He glanced over his shoulder, and she did her best to wipe her thoughts from her face.
“Hey,” he said. “How long you been standing there?”
She smiled, but the expression felt tight on her face. “Not long.”
“I was gonna bring something up to you. Figured you must be still sleeping.” His gaze dropped to the bag at her side and he frowned. “What’s that?”
She lifted it higher. “I hope you don’t mind. I’ll return it the first chance I get.”
His frown deepened. “I don’t give a fuck about the bag, Piper. Why do you look like you’re going somewhere?”
“I stayed the extra night, like we agreed. But I have to go now.”
“You got a pressing appointment you need to be at?”
She shook her head, her face burning. “No, nothing like that.”
“Then what’s the rush?”
“I’m sorry, Carter. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but I need to leave now.”
“Leave? Leave to go where?” He looked baffled at her insistence.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, sudden tears filling her eyes. “I don’t have anywhere to go.”
Chapter Nine
CARTER DROPPED THE spatula he’d been holding into the pan and folded his arms across his chest. “What’s the point in leaving if you don’t have any place to go?”
The expression on her face—a combination of fear and hope—just about broke his heart.
“Because I’m too frightened to stay.”
He frowned and shook his head. “Frightened? Frightened of what? That dickhead ex-boyfriend catching up to you?”
“He isn’t just my boyfriend,” she said. “He’s my husband. His name is Finch Morgan, and he’s a nasty piece of work.”
Shit. Piper was married? He looked inward, searching his feelings. Did that make any difference? No, he didn’t think so. She was clearly terrified of the guy—boyfriend or husband. Whatever he was, he didn’t deserve her.
“I can keep you safer than you would be alone out there.” He jerked his chin toward the front door.
She shook her head. “But for how long? I can’t ask you to give up your life for me. You barely know me.”
That’s not true, Piper. I’ve gotten to know you over these last few days. I can’t stand to think of you walking away from here, alone, with no one to look out for you.” Another option occurred to him. “Maybe we should turn this around and I should go and find that husband of yours and warn him off.”
Her blue eyes widened in fear. “No, please, don’t do that. If you do, he’ll know where I am for sure, and if he finds me with you, he’ll be even angrier, if such a thing is possible.”
“You think I can’t handle him?” Carter tried not to be offended.
“I don’t want you to even think about it, Carter. You don’t know him. Yes, you’re big and strong, but he’s mean—mean in a way you can’t even begin to understand. You might be tough, but you have a good heart. That man’s heart is as black as coal.” She gave a small laugh, but it contained no humor. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if his heart was just a lump of coal, sitting solid in the middle of his chest.”
A click came from the front door, snatching their attention. The door started to open, and Carter froze. The irrational idea that he was about to see Piper’s ex-husband walking through, as though talking about him had summoned him, went through his head. But instead it was Kimberly’s dark hair he saw as she whipped through the gap.
She must have seen them both standing there, as she drew to a halt and her eyes widened in surprise. Her gaze immediately selected Piper.
Shit, he’d forgotten Kimberly still had a key.
“Kimberly,” he said, “what are you doing here?”
She didn’t answer, not taking her eyes off Piper. “Who the hell is this?”
He hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t as though he could tell Kimberly the truth. There would be too many questions, and word would get around town that he’d brought a complete stranger into his home, and not only that, she was on the run from someone who potentially might be a threat to the pack.
“This is Piper,” he said instead. “She’s an old girlfriend.”
Kimberly’s fine dark eyebrows shot up even higher. “Old girlfriend?”
“Yeah. She’s just come into town for a few days.”
Kimberly’s gaze flicked down Piper’s body, and her eyes narrowed slightly, fine lines creasing her brow. Piper looked away, hunching forward, her shoulders rounding. Carter could see how awkward she was finding all of this, and he felt like crap that he’d unwittingly brought his ex into Piper’s already complicated situation.
“You replaced me quickly enough,” she sniped.
He pointed a finger. “Hey, you walked out on me, remember, and Piper is only staying for a while. Besides, what I do is none of your damn business anymore.”
She gave a haughty sniff, lifting her chin. “I’m not interested anyway. I just came to get the rest of my stuff.”
“You can leave the house keys while you’re here, too.”
“Fine.”
Sorry, he mouthed at Piper, but she just shrugged as though to say it wasn’t any of her business either.
Kimberly shot Piper a narrow-eyed glare as she stormed past and stomped up the stairs toward the bedroom. Carter knew he shouldn’t be feeling bad in any way at having his ex-girlfriend suddenly appear at the door, but for some reason, he did. He didn’t want Piper to see he’d dated someone like Kimberly—hell, they’d done more than just date. But Piper was the exact opposite, and not only in looks. While Kimberly put everything out there, Piper was reserved and quiet.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, however. Kimberly had left him, and he hadn’t even met Piper until later that day. Still, this whole thing was awkward as hell.
