Wolf's Accidental Pregnancy: A Fated Mate Romance (Love Spells)

by Ava Williams

  The wild wolf inside of him didn’t respond well to threats, and when she told him about Eli, the predator took over, and she saw his animal rage for the first time.

  When she’d told him about Eli, something had happened to him.

  Another side that she’d never seen came out.

  Rage.

  He’d been frustrated before, or stressed out, but it was nothing like the changes that overcame him then. His body had tightened until a vein in his throat pulsed in an obvious way, and she saw the wolf thrashing beneath his skin. He seemed bigger, somehow, and scarier than usual. His features sharpened and the tips of his canines descended until they were just visible beneath his full upper lip. His eyes darkened and pupils shrank. Predator’s eyes.

  It was exactly what she was afraid of.

  She didn’t want him to go after Eli, not for her, not if it was going to come to blows. A massive conflict had been brewing for years between them, and she didn’t want to be the reason it burst open. Titus had explained their relationship and backstory before.

  She chased after Titus as he stalked over to Eli, slipping in the door behind Seth as Titus snarled Eli’s name.

  Titus looked . . . terrifying. She’d never seen him so angry. He looked like a furious god. Even Seth seemed to be keeping his distance. With her heart pounding so loud, she watched in horror as Eli spun around nonchalantly.

  “Titus!” Eli’s eyes widened and he faltered, looking like he was looking at the face of death. “What are you—”

  “I warned you to stay away from her,” Titus snapped back. “I warned you!”

  Titus reared back a fist and popped Eli in the chin, hard. Eli, no match for Titus’s physical power, crumpled to the ground to land on his ass. He stared up at Titus and rubbed his jaw, hate and fury vying for dominance in his face.

  “Get up,” Titus growled. “We’re not done.”

  The rest of the employees scattered, and Seth let out a quiet curse beneath his breath. Things had just changed fundamentally—and everyone there knew it.

  “You don’t deserve this pack!” Eli snapped. He turned his head and spat blood. “You’re fucking a human! You don’t deserve to lead us if you can’t stop thinking with your cock.”

  Molly couldn’t see Titus’s face, but his broad back heaved with his rage. “I, Titus Carston, invoke my right as alpha to banish Eli Barret from this pack, henceforth and forever, never to be allowed back in, and to be forbidden contact with any pack member.”

  Molly could have heard a pin drop.

  Everyone froze—even Eli’s eyes opened wide with shock as his hand stilled against his aching jaw. For a moment, it was quiet with the weight of the banishment hanging in the air. Seth, standing behind Titus, looked down before looking back at Eli with a disappointed, but resolved look. “I, Seth Everest, affirm as beta of this banishment.”

  For a moment, everyone was speechless. Even as a pack outsider, Molly felt her gut tighten as she gazed at the others. She held in a breath as Eli’s rage became obvious.

  “You’re banishing me? After all I’ve done for this pack?” His eyes locked on Molly, and her courage shriveled up. “You put him up to this.”

  Titus took a step towards him again, drawing Eli’s attention. “Get out of here. Now.”

  Eli scrambled to his feet, looking to the rest of the people there as though he expected them to back him up. When nobody did, his expression shifted, the rage giving way to humiliation. He probably thought he had more allies than that. If anyone had ever backed him, they were staying quiet now. He bared his teeth, shaded red with his blood.

  “You’ll regret this,” he sputtered, leaving a wide berth for Titus as he moved for the door, past Seth and Molly. He paused at the door and whirled around like he was about to deliver another threat. “You—”

  Titus, eyes still hard and angry, took one step towards him, and Eli apparently decided against the speech. He sent one last, withering glare to Molly before slipping out of the door and slamming it behind him.

  Eli was gone.

