by EA Hunt
“Theo?”
“Yes?”
“Do you know you ramble sometimes?” Lucy advised him. When he was nervous he rambled. He had done it in the bedroom and now he was doing it here. She shook her head. How was she making him nervous? He was the gorgeous one—she was just average.
He chuckled. “Only with you. Mostly I’m the strong, silent type.”
Lucy could see a strong man like this one only speaking when need-be and when he does speak it’s with authority and above reproach. “So you’re nervous with me?” she questioned.
Theo looked at her in confusion. “Nervous?”
She chuckled slightly. “Yes. In the bedroom you were rambling and in here also. You talk a mile a minute and only nervous people do that,” she finished. Lucy lowered her head when she saw his jaw tick. When Duncan’s jaw ticked at her observations it was always followed with a fist in the face. “Please tell Amanda thank you for the clothes. I needed them,” she whispered.
Theo reached across the table. He placed his knuckles under her chin and brought her face back up to his. “That is a very keen observation Ms. McArthur, and one I never knew before,” he replied. She had lowered her head as a submissive. Like she was afraid something or someone was going to hurt her for speaking her mind. If anything he was going to protect her, encourage her because he knew speaking your mind went a long way in his family and with him. Theo removed his hand. “I will tell Amanda what you said but trust me—when she finds out you’re here she will be here to see you before Trevor can stop her.”
“Why would she come to see me?” Lucy asked in confusion as she finished the last bite of her food.
“Because you are my—” Theo stopped. Lucy had no clue she was his mate and he was not about to tell her. Not yet. She was still finding it hard to believe he was being kind to her. Well, he wasn’t done being kind yet. He still had a few things up his sleeve. “—friend and Amanda doesn’t have many friends up here,” he finished. His sister-in-law had made a few friends in Hart but with her being the next Alpha's wife and the fact she’d taken down an Alpha female some revered and some feared her so she kept to herself and talked to her best friend, Krystal, on occasion.
“That is sweet, but we're not friends. You've helped me and as soon as we’re done here I’ll be gone. Hopefully my car will start up at the mechanic's and then I can be on my merry way,” Lucy replied as she placed her spoon in her bowl. Instead of hearing it clink in an empty bowl there was no sound. She looked down and saw there was more food in her bowl. How had that happened? She had been sure she had finished the bowl of food.
Theo wanted to chuckle at the shocked expression he saw on Lucy's face. She had finished her bowl of stew, but while she was talking he had switched her bowl with his. He had noticed while carrying her that she was thin. Thinner than she was suppose to be for a healthy woman carrying a child. He had seen Patty, his cousin, who had given birth to a healthy baby boy a month after Amanda had Aviva—healthy, happy, and plump—meaning there was something Lucy hadn’t gotten while she was pregnant, besides protection. “Like I said—your car isn’t drivable.”
“Why not? I was able to drive it all the way up here. How can I not drive it anymore?”
Because I have an SUV in which you will be driving. It’s safer for you and the little one. “Lucy, your car has a leak in it.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he replied. He was not going to tell her it looked as if the break line of her car had been tampered with. It would only make her shut down more—something he didn’t want to happen. He wanted her to open up to him. To tell him who’d been messing with her car and why she was running.
“Can it be fixed?” she asked. She had no clue where she was going to get the money from to pay for a car repair, but her car was the only thing she had in her name. The apartment, credit cards, and other car were all in Duncan's name.
“I’m sure it can be. Like I said—once you are rested and fed I will take you to see Jose and I’m positive he can tell you what can and cannot be fixed on your car. Are you finished?”
Lucy looked at her bowl. She had emptied it again. She looked at Theo. “Why did you give me your food?”
Theo picked up her bowl and his. “I have no clue what you’re talking about,” he replied as he stood.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about Theodore Hart,” Lucy said as she stood. She placed her hands on her amble hips. “Now tell me why you gave me your food,” she questioned again as she rounded the table and came to stand before him.
Theo placed the bowls on the counter. “You needed to eat. You look underweight compared to what I’ve seen other pregnant women look like, and the last thing on my mind is for you and the little one here to starve,” he finished as he placed a hand on her stomach. When the baby kicked him he smiled at her. 'Hey little one. Daddy is going to make it all better,' he mentally said.
Lucy dropped her hands. Duncan had never touched her belly. He barely touched her—telling her she was disgusting because she was pregnant, which was the reason she was so underweight. He would lock the fridge and tell her she had eaten enough for one day. “I—”
“Hey,” he placed a hand on her cheek and wiped away a tear that had escaped, “anything you want. Anything you need I will provide for you and for this little one, ok?”
Lucy nodded. “Do you have any ice cream?” she questioned, not in the mood to fight him about his care of her and Anastasia.
Theo chuckled. “My darlin', I have a teenage niece and nephew whose mother watches their sugar intake. I believe I have exactly what you’re looking for.”
