“Okay,” she grinned. “Then it gives me great pleasure to say, get naked Slater Ewen.”
I pushed her. “You’re something else!”
We stripped off and joined the rest of the pack at the edge of the forest. Just feeling the light of the moon on my skin was like being brought back to life, like I could breathe again. The dirt under my toes was heaven, my brothers and sisters surrounding me was a comfort.
There was a change in the air, a cross breeze that everyone seemed to take as a signal to shift. Some were quicker than others, quickly appearing on all fours in full fur, howling at the ghostly pale of the moon. I liked to take my time, and I knew my brothers did too. There was something about the shift that seemed to rejuvenate us and I wanted to feel every second of it.
It started in my feet, my toes stretching to claws, travelling up my calves, the muscles bulging, the sheer power of my wolf bursting into my back legs. Light brown fur sprouted across my body, working its way across me until I was covered, until it was like I was clothed all over again. A human in wolf’s clothing.
I let my body fall so I was on all fours, my biceps and triceps swelling, my chest heaving, all of it costing me energy but giving me a new kind of energy that I would expend during the run. It was always a hard process but it was always worth it. I always came out of it feeling more alive than before.
I felt my face twist and grow, my snout sprouting, my teeth becoming sharper, my senses heightening so the world around me came alive.
I stood there with my brothers and friend, all in full furs, each of us eager to run, whether it be to blow of steam or to feel that heavenly feeling of the wind streaming through our fur.
There was a howl near the front of the pack and we all responded in kind. And we ran. There wasn’t a thing in all of Furbitten Falls that could stop us.
The run had been everything I’d needed. Halen was right when she’d said I’d been pretty much AWOL since Niko moved in. I’d not really had anyone over apart from Jarrett and Chasen, and I’d been so busy painting I just hadn’t had time to do anything for myself. This was exactly what I’d needed. And it was good to know that I had a support network in Furbitten Falls. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have my brothers and my best friend on my side. I’d probably drive myself totally insane.
After the run, I headed back to my apartment, the early morning sun peeking through the buildings as I reached my apartment block. I should have been exhausted but there was life running through my veins so intensely I felt like I could go on forever.
I climbed the stairs and snuck inside, throwing my clothes off and crawling into bed next to Niko. He was warm and sleeping, his legs tucked up so I could just slide in behind him and become the big spoon.
He tensed as I got close. Softly, I pressed my lips against the back of his neck, letting him know I was home, letting him know I was here for him. He seemed to relax a little, he certainly stirred and started to wake up.
“Oh, no, no, no,” I whispered. “Don’t wake up, sweetie. I didn’t mean to wake you, you need your rest.”
“What the hell time is it?” Niko said, rolling over, pushing me away and trying to get to his phone.
“It’s a little after five thirty,” I said. “Why?”
“I’ve hardly slept,” he groaned, rolling back over.
“What? Why?”
“I was waiting for you,” he growled, sitting up now, throwing his legs out of the bed and standing up. “Where the hell have you been?”
“Are you joking?” I said, trying not to let the tension creep into my body. The run had been so therapeutic; I didn’t want to lose that rush, that feeling of absolute energy and fullness.
“No, I’m not joking,” he growled. “I stayed up until three wondering where the fuck you were.”
“I was out on the moonlight run I-“
“You didn’t even call!” He looked like he was about to cry, tears immediately springing to his eyes like they had been waiting to appear. “I was so worried, I didn’t know what to do. I got so tired waiting up for you that I came to bed but hardly slept because I didn’t have a clue where you were Slater. What the hell was I supposed to think? How was I supposed to feel?”
I stood up, crossing the room to get closer to him. He backed off, putting his hands up, determined to keep the distance between us. I heard my heart crack in my chest. Was I losing him? How was I losing him for something I hadn’t even done wrong?
“Niko, please listen to me,” I started slowly. “I was out on the moonlight run. We talked about it; you knew it was coming up. You couldn’t go because shifting is dangerous when you’re pregnant but you said that I could go. You wanted me to go. Don’t you remember?”
He blinked, staring at me, confusion crossing his face. He closed his eyes and turned away from me, rubbing his eyes like he was trying to drag the memory of it from the deepest parts of his mind.
He turned back to me, his face a little softer, the tears still there though, rolling down his cheeks and kamikaze-ing off his jawline. He shook his head.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “God, this baby must be making me lose my mind or something. Of course you were at the run. I saw the moon, I knew it was out, I should have put two and two together but I just…” He trailed off and took a deep shuddering breath. “I didn’t and I’m sorry, okay?”
My heartbeat slowed, the horrors of the last few minutes washing away with the rising of the sun. What the hell had happened? Niko was normally so docile and sweet, he never got like this. At least I’d never seen him get like this. I guess I’d only really known him for a month or so. That can’t be nearly enough time to see every mask that a person wears.
I crossed the room to him again, cautiously this time, waiting for him to throw his arms up between us to stop me from coming, but he allowed it. I got near him and threw my arms around him, wrapping him tight. He gripped onto me with such ferocity I wasn’t sure he would ever let go. He was still crying. Jesus Christ, what was this pregnancy doing to him?
