by E A Price
In no time at all, Ed had the papers out, and Wade put his scrawl on them.
“Let’s go home,” said Kim earnestly.
They stood up, and Wade sniffed the air before chuckling hollowly. “Can’t say I’m surprised, Kimmy. Figures you trapped him into marriage the same way you trapped me.”
Kim furrowed her brow. She was about to open her mouth to ask him what the hell he meant when Ed shook his head. He picked up one of the hundred dollar bills and passed it to the waitress.
“Hey! What are you doing?” yelled Wade.
“Making sure you pay your bill.” Ed winked at the grateful looking waitress. “Keep the change.”
With that, he took Kim’s hand and led her out into the sunshine. Kim was still confused when Sandy, the private detective showed up. Ed was pleased to say he hadn’t needed Sandy after all. He thanked Sandy for all his hard work and told him to send him the bill.
Kim leaned against her truck, and Ed eagerly placed a hand on her stomach and pressed himself against her soft body.
“What did he mean about trapping you?” she asked, still crabby at her Wade’s jibe.
“I think I know, gorgeous,” he murmured excitedly as his wolf whimpered. “Do you think Jamie would like a baby brother or a baby sister?”
Kim sucked in a breath and said the first thing that came into her head. “Crap on a cracker!”
Chapter Eighteen
14th April
“Kim, gorgeous, I’m home.”
“I’m in the bedroom,” she called.
Ed grinned to himself as his wolf growled lasciviously.
The pregnancy news had been unexpected but not unwelcome. She was now a month pregnant and was absolutely glowing, not to mention how horny she was.
Ed had been a little peeved that her ex-husband scented her pregnancy before him, but he got over that pretty quickly. Nothing could diminish their happiness.
He took the stairs two at a time and was delighted to find Kim sat at her dressing table in a sexy black dress.
His wolf roared in appreciation. “Damn, you look good.”
Her beatific smile reflected in the mirror. “How was your first day?”
That day, he had started work as legal advisor to the pack owned construction company. Unlike his old job, there was no stress, no pressure, and everyone actually liked each other. It was a pretty relaxing way to spend a day, in comparison.
He walked over and brushed a kiss over her neck. “Good, even better now that I’m here. This is a very pretty dress.”
He started playing with the zipper and she gently slapped him away before brushing her hair.
“Are we going out or something?”
Kim tensed a little, and he sensed her nervousness through their bond. “Hey, babe, you know how you love surprises?”
“Uhhhh…” he couldn’t remember ever saying that.
“Well, Mom’s on a date and Jamie’s sleeping over at a friend’s house, so I invited your family round for dinner – surprise!”
“What?!” he roared as his wolf howled.
Kim jumped up and slithered around the other side of the bed. “Just remember, before you start yelling, I am carrying your child. You wouldn’t want to upset me, would you?”
She pouted and gave him puppy dog eyes.
Ed shook his head and pursed his lips. “You seductive manipulator,” he teased.
She fluttered her eyelashes and giggled. He jumped over the bed and pulled her down on top of it. They rolled around kissing until Ed allowed Kim to pin him on his back, and she sat over him, straddling him. He put his arms under his head and just enjoyed the view
She sobered a little. “Seriously, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just thought if I gave you advance notice you’d try to back out of it.”
“You’re not wrong,” he admitted.
“I want them to know that we’re having a baby, and I want to invite them to our wedding. If they come, they come, and if they don’t, we won’t be any worse off. I know what happened on the island was pretty rough, but you can't stay mad forever. Plus, I like some of them.”
Ed let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah, I like some of them too. Well, four of them, and two of the four are just married to my brothers.”
“You don’t include Jonathan in your four? I like Jonathan.”
“Yes, and he likes you, too,” he grumbled, “a bit too much if you ask me.”
She ignored that remark. “I’d like to see Will and Olivia again; I want to know how they’re getting on.”
“I’m was surprised about them being mates. I swore that Will was lusting after you when the two of your first met.”
