by Ava Williams
She narrowed her eyes in curiosity. All the anger was gone, and she seemed mostly curious what was going on now. “If it’s a huge deal, I can blow off work.”
“Let’s do dinner.” Plus, bonus points: more time to think about how he wanted to say it.
She hesitated, then nodded. “I’ll knock this out and meet you for dinner.”
Titus forced a smile. Molly, like everyone, had ups and downs, and today was down. He loved her, but sometimes, he wished she wasn’t so sensitive about the work thing. He had his hot buttons, and he knew that, but sometimes it felt like there was no right thing to say. Even when he told her how he honestly felt about her work, she’d think he was being sarcastic because he was too supportive. It was a hard job that he could never do, and that was the truth!
He shook it off and left. Whatever was going on with her, he decided not to ask. Some men were romancers and great at talking about their feelings, but he wasn’t. He’d ask what was wrong, and that was somehow always the wrong thing. If she wanted to talk, she knew where to find him, and he’d be happy to try and help. But for now, he’d give her space to figure out whatever was going on.
Besides, he could use the rest of the time to get some more work done. Eli’s replacement had come up with some plans for Titus to review. Titus had planned to do it sometime in the next day or so, but he might as well throw it in now and see what was on the guy’s mind.
He’d spend the rest of the day working, he decided. It would keep his mind off of his anxiety, and it would be productive.
Win-win.
And then, this evening, he’d have to summon up his courage all over again.
Fucking complicated emotions.
13
Molly felt . . . strange.
Exhausted.
Molly hated that feeling. Even when she got up and moving around, the exhaustion followed her.
She fought with that goddamn dagger for weeks at the museum and she hadn’t gotten as frustrated with it as she was with the current artifact after a few hours of messing with it. And two days ago, she’d felt annoyed with Titus for . . . well, she wasn’t even sure. She just was.
Titus was right about the artifact. It hadn’t been touched or activated in a mighty long time, and it made sense that the magic in it would be dim and elusive. She’d known that going in, and all the other artifacts had been the same way. But that didn’t stop her from feeling frustrated.
She definitely snapped at Titus earlier. She saw his expression when she turned him down. He’d been hurt. Angry. She should have either accepted the invitation or not have been so short with him. She was here because of Titus. He protected her, cared for her. She didn’t feel great about the way the conversation had gone.
She’d text him and apologize, she decided. She tried to grab her phone from the desk mindlessly. Her fingers missed, and as she groped for it, she knocked it off the desk, where it clattered to the floor next to the wall.
“Nailed it,” she muttered under her breath. “She shoots, she scores.”
As she stood up, she ruffled her papers and her eyes fell on the calendar.
More specifically, on the crossed-off days where she’d last had her period.
And even more specifically, all those days that had passed since she’d drawn a big red X on the day.
Her eyes shot open and she sucked in a gasp as she realized why she might be so tired.
No.
It couldn’t be.
Her heart rate spiked and she suddenly felt lightheaded even thinking about what it might mean. They’d been so careful! Her whole world started spinning before her and she leaned against the wall for support. She couldn’t be pregnant. For fuck’s sake, she wasn’t prepared to be a parent! She didn’t even separate her whites and colors. Take care of a kid? And how would Titus react? What about the pack?
She forced herself to take a deep breath. Okay. She wasn’t sure that she was pregnant, not yet. The exhaustion was probably unrelated. Maybe? It wasn’t likely, but she couldn’t panic yet. She could panic later, but for now, she had to get an answer.
She almost ran to the store for a test before her frazzled brain remembered: she was witch. Shit at power though she might be, she was still a witch and she could cast a spell to find out immediately. That kind of spell took the magical equivalent of asking nicely. A ten-year-old could pull it off—so she felt fairly confident in her ability to do it.
She looked up a quick spell for it on her phone, but it was hard to see. Her hands were shaking ever so slightly, despite her best efforts to keep them still, and the small text wiggled in front of her. She forced herself to relax.
She hurriedly grabbed a blank sheet of paper and scrawled in the runes. She tried to make them smooth, but they ended up shaky from her trembling hands. Didn’t matter. They’d work all the same. She glanced around her office for a candle. Where was it? She used it a few days ago for one of the artifacts, and then she’d put it down, and—there.
She grabbed it and delicately placed the scented wax candle in the middle of the rune on her desk. Within a few moments, the candle would either ignite or stay like it was. If it ignited, the fresh scent of Midsummer Night and a fire would let her know right then and there that she was expecting.
She took a deep breath. Calm. Don’t panic. She closed her eyes and tried to focus, forcing her breathing to level out and trying to ease the raging blood coursing through her.
Slow inhale, slow exhale. That’s it. Calm . . .
She opened her eyes and placed her hands on either side of the paper. She read the magic words off her phone screen. Her fingers started to buzz with warmth as the magic formed around her fingers before it travelled through her body like an electric current—not painful, but tingly and uncomfortable. She grabbed ahold of the magic and pulled more of it into the spell. It was nice and manageable, just the way she liked it.
The magic danced in her as she finished the short and simple spell. Right as she said the last words, she stared at the candle expectantly.
