that the big bang boomed the universe into being, but there was no knowing why it happened specifically when it did, was there?
Maybe, in the grand scheme of things, our little plot twists weren’t that big of a deal to the universe by comparison, but to us? They mattered.
Everything had been so strange since the very start.
We’d lost an omega, then we’d gained one.
We’d found our mate, and she’d been forged into a powerful wolf child when that just didn’t happen.
Wolf child and powerful were words that didn’t go together.
“Eli wants to know how it happened too,” she murmured, as she moved around my space, muttering, “Eureka,” when she found the remote control.
I watched as she flicked on the device, her head tilting as a football game blared on. When she turned the volume down, peering at me over her shoulder, she said, “He says he’ll get to the bottom of it. Eventually.”
“Some things you can’t reason away.”
“Sure you can. If you try hard enough.” She reached out a hand. “Come and watch TV with me until the guys get back?”
“Of course.”
So we did. We watched Next Gen straight from the beginning, and I sighed as she settled on my lap in my lounge chair, feeling whole and complete in a way that made me realize I’d been missing a part I’d never known I was lacking.
When, about three hours later, I heard shuffling outside the cabin, then a few yips and snarls, I felt Sabina tense.
She’d drifted to sleep, and when she had, I’d scented it.
Her period.
That was why she didn’t want to shift.
My lips twitched at the thought, even as she accidentally on purpose elbowed me in the belly for my thoughts—this shielding my thoughts shit was definitely high up on my to-do list—and I told her, “It’s Eli and Ethan. They want to run with you.”
She shrugged. “I know. I don’t want to.”
“Sure you do.”
“I don’t feel great,” she muttered around a yawn.
“Then the best way to feel better is to shift. The wolf processes all things differently than you, sweetheart.” Then, I threw down the big guns and wheedled as I kissed her throat. “Please?”
She huffed, twisted to me, and questioned, “You sure?”
“I’m positive.”
She winced a little as I helped her up, and as we walked over to a set of patio doors that led outside from my room, I watched her strip as she commented, “I like this shirt too much to ruin it.”
Fuck, she was beautiful.
And ripe.
Goddamn ripe.
Mouth watering, I watched her smile at me, that mysterious smile that all women were capable of granting their men and blowing their minds with, before I let my gaze drift down her.
The sight of blood on her thighs surprised me a little—it made sense that it was there, I just hadn’t expected it. Dumb of me, I guess—and when she peered down, her cheeks flushed with heat. “Oh! I didn’t think—”
I tutted her. “It’s okay.”
I could tell that it wasn’t for her, of course, and she shifted before I could say another word.
When she pawed at the door, I strode over to open it, let her out, then shifted too.
The second I was outside, I sighed with the joy of being back in my wolfskin.
It felt good.
What felt better?
For the four of us to be here, and even better still?
The supernatural wolf pack was here, in the vicinity, not getting too close but guarding us.
It was, I realized, quite clear that our family was important to them.
I just didn’t know why or what the implication would be for the future.
Sabina yipped as she and Eli tumbled about. The sight surprised me because even as a wolf, Eli was stoic to the nth degree.
“He attacked Conrad.”
My surprise had me staring at my brother’s lolling tongue. “Did he survive?”
“Nope.”
Eyes flashing, I muttered, “Shit just got real.”
“Shit was already real,” he replied. “But that’s one taken out to the trash that we don’t have to worry about anymore.”
“What happened?”
Ethan pissed on a tree by our door, then sniffed the scent marker to make sure it was strong enough. “He cornered Maggie May.”
I growled at that, my beast’s hackles rising at the thought. “Why the fuck did he do that?”
“Because he was stupid?” He turned to me. “The council will know things are about to change. It wasn’t a challenge, just Eli defending Maggie, but that’s a declaration of war in itself.”
I snorted. “They’re all chicken shit. They won’t do anything.”
He sniffed back. “Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. We’ll see, won’t we?”
With that, he took off, and I chased at his heels after I pissed over his scent marker.
That was what brothers were for, right?
When I saw Eli and Sabina playing, I had to admit to being warmed by the sight.
It made me want to dive right in, so I did.
This was my family.
My future.
And I’d never been so fucking happy about my status goddamn quo, even if there was trouble on the horizon.
In a strong pack, trouble was rarely an issue, but Eli’s father had run the Highbanks pack into the ground, and Eli, out of respect for his mother, hadn’t done that great of a job thus far either.
There was always dissension where there was weak leadership.
Only Eli’s power, and the fact that he wasn’t cruel and was just, had probably saved him from being challenged.