Kim tut-tutted. “That was just your over-active imagination.”
Ed looked at her curiously. “I think you were the only one who wasn’t surprised that those two are mates.”
Kim’s cheeks pinkened. “Olivia might have told me.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
She leaned down and nipped his chin. “I’m sorry; she asked me not to. She was upset and already in a state about it. Will wanted them to be together, but Olivia was just too worried about what your family would say – given that they grew up like brother and sister.”
“Nah, me and Olly, we grew up like brother and sister. Will and Olly…. there was always something more. They were more like best friends.”
Kim gave him the stink eye and folded her arms. “You told me that you and Liv grew up as best friends.”
Kim didn’t get jealous over Ed’s childhood relationship with their Beta’s mate, Liv. For one thing Liv was mated to Alec – it wasn’t like she was running around single. For another, if it hadn’t been for Liv asking Ed to come to their small town for moral support, she never would have met him. But maybe there was actually something in their past…
Ed snorted. “Not that kind of friend; never that kind of friend.”
He’d never been able to picture Liv in a romantic style. When he saw her, he just thought of her in the footsie pajamas that she used to wear when she slept over. The four of them, Liv, Olly, Will and Ed, would sit up all night telling ghost stories. Liv was just as unappealing as either Will or Olivia as far as he was concerned
But when he saw Kim… His whole body came alive as electric arousal shot through him, and his wolf went wild.
Ed ran his hands over her thighs. “You have nothing to worry about there.”
Kim gave him a naughty little grin and wriggled her hips, brushing her sex over his. She opened her mouth to speak when the doorbell rang.
She heaved herself off him. “Rain check?”
“Or, we could turn off the lights and pretend we’re not home?” he suggested hopefully.
Kim glanced down at his bulging erection. “Try thinking of baseball.”
His wolf wagged his tail but Ed just groaned. “Don’t say baseball! That makes me think of teams, which makes me think of Catwoman and that leads me to you in a leather catsuit!”
Kim slipped on a pair of heels and visibly shook as she forced herself not to laugh. “Try thinking of your grandmother in a catsuit!”
She bolted out the room as he hurled a pillow at her.
He lay back on the bed for a few beats. His wolf grumbled. What was he thinking a few moments ago? Oh, yeah, that nothing could diminish their happiness. Now he wasn’t so sure.
Fuck, it was going to be a long night.
*
Ed sauntered into the living room to find all his siblings and their partners assembled and looking mighty uncomfortable.
The only person who seemed relaxed was his radiant mate. She moved around the room handing out drinks.
Happy that everyone’s thirst was quenched, she walked over to Ed. Standing together, he slipped an arm around her waist. His hand rested comfortably on her stomach, while she was half turned to him and had her arm round his shoulder. The way they held each was so easy, so natural; they fit together so snugly like jigsaw pieces. Well, they were
made for each other...
Ed said hello to everyone. His brother, Harold uncomfortably explained that their parents and grandmother would not be joining them.
Ed was more than a little relieved. Harold duly informed them that the older generations of the family were vacationing in Europe until the incident with Judy became old news.
Ed was pleased to see that Will and Olivia were holding hands, even though they didn’t look overly happy.
Kim smiled at Will. “How’s your shoulder?”
Instinctively he flexed his arm and shrugged. “It’s fine.”
“Now, it’s fine,” corrected Olivia irritably.
Will huffed. “It was fine then and it’s fine now.”
“You could have been seriously hurt!” complained Olivia.
“I was protecting you; I was protecting my mate!”
Olivia extricated herself from him and stood up. She put her hands on her hips. “And what was I supposed to do if you got yourself killed?!”
Will let out a little growl. “If I remember correctly, at the time you wanted nothing to do with me. You said brothers and sisters shouldn’t mate! You were too busy running around with that Kurt asshole!”
Olivia’s cheeks reddened. “Nothing ever happened with Kurt, and I was right to be worried. Mom, Dad, and Grandmother won’t even talk to us anymore! They said what we’re doing is sick!”