And nothing happened.
It just sat there, like a perfectly normal candle. It didn’t light up, and nothing happened. She must have been wrong. Her shoulders slumped forward. She felt relieved, sure, but . . . well, maybe the idea of being pregnant from Titus was something that wouldn’t have been such a—
The candle lit.
Her breath caught in her throat the second the tiny flame crackled into existence. A shudder moved through her body and her fingers gripped the edge of the desk.
Molly was pregnant with Titus’s child.
She sank into her chair like a sack of potatoes, staring blankly at the small flame waving in the breeze from the air conditioner. Lit. She was going to be a mother, and the father was a billionaire alpha shifter.
She sat for at least ten minutes, staring blankly into the dancing flame. The spell was never wrong. What . . . what should she do now? Tell Titus? But . . . how? How would he even react? Would he be happy? Freaked out like she was? What about her child? Would they be the next alpha? How would that even work, since she wasn’t a wolf?
She leaned forward onto the desk, eyes still locked on the flame, and bridged her hands over her nose as her nostrils flared with quick breaths. She felt like she could hear the blood pounding in her skull.
Okay. Breathe. Relax.
She didn’t know all the answers right now, and that was okay. She didn’t have to. She—they—had time to figure this out. She’d just learned something huge, something life-changing. She couldn’t expect herself to be operating at full capacity right now.
She whipped up her phone to her ear and called the only person who would know what to do: Zoey. Her big sister always had a plan, ever since they were kids.
It rang a few times as Molly thought about how to explain it. Things had been complicated with Titus, so she hadn’t exactly told them everything. As far as her sisters knew, Titus was her employer and that was it.
Zoey picked up,
but she was breathing heavily. “Hey, Molly! Just a heads up, I’m hiking up a snowy mountain and I have no idea if I’ll lose service, so if I vanish, it’s nothing you said. What’s up?”
Molly opened her mouth and closed it. “I, um . . . I need to talk to you.”
Zoey’s voice changed to a concerned tone. “You okay? Need me to kick someone’s butt?”
Molly snorted with amusement, but the crushing reality of the situation settled back on her a second later and the smile melted away. “No, it’s not like that. I’m . . .” Like a bandaid. “Zoey, I’m pregnant.”
She’d known that it would be hard to say, but she’d had no idea how much of an impact that it would be to hear it out loud. Her gut tightened even hearing it.
Zoey paused, and for a second, Molly thought that her sister had lost service before she heard a response. “You’re . . . what? How? Are you seeing someone?”
Molly stared out at the open door of her office at the hall of artifacts. “I’m dating Titus. It’s complicated.” The nausea was back, but this time, for different reasons. Their relationship was complex, and she’d never had to explain it to anyone, and they had never discussed long-term commitment before. But they were together, as far as she was concerned. Right?
Zoey panted into the phone. “Well, okay then. You’re seeing a billionaire. Naturally.” She laughed. “That’s such awesome news! Congratulations!”
Molly wasn’t entirely sure what she’d been expecting from her sister, but an enthusiastic support was surprising. “Well, how do I tell Titus? He’s . . .” Emotionally distant? Complicated? “Busy. He invited me out to dinner today.” As she spoke, the idea became increasingly confidently positioned. “I’ll tell him then.”
“No fucking way . . .” Zoey muttered, before she snapped back into it. “Sorry! I just recognized someone that I wasn’t expecting to see up here. What are you doing up here?” She trailed off again. “Yes! Telling Titus over dinner is a great plan. Ten out of ten. Would recommend.”
Molly cleared her throat. “I don’t know how to say it, but . . .”
“You’re nervous about what he’ll say,” Zoey guessed. “You’re worried about the implications of him being an alpha, and I’d be willing to bet you’re beating yourself up right now.”
Molly wanted to come up with something wrong in that statement, but she came up blank. “You know me so well.” She laughed with a slight nervous edge.
Zoey sounded distracted. “Trust yourself, Molly. If you’re with this guy, I have no doubt that he’s good for you. Just tell him, but be ready for him to need a few minutes to freak out. Pack alphas can be dickheads. If you’re right for each other, it’ll be fine. Just relax, okay?”
Molly’s anxiety started to melt away. Okay, she was still almost certain that Titus was her fated mate. That, or their freakishly hot connection was a coincidence. Not likely. If Titus was her fated mate, and she was confident that he was, things would be okay. It would work out. If not . . . well . . . she would cross that bridge if and when she came to it.
Hearing Zoey explain things made everything seem a lot more manageable. Zoey never panicked. She was an emotional rock. Ever since they were kids, Zoey had been there to calm her down. Molly knew she had a nasty tendency to overthink things and get rattled, which is part of why she chose a placid research field instead of a higher-stress occupation. She liked things to be predictable and sensible, and having a surprise baby with a billionaire alpha wolf was about as far away from predictable and sensible as someone could be.
She took a deep breath and rubbed her face. She could do this. This might be stressful, but things would work out. She had to believe it. As Molly thanked her sister for her advice and let her get back to whatever was so distracting, Molly tried to focus on the positives. She had next to no idea how Titus would react. None. She liked to imagine that he would be happy, but he’d never talked about kids and she honestly didn’t know his feelings towards ever having children.