Chapter Two
Mmmm…Amanda thought as she let the spray of the shower cascade along her front. She turned so it could pelt her back. She needed this after being in bed for five days—puking and running a fever that had her husband panicking—and she was sore, tired, and needed to get rid of the sickness sweat which lingered on her body. She turned and looked at her daughter through the glass shower enclosure. Aviva had been just as sick as she was, but her baby had fought the infection sooner than Amanda had and was now healthy and happy. Soon Amanda would be healthy and happy too. She just needed to shower and get whatever lingering bug was in her house out before it infected her once again.
“I should spank you for being out of bed.”
She smiled as Trevor's arms wrapped around her slick body. “Viv—”
“—is in her room. Windows closed and locked. Baby monitor on,” Trevor said as he kissed her neck. When he had arrived back at the house he had seen all the windows opened and smelled the disinfectant. He wanted to be furious with his mate but he knew she had done it because the teens were due back soon and she didn’t want the house to smell of sickness. He ran his hands up her sides. “You know you are suppose to be resting.”
“I know,” she said as she leaned into him. God it was good to feel his arms around her. All the time she had been sick he had taken care of her and the baby by himself. Sleeping in the oversized chair she kept in their bedroom. While she and Aviva slept in the bed together, too sick and weak to be anywhere else.
Trevor turned his mate to face him. He cupped her face with both hands. “Please don’t get sick like that again.”
“I will do my best,” she said with a small smile.
“No, you will do more than your best. You will cut Keenan out of your life.”
“Trevor,” she said on a sigh. She knew her sickness had come from her trying to save Keenan from her latest boyfriend but the girl was family and—
“I can see that mind of yours working Amanda Hart. I know she’s family but when I found you and that man—”
Amanda placed her hand over his mouth. It had taken everything in Trevor not to kill the man when he had touched her, pushed her really, while she was holding Aviva. To her surprise Keenan had stood there with the keys to her new car in her hands and allowed the man to almost harm Amanda. If Amanda hadn’t punched the man in the
stomach he would have harmed her and her child—something Amanda was not going to allow.
Trevor removed her hand. “I will not allow anyone to hurt you or our family,” he said as he placed a hand on her cheek. “Do you understand?”
“I do.”
“Good,” he replied before he took her lips with his. Trevor deepened the kiss. It had been so long since he had kissed his wife or made love to her. Trevor lifted her off the floor, turned her, pressing her back again the tiled wall of the shower.
Amanda wrapped her legs around Trevor's waist. She had never been a small girl but it seemed Trevor liked her curves, if the fact his hands were everywhere on her body was any indication. “We have about an hour before Miss Viv wakes looking for us.”
Trevor smiled. “Good, because I have plans for you, Mrs. Hart,” he said before he entered her in one long thrust.
Amanda arched her back and began to meet Trevor thrust-for-thrust—loving the fact she was going to enjoy this hour with her mate.
EA
“Hopeless,” Lucy shook her head. “My car is utterly hopeless,” she said again. After her two bowls of Chocolate Heartache ice cream, Theo had taken her to the mechanic—who had informed her that her car could be fixed but it would cost a small fortune to do so.
“It’s not hopeless,” Theo replied. He was lying, he knew, but he didn’t want her to know. Jose had pulled him aside while Lucy got a few pictures from the car and told him that not only was the break line tampered with, but the front wheels of her car were too loose for them not to have been tampered with also. If the car had an accident no one would survive. Theo had thanked Jose, gathered Lucy, and placed her back in the SUV. First he needed to stop at the Sheriff's office and make an official report about Lucy's car. As a man of the law it was his duty to report this even though Lucy didn’t want him to. He knew she’d pitch a fit if she found out what he was doing but he needed to make sure she was ok. That she was protected just in case whomever hurt her and messed with her car came looking for her. “I have to go into the office for a bit. There is a diner a few blocks from the Sheriff's office—you can wait for me there.”
Lucy nodded. She would like to see something other than the beauty of Theo’s home. Plus it wasn’t like she could go anywhere else.
Theo pulled into the diner parking lot. He looked at Lucy. “We will figure something out about your car. Until then it’s not that bad staying with me, is it?”
She looked at him. The puppy-dog expression he was giving her made her smile. “No it’s not.”
Theo placed a hand on her cheek, loving seeing her smiling face. “Good. Now come on—I will get you settled.”
“Theo, I can walk into a diner and find a place to sit.”
He knew that, but wanted any unmated weres to know she was Theo Hart’s woman and off limits. “I know but I want to introduce you to the wait staff.”
Lucy chuckled. “Really?” she said. She had seen the possessive way Theo had held her hand at the bar and how he had stayed close to her while Jose talked to her. Walking her into the diner had nothing to do with him wanting to introduce her to the wait staff.
EA
“Hey that's mine—give it back!” Taylor Hart slightly screeched at her brother as she reached for the medal she had won while on the pack camping trip. She grasped the medal tightly as she pulled it from his hands. She placed it on the counter beside her. She couldn’t wait to show her mom and dad what she had done. She looked at her brother. This was the first time in months that he had been off pack land. Their parents had attempted to get him to go into the city or to hang out with friends but after his attack six months ago he had only wanted to be with family.