  The room remained silent. Nobody said anything, or maybe they just didn’t know what to say. She felt the weight of the banishment hanging in the room, even if she didn’t understand the whole depth of what had just happened. Titus stormed out, whipping up his phone out and up to his ear as he barked an order for security to escort Eli out of pack territory. He brushed past Molly, leaving her standing there with just Seth and the shocked members of the Research and Development department.

  Seth let out a snort of disbelief, staring at the door as it closed behind Titus. “I’ll be damned. It finally happened.”

  “It’s my fault,” she said around the knot in her throat. “I caused this.”

  Seth looked down at Molly, and his friendly demeanor shone through again. She didn’t know Seth well, but everything she did know, she liked. He was a good friend to Titus and his relaxed personality seemed to balance out Titus’s alpha tendencies.

  When he spoke, his tone was gentle. “This wasn’t your fault, Molly. This has been brewing since we were all kids.”

  She looked down, her gut churning with her confusing emotions. She was happy that Eli was gone and that Titus jumped to her defense so quickly, but on the other hand, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d done something wrong. “Maybe… but I was the final straw.”

  “Don’t give yourself too much credit.” Seth grinned at her, seemingly unruffled. “If it wasn’t you, something else would have done it.”

  For a moment, neither one of them spoke. Her heart still raced inside of her chest, and she felt like she had to do something, but the gravity of the situation hadn’t settled yet. She still was shocked. Ten minutes ago, she was alone in the hall of artifacts, and now, her partner had socked Eli in the jaw and banished him. Because he was protecting her. She walked outside, pushing open the doors numbly and taking a seat on a bench outside.

  She looked at the compound. She had never ventured over to this part of the facility before, but she could see some of the wolves walking around and going about their regular lives. Some were whispering among each other, looking off in one of the directions where either Titus or Eli had gone.

  What the hell had happened to her life?

  She still remembered when the biggest thing that was bothering her was Carl and his inappropriate behavior. Back then, her life was boring and dull. Sometimes, she would go watch older couples as they strolled through the museum and talked about the exhibits.

  Now, she had just watched a fight—short and one-sided it might have been—between a wolf billionaire and his rival in the wolf-only compound, over her.

  And simply put, she was not well-equipped to deal with that.

  It felt like she was living some crazy, bizarre fantasy where gorgeous, dangerous men fought other men for her. Seth could say all the nice things he wanted. She appreciated it, she really did, but she had eyes and ears, and she knew that the fight was about her. Eli and Titus had maintained a very delicate balance for years and years, and things fell apart when she arrived.

  Eli could go fuck himself. She didn’t care about him. But she did care about Titus, and her presence had just motivated him to banish a very successful leader of their most important division. What would happen now? Surely, someone could take Eli’s spot, but that wasn’t a guarantee.

  Titus had known he was doing. The moment she told Titus what Eli had said, she knew that Titus wouldn’t tolerate it.

  She hated that things had gone so out of control, and she hated that Eli pushed her when he should have just kept to himself and out of the alpha’s business. He’s the one who screwed everything up here, not her. That wasn’t her burden to bear, and she knew that Eli got what he deserved. Why did he have to come threaten her, and screw everything up? Her fingers curled into a frustrated ball and the knot got stronger in her throat.

  But another part of her felt so loved from what had just happened.

  During her entire romanti
c history, none of her partners had ever stood up for her like that.

  Titus had protected her. Maybe with more violence than she expected, and maybe she wished that things had worked out differently, but he’d been there for her without hesitation. He might still be awful at expressing his emotions, but his actions told her how important she was to him.

  And right or wrong, that made her happy.

  She hoped to never see that terrifying look in his eyes again. Eli was lucky that Titus had only punched him. She had no idea what Titus might have done if Eli fought back. But it probably would have been a beatdown. Eli was lucky he left as well-off as he had been.

  Almost on cue, Titus appeared in her frame of vision from across the courtyard. His shoulders were still tensed up, but his movements had slowed, like he wasn’t fired up with his anger anymore. He locked eyes with her and she gazed back in silent invitation.

