"Hey, we're gonna be late!" Logan said in the entry to the closet. "Sylvie and Morena are already in the car."
"I'm coming." She turned toward him. "Errand boy, eh? How'd you lose out to Morena? Or are you the pack Omega now?"
"Hardy-har-har. Very funny. I lost cause I'm still on Sylvie's shit list for trashing the kitchen." Logan stared past her into the corner. His brow knit. "Why do you have your witch trophy collection in the broom closet?"
"Oh, I dunno. It seemed appropriate?" She shoved a wisp of blonde bangs out of her eyes and pushed him out of her path so she could exit. "Why does your family own two dozen brooms? Did you father have some strange witch fetish I'm not aware of?"
His amber eyes glowed. "As a matter of fact, yeah. Plus, dad was a werewolf. Every full moon, he used to wolf out and go broom chasing..."
Victoria missed a step. She stopped and lifted her head to stare at him—inhaled. And damn it—she couldn't scent a lie on him. In fact, his basal odor didn't alter at all. Her face twisted into a frown; mixed confusion and denial. He couldn't possibly be serious... Could he?
Logan slammed the door to the broom closet shut and sprinted for the front door. "Shotgun!"
Oohh, damn it! She shot after him but yet again, her pregnant body refused to comply with the speed she expected. In her mind—a Greyhound. Reality—a Basset Hound. "Doesn't count! You can't call shotgun from inside the house!"
"Can so!" Logan waited for her at the front door, holding it open. She got past him and didn't wait while he locked up so she actually beat him to the SUV where Sylvie and Morena waited with the engine idling.
"I win." Victoria clamored into the front passenger seat beside Sylvie.
"Hey, no fair." Logan cocked his head. "I called it."
"I'm pregnant."
"What's that got to do with anything?" Despite his good-natured complaints, he got into the back with Morena.
"Everything. And if you haven't figured that out yet. Well, you need a lot more help than I can give ya." The teenager razed him from the backseat.
"Both of you—behave!" Sylvie's stern swept all three of them.
"Yes, ma'am." A mumbled chorus came from the backseat and then they were off.
Smiling, Victoria ducked her head.
On the downside, the obstetrician's office was a lot busier than it'd been on Victoria's last visit. A dozen people, including a few pregnant couples, crowded the lobby. Her own pack took up an entire corner, wedged into the adjacent chairs along the far end. Sylvie and Morena sat with her but Logan refused to be still. Instead, he paced the length of the room and back again, doing a damn good job of making the other patients nervous. He emanated an intangible air of menace.
On the upswing, Laverne, the receptionist, restrained herself from presenting Victoria with a whole new set of forms. The brunette regarded Logan with a fusion of lust and lewd speculation, but otherwise showed them to an examination room without comment.
Their numbers proved too much for the small area, but at least the wait was short. A couple minutes later, the door swung open to reveal Emanuel Luce. The young man hesitated, regarding them with wide eyes. His general nervousness over being confronted with four werewolves altered his scent to more pungent and acidic.
Victoria spoke up to offer reassurance. "Manny, this is my family. Morena and Sylvie..." She indicated each in turn, and the women offered their greetings. "Oh, and you know Logan..."
"Hey." Logan saluted with two paired fingers.
"You're here for your ultrasound today?'' Manny addressed her but he only had eyes for Logan. Victoria found it amusing how Laverne and Manny had the same basic reaction to the male werewolf, but from the former it was unpleasant while the later somehow rendered it charming.
"That's right." She gestured for him to come closer. "It's okay. We don't bite."
"Speak for yourself," Logan quipped before Morena's finger collided with his side—pokey-pokey.
Manny remained in the entrance a moment longer, looking like he was debating whether to stay or run. Gradually, his tension eased and he approached, though he left the door to the overcrowded room open behind him. Victoria didn't mind. She actually preferred to have the fresh air and the escape route.
Victoria got positioned on the exam table, lying on her back, and Sylvie stood close enough beside her to hold her hand. While Manny prepared the ultrasound machine, Morena appraised the young man and then smirked.
"Hey, Logan?" The teenager affected a loud voice. "I heard a good one—how many druids does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"
"Dunno, how many?" Logan asked in scripted reply.
"You told them I'm a druid?" Manny looked askance at Victoria.
She spread her hands. "I had to tell them something."
The nurse cut off Morena's answer. "Druids don't screw in lightbulbs, they screw in stone circles." While Morena and Logan snickered, Manny returned fire— "What happened when the blind werewolf chewed a bone for an hour?"
"Oh, I know this one!" Morena waved her arm.
"Enough, look what you started," Sylvie scolded the girl.
