by Sophie Stern
Only Aidan doesn’t seem to mind. Instead of looking afraid, he just laughs.
“Of course you are. I know all about you, Mia.”
Now it’s my turn to look surprised. All about me, really?
“Only good things, I hope.” Aidan grips my hips harder, sliding his hands just under the hem of my shirt. The feeling of his hands against my hips makes me excited. My body is lighting up under Aidan’s touch and there’s a part of me that hopes he won’t stop.
“I heard all about Tommy Miller and Darin Hopkinton,” he says. He leans down to tell me and I can feel his lips brush against my ear. Fuck. I want him to take my ear into his mouth and bite me.
“I can’t believe Richard told you about them,” I protest. My high school boyfriends weren’t bad people, but my brother hated them. He was thrilled when we broke up. Instead of trying to console me when I cried over them, he told me being single was a healthier way to live.
For fuck’s sake.
“Oh, he told me all sorts of stories,” Aidan continues. The song ends and he leads me from the dance floor. He takes my hand and pulls me through the crowded room until we’re at the back. All the booths are full, so we simply stand in the corner.
Well, I stand in the corner.
Aidan blocks me in.
Only I don’t feel scared with Aidan. Something tells me he doesn’t want to hurt me, at least in any way I wouldn’t like.
“What else did he tell you?”
“He told me you like to go skinny dipping with boys who are older than you,” Aidan leans down and kisses my neck.
“He told me you like to make out with your boyfriends in the woods and get caught by the police,” Aidan kisses the other side of my neck.
“He told me you like older boys, dangerous boys,” Aidan looks at me in the eyes, waiting for something from me.
Anything.
I nod, and he kisses me, devouring my mouth, owning me. He kisses like some sort of beast and he tastes just as wild. Somewhere in the back of my head, I know I’m at my brother’s party and shouldn’t just go around making out with his friends, but I’m too far gone to care.
Why the hell didn’t Richard ever introduce us before?
Aidan is exactly my type.
He’s fucking perfect.
He’s everything I want.
My head clears and I push him back far enough to meet his eyes.
“Let’s get out of here,” I tell him. “I live around the corner.”
Chapter 2
Mia
Present Day
Honeypot, Colorado is about a two-hour drive from Morris Creek, which means if I leave early tomorrow morning, I can be home before nightfall. I doubt Aidan and I are going to talk for very long, but I at least feel like I should tell him in person.
Oh, he gave me his phone number after that night, but I never called. That wasn’t the plan. I didn’t want a real relationship.
Aidan was supposed to be a fling, a surprise. He was supposed to be one night only and no strings attached.
Well, he definitely attached his strings and now we’re going to be pretty fucking close for the next two decades, at least.
I pack a little bag in case I hit bad weather and need to spend the night. You never know what might happen. I don’t particularly want to spend any time in Honeypot, but I like to be prepared. I toss in an extra outfit, a spare toothbrush, and some hair products, then deposit the bag neatly in my trunk.
When I’m back inside, I make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and try to decide what to tell my family. I wish for the millionth time today that I could have an alcoholic beverage, but I’m tired: not stupid.
I’ve only known about my baby for a few hours, but already I’m wondering if it’s going to be a boy or a girl. I’m wondering if my baby is going to look like me or Aidan.
I’m wondering if it’s going to be a shifter.
With a sigh, I lean my head on the table. That’s the real problem, isn’t it? Aidan is from Honeypot. I know all about Honeypot. My brother has spent more than enough time talking about the shifters he’s met and all the weird problems they have to deal with on a daily basis.
Apparently being a different species living on Earth isn’t exactly easy.
Apparently fearing for your life and wondering if you’ll be poached at any time or studied for science isn’t easy.
Richard can be a stick in the mud, but he’s a good person, and even though he practices in Morris Creek, he travels to Honeypot once or twice a month to offer counseling services to shifters.
Aidan really helped him during his time at university and I don’t think Richard will ever forget that.
At least I know that if I encounter any weird emotional problems from raising a shifter baby, my brother can help guide me through it.
I finally finish my food, take a warm shower, and collapse in my bed. I don’t feel nauseous yet and my boobs don’t hurt. I don’t have any weird cramping or spotting. Absolutely nothing is wrong with me and I have no visible signs of being pregnant. The only reason I took the test was because my period was late.
When my cycle tracker app on my phone notified me I was late, I ignored it. I figured it was a fluke. I thought it would show up the next day, or the next, but I finally figured it out.
