by Sky Winters
Aspen was always present during his conversations on the phone with Saul. What he told the leader of the Dire Wolves was always very well planned, but he was growing impatient, not even wanting to wait the full six weeks he had given Grant to infiltrate the Silver Wolves. He had to slow them down, to buy time and that is what they were discussing when Elizabeth had piped up and suggested the one thing they hadn’t considered.
“Why not just blow them off the planet and be done with them?” she asked.
“What?”
“Blow them up. You know, explosives.”
Grant and Aspen looked at each other, even as Aspen shook his head from side to side.
“We don’t blow people up. No one here even knows anything about explosives.”
“Maybe not, but Grant has friends that know about them, I bet,” she said, looking at her lover knowingly.
“Do you?” Aspen asked, seeming to entertain the idea.
“Probably. I’d have to make some very careful calls, but that’s pretty major. There would be cops all over the place and they’d be snooping around here for answers. Can you really afford for them to be asking questions?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time they came here looking for explanations for something they can’t explain, but the fact that we’ve never been into anything like that might buy us a bit of credibility when they come around snooping.
“Reach out and see if you can get us an in with someone who can help us out with that. If you do, then we will work on how to even up the playing field by taking out some of them.”
“I don’t know, Aspen. I know we are desperate, but there are women and children in that clubhouse.”
Aspen frowned at him, considering this. For all his hardness, he wasn’t the kind of man that could put himself in the position of being responsible for the deaths of innocents.
“Just find out what you can. We’ll figure out if it is something we can do,” he told him as he stood and walked out.
Once he was gone, Grant glanced over at Elizabeth again. She was still painting, but there was something off about her. Though usually pale, today she seemed grayer than alabaster. He was worried about her.
“Are you okay, Elizabeth?”
“Yeah, I think so. I just feel a bit nauseous, like I’m going to . . .”
She didn’t finish her sentence, suddenly wracked over and heaving. Grant rushed over and pulled her hair back, holding it as she threw up in the trash can partly filled with sketches she had tossed out from where she had been drawing earlier before starting to paint from her final sketch.
“I didn’t think the sketches were that bad,” he teased as she finally seemed to ease up and sit back in her chair.
“Must be a stomach bug,” she told him.
“Could be. I would say it might be food poisoning, but I’d likely get slaughtered for suggesting such a thing about Aspen’s cooking.”
“Most likely,” she agreed.
“Come on. Let me get you to your room so you can lie down. Get some rest and maybe you will feel better.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Come lie down with me?”
“Sure. You know I will.”
The pair curled up for the night and Elizabeth seemed fine, with no more incidents of throwing up. Come morning, she seemed fine, but after attempting to eat breakfast, she was quickly back in one of the bathrooms letting it all back up again. Chalking it up to just a leftover from some sort of twenty-four-hour virus, she blew it off. However, when it continued the following day, she decided it was time to go get it checked out. Rather than going to see the family doctor, she just had Grant, flanked by several other members of the club escort her to the small clinic designed for quick in and out visits.
After some routine tests, the doctor called her back to his office. Grant went with her. Even in a doctor’s office, she was not considered safe and he had been just outside the door during her exam earlier. They sat, hand in hand, waiting for the doctor to take a seat and talk to them.
“Is this your husband?” he asked as he sat down.
Elizabeth blushed a little.
“No. He’s my boyfriend, but we aren’t married.”
“Well, you might want to consider that possibility as I’ve found the cause of your illness. You’re pregnant.”
“I’m what?” she shrieked, almost leaping to her feet in disbelief.
“Pregnant. About four weeks is my best guess. Of course, you’ll want to make an appointment with an obstetrician to confirm and set up routine visits during your pregnancy, but you are definitely expecting.”
Both Elizabeth and Grant sat there for a moment looking stunned. The doctor smiled at them and waved his hand.
“It’s okay, kids. Lots of folks have babies outside of marriage these days. It’s a shock to most of them when they find out. Maybe you were careful and are just in that tiny percentage that experienced a failure or maybe you weren’t careful enough. Your reactions tell me that you didn’t plan this. Whatever the case, this is where you are. So, make whatever decisions you need to and move forward.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Elizabeth said finally, shaking his hand as she stood to leave, pulling Grant to his feet since he seemed to still be in shock.
Outside the clinic and back in their car, away from the goons that were with them for protection, the couple discussed it a bit further.
“Aspen is going to kill us. No. Aspen is going to kill me.”
“No, he won’t. He likes you. And he will be happy that there is another Silver Wolf on the way.”
“Not a real Silver Wolf. You’re human and I’m a stray.”
“It doesn’t work that way. Regardless of originating clan, if you become a Silver Wolf then you are in it one hundred percent.”
“I guess we should have used protection.”
