The Wolf’s Surprise Babies

by Jasmine Wylder

  “Nothing. Well… I don’t want to think that you’re going to forever feel guilty over that. Because you didn’t hurt me, and I know you wouldn’t have anyway. So, you need to just accept that you wouldn’t, either—easier said than done, I know. And…” Here she chewed on her lip. “Do you forgive me?”

  This time, he couldn’t stop himself. He stood, catching her face in his hands, and pressed a deep kiss to her lips. It was the most passionate kiss either of them had ever had; the next thing he knew, he was down on the table, Lizzie straddling him. Her hips rocked, grinding against him as his orange jumpsuit tented at his loins. The pressure in his groin was almost too much, just from this brief contact. He thrust his tongue into Lizzie’s mouth, his hands gripping her hips tightly.

  Her scent overwhelmed him. Sweet. Spicy. So much like her. So perfect, with an earthy hint. As he ground himself upon her, wanting desperately for this moment to last far longer than he knew it could, he detected a subtle shift in her scent. Something deeper. There was no other way to describe it, other than a depth of scent.

  His nostrils flared as he turned them both over on the table, pinning her beneath him. The guard was going to come back in at any second, but he didn’t care. He pressed his face into her neck and breathed in so deeply that her scent filled his lungs; when he breathed out, he could smell her still. And then it hit him. What that subtle change was.

  The door opened with a bang, and Philip reluctantly rolled off her before the guards, two of them this time, could drag him off her. Her face turned beet red, and she gave a few hurried movements to try to straighten herself up but grinned at Philip all the same. The guards didn’t look too happy, but they stopped just shy of grabbing him.

  “Time’s up,” one of them snapped. “Back to your cell.”

  “Just a minute.” Lizzie held up a hand and glared so authoritatively at the two guards that neither of them moved forward to take Philip from the room. “There is something else I wanted to say, Philip. Something very, very important. You see…”

  Philip took her hands in his and grinned so widely that it was as though all the angst and betrayal he’d felt since being put in here had never happened. His heart felt a million times lighter. Even if there was no trial, he thought, even if he was sentenced to life in jail without a chance for parole, he could be happy. Because here was his mate. She was his. He was hers.

  And the pup growing inside of her was proof of that. As though the creation of that little baby solidified everything.

  “I’m pregnant,” Lizzie finally told him, turning slightly so she could ignore the guards.

  Philip kissed her cheek, wanting to kiss her lips but knowing if he did that, there would be no holding himself back and this time the guards would drag him off her. “You are so beautiful,” he told her. “So amazing. So wonderful. I don’t deserve you.”

  “Oh, shut up.” Lizzie’s face went even redder if that was possible. She grinned happily for a moment, then cast a glance over his shoulder at the impatient guards and sighed. “I’ll be back when I can. And I’ll take good care of Bethany, I promise. You’ll have those lawyers by tomorrow.”

  “Thank you.” He squeezed her hands, hoping she knew it wasn’t the lawyers he was thanking her for. It was everything else. Trusting him. Loving him. He knew now, what he had said earlier wasn’t true. Love was enough. Love was the only way. As long as they held that love in their hearts, cherished it and kept it alive, love would see them through anything.

  Chapter Thirteen

  After they finally broke through the barriers between them, Lizzie and Philip both saw progress in their respective situations. Lizzie kept her pregnancy a secret, for now, as she scoured for the best lawyers she could get for her mate. Whenever she was able to see Philip, it was hard to keep their hands off of each other. He told her about how the mafia was cutting him off and letting him take the fall for all of what he was accused of, but Lizzie had to be sure he was out.

  So, when she met Lancaster in a café that nobody went to unless they wanted heartburn, she had with her a backpack. He apparently wouldn’t take a check, and Lizzie supposed that was to stop her from somehow using that against him. It was difficult to scrounge up another million dollars after the two million she had paid for Bethany’s freedom. It wasn’t that she didn’t have the money, it was just hard to get that much in cash without drawing suspicion.