"When he got up he only had three legs!" Logan spoke over all of them.
Without warning, Emanuel squirted ice cold lubricant onto Victoria's stomach. She startled and considered protesting but the nurse already had the ultrasound scanner positioned against her stomach. The black and white monitor blurred; the distinctive pulsating blip appeared that was the baby's heartbeat.
"This is so exciting!" Sylvie grasped Victoria's hand between her own, squeezing too hard but it was okay. The older woman's wide smile and the tears in her eyes more than made up for the minor discomfort.
"It is—" Victoria grinned, overcome even though it wasn't her first ultrasound. Nothing quite matched the wonder of the first time, but those that followed came damn close. She had tried to quantify her emotions, to put them into words, and failed.
Hush descended. Awe crystalized within the pack aura which resonated with singular unity. Over the last day or so, ever since she and Logan had reached an accord, the group's internal structure was slowly but surely altering to make room for him. Where she'd feared he'd undermine her, instead his strength reinforced her own.
Joy filled her heart, and she was so thankful to have all of them with her. She wished Sophia and the pups could've attended but concessions had to be made. Explaining four gray wolves would've been impossible, and besides, the lupines wouldn't have understood anyway. And no matter how hard she fought against it, sorrow tainted her happiness because two members of her pack who should've been present were absent.
Manny manipulated the ultrasound and obtained a better image—the fetus was visible in profile and appeared to be resting on her back. Tiny arms and tiny legs. And that racing heart beat which precisely mirrored the rate of Victoria's own pulse.
"That's it? That blob?" Logan skewed his head in an incredulous survey of the monitor.
"Oohh, look! She has her hand on her forehead." Morena squealed and bounced, unable to contain her excitement. The girl vibrated so hard she looked ready to fly apart.
"Have you already been told the gender?" Manny asked.
"Yes. I know she's a girl." Victoria quelled the impulse to cover her stomach with protective hands. Her daughter. This was her future—
"How big is it in real life?" Logan asked.
Morena jabbed him. "Her."
"Right now the fetus is about fourteen inches and weighs less than two pounds." Manny asked Victoria, "Would you like me to burn this footage to a DVD you can take home?"
"Yes, please." She mustered a watery smile.
Tears blurred her vision, but her mind was locked on the future which was far bigger and scarier than the prospect of being a mother. In less than a week, dozens of strange werewolves from other packs would descend on her territory. She not only had to convince the other Alphas of her worth, her right to address them as an equal, but she had to get them to listen. How was she supposed to p
ersuade others to agree to an alliance with Jake Barrett when she was no longer certain in her own heart that aligning with the hunters was in her people's best interests?
"Victory, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Sylvie asked softly.
Victoria bit her lower lip, choking back the damning words. She longed to explain—to tell her family what Sawyer had done. How he and his father had deceived her. But that path was fraught with nothing but misery. The truth would tear them apart from within. Morena had loved Jasper, and the teenager was rash and foolish. Logan was already spoiling for an excuse to take on the hunter. And Jake Barrett remained—a scary powerful man not to be crossed.
So Victoria shook her head while tears trickled down her cheeks. While Sylvie held her hand, Morena and Manny looked on in confusion. And Logan—
Those bright amber eyes narrowed, focused with deadly intensity. He pushed through the others and bent, resting his hand on the exam table. His breath stirred her hair; shivers ran down her spine. His ferociousness delighted her she-wolf.
Logan whispered in her ear. "Who do I have to kill?"
The End.
I hope you enjoyed Wolf's Cross. Reviews are always appreciated! Don't forget to join my newsletter for free reads, exclusive sneak peeks, and giveaways.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melissa Snark is a paranormal and romance author with a particular interest in werewolves and Norse mythology. Her Loki's Wolves series combines elements of both in a contemporary fantasy setting. She lives in Northern California with her husband, three children and a glaring of cats. Visit Melissa at
http://www.melissasnark.com/ or http://www.thesnarkology.com/
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BOOKS BY MELISSA SNARK
Also by Melissa Snark
Romance
A Cat's Tale
Learning to Fly
The Mating Game
Urban Fantasy
Loki's Wolves Series
Valkyrie's Vengeance (Book #0)
Hunger Moon (Book #1)
Battle Cry (Book #2)
Wolf's Cross (Book #3)
Blood Brothers (To be released)
Brother by Choice (A short story)
Star-Crossed
Hunter's Mark
Revision Log
0827/2016
Updated back matter.
05/31/2016
First edition.
Table of Contents
Wolf's Cross
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Praise for Valkyrie's Vengeance
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
Revision Log
Wolf's Cross: Book 4 (Loki's Wolves) Page 32