Unbound (Shifter Night Book 2)

by Charlene Hartnady

  Worst of all though was how she tensed up anytime he got close to her. As in shut down. She wouldn’t look at him, or initiate any conversation that didn’t involve the kids. It was still early days. He needed to give it some time.

  “I’ll also need the cream and the butter from the fridge.” She spoke to Ethan, glancing at him.

  Ash knelt down next to Ethan as he opened up the door and looked around inside. He looked around some more, even rubbing his little chin.

  Ash chuckled. “There’s the cream in the door, bottom rung.”

  “There!” Ethan yelled as he spotted the cream, which he took.

  “The butter is behind the jar of pickles,” Ash whispered.

  His son reached in and grabbed the butter as well.

  “Go get yourself a chair and you can whip the cream for me.” Alice plugged in the mixer and took out a bowl.

  Ethan raced to the dining room and began to drag one of the chairs. “Get on the chair, son,” Ash prompted.

  Ethan did as he asked, sitting on the chair, a big smile on his face.

  “Hold on tight,” Ash warned.

  “Okay.” Ethan squealed as Ash lifted the chair. He walked over to where Alice had been standing moments earlier and deposited both the chair and the boy in front of the kitchen counter where the bowl was sitting.

  “You stand on that,” Alice instructed, pointing at the chair. “Here.” She opened the cream and poured it into the bowl and then added a couple of spoons of sugar. She glanced at him. “You can go and take a shower if you want. I know you’ve had a busy day. Ethan and I can finish up.”

  “I’m good. I’ve missed you guys.” He ruffled Ethan’s hair.

  “You sure?” She raised her brows. “I don’t mind.”

  "Do I smell or something?" He pretended to sniff his underarms. He'd had a swim in the lake before heading home, so he knew he was fine.

  “Hardly,” Alice mumbled. He wasn’t even sure that was what she’d said. “The more the merrier,” she added, turning and leaning on the counter. Her belly was well curved. Her cheeks flushed. Her breasts were much fuller. Her body lusher now that she was swollen with child. His babies. So damned sexy that he felt his groin tighten. Her scent was what fucked him up the most. Sweet honey. His reaction was so damned inappropriate. It happened all the fucking time though. Whenever he was around her.

  Concentrate on the job at hand, Ash. He cleared his throat. “Pick up the mixer, buddy, put it in the cream and I’ll switch it on for you.”

  "How did Dr. Evans survive the trip back?" She smiled as she snuck another peek at him. "Poor lady had to make a trip here and back all in one day." She shook her head. "I'm not sure how she managed it."

  “Don’t you mean poor me?”

  Her smile widened. “I know you can handle it.” Then she blushed. “You did alright when you brought me here. You weren’t tired in the least.”

  “She handled it just fine.” The doctor’s appointment had gone off without a hitch. Ash could breathe a little easier knowing that Alice and the babies were doing okay. He’d feel much better once the doctor was living in their village full time though. Two more weeks.

  “The trip was uneventful?” Alice poured the whole packet of cookies into another bowl.

  “It was all fine.” Something tightened in him. “I didn’t see or scent anything out of the ordinary.” He shrugged, trying to act like everything was hunky dory. “Let’s get this done.” He turned on the mixer and put his hand over Ethan’s.

  His mind raced. Though it was quiet, Ash was sure something had been watching them. Call it a feeling in his gut. He hadn’t noticed anything on the way to their village, but he’d felt that prickling sensation down his spine several times on the way back to Sweetwater. It was infuriating. The game was still scared off. Whatever was out there hadn’t left the area, it was just being more cautious. There had been no more strange footprints. No more attacks or sightings of any kind. They weren’t fooled though. There would be no false sense of safety. It was still out there. Still watching. Still planning something. What though?

  “That’s perfect.” Alice touched his arm.

  Ash turned off the mixer, noticing that the cream was stiff.

  “You okay?” Alice looked concerned.