“Why? I didn’t think I could get pregnant. The curse didn’t just affect the blood born members of the pack. It affected anyone that was accepted by them. I didn’t think I could get pregnant either. Everyone thought that the curse was lifted when Amanda got pregnant, but then no one did so we thought it was just her.”
“I don’t know. A lot of variables in there. Neither of us is blood born into this pack.”
“I know what you are saying, but there are other couples just like us that have been going at it pretty hot and heavy in hopes they could get pregnant. Not one of them have.”
“I guess it is too late to worry about all of that now anyway. We did nothing to prevent it, so here we are.”
“Are you sorry?”
“I’m not.”
She looked at him and smiled. “Me either.” Elizabeth’s phone rang and she glanced down at it. “It’s Mom.” She said a few more words and then excitedly told him to turn around.
“What?”
“Turn around. Amanda is in labor. The doctor can’t get out to the clubhouse, so Aspen and some of the pack are taking her to him. We need to meet them there.”
Grant turned the car around and followed her directions to the doctor’s house. They were there before Aspen and Amanda, but it was only by a few moments. Aspen must have really been driving like a hell bound demon. No doubt it would slow down from there as they waited hours for the baby to be delivered.
What Grant learned though was that the Lowery family didn’t drag their heels in anything. Amanda spent less than an hour in the doctor’s private medical quarters before giving birth. Aspen emerged, all smiles, as he announced the birth of the newest Lowery.
“It’s a boy!” he said gleefully.
Chapter 20
“I think we should wait a few days before telling anyone about my pregnancy,” Elizabeth said on the way home.
“Why? Scared?”
“No. I just don’t want to take anything away from them. Let them enjoy a few days before telling them the good news.”
“Fine with me. That’ll give me a few more days to live.”
“Right. I forgot you are pl
anning on being killed by my father soon.”
“Yes. I am.”
They both laughed as they drove, holding hands. Despite his teasing about Aspen killing him, Grant knew she was right and that her father would be happy for them. Not just because there was another shifter on the way, but also because he was going to be a grandfather, a young one - but a grandfather, nonetheless.
A few days later, Aspen called him to his Uncle’s office and the three of them sat down alone. Grant had been busy making calls while Aspen enjoyed his new son, named David Samson Lowery. Now, it was time to get back to business. The Dire Wolves had still not gotten wind of the baby, but they would. It was only a matter of time, but Aspen’s directive came as a surprise.
“You need to tell Saul about David,” Aspen told him.
“What?”
“If you don’t and someone else leaks it to him, you are compromised. Game over.”
“Fuck,” Grant replied, wondering why he hadn’t considered this.
“That means we need to have a plan in place, because they will come for him and he can’t live in a bunker below this clubhouse all his life.”
“Okay. I’ve talked to my contacts and I have someone that can get us what we need and get it in their clubhouse.”
“How?”
“No details.”
“Can they get it somewhere besides the clubhouse?”
Grant looked at him, puzzled and shrugged. “Maybe. What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t want to kill women and children, only shifters. They have an “event” in one week. They gather down by the falls for some sort of come to Jesus speech made by Saul. No women. No children. Only adult male shifters.”
“What about the female shifters?”
“I’m not worried about them. There aren’t very many and, without their mates, they will scatter or join us without an issue.”
“Little harder to cover the source out in the open like that. In the clubhouse, you can say it was some gas line or faulty electronics. Out there, there is not excuse but murder.”
“It’s a secluded place. A good place for a domestic terrorist to be working on something heinous.”
Grant suddenly understood. He nodded and grabbed his phone, hitting the speed dial and waiting for an answer on the other end. He ran the scenario by the person on the other end, someone he would never reveal to anyone, not even Aspen or his Uncle and then listened as he received a response.
“I’ll get you the details,” he said, before hanging up.
“He can do it?”
“He can.”
Except he was not a he. He was a she. The most dangerous woman you’d ever want to meet and with the credentials to legally murder whoever she wanted, and make it look like someone else pulled it off. Afterward, he and Aspen walked out together. Elizabeth was sitting nearby, whistling happily as she painted. Aspen walked over and kissed her on the forehead.
“Glad to see you are feeling better,” he told her.
Elizabeth looked at Aspen and he nodded quietly.
“Daddy, I have something to tell you.”
“What’s that, sweetheart.”
“There is going to be another baby.”
“Another baby? Really? Who?” Aspen asked, all smiles.
“Me,” she replied.
Grant stood perfectly still, watching Aspen’s smile slowly fade away to a much more somber expression. It wasn’t anger, so that was a good sign, but it could just be the calm before the storm. There was a moment where they all stood silently and looked at one another and then Aspen took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The smile spread across his face again and he pulled her to him.
“That’s wonderful. I can’t think of anything greater than having another child,” he said, before turning to Grant. “I’m going to kill you.”