  She stood, staring up at him as he crossed the courtyard, silhouetted by the sun behind him. He was quite a bit taller than her, and the sun behind him made him more of an outline than anything. He looked strong and dangerous, his powerful physique covered by slacks and a dress shirt that was rolled halfway up his arms.

  He stopped just in front of her, close enough to touch. “Are you okay?”

  His deep voice rumbled from his core, and she nodded silently.

  He pulled her into a hug, and she melted into his body, feeling the gentle thump of his heart against her cheek. She hugged him tightly, and when he started to release her, she tightened her grip. Not yet. She wanted to feel this a little longer.

  He readily obliged.

  “Thank you,” she whispered into his chest.

  Though he didn’t say anything, he gave her a gentle squeeze to acknowledge her statement.

  She wanted to stay there forever—just the two of them. It felt good to be protected like one of the wolves, even if she knew it would take time to manage her messy emotions and guilt from Eli’s banishment.

  She’d been scared of Eli since that first day. She hoped and prayed that she would never see him again, but now he was gone. Banished, presumably never to be see again. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she hadn’t seen the last of Eli.

  So the hug lasted a little longer.

  12

  Titus never wanted to see or hear from Eli again but still, the banished wolf taught Titus a valuable lesson.

  Titus loved Molly.

  He couldn’t ignore his feelings anymore after he learned that Molly might be at risk.

  Eli had always been a slimy, deceitful asshole. He’d played the game with lots of people, and though he’d never been outright stupid enough to get caught, Titus had seen that behavior from him time and time again. It was frustrating, sure, but never anything as bad as Eli’s behavior with Molly.

  Titus’s anger shocked and blindsided him, and he realized that his reaction was way stronger than anything he would have predicted. It hit him like a ton of bricks as he walked away from the fight, flexing his sore knuckles as he huffed out quick, angry breaths.

  He loved her.

  He was always happy to see her. He smiled when she entered the room, and her smiles and praise felt like sunshine. He wanted to see her blossom in every part of her life.

  Now that Eli had done him a favor and proven exactly how strongly Titus felt about Molly, Titus had to face the music.

  She wasn’t replaceable. Not in his life, his bed, or his heart.

  After Eli’s banishment, Molly still seemed off. Stressed out, even though Eli was nowhere to be seen. She still seemed to walk with apprehension. And one crisp morning, he learned why.

  “Morning, sleepyhead,” Titus said. He leaned over and fondly tapped Molly’s blanket-covered rump. “Time to get to work.”

  Molly grumbled and pulled the blanket over her head, leaving just a few errant strands of dark hair exposed. “Come back in an hour.”

  He chuckled as he yanked the covers away, leaving her clinging to just a pillow in her oversized t-shirt. “Nope. Not today.”

  She looked up at him, blinking sleepily, and he noticed her red, swollen eyes. His smile fell.

  She looked away, but made no effort to hide her eyes. “I didn’t sleep very well.”

  He sat down beside her, putting an arm around her. “Talk to me, Molly. Please. Something’s up, and I-I just don’t know what I can do.”

  Her eyes remained down. “It’s just . . .” She bit her lip. “I can’t stop thinking about Eli. I keep thinking he’s going to come after me.”

  Titus’s blood ran cold imagining it. He forcibly unclenched his fingers on her shoulders. “Let him try,” he growled. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I changed the schedules of the guards and locked him out of the system. He’s not coming back, and if he does, he won’t be leaving.”

  She took a deep sigh. “I know.” She smiled up at him and pecked him on the lips. “It’ll just take time.”

  He curled his arms around her protectively. “There is nothing on this planet that could get through me to hurt you. I give you my word.”

  He meant it.

  As she squeezed him tight, and a bit of that fear faded from her eyes and her normal personality shone through more, he realized something.

  Maybe it was time that Titus considered settling down. Bring Molly fully into his life—share a life together—or the alternative. Be alone and miserable.