  “Yes.” Ash nodded. “You’re right though, I’m just a little tired. It has been a long day. Happy to be helping out. Although, you might need to keep a close eye on me.” He winked but she turned away, repositioning the bowl with the cookies. Make no mistake, Ash was shit at flirting. Particularly the subtle kind. Could he walk up to a female, make his intentions clear and leave with her within seconds flat? Yes, most definitely. Thing was, he mostly didn’t have to say much of anything. They would come to him. They would chase him. Flirting though? Nope! Either Alice didn’t realize he was doing it or she was ignoring him. Maybe she wasn’t ready yet. He wasn’t pushing.

  “Time to bash up the cookies.”

  “I get to break them?” Ethan sounded excited.

  “Yep, I need cookie crumbs.” Alice poured the cookies into a packet, which she tied off and then handed the bag to Ethan. “Wait just a minute.” She handed him a rolling pin. One he didn’t even know he had.

  Ethan got to work beating the cookies, there was a big grin on his face. This was nice. This was comfortable. Ash smiled as well. Even though things felt good on the surface, inside him, his stomach churned. He wasn’t sure what the problem was exactly. Part of it was probably the potential outside threat. Though he was definitely terrified of the birth as well. Day by day it seemed that his worry grew, he wasn’t sure if it was just those two factors though. In a way, it felt like it was something else. He just didn’t know what yet.

  20

  Three weeks later …

  They finished singing, and Ethan blew out the candles with gusto. Not that there were many, only four. The grin on his face was so broad. His teeth out in full force.

  The cake. Oh, that cake. It had given her a couple of gray hairs, for sure. It was in the shape of a red convertible. Despite not being very sleek, or very sports-like, it actually looked like a car, which was a win in her books. To top it off, the driver was a frog. Not just any frog but dear old Froggie. Ethan’s favorite toy. She’d spent hours creating that little fondant masterpiece.

  “Thank you.” Ash bumped elbows with her. “I appreciate all of the effort.” He tried to hand her the knife. “The cake looks amazing. Maybe we shouldn’t cut it.”

  “Of course we have to. You’re welcome to do the honors.” Alice smiled, ignoring his outstretched hand.

  “I want you to do it. It was all your hard work.” He urged her to take the knife.

  “I want to eat one of the tires,” Ethan yelled.

  Alice had to laugh. Ash glanced at Ethan and gave him the thumbs up before locking eyes with her. His brows were raised. “Okay. Sure, thanks.” She took it from him.

  “I’ll take a door, or the trunk … Yeah, the trunk,” a sweet-looking girl with pigtails piped up. She might look delightful, but Joanna was as tomboy as they came. Not surprising since she was the only girl in the whole village. She was two years older than Ethan and loved bossing him around. Ethan didn’t seem to mind at all.

  “The frog is mine,” one of the other boys yelled; she couldn’t remember his name.

  “No!” Ethan’s eyes grew, suddenly looking overly large on his face. They instantly began to fill with tears.

  “The frog belongs to the birthday boy,” Alice said using her stern voice.

  “Oh, okay.” The boy nodded, not seeming to care either way.

  Ethan’s smile returned immediately. Alice set about cutting the cake, trying to cut the car up so that each child got the part that they wanted.

  Then she got to work plating the rest of the treat so that she could hand it out to the adults. She noticed Ash at the door. A couple entered. It was an incredibly beautiful blonde and a shifter. The guy was tall, taller than Ash but not nearly a
s built. He was holding a carrier with the tiniest baby she had ever seen, swaddled inside it. In fact, you could only see his tiny head, and even that was covered with a black and white striped beanie.

  Her hands suddenly felt a bit damp. This had to be Winston and his mate Ana. Ash had mentioned them a few times. He’d told her that Winston was his best friend. Their baby had been born the day before she had arrived here, so it was understandable she hadn’t met them yet.

  Ash glanced her way and gestured for her to come over. Alice put the knife down, she wiped her hands and made her way over.

  “Hi, I’m Ana.” The lady smiled. “This is Winston.”

  Ash put his arm around her. “This is Alice.” It felt so strange having him touch her all of a sudden and she must have tensed up. Ash looked down at her, he frowned and let her go. He slapped Winston on the back to defuse the moment. “I can’t believe how much the little one has grown.”