Grant just nodded and looked down at his feet, knowing he needed him too much right now to follow through on it. Then, Aspen surprised him by grabbing him and hugging him, patting him heavily on the back.
“Just fucking with you. I couldn’t be happier. Now, let’s go see the boss and tell her,” he said, directing them down the hallway toward where Amanda would be with Baby David.
The three of them entered the room and smiled at her, causing her from one to the other cautiously. When none of them spoke, she finally coaxed them into action.
“Well, what is it? What do you three have up your sleeves?”
“I’m going to have a baby, Mom,” Elizabeth told her.
“What? You’re are joking, right?”
“No, not at all. We found out the day that you had David. We just wanted to give you a few days to enjoy your baby before telling you about ours.”
“Oh, my. I’m going to be a grandmother? I’m not old enough to be a grandmother. I’m barely a mother!”
“You are the most beautiful mother in the world too,” Aspen told her. “You will be just as beautiful as a grandmother.”
“You flatterer,” she told him with a little laugh.
“Are you happy for us, though?” Elizabeth asked.
“What? Of course I am. Come here and give us a hug,” she told her.
Elizabeth hugged both her mom and David in one group and then stood back. Grant stood looking awkwardly at them for a moment until Amanda motioned him over and pulled him in for a hug. While he was leaning downward, she whispered in his ear, “I’m going to kill you for this.”
Grant laughed as he pulled away. “I get that a lot.”
“Get what a lot?” Elizabeth asked.
“Death threats,” her mother chimed in.
“Ah, you guys are so funny,” she told her parents, turning toward Grant and kissing him on the cheek. “They like to give you a hard time, but secretly they love you.”
“I can feel the love,” he replied.
Chapter 21
The week after that was very busy. Grant spent a lot of time behind close doors with Aspen and also on the phone with his contact in explosives. Everything was set up for the meeting being held by the Dire Wolves and now, all they could do was wait.
Per their plan, the entirety of the Silver Wolves made a point of participating in a local charity event. Every man, woman and child, shifter or human was present at the annual Rio Lobos 5K race benefiting a nearby children’s hospital. Those who weren’t running the race were working at sign up booths, selling souvenirs or making their presence apparent in some way. One went so far as to get arrested when he couldn’t find anything to do. He picked a fight and got carted off, with several others going to bail him out so that they were present at the station.
The event was drawing near its close, with the last participant crossing the finish line when a huge explosion sounded on the other side of town. It was loud enough to be heard and big enough to be seen by all. People turned to watch as police ran from their vehicles and headed out to the highway to see what was going on with only a few left behind. Aspen walked up by one of them and looked curiously, joined by Grant and, in a rare public appearance, his Uncle.
“What the fuck was that?” he said aloud.
The deputy turned to look at him, taking in the others looking on beside him.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good, does it? Seems to have come from over by the dam. I think the Dire Wolves have their annual shindig over there today. No telling what that bunch of assholes have done now,” he told him.
“That today? Seems like only yesterday that they had the last one. Seems like you’d have not issued them a permit to gather after they burned down the gatehouse over there last time.”
“Right? Cost us a shit load of money to rebuild that thing. Hard to get to the way it is situated on the rocks. Useless bastards. Should be ridden out on a rail and not allowed back.”
His radio crackled with the voice of the dispatcher.
“We need all cars to head over to the Rio Lobos dam. All cars available, please report to the . . ..”
The re
st was cut off as the deputy launched himself forward, along with the remainder of those present at the race, to get to his car. There was a line of them headed to the dam, along with some people who would go out of curiosity just to see what they could see. The sounds of ambulance sirens sounded as they joined the party.
“Enjoyed the race, boys,” Aspen’s uncle said, clapping them on the shoulders. “Let’s pack it in and get ourselves back home.
Grant and Aspen joined him, nodding toward some of the others to head out. Their work here was done and it would be a new day for the Silver Wolves after today. Elizabeth joined him from her post alongside the event coordinator’s table and they got into the car to head out, pulling out behind the long line of bikes returning to the clubhouse.
“Are you okay?” he asked her when they got back and were alone.
“Yeah. It was them or us, right?”
“That pretty much sums it up, yes.”
“Then that’s all we could have done. Time to move forward now.”
“Yes, it is,” he replied, putting his hand on her belly and resting it there. She had not begun to even show beyond the slightest pudge in the center of her abdomen, but he was already counting down the days until he would hold their little bundle in his hands.
He kissed her forehead. For the first time, in a very long time, he felt more at peace. He wasn’t proud of what they had done, but it had been necessary and now they could all finally have a bit of peace to rebuild what they had lost.
“I love you, Elizabeth,” he breathed against her hair.
“I love you, too,” Grant. The End.
Book 3: Baby for the Wolf