They both cast their gazes upward as Kimberly banged and crashed around.
Piper grimaced at him. “It ended well, then?” she said in a half whisper.
He shrugged. “It wasn’t really either of our faults. It just didn’t work out.”
She nodded, as though she agreed, and he wondered how things had ended with her husband. He guessed not well would be the answer, considering she was hiding out in his house and afraid to stay in one place for too long.
Kimberly appeared at the top of the stairs, a small pile of clothes and books in her arms.
Carter stepped forward as she descended the staircase. “Let me help,” he offered.
She pulled the items tighter to her body. “It’s fine. I’ve got them.”
Kimberly had barely even moved in here properly. She always kept enough for a couple of nights’ stay, but it wasn’t as though anything substantial in the property belonged to her. She’d not been here long enough to really put her mark on the place.
She paused before leaving. “I’m going to have to tell the rest of the pack about your visitor,” she said, not even looking at Piper. “They have a right to know who’s living among us.”
“I won’t be staying long,” Piper added.
But Kimberly gave her a look that said she didn’t care either way, and then turned her back and slammed out the front door.
Carter gave a sigh and turned back to Piper. “I don’t know about you, but after that amount of drama, I could sure use something to eat.”
To his surprise, she laughed and nodded. “Okay, sure. I’m hungry, too.” He was relieved she hadn’t mentioned leaving again, and, before they headed back into the kitchen, he noted how she dropped the bag she’d packed by the front door. Did that mean she was staying? He didn’t like to ask again in case it prompted her to do the opposite.
The food he’d been cooking before Kimberly had shown up was a little dried out now, but it was still edible. He set out a plate for himself and Piper, and she sat down and started to eat. Things were easy around her. Where Kimberly was all fire and drama, Piper just seemed content to sit and eat her meal.
This time, when Piper offered to wash up, he accepted her offer, wanting her to feel as though she could contribute. He left her to it, needing to go and do some work. He hoped she’d still be in the house by the time he’d finished.
Just like the previous day, after a few hours, she reappeared at his door with coffee. He’d done everything he needed to by that point, so he nodded over to the chessboard again.
“Okay,” she said, smiling, “but you’re not allowed to help me so much.”
“Nah, I wasn’t helping you last time. You picked it up quickly enough on your own.”
Her eyebrows lifted in skepticism. “You’re a liar. A sweet liar, but a liar nevertheless.”
He chuckled and got to his feet to move over to where the chessboard was still set out from the previous day. The movement brought him directly in front of Piper, but she didn’t make any attempt to cross the room. Instead, she looked up at him, her blue eyes wide.
“I know what you’re doing.”
He feigned innocence. “I’m not doing anything.” She’d picked up on his attempts to distract her from her thoughts of leaving.
“This will be my last night, Carter. I truly appreciate everything you’ve done for me, but your pack probably won’t be pleased about me being here, especially not if I bring trouble into town.”
He pressed his lips together, his nostrils flaring. “I’m the alpha of this pack. If I say I want you to stay, no one else can do a damned thing about it.”
She shook her head. “But it’s not going to make you any friends, and I don’t want to be the cause of coming between you and your pack.”
His heart clenched at the thought of her leaving. What was it about her that made him feel this way? He’d barely touched her—no more than taking her hand, or brushing the backs of her fingers, not since he’d first found her in the forest and carried her back. Yet he knew her leaving would take something from his life. She brought a kind of peace into his existence, a stillness of his soul. For once, he was thinking about someone else instead of what he wanted all the time.
“I can’t make you stay, I know that, but there’s a place for you here, if you ever need it.”
“Thank you, Carter.”
The way she was looking at him, her blue eyes so big, her chin tilted upward, her lips slightly parted caused a sudden urge to sweep through him. Without letting himself think about how it would change things, he slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her to him. Piper gasped, but he silenced her with his mouth, pressing it firmly against hers. Her lips parted, welcoming him, and then they were kissing, their tongues meeting, lightly touching. His other hand slipped up her body, wanting to get a feel for the figure she’d always kept so well hidden beneath those baggy clothes, but something wasn’t quite right. Confusion flickered through him. He paused in the kiss, and then Piper pushed him away, spinning from him, her hand to her mouth.
Where he should have slid his hand across her flat belly, instead he felt a sizable curve that certainly wasn’t down to weight. His mind tried to process what he’d felt, and he could only come up with one explanation. Still puzzled, he looked over at where Piper was standing, both her hands covering her face.
The words burst from his lips. “You’re pregnant?”
She couldn’t look at him. “I’m so sorry. I should have told you.”
His mind was spinning. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because I didn’t want you to know. I thought that you’d feel even sorrier for me, and that you’d feel obliged to help me, when really you owe me nothing at all. This isn’t your problem, Carter. You know that. I’ve just walked into your life, and I’m only going to mess it up from every angle.”
