by EA Hunt
Taylor released her hand. This woman was more than a friend to her uncle, if the fact that he was standing slightly before her protecting her was any indication. “This,” she jerked her head towards Tyson, “is my brother Tyson. Would you like some pie? My Gamma Auntie,” the name of the diner, “makes some of the best pies in the tri-country area,” Taylor said. From the look on her uncle's face, he needed Lucy away from Tyson so he could speak to him. Taylor chuckled to herself. She was getting really good at reading shifters’ facial expressions.
Lucy looked at Theo. He was staring at the young man before him like he was having some kind of conversation with the boy. She looked at Taylor. “That would be nice. Do you have apple pie?”
Taylor chuckled. “Apple crumble, but it’s rum apple crumble. I can have Tammy get it to you before the rum is put in,” Taylor said.
“Theo?”
He turned and faced Lucy. She had a look of confusion on her face. Theo reached out and placed a hand on her cheek. “Go ahead—I won’t be long. I promise,” he replied as he rubbed his thumb along her cheek.
Lucy nodded, turned with Taylor, and walked over to the one of the booths in the diner.
Theo watched her go. He was going to leave her with weres he trusted, but the fact that she was with family meant more than he could have ever hoped for. Tyson and Taylor were becoming fierce protectors. He wouldn’t be surprised if his niece wanted to become an enforcer, while Tyson was poised to be Alpha after his father. Theo turned back to his nephew, “watch Lucy. I have to run to the Sheriff's office for a bit.”
Tyson nodded. He looked in the direction of his sister and Lucy. “Who is she?”
“Someone special,” was all Theo said before he turned and headed out of the diner.
Tyson looked after his uncle. There was something he was missing here and he had a feeling he would find out sooner or later what it was.
EA
Lucy smiled at the teen who sat across from her. She was enjoying her time with Taylor. She was fun, communicative, and answered any questions Lucy had. One question she had was why Tyson was standing close to their booth watching any and everyone who came into the diner. Every time she approached that subject, Taylor would tell her more about the town and the people in it. Especially the Hart family. She had heard about Taylor's grandparents, Bill and Mary; her other uncles, Willie and Freddie; Taylor’s parents, and finally Theo. Taylor talked more about Theo than she had about her parents, Trevor and Amanda.
“You know, Uncle Theo's house is amazing. I think my house is way more awesome than his but his is a log cabin with mostly wood furniture. My house has some wood furniture but nothing like Uncle Theo's. He made all the furniture himself.”
“Did he?” Lucy questioned with a slight smile. This child was trying to sell her, Lucy, on her uncle’s virtues.
“Yep. He was going to make Aviva a cradle but she was coming home too soon so Gamma had Ganpa buy one,” Taylor told her. The woman before her was her uncle's mate but he hadn’t told her yet, probably because the woman was skittish. Every time the door opened she would jump expecting someone to come through the door and hurt her—something that wasn’t going to happen in Hart. “Would you like more pie?”
Lucy shook her head. She had to admit this was the best pie she had ever had. “Thanks, but no. I think three pieces is enough. Is there a phone I can use? I forgot to ask your uncle.”
“Sure, you can use my cell phone if you’d like,” Taylor replied as she pulled her cell from her pocket. She stood from the booth, giving Lucy some privacy. She smiled at the woman as she stepped up to Tyson. “Did you call Dad?”
Tyson looked at his sister. “Yeah, he's coming to pick us up.”
Taylor nodded, “ok.” She turned and faced Lucy. She had a sad expression on her face. “Ms. Lucy, are you ok?”
Lucy smiled at the teen. “I’m fine,” she replied. Lucy released a breath. She had checked her messages at home and been informed by her waitressing job she was no longer needed. Great—now she had no home and no job. How was she going to get her car fixed and leave here if she had no money and no job? How was she going to provide for Anastasia? “Do you know if the diner is hiring?”
“Why, do you need a job?”
Lucy looked over Taylor's shoulder to Theo. She had hoped she had more time to plan before he came back into the diner. She stood from the booth. “Theo…”
He shook his head. He was not going to have this discussion with her in front of his niece and nephew. “Ty, Tay—I saw your dad pulling up. You two should head out.”
Both nodded, smiled at Lucy, then turned and left.
Theo faced his mate. He reached out a hand to her. “Come, we have some shopping to do.” Then after their shopping trip he would talk to her about this job thing. There was no reason for Lucy to work. He had enough money for her to stay home with their children.
Lucy stared at him. “I can’t.”
“You can and you will,” Theo replied. He was not going to argue with his mate about her care.
“Theo, this high-handedness of yours is not attractive,” Lucy said as she tried to pull her hand from his.
Theo stopped at the door to the diner. He stepped closer to Lucy, invading her space. “I will not argue with you about your care.”
