by Reina Torres
He leaned down to look at Paige in the windshield and gave her a wink that had Devlin’s tiger begging to rip out the jaguar’s throat. “And Dev? The doctor is a she… just so you know.”
A few seconds later they were heading for the edge of town and the parkway and Boone Wayland’s house.
Chapter Ten
The massive gate at the road swung inward as the cruiser approached on the road. Beside Devlin, Paige leaned her forehead on the window glass and looked up at the trees fringing the property.
“You’re starting to scare me, Paige.”
“I’m okay,” her tone had a wistful quality to it, “just enjoying the view.”
Up ahead, just to the right and left of the main set of stairs up to the porch, a few cars were parked in the grass. There was just enough room for the cruiser to park in front of the stairs to give Devlin easy access to lift Paige from the passenger seat.
The front door banged open a moment later.
“Boone said not to slam the door, Cobb!”
Two boys spilled out onto the porch, wearing worn jeans, baggy shirts, and hoodie jackets. A third nearly tripped over his untied sneakers in the doorway, but he held it open and tried to keep out of the way as Devlin stepped inside.
A petite woman in a long white coat was seated on the coffee table. With careful hands and gentle movements, she cleaned what looked like a compound fracture and then set aside the cloths.
Boone Wayland stood behind the couch, his arms folded over his barrel-chest. When he saw Devlin, his eyes narrowed on Paige, gesturing toward the other end of the couch. If you could call it a couch. It looked more like a fabric covered play pit. A collection of sectional pieces that could look like a nest of cushions.
It seemed an odd piece of furniture for a bachelor Bear shifter, but Boone had become a foster father to a handful of teenaged bears with no families of their own. The bunch of them lived on Boone’s property on the second floor, but one by one they were building cabins in the wooded area behind the house, giving the boys some of their own space.
Boone crossed over to Devlin’s side and gestured at the unfolding scene on the far side of the sectional. “That’s Pino. Took a tumble off a ladder earlier.”
The teenager sitting beside the injured boy shoved his hand into a bag of chips. “He was showing off. Tried to pull off a handstand on the top of the ladder.”
Another boy leaned over the back of the couch and snagged a handful of chips from the bag. “And ended up falling on his arm.”
Boone’s expression was full of indulgent affection for the boys. “And the saint of a woman sitting beside the accident-prone boy is Dr. Laura Shigezawa. She’s our ‘go to’ doctor for everything shifter in town.”
Devlin narrowed his gaze at the woman. “I didn’t know we had a shifter doctor in Sylvan.”
The doctor spared him a glance. “You haven’t needed me, and that’s a good thing. So far most of my practice involves keeping Boone’s boys from breaking every bone in their bodies.
As they watched, the doctor reset the bone in Pino’s arm with a good solid tug. The boy gasped out and clipped out a few choice curse words, earning him a grumbled demand from his foster father to, “Watch your language.”
“But it hurts!” Pino’s grumble earned some laughter from the other boys.
Boone moved around the sectional and met Paige’s gaze. “Sorry about that, ma’am.”
Devlin watched her closely. He didn’t think Boone was a threat, but his tiger certainly did. His tiger paced inside of him wondering just how red their white fur could get if they took down the bear standing so close to their mate.
As Paige waved off his concern, Devlin couldn’t quite let it go. “Step back, Boone.” The animal in him wasn’t going to make it easy. “Step back.”
By the silence of the room, Devlin knew what was going on. The boys, so easily rambunctious just moments before, were alert, their focus on the unfolding scene.
The boy behind the sofa had pushed away and started to move around the over-sized piece of furniture, but a warning growl from Devlin and a sharp command from Boone held him in place.
Devlin felt Paige’s arm stretch across his chest like she was a wall between the two of them.
“Paige, let me go. You don’t want to be between us.”
He felt her tremble when she turned to look at him. “Devlin, stop.”
“Yes, Officer Kerr, stop.”
Devlin swung his head around to see the doctor standing just a few feet away. Still dressed in her long white coat she looked at him over the rim of her eyeglasses.