Only I didn’t want to think about what it meant, so I just waited.
Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer. Finally, I realized that if I was, in fact, pregnant, I would need to start seeking prenatal care. I might not have planned on being a single mother, but I’m going to be a good one. I’m going to love this baby. I’m going to do anything and everything it takes to be a good mom.
And the first thing I have to do is find Aidan in Honeypot and give him the news.
He’s going to be a daddy.
***
Despite my good intentions to leave early, I don’t actually hit the road until 10:00, which puts me in Honeypot at noon. I’ve never actually been to Honeypot and I have no idea what Aidan does for a living, but I’m sure there must be someone who can tell me.
My first stop is at a little diner called Bumble’s. Cute name. I park my car and lock it, then head inside to see if I can get something to eat and, if I can scrounge up some luck, some information on where to find Aidan.
Every head turns when I enter the diner and I suddenly freeze, realizing they must not get many outsiders who visit. Dammit. Maybe they won’t be willing to help me find Aidan, after all. The people in the diner don’t look scary, but I suddenly realize that I’m the only human in a restaurant full of shifters, and I can’t quite handle it.
What if I do something wrong?
What if I offend them somehow?
Are they going to attack me?
I’m going to be a mom.
And that’s when it hits me for real. I’m going to be a mom and I’m going to need these people. I’m going to need people who will help me figure out what it takes to raise a shifter baby. I’m going to need help from others like my baby. I’m going to need help learning what it takes to be a mom.
Fuck. I’m going to be a mom.
A waitress is at the back of the diner and calls out to me, but I’m already out the door and back in my car, driving down the road. Tears are streaming down my face and I don’t know what the hell I’m even doing.
I should have just called Aidan. Why did I think coming to Honeypot was a good idea? It’s not a good idea. It’s a horrible a idea.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a little wooden sign on the side of the road that says BEAR’S BAKERY. There’s an arrow pointing down a little dirt road and I realize that I could really, really go for a slice of pie right about now.
I turn sharply and head down the bumpy dirt road, silently chastising myself for driving too fast at first. Morris Creek is a small town, but Honeypot is even smaller. It’s going to take some getting used to.
There are trees on either side of the road and I can’t see a damn thing but t
he road. Finally, it curves to the right, and there’s a cute little building. I stop in front of it and get out.
It’s a little blue cottage with white shutters and a big white door. The sign on the front says Bear’s Bakery and there’s a little wooden cut-out of a white polar bear on the door. I’m guessing the owner is a bear shifter, but despite the obvious nature of the building, I can’t help but think it’s adorable. What a charming little place.
About 30 yards behind the cottage is a bigger house that perfectly matches the cottage. I’m guessing that’s where the owner lives. I’m picturing a cute little retired polar bear man with his polar bear wife and their polar bear babies.
This is the perfect place to retire and bake. It’s the perfect place to relax after being in the city.
It would be the perfect place to raise a baby.
I can’t get ahead of myself, though. I don’t even know if Aidan is going to want to be involved in our baby’s life. I can’t be that presumptuous. There’s always the chance that he’ll tell me to get lost, that he won’t want to be bothered with something as mundane as raising a child.
Still, a little part of me hopes he’ll be willing to be part of our child’s life. There’s so much I won’t be able to understand when it comes to raising a shifter baby. Having Aidan around to explain things, at least some of the time, would be perfect.
But it was just one night.
It was never meant to be serious.
Before I burst into tears again, I realize I’m just standing in front of the building, so I head up to the door and push it open. The smell of freshly baked goods overwhelms me, and my stomach growls.
“Just a minute,” a voice from the back calls out, but my heart goes cold. It’s not the voice of an old, retired bear.
It’s the voice of Aidan.
Aidan is the polar bear.
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Alien Dragon
Want more shifters? Check out Alien Dragon: an alien shifter romance!
I'm on the last ship out.
I don't think I'm going to make it, but I do. Earth is dying and there's only one way I can possibly survive: fight for a spot on the dragon planet of Taneyemm.
They don't want humans there.
They don't like us.
They don't know us.
But when I step foot on the ship bound for Taneyemm, I know it's my last hope. I'll do anything I have to survive.
I'll do whatever it takes.
When I finally reach my destination and I see the alien dragons for the first time, I realize I'm in way over my head.
And I don't know if my heart is ready for this.
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