by Katie Reus
“You want me to call an out of town healer?” Grant asked quietly as they reached the gate that led to the condo’s Olympic-sized pool.
She looked through the gate to see Grant’s mate dancing, her long midnight-dark hair free as she laughed at something another packmate had said. Twinkle lights glittered over the pool and makeshift dance area. “Go be with your mate,” she said, looking back at him. “I’m going to sneak around the side and head up to my condo through the front. I’ll make a call in the morning. Oh…” She glanced back toward the beach where she’d left a lovely mess.
“I’ll take care of it.” He kissed her on the forehead before opening the gate.
Erica hurried away, down the side of the huge complex, using the wall that surrounded the pool area as a barrier between her and her packmates. She knew that some of them would ask about her absence and Grant, being the alpha he was, would easily deflect any questions.
None of that really mattered now. She did have some calls to make. First, to a nearby healer so she could get a checkup.
But first, she was going to brush her teeth. Because gross.
And soon she was going to have to tell Hudson that she was pregnant. And he was the father.
Chapter Three
Hudson flew back through the air as his brother slammed a fist in the middle of his chest. The blow jarred him straight to his bones. Luckily, he was a shifter and over two hundred years old. He was hard to break. But he shouldn’t have let his brother, alpha or not, get the drop on him so easily. They’d been sparring the last hour and that was some rookie shit right there.
Standing over him, a trace of disbelief on his face, Malcolm shook his head as he held out a hand. “Seriously, that was weak.”
Cursing at himself, Hudson took the extended hand and jumped to his feet. “I know. I have no excuse.” They’d come to the gym to get some extra training in—and Hudson had wanted to expend some of his pent-up energy. He was beyond sexually frustrated and practically climbing the fucking walls.
Malcolm lifted a shoulder. “A female is a good excuse, but you’re right, you don’t have an excuse. You let your woman go.”
“I didn’t let her go,” he snarled. For the last month his brother had avoided talking about Erica, and Hudson was grateful for it.
His brother snorted. “You sure about that?”
He turned his back on Malcolm and strode toward the bench against one of the walls. Sometimes they sparred outside, but occasionally they sparred indoors on the mats. It was icy out today so they’d opted for the gym. He grabbed his water bottle and drank half of it as his brother strolled up next to him and grabbed another water bottle.
“I don’t get you, brother. I know how you feel about her, and if it was me—”
“It’s not you.” He slammed his bottle down on the bench. “She’s younger than us, she’s from a different generation. I don’t want to push her too hard too fast.”
“She’s not that young. Even if she is from a different generation, she’s not a different species. To any outsider, it just looks like you let her go. So what do you think that looks like to her?”
He ground his molars, resisting the urge to punch his brother. Talking about Erica wasn’t on the agenda today. His wolf was too edgy. “She wanted space. She said she wanted to see if the intensity between us wore off once we had distance.” He rolled his shoulders but it did nothing to ease the tension hammering away at him. As far as intensity, nothing had worn off. He’d known it wouldn’t. The whole separation thing was bullshit. He’d wanted to tie her to his bed and keep her there. But that was fucking psychotic so he’d let his female go. Barely.
He felt as if he could crawl out of his skin right now. Hell, he felt like that all day every day. All he wanted to do was shift to his wolf and run and run until maybe he tired himself out and got some sort of relief from all the raging insanity racing through him seemingly twenty-four-seven. All he could do was think about her. AKA, obsess about her. She was in his head, in his damn bones—an addiction he never wanted to get over.
Malcolm simply grunted as he set his own bottle down. “So do you want to go another round and bring your A game, or are you ready to call it a day?”
“I’m ready to go.”
His brother’s mouth curved up into a smirk that Hudson knew well. Right now, Malcolm was looking for a fight. He could sense it.
“You sure, little brother?”
Yep, when Malcolm started calling him that, Hudson knew. Malcolm wasn’t in alpha mode right now, but he was in big brother mode. Which meant he was in jackass mode.