“It’s okay, Niko,” I said. “I don’t mind. You forgot, these things happen.”
“I’m sorry for being a bitch.”
“You were not being a bitch!” I chuckled. “It was an honest mistake, don’t worry about it. You’re carrying my baby and I love you, okay? You’re fine.” I kissed the top of his head. “How about we get some breakfast, huh? You must be starving.”
“I’m not really,” he sighed. “But I’m guessing that’s a big old hint that you are, considering you’ve been out running all night.” He pulled away and sniffed. “I might not have shifted for a while but I remember how exhausting those runs can be.”
“Pancakes?” I said, painting a wide grin on my face. He half returned it.
“Okay,” he replied. “Sounds good to me.”
I rustled us up some pancakes, making some bacon and eggs to go on the side while I chatted to Niko about the run. I’d hardly stopped talking, telling him how Jarrett and Chasen were, how Brent and Tate were and how nice it was too see Halen. I wanted him to meet Halen one of these days. He had to! It was pretty much her fault we were together in the first place.
“So what did you do yesterday?” I ventured as NIko tucked into his breakfast. He seemed to have woken up a little now, eating the pancakes with the appropriate gusto. They were good pancakes. “I know last night was probably a bit of a bust if you were expecting me home but…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to press the point any more.
“Well, funny you should ask,” he said. “I actually called an old friend of mine who works at a gallery in Howling Hills.”
“Which one?”
“Artscapia.”
I stopped with my fork in mid-air, a piece of pancake precariously perched on the end of it. He was joking. He had to be joking; Artscapia was so exclusive, so fancy. I wasn’t fancy, I was abstract and weird. My paintings had cat prints on them for crying out loud.
“You are kidding,” I said.
�
��No, Malynda Tice is my friend that works there.”
“You’re friends with Malynda Tice?” I could hardly believe what I was hearing. “She’s a legend. She turns people into art superstars all the time. She made Kimberly Thornhill a millionaire.”
“She is quite good, yeah,” he said, a smile spreading across his face. “Kim is lovely too. She’s also nearly a billionaire, she’d want me to tell you that.”
“You call Kimberly Thornhill Kim?” It was all too much too early in the morning. The adrenaline rush from the run surged again, picking me right up and whizzing my brain around at a million miles a minute. “This is insane. I’m glad I was sitting down when you told me that.”
“Well, like I said, I spoke to Malynda yesterday,” he said. “And she sounded super interested in your work.”
“No.”
“She’s holding a red carpet event and she was looking for new artists and it looks like you might be one of them,” he said. “I mean, if you win her over at your appointment. Don’t get me wrong, I did speak to her, but she still needs to see the work.”
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “Do you think she’ll like it?”
He reached across the table and placed his hand on my forearm. “Oh my gosh, stop it,” he said. “Your art is incredible, Slater. You need to start believing that. I thought it was cute at first, now it’s just getting super annoying.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “Have a little bit of faith in yourself for once.” He took another bite of pancake. I suddenly didn’t feel so hungry; I just felt all kinds of anxious. “What?”
“When does she want me to come over?” I asked.
“She said whenever you want to this week,” he replied “Every day apart from Thursday she is free, so whenever you’re ready, you can pack your very best paintings into the car and off you go to meet her.” I must have looked green because Niko started stroking my arm again. “It’s going to be fine,” he said softly. “You can do this. I totally believe in you, you know?”
I nodded. I didn’t know what else to do or say. How was I supposed to ever repay him for this, to ever thank him? It was an absolute dream come true. I was going to be in the same room as Malynda Tice from Artscapia and she would be looking at my paintings. How was this possible?
My mind whirled at the thoughts of what if. There were so many possibilities suddenly opening out before me. This could be it. This could be my ticket out of worry and on the road to believing that I could actually provide for this family, that I could be the alpha I’d always dreamed of being. I just needed the meeting to go well. And it would go well. It just had to.
14
Niko
I’d never seen Slater so excited with such a childish look of glee painted across his face. It was a beautiful sight. And I’d done that. I’d been the one that had managed to make him feel this way. Well, Malynda had helped of course, but I’d made the phone call. I was so excited for him, the possibilities were huge.
The next morning, he was jittery, so buzzy with the idea of it that he was like a child. He rushed around, grabbing his favorite pieces, asking for my opinion, and then taking them out to his car so he could go and see her. I’d called Malynda and told her he would be over today at around eleven, which suited her just fine.
“Wish me luck?” he said as started for the door.
“You don’t need it,” I replied, sauntering over to him and planting a soft kiss on his lips. “You know she’s going to freaking love you.”
“Thanks Niko,” he said. “Thank you for all of this.”
“Nothing’s happened yet.”
“No, but it might be about to,” he said. “And I can’t thank you enough for the opportunity.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” I asked. “I could introduce the two of you, maybe it would be better if-“
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he said, his face twisting into a grimace. It was like a dagger to my chest. “It’s not that I wouldn’t want you there, goodness knows you support my art more than anyone else out there, but it might look a little unprofessional if I didn’t go alone, like I couldn’t stand on my own two feet or something. You understand that, right?”