She burst into tears and Will quickly swept her into his arms. She sobbed into his shoulder as he made soothing noises.
“I’m sorry,” said Ed, fiercely, “they have no right to treat you that way. If the two of you want to be together, you should be.”
“Hear, hear!” exclaimed Jennifer as she got up to fill up her glass. Her third glass that evening. “This wine is delicious, Kim, what brand is it?”
Kim pressed her lips together to stop herself from snickering. “Well, legally it’s called wine drink and it’s the closest thing to wine that I serve in the bar.” She looked around the room. “We don’t get much call for wine around here.”
“Well, it’s delicious,” she gushed pouring herself a very full glass.
Arthur watched her closely but didn’t say anything.
Olivia had calmed down to a few hiccups. Christine tapped Harold on the shoulder and grudgingly he got up and placed a hand on Olivia’s shoulder, ignoring the soft snarls of her mate.
“They’ll come round, just give them time.” He patted her shoulder, ill at ease with the show of emotion.
“Thanks, Harold,” said Olivia. “It means a lot that you’re on our side.”
Thoroughly embarrassed, Harold went to sit down by his mate who smiled at him approvingly.
Jonathan snorted as he got up to refill his glass with wine drink. “You’d think our parents would be more compassionate; it’s almost like they want all their children to hate them.”
“How’s Helena doing?” asked Kim, trying to change the subject.
Olivia gave her a small smile. “She’s okay,” she said in between sniffles. “She’s planning on moving away; Kurt’s almost persuaded her to marry him.”
“Best of luck to the poor, deranged fool,” muttered Jonathan.
Ed pursed his lips. Helena was not his favorite subject, but he was curious about something. “Back on the island, what was Helena doing in the kitchen in the middle of the night? Why did Judy stab her?”
Olivia haltingly recounted what Helena had told her. Helena saw Judy put the poison into the teacup on that fateful day; at the time she didn’t think anything was amiss, but after Judy’s reaction to the poison, she started to figure out what was going on. Helena then tried to blackmail Judy and arranged a meeting in the middle of the night. Judy had refused to give Helena any money, and so a struggle had ensued, leading to Helena being stabbed.
The fact that people knew Helena had attempted to blackmail Judy was the main reason Helena was moving as far away as possible from Alexandria. She feared the retaliation of Marie, their grandmother.
With regard to Judy… The rest of the story, which they had already half-guessed, came out after Judy was taken to hospital and put back on medication. Years spent coming into contact with wolfsbane had a permanent effect on Judy, causing brain damage and behavioral problems. Although, nobody had realized how bad her condition had become.
Everything that had happened had just been luck. Well, lucky for Judy. She knew about the Buchanan family through Ingrid. The young she-wolf had cried on the shoulder of her aunt many times when she visited. She just had no idea how Judy would react to her woes.
Judy started following various members of the family. At first she had no intention to do them any harm; she said she was just interested to see what they were like.
One day, Judy happened to spot Hilda at a coffee shop. Judy easily inveigled her way into Hilda’s affections and encouraged her to take time away from her job when her grandchild was born. Then, hey presto, Hilda turned to her new good friend, Judy to cover her job. From then, it was just a matter of making herself look innocent and killing Marie. She knew Marie wouldn’t drink that tea again; she was sick of the flavor and refused to drink anymore. Judy had plans to put the next lot of wolfsbane in Marie’s food. She also mixed up Marie’s medications as much as possible, to keep her as docile as possible. Judy was convinced that once Marie was dead, everything would be better. Judy was adamant that she wasn’t trying to hurt Helena when she stabbed her; Helena was just an annoying obstacle to her real target. Judy was awaiting a psychiatric evaluation, but it was doubtful that she would ever be permitted to leave the hospital.
Kim jumped as the kitchen timer dinged.
“Oh, dinner’s ready. Please everyone, take a seat at the table, and I’ll bring the food out.”