“Don’t start with me.” Because Hudson was not feeling it today. He’d requested solitary patrols because he didn’t want to bite the heads off any pups simply because he was in a perpetually bad mood.
“I don’t blame you for being down on yourself. If I couldn’t hold on to my female, I’d be feeling pretty shitty too.”
Hudson growled low in his throat as he strode onto the mats. “You’re not going to bait me.”
His brother simply stepped out onto the mat, a gleam in his blue eyes. “Seems to me that I’m just stating a fact. You offered to mate with Erica and she left you.”
“I didn’t ask her to mate,” Hudson snapped out. He hadn’t wanted to push her too fast and have her run from him. He’d thought he was making the right choice, taking things slow.
“I knew it! No wonder she left your dumb ass.” Malcolm rushed at him like a linebacker.
Hudson was ready for him this time, however. When they sparred like this, it was in human form only, no claws or canines.
As they rolled to the floor he got in a solid blow to Malcolm’s jaw but his brother went with it, rolling them over and landing an elbow across Hudson’s face.
He savored the bite of pain, needing to feel something other than the emotional bullshit he’d been dealing with. Because he couldn’t shrug it off, couldn’t get rid of it, couldn’t do anything about it. Not until Erica was back—not until he brought her back.
They rolled around like pups for a solid ten minutes, punching and snarling until finally Hudson slammed his hand against the mat. “I’m done,” he rasped out.
Laughing lightly, his brother collapsed next to him on the mat and stretched out. “What the hell, Hudson? Why didn’t you ask her to mate with you? I know how you feel about her. Everyone in the pack does.”
Hudson lay on his back as well, staring up at the ceiling. “I didn’t want to scare her off. But I did ask her to stay, multiple times. And I’ve asked her to come back. Multiple times.” They’d even had phone sex a couple times but during the last week, he’d felt her pulling away from him. And he knew it was his fault. He thought he’d been right in going slow with her. This younger generation of wolves was different than his. He’d known that he couldn’t go all barbarian on her and tell her that she was his. Yeah, that would’ve gone over really well. She’d have cut him out of her life.
“You offered her nothing,” Malcolm said quietly, the barest hint of disappointment in his words. That got Hudson more than anything. “Don’t get me wrong, you were good to her and I know how you feel about her, but I don’t know that she does. And if you want to keep a female like that, you need to step up your game. Spell it out.”
“What the hell do you know about game, old man?” His brother was only ten years older.
Malcolm jumped to his feet after landing one last elbow to the ribs and dodging out of the way. “I know that a sweet female like that certainly isn’t going to wait around for you. She’ll move on, find someone new. I guarantee someone in her pack is going to be the shoulder she cries on when it becomes clear that you aren’t man enough to claim her—”
Hudson’s canines and claws extended as the very real urge to attack his brother surged through him.
Laughing his ass off, Malcolm ran from the room acting nothing like the true alpha he was, and exactly like a big brother.
Something Hudson needed right now.
Taking a deep breath, he got his wolf under control. Though he hated to admit it, his brother was right. He should have just gone all wolf and made it clear she was his. He’d actually already booked a last-minute flight with their pilot. He was going to see Erica tonight. He couldn’t be away from her any longer. His wolf couldn’t stand it. Neither could he.
He felt as if he was hanging on by a thread being separated from her. Maybe he would screw things up by going all caveman on her but he would never know unless he tried. He’d been trying to act like someone he wasn’t and he’d lost the woman he loved.
He couldn’t deny the wolf he was anymore. It was time to make things right and claim the female he should have made his weeks ago.
Chapter Four
Erica couldn’t contain the butterflies in her stomach as the pilot finally shut off the engine. They’d been sitting on the tarmac inside the Kendrick pack’s territory for a few minutes as he did whatever it was he was supposed to do. That was definitely one of the nice things about being part of a successful pack. Having a private plane at your disposal. More or less anyway. Wolves in general preferred to fly solo or with their packmates only.