  Varton helped her out this time. Lizzie was calling it an investment in some sort of baby yogurt scheme. The investment was going to fail but it wasn’t going to have any sort of repercussions that anybody would try to look into too deeply since it was all from personal funds. Lizzie tried not to think about how this whole thing was going to free Philip and Bethany, giving them a real life at last, but was at the same time funding the mafia.

  If Melodi found out about it, she’d arrest Lizzie on the spot. That was why Lizzie lied to Varton about what she needed the money for. She didn’t want her cousin getting into trouble if this blew up in her face, and she certainly didn’t want to have to put him in a situation where he was lying to his mate.

  “Here you are,” Lizzie said coolly as she handed the heavy backpack over to Lancaster. She took a sip of her battery-acid coffee, watching him as he unzipped the pack. “I imagine I’ll be getting a call from you later after you’ve counted it all?”

  “Your previous payments have been in full. I don’t think there is any need to check this final one over too carefully. It would be foolish for you to try to screw me over when our business is almost concluded.” Lancaster smiled at her, not touching his own coffee. “I must admit, I am a little sad that this business is over. I’ve enjoyed these meetings between us. I understand why Philip is so besotted by you.”

  Lizzie managed a smile, too. He was charming when he wanted to be, this man. It only made him more dangerous. She folded her hands on the table and leaned forward. “So, what you’re saying is that we will have nothing to do with each other again? I stay out of your business and life, you stay out of mine?”

  “That is exactly right. Philip is no longer part of our family, and you will receive the letters from Bethany’s mother here shortly, rescinding all rights to her. You have played your cards wisely, Miss Hendrix. I find myself actually hoping that Philip will get out of his trouble and that the two of you can have a long, happy life together.”

  Lizzie couldn’t help but smile, in relief and because she did like that idea. A long, happy life together. “Thank you. I hope that our paths never cross again.”

  Lancaster put some money on the table for his untouched coffee and stood. “That is my wish as well. Good-day, Miss Hendrix. And good luck with your future.”

  He doffed his hat and sauntered out the door, carrying the backpack with him. It looked strange with him in his three-piece suit. Once he stepped outside, he handed it off to one of his goons. Lizzie leaned back in her chair, letting out a happy sigh as she lifted her coffee back to her lips. She didn’t care for coffee on the best of days, but she just felt so good that even this battery acid tasted sweet.

  She hadn’t been sitting there long, contemplating this feeling of relief and weight lifted off her shoulders when Kavan McBride slid into the seat across from her. Lizzie tensed, her mind flashing to the cabin when he had come to kill her. Her hands tightened over her coffee as her eyes widened. Her heart raced and her gaze darted to the door. Now that she had paid him off, did Lancaster still want her dead?

  Kavan rose his hands. “I’m sorry. I know that seeing me must be frightening for you. I won’t stay long. I just wanted to give you a few assurances.”

  Lizzie fought to control her breathing, to keep it even. She didn’t want to be so terrified of this man. But then, she had thought he was going to kill her. “What sort of assurances are you talking about?”

  “For starters, when the Godfather says you are free, it means you are free. You, Bethany, and Philip have nothing to fear from any of us again. Word has already been sent tha
t you three are off limits. Nobody is going to bother you again.” Here he paused and a dark look crossed his face. “In fact, I’m bending the rules just to talk to you. It won’t be long before even a casual conversation is completely forbidden.”

  She thought of how much Bethany told her about Uncle Kavan and what a cool uncle he was. She was going to miss him. Lizzie tried not to feel bad that even that relationship was going to be severed. It would be better for them all, after all, for that criminal life to be left behind. Although, maybe it would be better if she could somehow buy Kavan’s freedom, too…

  Lizzie sighed as she stared into her coffee. “Bethany is going to miss you. Philip, too, I think.”

  “And I’m going to miss them, but it’s for the best. Phil and Beth have a chance now. Philip never wanted this life. He’s not like me.” Here Kavan grinned, but that grin faded slightly. “The family is everything to me. I wouldn’t leave them if you paid me.”