The hours ticked by with agonizing slowness. She tried to get back to work, but she couldn’t stop staring at the candle on her desk as it slowly burned down. Blowing it out seemed wrong. She put a plate under it and set it to the side to melt away as she worked, but she accomplished exactly nothing the rest of the day. Her mind was in the clouds, in the future, and her work was nowhere near distracting enough for her to do anything. After the fiftieth time of zoning out and getting lost in her own thoughts, it was finally time to get ready to go to dinner.
She took a shower back at her apartment, and as her hands passed over her abdomen, she paused for a second. There was a baby in there, and that was impossible to describe how strange that felt. It was too early to feel a heartbeat, and even if someone was staring right at her, they’d never know that she was pregnant. The idea of it thrilled her.
After she got out, she dried off and wiped some of the condensation of the mirror to look at herself. The last time that she eyed herself so critically had been the night after she and Titus had first made love. She remembered how shocked she’d felt, how unfamiliar the face before her had been. This was different, and magnificent. She smiled at herself in the mirror.
Molly, mother.
It had a nice ring to it.
She would tell him tonight. It was scary, and she only hoped that he would react well, but she had no idea.
If she and Titus were married and had been trying for a child, this wouldn’t be so be intimidating. She felt like she needed to word it right, to explain things and to make it sound right—even if just for herself. Should she lead into it? Just out and declare it with no warning? There had to be rules with this, but if there were, she didn’t know them.
She ended up picking her nicest black dress. Titus had made it sound like a fancy dinner, and knowing him, it would be some beautiful, elegant location.
Even beyond the pregnancy, what was Titus going to tell her? Did he know something was up? Was that why it was “important” that she come? He didn’t do surprises very often, so she wasn’t sure what to expect.
Whatever happened at dinner, it would affect the rest of both of their lives. She just hoped she was ready.
14
Titus had never been more anxious in his entire life.
He had a life that most people would consider stressful—isolated childhood, pack alpha, CEO of a major corporation. Most people wouldn’t envy his schedule and the load on his shoulders. He’d been on the clock since he could walk, and it had only gotten harder.
As the years had ticked by, he hardened even more and stopped caring as much about little things. Hell, he stopped caring about the big things. It seemed like every week, there was some major, life-altering problem with the business that he had to sort through, and he did it every time. Everything on the line became a normal Monday for him. Dealing with some huge problem was as normal as a morning cup of coffee.
But this? Telling Molly how he felt about her?
Fuck, it was hard.
He spent much of the day distracting himself with work, but as dinner got closer and he got ready, his heart raced from the anticipation. What was he scared of? What, that she wouldn’t feel the same way? Or maybe it was just that he’d never done this before, but he felt like a fifteen-year-old about to ask a girl out to prom for the first time.
The compound had everything, but it wasn’t exactly a great late-night date kind of place. He called ahead to the nicest Italian restaurant in town and bought out the place for the night for some privacy. Fame had its perks, but it was a pain in the ass when he was trying to just live his life.
Besides, he didn’t want an audience. This was meant to be between them—just her and him. Nobody else. A special moment.
The sun had started to set by the time they got to the restaurant. He met her there, driving his favorite sports car. The sunlight reflected off the sleek glass buildings and cast a warm glow on the restaurant facade. Olivia’s was the best Italian restaurant in town, with luxurious pri
vate booths and a menu that didn’t bother to list the prices. It usually took months for most people to get a table, but Titus wasn’t most people, and a huge check was enough to get the place to himself. He handed his keys and a folded bill to the valet and went inside.
The parking lot was mostly empty except for the employees. Good. When he’d first called up there to buy out the entire night, they’d acted like he was being ridiculous. When he’d said who he was, their tune had changed. Apparently, they’d postpone any reservation with a big-enough check.
He swept through the doors and the attendant’s eyes turned to saucers the moment she saw him. “Welcome to, uh, welcome to Oliva’s! We have your table waiting, Mr. Carston.”
He followed her and she led him to the table he requested, built in front of a bank of windows that overlooked the city—the most magnificent view in the building. He took a seat in the comfortable chairs, thanked the attendant, and looked out through the windows at the twinkling city lights far below them. It was peaceful, and he felt like he was on top of the world from there.
He could see the compound from there—it was off by itself, nestled off in the woods. It was bright, but that was to be predicted with the scale of the pack living in the small private community. He could just barely make out the shapes of some of the buildings.
He settled back into the chair and checked his watch. He was early. Predictably. He tried to relax, but his fingers kept tapping the table. Why was this so hard?
And then, Molly arrived.
He was gazing out of the window when he heard the clack-clack of heels striking the floor, and he turned to see Molly as she trailed the hostess. She looked . . . exquisite. She wore a beautiful black dress that clung to her body, and her hair flowed over her shoulders—making her striking golden eyes even more amazing. She looked like an angel, a beautiful, wicked-smart, sassy angel. She smiled at him, and he felt a pang of emotion shoot through him.