“Mr. Wayland,” she turned to address the bear, barely holding back his growl, “Pino will be fine tomorrow, but I suggest a shift as soon as he feels up to it.”
Beside him, Paige cocked her head to listen to the doctor, but she had questions of her own.
“But if shifters heal when they shift, why should he wait?”
The doctor’s stoic look shifted and she gestured to the seat beside Paige asking for permission to sit.
As Devlin knew she would, Paige nodded and shifted so she was leaning against his shoulder.
“Unless they’re full blooded, shifters usually don’t shift until they reach puberty.”
Paige groaned slightly. “That’s got to be doubly a pain for the girls. Fur and cramps?”
The boys laughed and even the doctor had a touch of humor in her eyes. “Unless they’re full-blooded and can shift as toddlers, girls seem to be carriers of the ability, but don’t have it much themselves.” As she spoke, she moved closer to Paige, looking closely at her face. “But Pino’s only been shifting for a few months… sometimes he makes a mess of it even when Boone’s told him time and time again how to make it easy on his body. Having a fracture like his with the inability to ease into the shift, will likely cause the fracture to heal crooked.”
When the doctor lifted her hand, Devlin tensed. Paige’s spine was pushing against his arm, the vibrations he felt earlier rushed through his body, stirring his tiger again.
The doctor leaned closer, closing her eyes and taking in a long breath though her nose. When she opened her eyes, she was smiling. “Please, Mrs. Kerr, may I touch your face?”
Boone shifted on his feet. “The boys and I can go outside.”
“No need, I don’t need to do much more than confirm what I can already scent. Please, Mrs. Kerr?”
Devlin turned and leaned his chest against Paige’s back, his hands coming to rest on her shoulders as Paige nodded at the doctor.
“Sure.”
The doctor’s eyes were fixed on Paige, her hands gentle and inquisitive. It took her moments to finish, sitting back and lowering her hands to take Paige’s in hers. A gentle squeeze seemed to set time back in motion for Devlin as he watch the doctor smile at them both. “There’s nothing wrong with Paige,” she reassured them, “but in about seven or eight months, you’ll both be very busy and tired. You’re pregnant.”
“Pregnant.”
Devlin felt Paige tremble in his hands and instead of the joy that had initially coursed through his veins, he felt worry. Where was the joy in Paige’s voice, the elation that he felt and had his Tiger roaring about at the top of his lungs? “Paige?”
“But I’m on the pill,” Paige’s hand lifted, tugging gently away from the doctor to set it on her stomach, “how is that possible?”
The doctor sent a quieting look toward the boys who were all now firmly ensconced on the sectional grabbing handfuls of popcorn and treats from a bowl on Cobb’s knees.
“Well, besides the fact that no contraceptive is one hundred percent effective, you’ve been mated with a shapeshifter, Paige. Unlike contraceptive, they are quite effective.”
“Well,” one of the peanut gallery of teenaged boys let out a low whistle between his lips, “that sucks.”
Another one managed an elbow in someone’s side. “Not that you have to worry about girls with your ugly face-”
�
�Outside!” Apparently, Boone had enough with his boys. “Give Paige some privacy.”
The boys ambled out in a long trail of sound and scuffling while Devlin watched as Paige set her other hand on her belly and moved them both in tandem over her stomach.
“Privacy?” she sighed. “Since the carjacking I don’t think I’ve had anything in my life private. And now,” she lifted her gaze and Devlin felt the weight of her worry fall on his shoulders, “if people are acting crazy now, what are they going to do when they find out that I’m… that we’re pregnant?”
“I’ll protect you, Paige.”
“I know,” she lifted a hand from her belly and set it on his leg. He hoped that she needed to touch him as much as he needed her touch. “I know you’ll try, but this baby changes everything, Devlin. This baby is going to depend on us for everything.”
“And it will happen, Paige.” He understood fear. Until a few days ago, no shape shifter had been in the public eye, acknowledged as its true self until he’d met Paige and stopped her from being killed. So, this baby would be in the public eye as well.