Airports tended to make her wolf edgy. Being surrounded by so many humans, so much noise and the cacophony of scents. It was unlikely that anything would set her wolf off but that fear was always there, that something could startle her wolf and she might change in the middle of a crowded airport.
As she waited for the pilot to emerge from the cockpit she tried calling Hudson again but his phone still went to voicemail. She hadn’t talked to him in about twelve hours. Which…wasn’t abnormal. But once she’d confirmed this morning that yes, she was pregnant, she’d made plans to return to Montana as soon as she could. When Hudson hadn’t answered his phone, she’d decided to bite the bullet and call Malcolm instead.
When she’d told him that she was coming back for a few days the alpha had seemed inordinately pleased about it. He’d told her that Hudson was on a special patrol. He’d been kind of cryptic about it actually. Alphas could be secretive sometimes. Still, she’d tried to call Hudson multiple times before she’d gotten on the plane and now… It wasn’t like him to keep his phone off so he must’ve had to go dark for some kind of mission.
That might be why Malcolm hadn’t explained to her what his brother was doing. She wasn’t part of their pack so she wasn’t privy to any sensitive information.
No, she was just a girl who’d spent a month with Hudson. Ugh.
The pilot, one of her packmates, stepped out of the cockpit and smiled at her. “How’s your stomach feeling?”
She’d told Julian that she was pregnant just to give him a heads up if she got sick. “Surprisingly good.” Saltine crackers of all things seemed to be working. And the healer she’d seen this morning had given her something for this flight. All-natural and created specifically for wolf shifters. Because remedies that worked for humans didn’t always work for her kind.
“Good. If you’re ready then, I just got a call. Malcolm is here to greet you.”
She blinked once as she stood and picked up her purse. “Do you mean Hudson?”
“No, the alpha is here.” At that, Julian opened the door and let the built-in stairs down. “I’ll grab your bag, so just head on down.”
She certainly hadn’t expected Malcolm to meet her. And she wasn’t sure what to make of it. She wasn’t another alpha or high up enough in the hierarchy to warrant the alpha of another pack actually meeting her at the airport. She also couldn’t quell the disappointment that it wasn’t Hudson meeting her.
She’d thought about telling him that she was pregnant over Skype, but this was the kind of thing she needed to do in person. They had a lot to talk about, logistics to figure out…stuff she didn’t even remotely want to think about but knew that they had to. Luckily, they had a few months yet to make any big decisions but he had a right to know. Even if she was scared about how he’d react. He’d once made a comment about not even wanting pups. So maybe…ugh. Not going there now.
Her own parents had died when she was young and she wanted to make sure that both she and Hudson were involved in their pups’ lives. Yep, pups. They were having twins.
She’d barely wrapped her mind around the fact that she was going to be a parent, let alone to two pups. But the healer had been certain of it.
She realized that Julian had said something to her so she smiled, mumbled something and headed for the opening. Erica barely remembered descending the stairs or greeting Malcolm but when she found herself in the passenger seat of an SUV she realized that Hudson spent time in this vehicle because it smelled like him.
Like the forest, all earthy and dark.
She inhaled deeply as Malcolm put her bag in the back and once he finally slid into the front seat she felt somewhat back to normal.
“How was the flight,” he asked as he strapped in. “You need anything on the way back to the compound?”
The ‘compound’ was a huge spread of property in a densely forested area with a lot of cabins spread out where the pack all lived. “Flight was good and nope, I’m good. I’m surprised you met me here.”
He gave her a small smile. “I wouldn’t be a very good alpha if I didn’t meet…” He cleared his throat as he trailed off. “Listen, I’ve got something to tell you. When you called me, Hudson was already on his way to Alabama to see you.”