I nodded. “Of course I do, yeah, sorry. Just me being silly,” I said. “I want it to go well.”
He grinned. “Me too. And it will. I think.”
He left the apartment and I found his words echoing in my ears, ringing like the chime of a bell, splitting my head. And like he hadn’t just spent the day with me yesterday after the moonlight run, like he hadn’t cuddled me all night long, like he hadn’t cooked for me all day and made sue I was comfortable, I started to question how much he cared for me again. Those thoughts started to creep into my head, violently loud and insistent.
I tried to shake them away but they seemed to be stronger than before, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. I put the TV on, nothing. I put on some music, tried to practice my DJ set for a bit (I was getting a little rusty) but nothing. They were still there.
And then a new one arrived.
What if he was using me for his career? I had contacts, I told him I had contacts quite early on, but what if he was just staying with me for that, only taking care of me for that? What if we were all a lie but for the possibility of him becoming an art superstar? He’d said he didn’t want that but people change their minds all the time and what would stop him from thinking about that when he had the means to get it should he want it. He was talented enough, he just needed me.
As the day wore on another thought crept its way toward me. Why didn’t he want me to go with him? Would it have made sense for me to go along with him and make sure everything worked out okay, to make sure he didn’t say anything stupid? I should have been there to introduce him to Malynda, shouldn’t I? It wouldn’t have been unprofessional for me to keep up my contacts as well as getting one for him, not at all.
The rejection hit me like a wave, threatening to drag me beneath its tide. How could he do this to me? Maybe he didn’t want me anymore after all. He’d gotten what he wanted now, so long as everything worked out with Malynda he wouldn’t need me at all. It would just be me and my unborn child.
My phone rang, Malynda’s pouting face popping up on the screen. Why on Earth was she calling me? Had something happened?
“Hey, Mal,” I said, fixing a grin onto my face. “What’s up?”
“Oh my GOD,” she exclaimed. “I owe you one, Niko,” she continued. “I thought I was doing you a favor but oh my god, what a find!”
I chuckled. “Everything went okay today then?” I asked.
“Better than okay,” she said. “He’s so talented. It’s insane no one else has snapped him up yet. I mean, selfishly I’m glad, but he’s 39 years old and no one has seen what a fantastic artist he is. Perhaps this is growth over time, of course and he needed that time to develop his craft and flourish, but all of those pieces were gorgeous. So moving in their own ways, I don’t know how he did it.”
“And there are plenty more of them too,” I said. “That was just a selection.”
She squealed. “Well, thank you again for the recommendation, Niko,” she said. “What are the chances of you having a neighbor so talented? He is just what I am looking for.”
Neighbor.
Was that what she’d said?
“No problem at all,” I said, shaking it off, or at least trying to. “Just a stroke of luck I guess.”
“Well, someone out there has their eye on us, Niko,” she said. “Getting you to live next door to him at just the right time. This could be huge! Thank you again. If Slater asks, just let him know I’ll be in touch.”
“How do you know he’s my neighbor?” I said, my mouth running before I had a chance to stop it.
“Oh,’ she seemed a little startled, maybe I was more forceful than I intended. “Well, he told me, of course. We were talking about how you discovered him and he said that you were n
eighbors.”
“Well, that’s interesting,” I said.
“Why’s that?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have said we were neighbors,” I said. “I would have said he was my mate and the father of my unborn child. I guess different people have different perceptions of things.”
“Right,” she said slowly. “Is everything okay? I mean, are you okay?”
“Me?” I scoffed. “I’m fine. Perfect, actually. Totally perfect.”
“Okay.” There was silence on the line, I’d pushed too hard, I’d made her feel uncomfortable, a wedge was being driven between us but I was too full of rage to stop it. “So, you’ll tell him I called?”
“Sure thing.”
“Bye, Niko,” she said. “Take care of yourself.”
“It’s what I do best,” I replied. “Speak soon.”
She hung up the phone and the word ‘neighbor’ clanged loudly in my head again. He’d called me his neighbor to her. That had to be it. Why would he do that? What was the sense in doing that? Not even roommates. Neighbors.
The front door opened and Slater appeared, a broad grin on his face, a stack of canvases under his arms. He was sweaty and so happy, he looked like he was about to burst, and I could feel myself coming to a boil, about to explode.
15
Slater
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face the whole way home, everyone driving past me must have thought I was insane but I didn’t care. This was it. It was happening. My entire career was about to take off and I could finally provide for Niko and the baby like I wanted to. I wanted to shout, I wanted to scream, this was the best possible outcome. She’d loved the paintings; honestly I thought she was going to start worshipping at my feet.
She’d been so cool when I’d walked in, completely calm and not at all looking like she gave a shit about meeting me. I thought it was going to go badly, and then I showed her the first painting, the one I’d done before Niko moved it, with all the swirls of pink and orange, the sunset one. And she about lost her mind.
Furbitten Falls Alpha's: A Wolf Shifter Mpreg Romance Bundle Page 33