  “He’s so tiny. It’s hard to imagine he was smaller than this,” Alice murmured, looking down at the little one.

  “Winston is a wolf shifter so I was only pregnant for three months. Shifter babies are born pretty small. Especially the wolf and feline babies.”

  “Don't let that fool you.” Winston grinned. “He might be small, but he's all stomach.”

  “Speaking of which, we can’t stay long. Logan is due to feed in the next hour. Hour and a half if we’re lucky,” Ana sighed.

  “I thought you said you were feeding him and coming straight over?” Ash raised his brows.

  “We did,” Winston said. “Or Ana did. I held her hand.” He winked at his mate who blushed.

  “Have you forgotten what it’s like to have a newborn?” Ana asked.

  Ash’s eyes flashed with pain for a moment. “It feels like a long time ago. I guess it was all a bit of a blur.”

  They seemed to sense the tension in Ash. Winston shuffled from one foot to the other. “Yep, so we’ll hang out for a bit and then leave before Logan wakes up. His stomach might be big, but his lungs are way bigger.”

  “Oh yeah, and boy can he poop,” Ana laughed.

  Alice couldn’t help laughing too. Ash smiled, she was happy to see he looked more relaxed.

  “He did one yesterday that shot right up his back. There was even poo on his neck.” Ana made a face. “I had to put him straight in the bath.”

  “It was so—”

  “Can I go over to Uncle Gage’s house?” Ethan came jogging up.

  Winston went down on his haunches. “Hi, bud! Happy birthday!”

  Ethan smiled at Winston and then looked up at Ana turning all shy. “Is that your baby?” He pointed at Logan.

  “Yep, he sure is,” Ana answered. “Isn’t he cute?”

  Ethan stared at Logan for a few seconds before shrugging. “He can’t play.”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Alice has two babies.” Ethan held up two fingers. “Inside her tummy,” he added as an afterthought.

  “Pretty cool,” Ana said.

  “They’re my brothers.”

  “HmmmHmmm,” Ana murmured, clearly not sure what to say since Ash tensed up all over again. Jaw clenched, muscles bunched. He had not been happy when she’d told Ethan about the twins being his brothers. It just kind of happened. The kid had a right to know. Alice knew that it stemmed from Ash wanting to protect Ethan, in case something went wrong, but that wasn’t how life was meant to be lived. Bad things happened, but good things happened too. It was a parent’s job to protect their child but growing up sometimes meant falling and hurting yourself. It was all a part of learning. In the end, Ash had come around, but clearly he still wasn’t one hundred percent happy.

  “Can I go please?” Ethan asked, yanking her back out of her thoughts. “I want to show Uncle Gage my bike.”

  Ash visibly bristled. It lasted all of a second. If you’d blinked, you might have missed it. Then he smiled. “Your uncle is away scouting. He’ll be back in a couple of days. I’ll take you to his place then, how’s that?”

  Ethan nodded. “Okay.”

  Ash took Ethan to his uncle’s house regularly. She’d offered to take him as well, but Ash had always declined. Quite frankly, she was relieved. Alice could still remember the remarks Gage had made. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to act around him, especially considering he and Ash were not on good terms.

  “Do you want to see my bike?” Ethan asked Winston. “It’s red.”

  “It is? That’s my favorite color. You’re really lucky.” Winston picked up the carrier and followed Ethan.

  “Yeah,” Ethan said, “and it doesn’t have any wheels.”

  “No wheels?” Ana laughed.

  “Training wheels.” Ash laughed too. “It doesn’t have any training wheels. He keeps getting that part wrong.”

  They stood around for a few seconds. “Um, Ash tells me you’re a hair stylist.”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  “You have your own salon and everything.” Ana smiled.

  Ash had spoken about her to Winston and Ana. It felt oddly good. Alice inclined her head for a second. “Yes, I sure do.”

  “How are you finding it? The not having to work everyday thing? I must say, it took me a bit of time to adjust. I still miss it sometimes.”

  “Tell me about it. I worked all the time.” Too much! “It has taken some getting used to, but, it’s really nice being able to do my own thing. I enjoy puttering around the house, gardening,” she shrugged, “going for walks with Ethan and a couple of chaperones,” she added with her eyebrows raised.