“Wait…what?” She could have just waited for him then, something Malcolm clearly knew. What the alpha didn’t know was that she could have gotten this weight off her chest a lot sooner. It was weighing on her and she desperately wanted to tell Hudson.
“Yeah and I didn’t tell you because I wanted you back here. And I wanted him to sweat it out, to work for this a little.”
“Work for…what exactly?” Because if Hudson had wanted her, he could have had her. All he’d had to do was ask her for more.
He just gave her a sideways look before focusing on the road again. It was dark out, with a smattering of stars overhead, but the cloud cover was hazy enough that there wasn’t much illumination. “So are you back for a while, or…?”
“Ah…” She felt weird telling the actual alpha that she wasn’t sure yet. “I don’t really know. A week at least. I just need to talk to Hudson about some stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“You’re nosy.” The words were out before she could stop herself. She blinked once. “I’m sorry, that was rude.”
He just laughed. “I am nosy. Like every wolf in my pack…but I won’t push. And just so we’re clear, if you do want to join my pack, you’re more than welcome.”
She blinked again. “Thank you.” That was a generous offer, especially since he hadn’t added a disclaimer about her being with Hudson or…anything. And an alpha wouldn’t make a mistake like that. When she’d first met him, she’d been surprised that Malcolm was actually an alpha. She could sense his power and knew how old he was, but he was so laid back about things. Unlike her own alpha, who could be intense and scary when he wanted. Intellectually she knew that Malcolm was probably all those things too, but she’d only seen his softer side.
“You’d be a good addition to our pack—not that I’m trying to poach you. But I did let Grant know you’re welcome to transfer if you so choose. I don’t want you to be blindsided if he says something.”
That was a whole lot to take in. “Thank you again. I…still can’t believe you didn’t tell Hudson I was headed this way.” She didn’t care if she was pushing the issue, it surprised her and she wasn’t sure she understood the alpha’s reasoning. Because it seemed a little mean.
The grin he gave her was nothing short of mischievous. “My brother can be pigheaded sometimes. Trust me, he deserves this.”
Erica just shook her head but settled back against the leather seat and enjoyed being in the warm vehicle. Maybe this little reprieve from having to tell Hudson wasn’t such a bad thing. She could figure out the exact right way t
o tell him because right now, she had nothing good other than ‘Surprise, I’m pregnant. With twins’.
Ugh.
* * *
Hudson’s lush, spicy scent teased Erica before she’d even opened her eyes. Pushing up in bed, she wasn’t exactly surprised to see him standing in the doorway of the guest bedroom. But her heart skipped a beat just the same.
“How long have you been standing there?” she murmured, unsure what time it was and not particularly caring.
He let out a sexy growl as he raked a hand through his still too-long hair. “You don’t want to know.”
“If you were human that would be kinda weird…and maybe it is weird for shifters too.” But she didn’t care at all. “When did you get back? And…what time is it?”
He strode into the room and stripped off his sweater as he approached the bed. “It’s five in the morning and I just got back. Gonna kick my brother’s ass later,” he muttered.
“Did I say you could join me?” She kept her expression neutral as he reached the edge of the king-sized bed.
He paused in surprise and she didn’t bother to fight her smile. “You can join me—but no sex.” She was too tired—though for him, she’d make an exception. But not tonight. Or this morning as it were. No, she wanted to tell him why she was really here before anything happened between them. If it did at all.
His expression relaxing, he slid into the bed, as if crawling in next to her was the most natural thing in the world. “I’m glad you’re here,” he murmured as he brushed his lips over hers. “Though I’m sad you’re wearing clothing.” He pulled her close to him as he settled against the pillow.
Tired as she was, she snuggled right up on him, laying her head on his chest. It was a relief to have his arms around her, as if she’d been missing something and hadn’t even realized it until he was holding her again. She wanted to tell him why she was really here, the words were on the tip of her tongue. But what would a couple hours change? She wanted to enjoy this reunion in case things didn’t go well when she broke the news.