Well, that and the fact that the only two men who could have bested him were me and my twin, and we’d die for Eli.
Both of us would.
And that was before we’d known exactly who he was to us.
The thoughts running through my mind were too heavy, so I flung them aside. The trouble would be there until we got things on track, for however long that might be, and tonight wasn’t going to solve or resolve shit.
I had these moments with my mate and this time with my brothers to enjoy being a unit.
Because that was what we were—a pack within a pack.
Fourteen
Sabina
“It isn’t seemly to have that natural wandering around after her.”
I wanted to narrow my eyes at the bitch who’d made that statement, but wh
at was the point?
They didn’t know how the she-wolf and I were tied. They didn’t know how Ethan and I had helped birth the pups who were back at the packhouse, snuggled up in bed.
I wasn’t sure if the she-wolf should be walking around so soon after giving birth, but I wasn’t given much choice.
When I left the house, shutting the door firmly in her face, she made such a racket that all the naturals came racing to the door, snarling at me in anger at pissing her off.
I wasn’t scared of the pack, not like I’d been that first day.
They weren’t giving off the same vibes. It was more of a ‘for God’s sake, shut her up’ kind of thing.
And considering I was Dr. Doolittle right now? I figured I’d be the one to know.
I blew out a breath as the she-wolf muttered, “Useless female.”
My lips twitched though, because I couldn’t blame her. It was one of the council leaders’ women, and I had to admit, she looked useless.
From the pack meeting last night, where I’d been formally introduced as the new omega, and the pack had learned that I was mated to the alpha, beta, and enforcer, I’d seen how the women in the pack had a hardiness that wasn’t exactly common.
They all looked like they could build a house without a man to help them—that kind of thing.
I figured that was because of a few reasons. One, this town was way off grid. That was why Ollywood’s had come here, because the nearest city was Vancouver, and that was a long ride west.
The master of ceremonies, a son of a bitch called Niall, drooled over coming to these small communities where people were starved for entertainment.
What the crowd lost in having small numbers was made up for in the amount of cash they were willing to spend.
So this place was definitely on the smaller side, and it was also a little isolated. The people around here had to get used to being self-sufficient, except, it seemed, for the woman sneering at me.
She screamed city girl.
As did most of the pack council, now that I came to think of it.
As I pondered why that was, wondering how most of the pack were hardy and built as though we were still living in the pioneer times, but the leaders were all city slickers, I moved ahead of the bitch and headed into the store.
Eli said that I could ask the housekeeper for whatever I needed, but I had my period and I wasn’t going to ask anyone for tampons. I could buy the damn things myself.
On top of that, I’d wanted an opportunity to roam around the town and get used to the changes that started happening last night. Yep, my powers were evolving, and I’d been feeling weird all morning. So getting out of the house had been imperative for that, but also because I wanted to see for myself where my new home was founded.
The interesting thing was, of course, that I’d expected to have a guard with me, to have either Austin or Ethan at my side, but the second the she-wolf had gotten to her feet, not looking like she’d been in a life or death situation just four days ago, Austin had settled back into his seat and gotten back to work.
Evidently, they thought she was my guard.
What was interesting about that was I knew she had appointed herself as that, but I hadn’t exactly told them.
My mouth twitched at the thought, especially when the she-wolf growled when I told her, “You can’t come into the store.”
“Stupid humans.”
I grinned as I ducked inside, muttering inwardly, “I won’t be long.” She huffed, but I felt her take a seat. Whatever elixir was in that gross Hannibal Lecter fruit, it had worked the same miracle on her as it had on me, but the truth was, she was a little stiff, which told me how close she’d been to death.
I felt her aches and pains, felt them and wanted to heal them, but I wasn’t a healer. All I could do was stroke her and keep the fire stoked.
She wasn’t used to living inside, that much was clear, but she made the sacrifice for me and her pups.
I was both honored and perplexed by it.
Still, I wasn’t about to complain, not when her presence gave me some freedom.
I hurried down the small grocery store’s aisles, trying to find tampons.
There was an irony to the fact that I’d hoped one of the things that didn’t shift over with the transformation was periods, but no such luck.
As I wandered toward the small selection, I heard the whispers of thoughts as I passed.
I knew who was human and who was pack, simply because the whispers came from my people.
Yeah, my people.
These magical creatures who were both man and beast were mine now. Not the regular folk who wandered around, homo sapiens pure and simple.
The beasts from paranormal books.
My life had turned out better than I could have imagined, and Kali Sara, was I happy for that.
If I thought about how miserable things had been less than two weeks ago, I’d probably start crying.