  “There are dangers in those woods,” Ash growled, he spoke under his breath.

  “Yes, I know,” Alice replied. “I’m only joking. I understand the need for protection after the incidents.”

  “It is a bit of a tense time. I’m sure it’ll blow over soon,” Ana said. She licked her lips. “Um …” she chewed on her lower lip, “I’m sure some of the women in the village would love for you to do their hair. I know I would love a cut. It’s been months since I had it done.” Ana ran her fingers through her hair.

  Alice felt a surge of excitement. She didn’t want to go back to work full-time or anything, but she would love to get her hands on some scissors again. All of the long hours had drained some of the joy out of her job, but she ultimately enjoyed what she did. “Yes, absolutely. I would love that.”

  “Alice can’t be on her feet for too long.” Ash turned to her. “You also shouldn’t go anywhere near any of those chemicals, it can’t be good for the babies.”

  Alice sighed. “I’m not going to break. I won’t color or tint. Cutting the odd head of hair can’t hurt me.” She turned to Ana. “Of course I’ll do it.”

  Ash was still frowning heavily. She loved that he was so concerned. It could be a bit overwhelming and sometimes even irritating, but she'd take it. It showed her, at least, that he cared.

  “Why the heck are we standing here in the hallway? There are a couple of perfectly good chairs over there.” Alice pointed to the far side of the living room where Dr. Evans was sitting, a plate of cake in hand. “You go take a seat, and I’ll get us something to drink.”

  “Ohhhh.” Ana’s eyes lit up. “Is that vanilla cake?”

  “Yep, and despite it having red icing it’s actually pretty good if I say so myself.” Alice said. “I use real vanilla and not just the essence. That, with a squeeze of lemon juice in the cream icing makes all the difference.”

  “How about I get you ladies some cake and juice, and the two of you go and take a seat. Go and relax.” He touched the small of her back. The gentle brush of his hand sent shivers racing through her. “You’ve done so much already.” He leaned in as he said it.

  “Um, okay.” She nodded. Ash headed to the kitchen, leaving her feeling a bit flustered. They walked over to the living room, giving her a chance to unwind the knots in her stomach. How was it that he could do that to her so easily? Her feelings for him were growing, despite the distance and aw
kwardness between them. There were times when he forgot himself, and in those few moments she got to see the real him. Carefree, loving, happy. It was that Ash she was falling for.

  They took a seat right next to Dr. Evans, who had just stuffed a forkful of cake into her mouth. “This is my doctor.”

  Dr. Evans covered her mouth with one hand and waved the other until she swallowed seconds later. “Please call me Pamela.”

  “I’m Ana. So you actually have your own obstetrician on call, just in case,” Ana commented, turning to Alice.

  “Yep,” Alice nodded, “we’re not taking any chances. Twin pregnancies are a little riskier than singleton ones so …” She shrugged. “Also, Ash … you know.”

  “It makes sense.” Ana nodded. “It’s understandable.”

  “I'm going to keep a close eye on Alice and I’ll be here for the birth. I’ve delivered quite a number of twins and even a set of triplets once.” Dr. Evans smiled, she had a bit of frosting just above her lip.

  “All I can say,” Ana got a faraway look for a few seconds, “is that it really hurts. I was in labor for over twelve hours.” Her eyes were wide. “Thank goodness Logan was so small, I can’t imagine pushing out nine or ten pounds of baby.” She shook her head, looking a little shell-shocked. Then she grabbed Alice’s hand. “Sorry, I don’t mean to scare you, but you need to prepare yourself. That’s all.”

  “Everyone is different.” Dr. Evans shrugged. “I’ve had women come in already seven or eight centimeters dilated who weren’t sure they were in labor yet, and I’ve had women come in screaming blue murder who were barely even two centimeters. Everyone is different, although granted, most fall somewhere in-between those two.” She took a sip of her drink. “One of my patients was in labor for thirty-six straight hours and another gave birth in forty-five minutes. She ended up having the kid in the hospital elevator.”