Lucy shook her head. What had gotten into him? When he had left her he had been in a semi-good mood. Now that mood was gone and—
“I’m sorry.”
“What do you have to be sorry for?”
“This.” Theo bent his head and took Lucy’s lips with his. All the time he was at the Sheriff’s office he became angrier and angrier as he typed up the complaint, when he did a quick search on Lucinda McArthur, before starting the complaint, he found pictures of a bruised and battered woman. Each report he had seen had been closed by the police. There had been no follow-up. No conversation with the victim. No charges even though the doctors who had called in the abuse had done their job. It was like the police were protecting one of their own. He lifted his head. “I—”
“Why did you kiss me?” Lucy questioned. She had never had anyone kiss her with so much strength and passion as Theo Hart.
He smiled at her. “Because you, Ms. McArthur, needed to be thoroughly kissed. Now come on. We have a lot of shopping to do.”
EA
This was not going like he had expected it to. Lucy was supposed to be shopping for the things she wanted for the house, herself, and the baby, but every time she picked up something she looked at the price and then placed it back on the shelf. Anything she had placed back on the shelf he had picked up and placed in his cart. His cart was full almost to the brim while hers had little-to-nothing in it. “Is there anything you're craving?” Theo questioned. It was getting close to dinner and he wanted to make sure she was eating what she or the baby wanted.
“I would love some macaroni and cheese,” Lucy said as she licked her lips. She had been craving the comfort food for the last hour but she hadn’t told Theo. The man would have gone to the deli and gotten her as much of the food as he could, which was the last thing she wanted. Lucy picked up a small box of noodles. She didn’t want Theo spending a lot of money on her. She wouldn’t be at his home long. As soon as she found a job she would get her car fixed and then be on her way.
“How much?”
Lucy turned to face him “how much what?”
“Macaroni.”
She shook her head, “no.”
“No what?” he questioned as he walked over to her. He reached out and placed a hand on her stomach. When the baby kicked him he smiled “hello little one—and what will your name be?”
“Anastasia. Anastasia Louisa,” Lucy said on a swallow. Duncan had never touched her stomach as lovingly as Theo was at this precise moment. No, whenever she would walk into a room he would leave. Or when she would sit on the couch with him he would get up and sit in the chair she had in the living room. Not Theo. He was talking to the baby and Anastasia
was kicking in response.
“She's very active,” Theo said as he looked at Lucy. She had tears brimming. “Sweetheart…”
Lucy brushed away her tears. “Sorry, I—”
“It’s ok.” He placed a hand on her cheek. “Come on. Let’s head home and you can eat all the macaroni you want while I rub your feet.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Lucy replied with a deep sigh. Her feet were hurting.
Theo smiled at her as he stepped closer to her. “Good. Come on now.”
EA
Trevor fumed as his daughter finished telling him everything he wanted to know about the camping trip. For Garret to agree to an audience with Atlas was ludicrous, especially when he was debating a decision Atlas had made in regards to Taylor and her place in this pack. “I cannot believe he agreed to this.”
“Dad,” Taylor released a breath. When she had made the suggestion it was to talk Tyson off the ledge so he wouldn’t attack Garret. Now her father was fuming and her mother was sleeping which meant Taylor had to talk her father down. “He was mad and Ty was seconds away from hurting him. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“So you place your position in this pack on the line,” Trevor said to his daughter. Part of the reason for the camping trip was for Atlas to see if the preteens and teens were listening to their teachers at the rec center.
“I didn’t place anything on the line. He thinks I don’t belong here anyway. He thinks since I’m human, I can’t contribute to the pack. Even though I took down that buck the way Ganpa taught me.”
Trevor smiled at his daughter. Yeah she did. His uncle had called him and told him Taylor had tracked the animal like she had been born a wolf. She tracked it, waited until it was in a calm place, then struck. His daughter was a born tracker and that was something the pack needed—another born
tracker. His father, Bill, was one, and his brother Willie was the other. Now, it seemed, his daughter was going to carry on the family tradition. Trevor sighed. “I know what he thinks.”
“He’s not the only one. Many think I don’t belong and—”
“You belong here just as much as anyone else does,” he replied as he placed a hand on her cheek. Trevor had heard some of the pack talking about Taylor. His daughter was a lot like her mother. She stood her ground and didn’t take unfair treatment of herself or others lightly.
“Thanks. Garret's parents are waiting to hear from you and Mom about the meeting.”
Trevor nodded. “Ok, I will call your uncle in the morning and have the meeting set up, then I’ll call Garret's parents and inform them.”
She gave her dad a thank you smile, then turned and walked from the kitchen.
“I would love to be at this meeting in order to make sure you don’t kill the poor boy.”
Trevor faced his wife. He smiled at her. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to know there are still some who believe humans do not belong in this pack.”