He shook his head, trying to find the words, but he didn’t even know what he wanted to say.
“The baby ...” he managed eventually. “Is the man you’re running from the father?”
She nodded. “Yes. The pregnancy was the reason I finally made the decision to leave. It was one thing subjecting myself to his cruelty, but I couldn’t have my child brought up in that situation. I knew if he found out about the pregnancy, he’d lock me in a room until I gave birth, and then he’d probably take the child away from me. I couldn’t allow that to happen.”
“So you went on the run, knowing you were pregnant?”
“I didn’t have any choice.” She glanced away from him. “But you have to let me go now, Carter. You see that, don’t you? I’m not just some young woman who might be fun to have around the place for awhile. I’m going to be a mother soon, and you don’t want to have a screaming baby messing up your style.”
“I don’t give a fuck about my style.” He ran his hand over his mouth, thinking. “How long until the baby is due?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. I haven’t had any kind of prenatal care. I couldn’t let anyone know about the pregnancy.”
“You think months? Weeks?”
“More like weeks,” she admitted.
“Shit.”
She gave a rueful smile. “Yeah, shit.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to sit at the table with him, though any thoughts of playing a game of chess had fled from his mind. “Well, there’s no way in hell you’re going anywhere now. You’re staying right here, and I’ll go and see our pack’s midwife so you can get the care you need.”
“You don’t have to do that, Carter.”
“Yes, I do. And if you even think about leaving, you’ll have two men out there trying to track you down.”
“What about if I agree to stay, at least until the baby is born, but I ask you not to tell anyone in town about the baby. They’ll start asking questions, and you know how close-knit the shifter community is. Sooner or later, word will get out, and it’ll spread. If there’s a strange, pregnant woman who’s showed up with no connection to anyone, it’ll get back to him, and he’ll know where to find me.”
Damn it. She had a point. Carter wanted to think he could handle some wife-beating asshole, but what if the husband showed up here with his pack behind him? This could start a war between two packs, and he’d be putting all his innocent pack members in danger.
He wanted to do right by Piper, but he also had a responsibility as alpha to keep his pack safe.
Chapter Ten
“YOU DON’T NEED TO MAKE any hasty decisions,” Carter said eventually. “Let’s sleep on it tonight and figure out what to do tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Her voice stuck in her throat with emotion. He’d kissed her, and she’d loved how it had felt. She’d been so swept away in the moment, that for a fraction of a second she’d let down her guard, and by doing so had revealed her secret. She was stupid, so stupid, but her emotions were tangled. In part, she felt terrible for putting Carter in this difficult position, but she was also thankful to have un-shouldered some of the burden. Just as he’d been since she’d met him, he’d remained calm and decisive. She could see why he made such a good alpha for their pack, even if he did seem to pick up girlfriends a little too readily.
Who Carter dated was none of her business, but still her mind kept conjuring the image of Kimberly—sexy, feisty, with her long dark hair, and tiny, nipped-in waist. Nothing like Piper at the moment. Yet she and Carter had shared that kiss, and though she knew it could never work, she found her heart longed to experience that moment of tenderness with him again.
But he had kissed her before knowing she was carrying another man’s child. Everything was different now.
“You wanna tell me exactly what happened?” he asked, his tone soft. “Why you’re on the run when you’re pregnant?”
Her gaze shifted away from him, but she started to talk. She owed him the truth. “The pack I come from is different than yours. It’s old-fashioned, religious. The men rule the town—the position of alpha female doesn’t even exist. The women are there only to be good mates and produce babies for the men. My husband was beta, so he was powerful in the pack. He and the alph
a are brothers, and I swear everyone in the town worships them like they’re gods.
“When I turned sixteen, my parents gave me over to him, like I was a gift to keep them in his favor. I’d only ever kissed a boy once before in my life, and I had no idea what to expect. He was our beta, and they were my parents. I cried every night when I found out what they had planned, but it never even occurred to me that I might have a choice.”
Carter frowned. “But when you realized you were pregnant, you knew you had to make that choice?”
She nodded. “I had reached rock bottom. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to live another day in the same house as that man. He did whatever he wanted to me, even though the feel of his hands on me, and his mouth on mine, made me sick. He barely let me leave the house unless it was to run errands for him. If I dared question him or speak back, he would hit me hard enough to knock me to the ground. I waited until he’d been drinking one night, and, when he passed out, I grabbed some of my things and left. I didn’t let myself think about it too much, because I knew if I did, I’d talk myself out of it.”
“What about your parents? Wouldn’t they have wanted to help you if they knew how unhappy you were?”
She exhaled a small puff of air through her nose. “They didn’t care. They only cared that their daughter was married to the beta, and that it raised their standing within the pack. I tried to tell them how cruel he was to me a couple of times, but they told me I was a grown woman now, and I needed to start acting like one.”
A Baby for the Alpha Page 5