“Hey, finish up and we will head home,” Tyson Hart said to his sister. He had had a great few days with his sister and the other pack teens. When his Uncle Atlas and Ganpa Bill had suggested the camping trip for some of the pack pre-teens and teens he had been reluctant to go. After his attack he hadn’t been away from his family much. His attack six months ago wasn’t the only reason he had decided not to hang out with people. He was still ashamed of the way he had acted in the past. Having hunting parties with the fosters—orphan teens who didn’t have a pack or family to care for them—and being a total ass to his family because of his biological mother, Rhea’s, rejection of him.
“All done,” Taylor said as she wiped her mouth. She was eager to get home to her parents—she had so much she wanted to tell them.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the human who thinks she's a wolf…”
Taylor turned at the sound of the voice. She inhaled deeply then released it Garret Moore had come on the camping trip with them, complaining the whole time that he was bored, that Atlas and Tyson couldn’t teach him anything about hunting or trapping. Especially with the fosters there tagging along. Taylor had told the boy to shut up and learn something instead of running his mouth. Especially because the fosters had come to learn how to survive on their own. To learn skills which could help them in life. They also had come so they would have a sense of belonging to a pack that had always been kind to them, and kindness went a long way with those who felt like they had no one in their lives. “What do you want, Garret?”
“That medal. It should have been mine. You didn’t track and kill anything.”
“Really?” Taylor replied, “because if I’m not mistaken I tracked that buck and took it down before any of the rest of you could shift,” she finished. Their Alpha had told them if they could track and kill a buck then they would win a prize, her medal. It wasn’t anything special—not worth much—but to Taylor it was worth a lot. It proved she could hang with a group of shifters. It proved she wasn’t some weak human like some in the pack thought.
“See—right there is the reason you shouldn’t have the medal,” Garret said, breaking into Taylor's thoughts.
“Just because it takes you forever to shed your clothing is not my fault,” Taylor replied. Garret had sled his clothing, then folded it while others had just started shifting. She, on the other hand, had taken off running, having seen a buck heading into the woods and tracking it like her Ganpa had shown her. She had been three steps ahead of the other wolves and ready to strike before they could catch the animal's scent.
“Give it here.” Garret reached onto the counter and grasped the medal.
“Don’t!” Taylor screamed. She rounded on Garret, reached out, and punched him in the gut. She grabbed her medal and stood. “That's mine. You have no reason to take it from me. Just because I took that buck down before you could strike does not mean the medal is yours,” she hollered.
Garret growled at her. He took a step.
“Don’t even think about it,” Tyson said as he took a step in-between his sister and Garret. He had watched as Garret had taunted his sister the whole trip. He had wanted to step in to say something to the other wolf but his uncle had stopped him. Like their mother, Taylor didn’t back down from a fight she found worthy. Plus his sister was becoming respected in the pack and if he stepped in to defend her then her respect would slowly diminish, and that was the last thing he wanted. He wanted his sister respected and in order for that to happen she needed to be able to hold her own with other pack members. “This conversation, or lack thereof, is over.”
Garret looked at Tyson. “You can’t protect her all the time.”
“I’m sure I can’t but she’s told you what happened. She found that buck all on her own. She took it down to the satisfaction of everyone except you.”
“I had that buck in my sights and was ready to strike when Katniss here released that arrow.”
Tyson chuckled. The others had told him how Taylor climbed from the tree she had been perched in to claim her prize—an over one-hundred-and-fifty-pound buck. After it had been skinned, Atlas had taken the pelt and let it dry—promising Taylor a pair of boots and an arrow bag for her good deed.
“She's a human. She shouldn’t have been on the trip in the first place.”
>
“She is the daughter of the future Alpha and the niece of the current Alpha. She has as much of a right to be on this trip as anyone. She needed to show her worth and she has. If you have a problem with any of this I suggest you take it up with the Alpha.”
Garret seethed. Taking this up with the Alpha could cost him and his family dearly but he was willing to take that step. He just needed to talk to his father. He looked from Tyson to Taylor then back at Tyson. “This is not over.”
“Oh I think it is,” Tyson said as he took a step towards Garret.
“Tyson…” Taylor placed a hand on Tyson's arm. She did not want her brother fighting this boy in the diner. It would make her look weak and their Gamma and Auntie would have a fit if anything was broken in their pride and joy. She looked at Garret. “Leave. If you want to take this to the Alpha then fine. I’ll talk with my parents and they’ll call yours to set up a time to meet.”
Garret gave them a smug smile. “Good. Glad you see things my way.”
She didn’t but she was willing to be diplomatic.
“I look forward to the call.” On that, Garret turned and walked away.
“You don’t.”
“Are you guys ok?”
Tyson and Taylor turned at the sound of Theo's voice. “Hey Uncle Theo,” Taylor said as she walked over to her uncle and embraced him. She pulled back and looked at the woman who was standing beside her uncle. She had a bruise on her face and there were some on her arms. She was also wearing Taylor's mother's clothing. She released her uncle and stepped back. “Hi,” she reached out her hand to the woman, “I’m Taylor Hart, Theodore's niece.”
The woman took the proffered hand, “Lucy McArthur. I’m a friend of your uncle's,” Lucy replied. The teen before her was quite lovely with her deep brown eyes, light skin, and rounded face. Add in her long brown hair and anyone would think this child was some sort of model.