Devlin trailed his fingers over her arm where the faint scar of her recent injury was nearly gone. Mating with him had increased how fast her body could heal and now, he reached gently around and set his hand over hers.
“What should we do?”
He smiled at the sound of wonder in her voice and looked up at the doctor who was reaching into her purse. “Here, take my card. Call my office and make an appointment for a couple of weeks from now. Carrying a shifter baby is unique for each couple. Human gestation is forty weeks, but a combination of human and…” she narrowed her gaze at Devlin for a moment, “tiger will likely shave off a number of weeks.”
Boone made an odd sound in the back of his throat. “A sliding scale of sorts?”
“Exactly that.” The doctor turned to look at Paige and shook her head, a soft smile on her lips as she gestured to her newest patient. “And you’ll expect more of that.”
Devlin looked down and saw Paige fast asleep against his shoulder. “She’s probably tired.”
Almost on cue, Paige drew in a gasping breath that was almost a snore.
Tucking her closer to his chest, he brushed a kiss on the top of her head. “I should get her home and put her to bed.” Moving slowly, tried to find the right way to pick her up from the couch. His first two attempts earned him a groggy growl from her lips.
Boone gave Devlin the perfect out from his predicament. “You two should stay,” he crossed to the doctor’s side and set a hand on her shoulder, “you too.”
Devlin looked up at Boone, wondering if the invitation was just a polite offering or an actual request.
“You’ve been alone too long, Dev. Stay. Eat. Give Paige a chance to rest and chat a little.”
There was a telling pinch of his forehead when Boone mentioned ‘chat.’
The bear’s laughter filled the room for a moment before he clapped a hand over his mouth and gave Paige a worried look.
Devlin’s mate was fast asleep against him.
“And it would give the boys a chance to practice their manners in front of the fairer sex.”
The doctor’s near-silent laughter shook her shoulders. “Just please accept so Boone will stop coming up with reasons to get us to stay.”
Devlin held up a hand in surrender. “Fine. We’ll stay.”
Boone tipped his head toward the front door. “Then let’s go.”
“Go where?” Devlin was already shifting Paige on the sectional, so she could lie down on her side and rest. “I thought we were staying for dinner?”
Digging into his jeans pocket for his keys, Boone had a telling grimace on his face. “I can’t cook to save my life and if the boys have to eat what I could manage to scramble up, we’re going to have a riot.” He jerked a thumb at the door. “Come on, Dev. You can help me carry.”
Devlin followed him toward the door. “So, you’re putting your guests to work?”
Boone pulled the door open and shook his head. “Nope, just you.”
Paige woke up to the smell of pizza. Lots and lots of pizza. As she opened her eyes to survey the room around her she heard a loud growl and sat almost completely upright. She searched the room with her eyes and found everyone else looking… at her. “Was that me?”
The doctor sitting beside her, reached out a hand and touched her arm in a soothing gesture. “It was probably your stomach, but maybe-”
“Maybe what?” Another one of Boone’s seemingly endless array of foster bears leaned over the back of the sectional. He handed a paper plate and napkin to each of the two ladies. “What did I miss?”
From his seat at the end, Pino grumbled when someone set a tray over his lap. “Nosey jerks.”
Paige felt an odd sensation touch the side of her face and turned to see Devlin’s intent gaze settled on her. She couldn’t help the warm crawl of sensation that danced all along her skin.
Dragging her gaze away from her mate she turned back to the doctor. “I’m a little confused,” she confided to her. “I’m not a shifter but all day I’ve been noticing that I’ve been acting… I mean it feels like I’m not myself.”
Doctor Shigezawa turned slightly, tucking a leg under her body as she leaned an arm on the back of the seat. “When a woman’s body is going through a pregnancy, the baby, or perhaps we should say ‘cub,’ carries genetics from both mother and father but in my experience with shifter pregnancies that the shifter DNA, the genes are more pronounced in traits than strictly human.” A soft smile helped to ease Paige’s concerns. “And since the bond between shapeshifters can have more than a hint of a metaphysical nature, like telepathy, your child may be using you to communicate.”