  It wasn’t a hard choice.

  They continued to thrive as a couple, but he had a lot to deal with in the pack. Eli’s absence was a tough blow for the company. It took some time, but together with Seth, they found a replacement, and after some adjustment, the pack started to run smoothly again, like a well-oiled machine.

  Things remained solid with Molly, and then, one day, he did something stupid enough that he screwed things up.

  The plan had been great: He planned an elaborate date at locations around the compound that meant a lot to her, with a lovely dinner, a massage, and then stargazing and wine to finish off the night. At the end of the night, he would tell her how he felt and ask her if they could take things further.

  He swung by the hall of artifacts early that morning to find that she was in her office in the back, poking around on something and scribbling notes on a legal pad. He watched her work, mystified at her process and patience. There was a reason she was the researcher and he was not.

  She looked up at him, and instantly, he knew that she was annoyed about something. She didn’t light up like usual, and she seemed distracted.

  “Hey, Titus,” she said brusquely.

  He strolled into her office and watched her shift between her notes, a few open books, her laptop, and the artifact. “How are things?”

  She typed something in her laptop. “Good.”

  He eyed her suspiciously. “I don’t believe you.”

  She glanced up at him and then looked back at what she was doing. “This one is being stubborn. I almost had it! And the magic, it just . . . shriveled. I can’t make a good connection with it again, and it’s driving me nuts. And I’m so exhausted.”

  Titus barely heard it. He was mostly trying to stay with the plan—find a good time to tell her that he cared about her. “Let’s go out,” he said. “My treat.”

  She glanced up at him before she typed something else. “Can we do it later?”

  He swallowed the nervousness that coiled in his chest. “Just do that later. It’s been sitting in here for a hundred years. What’s another day?”

  Molly glared back. “It doesn’t work like that. I finally got it operational, and I’d have to start all over tomorrow. It’d be a waste.”

  “Are you actually going to fight me on this?” The one time he was finally going out on a limb, and this was the time she decided to be stubborn. For fuck’s sake, he was offering to take her out for a meal and she’d rather spend the time poking at a lifeless stone.

  She looked up at him, eyes narrowed with annoyance. “Titus,
I’m not fighting you. I’m just busy.”

  “I run a multibillion-dollar company, and I’m making time. I think you can put the damn rock down and oblige me.”

  The second the words came out, he knew it was a mistake.

  The silence stretched out between them, thick and hot, and he wished he could take it back. A few weeks ago, he figured out that she was touchy about her work. He respected the hell out of her work, but sometimes it felt like walking on a landmine field around it. She was quick to frustration in an unusual way for her whenever she felt even slightly discounted. She was always more prone to get upset after she talked to her sisters.

  “I can’t put the rock down,” she snapped back. “Yeah, you run a big company. Great. That doesn’t mean other people can just drop what they’re doing whenever you want. I’ve been working on this for hours, and if I stop now, I’ll lose the connection and I’ll have to do it all over tomorrow. Did you hire me to blow off work, or did you hire me to do my job?”

  His frustration boiled over. “I hired you to . . .” He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose as he gathered his composure. He had to be careful, everyone had to be careful, about talking about her work in comparison to things. “Molly. Just . . .”

  There were positives and negatives to relationships, and this was one of the negatives. For anyone else, he’d just order them to do something, but with her, he had to be delicate. Or at least he had to try. He rubbed his forehead. “It’s important.”

  She studied him carefully, and some of his anger cooled. She’d always been astute and good at reading between the lines. Though she didn’t put her emotional guns down, she took her finger off the trigger. “What’s important about it?”

  It just is, dammit. Even if they spent the rest of their lives together, he would only be able to make this big confession once. She could mess with artifacts every day for the rest of her life if she wanted.

  He took a deep breath. At the same time, telling her his feelings was already difficult, and telling her when she was mad at him just wasn’t going to happen. “Dinner?”