  Was he a mind reader?

  “But can you tell them? Tell them I’ll miss them?”

  Lizzie nodded. “Yeah. I’ll tell them.”

  “Good.” Kavan smiled again. “I’ve heard that your lawyers are going to get the case dismissed because of lack of evidence. Is that right?”

  “Not entirely. But we’re hopeful. Last time we met with the lawyers, they said we should go ahead and start planning for Christmas together.”

  Kavan frowned in disapproval at that. “It’s only August. Christmas shouldn’t be spoken of until at least December. Unless you’re going to the Bahamas or something like that.”

  Lizzie laughed at that, put at ease. Kavan smiled, then leaned forward again.

  “And,” he lowered his voice, “I wanted to say sorry. For… Well. You know.”

  She did know. Her expression sobered again as she remembered how he had looked, and Philip beside him, when he walked through the door. The way he had held her down next to the corpse when they first met. The overwhelming fear that had made acid eat at her stomach. For a moment, she was back in that house, staring at a killer.

  Then her phone rang. She hurriedly fished it out of her pocket, not meeting Kavan’s eye. It was Varton, and when she answered his voice was both excited and fearful.

  “Melodi’s gone into labor,” he told her. “We’re at the hospital already. It’s not going to be long, if you wanted to be here.”

  Lizzie did want to be there. Not in the delivery room, but she had no intention of pacing around the mansion, waiting for the phone call. She packed up her things quickly, tossing money onto the table to pay for her coffee. Kavan smiled a tight smile at her, and she paused wondering if she could forgive him for what he had been ordered to do.

  “You said that the family is the most important thing to you?” she asked him, arching a brow.

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  “So, would you have done it?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, he shook his head. “I went back because I knew… I couldn’t let it happen. Let alone do it myself.”

  “Good. Then maybe you should start thinking about what that means, and who you really are.”

  Kavan looked confused, but Lizzie didn’t wait. Bethany still had a few hours of school left, but she was already ahead in her class (the kid was a genius; Lizzie was already looking into getting tutors to help develop her knowledge even further, in areas that held greater interest) and so Lizzie didn’t care about taking her out a little early. Bethany bounced in her seat as they inched through traffic. The chauffeur told them to tell Varton he was praying for a healthy delivery, and then they rushed into the hospital.

  There was a large, calming fish tank in the waiting area, which Bethany promptly plopped herself in front of and started watching the fish with fascination. Lizzie spoke with the nurses, getting updates on Melodi’s progress. She’d been moved to the delivery room, having fully dilated, and it should be soon that the baby was born.

  A mother was wheeled by, her happy husband at her side as they crooned over their new baby. Lizzie watched them until they disappeared into another room, then turned back to see Bethany still glued to the fish tank.

  What would the new baby be like? Even Bethany didn’t know she was pregnant yet, only she and Philip—well, and Dane Hemmerick but what did he matter? —and she looked forward to when she could start sharing the news. Would it be a girl or a boy? When it grew up, would she or he be a shifter? Most likely, especially considering that Lizzie was half-shifter herself, but it wasn’t always definitive. And if the baby was a shifter, would he or she be a wolf, like Philip and Bethany, or would they be a different sort of shifter? A dragon, like Varton? A fox, a crow, a polar bear? There were endless possibilities.

  Her smile widened as she made her way back to Bethany. She wrapped her arms around the little girl—her little girl—and hugged her tightly.

  “Lizzie,” Bethany said in a matter-of-fact tone, “after Daddy gets out of prison, you and him are going to marry, right?”

  “Yes. And if your dad is still in prison, we might get married anyway. We just have to wait and see.”

  She didn’t want to think about Philip not getting out, but the fact was, it was a possibility. She wasn’t going to tell Bethany everything was going to be fine if something happened and Philip didn’t end up getting out. They had to be prepared for everything. She so did hope they could have Christmas together. And if not Christmas, then at least to have Philip at her side when she went into labor. When their second child was born.

  “After you marry,” Bethany continued, pressing her pudgy fingers to the glass, “are you going to have a baby?”