Which was why I didn’t think on it.
Why I couldn’t.
My future was bright now, gleaming like the sunlight through a hundred gemstones, and even if it would take a while to be accepted by the pack, I could deal with that.
They couldn’t be much more suspicious than carnies of a new member on the staff.
The store was as small as Ethan had warned. He told me the staff drove the two-hour ride to the nearest Walmart once every ten days with a pickup truck to get most of the groceries.
Men.
What was I supposed to do until then?
Just gush blood on the floor?
Even as my lips twitched, I heard a soft cry from someone in the back of the store, and I twisted around just in time to see one of the pack children eying the back of his hand and rubbing it.
It was bright pink.
Outraged, I stared at the person who’d slapped him. I was even more angered when I realized the guy was human. Not pack.
“Sticky fingers get slapped,” the human snarled, and I strode over to the child, not knowing who he was, but just aware that he was one of mine.
“How dare you slap—” In his head, the boy whispered, “Daniel,” so I tacked on, “Daniel. He was helping me shop!”
The grocery store manager scowled at me. “Ain’t never seen you around this store before, but I’ve seen him plenty. Always got his fingers where they shouldn’t be. Well, I’m sick of it—”
I glared at him. “If you have a problem with him, you should contact Eli Highbanks.”
The manager frowned at me. “Why would I do something like that? Mr. Highbanks has nothing to do with this—”
“This, what?”
The guy sniffed. “Oliver Twist.”
The little boy started sniffling at that, and I felt his misery at the likeness.
Something was going on here, something I needed to figure out, so I ground out, “Contact Mr. Highbanks, and whatever Daniel has stolen, put it on my bill today.”
The manager, a guy whose tag on his plaid shirt told me his name was Robert, huffed but nodded. “Will do, don’t you worry about that.”
When he stormed off, I reached for Daniel’s hand and stared into his face. “How old are you, Daniel?”
The little kid bit his lip. “I’m nine, ma’am.”
I crouched down so I wasn’t looming over him, and asked, “What did you take from the store, Daniel?”
“Some candy,” he whispered.
“Do you know who I am?”
He bit his lip harder this time. “Yes.”
“Who’s that?”
“You’re the alpha’s lady—the new omega.”
“So you know I can hear what you’re thinking? Even if you don’t say it?”
He gulped. “Yes.”
“That means I can tell when you’re lying, doesn’t it?”
Another gulp. “Yes.”
I hummed. “So, with that being said, do you want to tell me why you wanted to be naughty and take candy from the store?�
�
“I’m hungry.”
My eyes narrowed. “Didn’t you eat lunch today?”
He shook his head.
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t.”
I frowned. “Why can’t you? Doesn’t your mommy or daddy give you a lunch for school?”
“I don’t go to school,” he whispered.
I blinked, wondering what the hell was going on, but of course that was the moment the tampon situation became critical.
Huffing a breath, I held out my hand as I stood up, muttering, “Come with me, Daniel. Let’s get you some real food.”
When I made it to the counter after I picked up a box of cookies as well, I paid for my things and the tab Daniel had run up, ignoring the manager’s mean-spirited scowl as he watched us leave.
The sight of the she-wolf didn’t have Daniel tensing in fear, which I’d almost expected, because I knew from Eli’s and Austin’s reactions that she was a lot bigger than they were used to dealing with.
As it was, Daniel stuck his hand in her scruff and tugged on it, holding on like he was holding my hand.
My lips curved, but my smile died as the she-wolf grumbled in my head, “Smells of death.”
I frowned, uncertain how to respond to that, especially when the bitch didn’t move away. If anything, she moved closer.
Did that mean his folks had died?
Wondering what was happening, I made it to the car in record time, because I really needed to get to a bathroom, stat.
When I opened the SUV Eli had given me to use, the she-wolf cruised in like she’d been riding in cars all her life, but Daniel needed help scampering up the step toward the seat.
When I set off, I’d admit to rushing and going a little faster than I ought to, but time was going to wait for no man, and I needed a bathroom.
Now.
When I made it onto our land, the she-wolf scared the shit out of me by howling, which triggered a wave of howls that almost had me crashing the damn car as I swerved off the road and back onto it.
When I growled under my breath, unapologetically, the bitch said, “Visitors. Smells like same males.”
That meant ‘twins’ in her talk.
She had a very limited vocabulary, but for a goddamn animal, limited was pretty fluent, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to complain, because I’d yet to figure out what howls meant in this form.
WOLF CHILD: A PNR RH Romance (The Year of the Wolf Book 1) Page 30