Ed was about to volunteer to help when Jennifer beat her to the punch. Kim thanked her and winked at Ed.
Kim took the lasagna out the oven, and Jennifer sniffed appreciatively.
“That looks and smells delicious. I’m so jealous; I’m an awful cook. It’s no wonder Arthur never wants to spend any time at home.” Her voice trembled a little.
“How are things between you two?” asked Kim softly.
Jennifer shook her head and furiously dabbed at the tears that threatened to spill. “The same; I barely even see him anymore. I don’t know what to do… sometimes I think about leaving, but I don’t want to lose him.”
Jennifer grabbed a dishtowel and started sobbing quietly.
Jonathan noisily entered the room. “Hey, what’s taking so long? We’re all…” He stopped when he saw Jennifer.
Moving quickly, he pulled Jennifer into a hug, and she wept into his shoulder.
Kim stepped from foot to foot, unsure whether she should stay or go. She turned her back for a couple of seconds to retrieve a salad from the refrigerator. Spinning round, she found a furious Arthur glaring at Jonathan.
Arthur roared the word ‘mine’ and lunged at his brother. He tore Jonathan away from Jennifer, and the two males struggled, crashing into the various pieces of furniture. Kim and Jennifer jumped out the way. However, the lasagna was not so fortunate. It soon tumbled to the ground.
Jonathan held up his hands in surrender and Arthur duly punched him on the nose.
Arthur turned back to his mate, a look of sorrow on his face. “Are you sleeping with him?”
“What?! How dare you!” yelled Jennifer. Her misery was swiftly replaced with outrage.
The rest of the family crowded at the kitchen door watching with interest.
Jennifer growled. “You’re the one who’s been running around with god knows who! You're the one who's...”
“I’m infertile!” bellowed Arthur unexpectedly.
Jennifer stilled. “What?”
Arthur looked away from her. “It means I can’t have pups.”
She marched over and forced him to look at her. “I know what it means! But how do you…”
He shook his head sadly. “We were trying for so long that I
thought something was wrong. I had a doctor check me out, and I can’t give you pups.”
She groaned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You wanted pups so badly that I didn’t want to disappoint you.”
“So you’re not having an affair?” she asked, frowning.
Arthur huffed at her. “Of course not, how could you think that?”
Jennifer looked at him in disbelief. “Ummm, the lying, the staying out to all hours, inviting Helena to the island…”
His nostrils flared. “She blackmailed me into inviting her. She found out that I was… that I can’t… She’s friendly with one of the nurses at my doctor’s office and he told her that I was infertile. She knew that we were trying for a baby and she threatened to tell you the truth.” He took both her hands in his. “I swear I would never even look at another woman.”
“So, why have you been avoiding me?”
He looked sheepish. “I just panicked; I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Of you leaving me. It was easier to go to a bar and get drunk than face you. I mean, why would you stay with me? I’m not your true mate, and we’re not blood bonded. There was no reason why you would want me. Wolf shifters are supposed to be virile and produce dozens of kids, but I’m… I’m a freak. Who wants to be with an infertile wolf shifter?”
Happy, relieved tears slipped down her cheeks. “I want to be with you, Arthur. I love you, and I don’t care about that. I love you with all my heart and as long as I have you, nothing else matters.”
Arthur smiled hopefully. “You mean that?”
Jennifer brought his hands to her lips and kissed them. “Of course I do. I’d be honored to blood bond with you and show you just how much I need you. I love you and I don’t ever want to lose you.”
Arthur seemed to be on the verge of tears too until he snarled and jerked his head at Jonathan. “What about him?”
“Jonathan has been a shoulder to cry on and that’s it. I thought you were having an affair. I thought you were pulling away from me; I thought I wasn’t good enough.”
“You’re more than good enough, my darling; it’s me that…”
Jennifer shushed him. “If we want kids we can adopt them. For now, let’s just be happy that we’ve found each other again.”