“Using me?”
Chad, the lanky bottomless pit of Boone’s boys, held out a box between the two ladies, revealing slices from four different types of pizzas. “I hope it’s not like an alien in its host.”
Paige felt the doctor’s hand on hers, cool against her own heated skin.
“Don’t listen to the boys. If it isn’t a zombie or revenant-”
“Or assassin,” Pino added between bites of pizza.
“Then they’re not satisfied. When I say communicate it’s more like the way you can learn to feel the emotions of others, an empathic bond.”
Bolt, likely the oldest of the boys, set a tray of iced teas on the coffee table, easily within reach of both ladies. Before he turned to walk away he turned to the doctor, his expression a quiet study in curiosity. “You keep saying baby, but Devlin’s a tiger, ma’am. Don’t they tend to have multiples?”
Devlin sat up in his chair at the table, beside Boone, his eyes wide. “I was a single birth.”
The doctor nodded. “Keep in mind, I only can go off of what I know. There’s a serious lack of textbooks in shifter reproduction. But there’s nothing to worry about tonight, Dev.” She turned to Paige and handed her a glass of ice tea. “Throwing shifter DNA into the mix is a lot like rolling the dice, but I’m here to make sure we get you,” she turned a little to include Dev as well, “and you through this together.”
As the conversation continued on between them, Paige found herself focused on Devlin, where he sat across the room. Everything was changing so fast for her, but unlike those obnoxious carnival rides that spin you around and around and around, making you dizzy, having Devlin in her life gave her a focus… a compass heading that lead her home.
“Together,” Paige repeated softly under her breath, “I think I like the sound of that.”
By the time they returned home, Devlin didn’t even bother trying to get his mate into the shower, the poor thing was worn out completely. His tiger purred his approval when Devlin peeled off Paige’s clothing, piece by piece, revealing the pale curves of her lush form to their hungry eyes, but taking every precaution to let her sleep.
Shedding his own clothing took less than seconds as he was wide awake and aching for his wife. When he pulled back
the covers and climbed into the bed beside her, he paused to lean over her belly. His nose, a hairsbreadth away from her softly rounded tummy, he took in a long heady breath.
Cub.
Mate.
Paige slept on as he turned his cheek and brushed it over the natural curve of her stomach, enjoying the perfect scent of her skin.
Mine. His hands settled on her hips, enjoying the heat of her flesh, the soft sigh of contentment as his hands brushed over her skin.
His tiger, pushed at him, needing to be closer to Paige, and Devlin didn’t argue. Fitting his larger, harder form behind her. Lifting the top edge of the light blanket he pulled it up to cover them as he wrapped his arms around her curves, holding her like a treasure.
Nuzzling his nose into her hair, gently brushing his lips against the shell of her ear, Devlin fought against the worry in his head.
His mate, their cub, there was so much more at stake in his life than ever before. And thanks to Paige, his life was fuller than ever before.
He’d met Boone Wayland when he’d gone into his hardware store to purchase things to fix his home after he’d moved to Sylvan City. It took one indrawn breath in the store to know that there were bears in the building. Until the day he’d brought Paige to see the doctor at Boone’s home, he really hadn’t spent much time at all getting to know the bear shifter or the boys he was raising. The bear had monumental amounts of patience. Just a few hours with the handful of teens had his ears ringing with the noise.
But now, holding his wife against his body, breathing in her addictive scent, he wanted what his new friend had, a houseful of family.
With Paige in his arms and at his side, he knew that he finally had a future.
Chapter Eleven
The first set of public hearings on the rewriting of Sylvan City Ordinances broke attendance records, attracting reporters and lawmakers from not only the State Legislature but also Washington D.C.
Tv cameras were banned from the hearing room, but a camera feed was broadcast on the internet, nearly frying the server.