  It was a natural question, but the irony of it made Lizzie laugh. She grinned and ruffled Bethany’s hair. “Do you want us to?”

  “Yes. I want to have a baby brother. I know I’m supposed to want a sister because girls like girls, but I want a brother. That way, when we have boys vs girls competitions, it can be even. Don’t you think that’s a good idea?”

  Lizzie kissed her forehead. “I think that’s wonderful. But we don’t get to choose if it’s a girl or boy, you know.”

  Bethany gave her a startled look. “We don’t?”

  “No. That’s up to nature.”

  “Oh.” Bethany frowned. “I thought you got to choose. Well. I suppose if it’s a sister, we’ll be okay.”

  The doubt in her voice made Lizzie laugh again. And then Varton appeared in the doorway of the waiting room. A huge smile spread over his face as he held a little bundle of white blankets in his arms. He crossed over to them, and Lizzie had to grin just as big.

  “Meet Isabel Kirk,” Varton said, gently passing the tiny baby to her. “Seven pounds, three ounces and twenty-one inches long. Isn’t she beautiful?”

  Lizzie gazed at the tiny red face with her dark blue eyes and long, brown lashes. Her heart gave a lurch as she imagined holding the baby growing inside of her. “Yes,” she agreed. “She’s beautiful.”

  ***

  “And then I got to hold her, too.” Bethany tucked her arms across her chest as though she was holding a baby. There was a dreamy look in her eyes. “She was so cute! I think I like babies after all. For my birthday, I want a doll. One of those big ones that look like real babies. Not a plastic one, the ones with real skin.”

  “A soft vinyl, you mean,” Lizzie interrupted, chuckling.

  Philip kissed Bethany’s temple. “Well, we’ll see what we can do.”

  Every visit with his mate and daughter was like a breath of fresh air. Prison was terrible, although he knew it was worse for other people, but seeing them every week gave him something to look forward to and hold onto. The fact that he got to see them for two hours every week was like mana in many ways; the others were only allowed a one-hour visit every month. That was beyond torture to Philip, to be barred from his loved ones for so much time and have so little to look forward to every month.

  As he held his daughter on his knee, his gaze moved to Lizzie. She was smiling, but t
here was a stiffness to her lips like she was trying not to cry. He didn’t blame her. Even with her lawyers and a speeded process, everything was taking so long, and they didn’t know when it would be over—or what the results would be. The DA was determined to keep him in jail, and Philip knew that, despite how good his lawyers were, that could still be the case.

  Bethany sighed as she leaned into Philip’s chest. “Daddy, when are you coming home? I miss you.”

  It nearly broke his heart. She asked him that every time he saw her, and he hated not being able to reassure her. To tell her that it was all going to work out fine. He buried his face into her hair, holding her tightly. “I’m sorry, Honey, but I don’t know.”

  Lizzie stroked her hand through his hair. “His trial is going to start next week. We’ll know after that. Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer. But if it is, then at least we will be able to come and visit, right?”

  “Visiting isn’t enough,” Bethany stated, saying what they were all thinking. “I want him home.”

  “I know. I want to be home, too.” Philip sighed.

  “We all want that,” Lizzie added.

  They were silent for a moment, each in their own thoughts. Philip tried not to worry about what was going to happen if, for whatever reason, he couldn’t get out. If these brief visits were all he was going to get. Or, even worse, if he only had that one hour every four weeks that the other prisoners got…

  “Daddy? Why did you do those bad things? Lizzie told me that you broke the law, and I know that’s bad. You always told me to obey the law. So why didn’t you?” Bethany’s clear, innocent eyes peered up at him, confusion lingering behind the tears that shimmered there.

  And there was the question he had been dreading from the start of this. How was he meant to answer? The truth was too complicated, even for a smart kid like Bethany. She wouldn’t understand that it was something he was born into, something that had been hanging over his head all his life. She certainly wouldn’t understand that it was his life, even as he tried to raise her to be a law-abiding citizen.