“I’m sorry,” he said as he walked over to her. Trevor wrapped his arms around his mate. “Seems once Joe and his family were banished, others decided to voice their opinions.”
Amanda wrapped her arms around his waist. She laid her head on his chest. “I wish more people believed we belong here.”
Trevor bent and kissed her head. “You do. Fate does not make mistakes. You and my girls belong here just like Tyson and I belong here. Many think because I wasn’t born to my parents, I shouldn’t be here—but I do. This is my home just like this is your home, along with our girls.”
Amanda pulled back. She smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Loving us. Protecting us.” She placed a hand over his heart.
He covered her hand over his heart. “Always.”
EA
Wow. Oh wow. Lucy's head lulled to the back of the couch as Theo rubbed her feet. He had magic hands and they were doing the most delicious things to her feet, calf and… she opened her eyes and looked at him. “What are you doing?”
Theo stilled her moan of pleasure had caused him to move his hand higher on her leg. That and the fact that he could smell her arousal. It was driving his wolf to distraction. He moved his hand back to her foot and began to massage it. “Sorry I—”
Lucy smiled shyly. “It’s ok.” She pulled her foot from his hands. “Thank you for the massage and the food.” She had gotten into the truck after a quick run to the bathroom and saw Theo had gotten dinner. There had been macaroni, chicken, and Hawaiian bread. All had been delicious and she had devoured all of it.
“You are very welcome,” he replied, not wanting her to remove her foot from his lap. He was enjoying the massage. “Would you like some dessert? I have a pie from the diner. Taylor had one of the waitresses pack it up for me before we left.”
“Your niece is a sweet girl and she loves you very much. She loves her family very much, but I think you’re her favorite.”
Theo chuckled. “She's my favorite also. She doesn’t take nonsense from people and that will serve her well in the world we live in,” he replied. Some in the shifter community believed humans had no place here and they would say it to the human's face no matter who their family was. But his Taylor would give as good as she got, and that was an admirable trait.
“Good. People can be cruel if you don’t stand up for yourself,” Lucy said as she wrapped her arms around herself.
“That sounds like personal knowledge,” Theo said. He turned on the couch and faced her. She looked so innocent sitting there—with her head on the back of the couch and her arms wrapped around her upper body, resting on her belly.
“Maybe.”
“Lucy,” he said softly as he reached out and placed a hand on her folded ones, “please talk to me.”
She sighed. It had been so long since she had had anyone to talk to. “I’m the only child of an only child. My mother had me when she was sixteen. My dad was older and had a family of his own. My mom didn’t want me but she couldn’t give me away. Her family told her she had made this mistake and it was her job to take care of it.” Lucy scoffed. “I was a mistake. Can you believe they said that to her?”
She licked her lips. “By the time I was five we had moved into the housing projects. My grandparents had passed away in a car accident and my mother was drinking her life away. When she drank, I was the bastard child of a bastard who wanted nothing to do with me. My dad would come around once in awhile, sleep with my mom, ignore me, and disappear. According to my mother it was my fault he wouldn’t stay because she had had me.” Lucy wiped at a tear that had fallen. “I tried to find refuge in my schooling. I was really good at culinary arts but then the program got cut and my mom decided that, at seventeen, I needed to be out on my own—so she put me out. Told the housing authority she needed to move to a one bedroom or studio.”
“You were a child.”
“One, she figured she had raised something, which was not true. Any money that came into the house went to her drinking. I would eat at school and hoard food from other people's discarded lunches so I would have something to eat later that evening or over the weekend when school was over. Over the summers I would spend morning, noon, and night at the local rec center because I knew I would be fed there.”
“Oh baby,” he reached out a hand and wiped at her tears. He had never heard anything so heartbreaking. He had always known where his next meal was coming from. His mother had made sure all of her children were fed and clean. She had even fed some of the fosters back when he was child. “What happened when—”
“I moved into a squatter community until I was eighteen. Then I was able to find a job at a local diner. It paid good and gave me enough money to get a pay-weekly motel room. I lived there until I finished high school. I attempted to get into culinary school but I couldn’t afford it, nor could I get any student loans. Because of my age I needed my mother's signature on things and she was nowhere to be found. She’d moved and didn’t t
ell me where. So I worked until…” Lucy stilled. She was not ready to tell Theo this part of her story. She straightened, then stood. “I’m going to head to bed.” She turned to leave, then stopped. She faced Theo, “sorry, I have no clue where I’m sleeping?”
'With me, of course,' he thought, but instead he replied, “in the same room you woke in.”
Lucy shook her head. “That can’t be right. That room—”
“—is yours,” he replied as he stood. Theo took a step towards her. “You and the little princess need your sleep, so head off to bed and I’ll see you in the morning,” he replied as he bent and kissed her temple. While she slept he would bring the crib and a few other things he had bought and taken to the car while she had been in the baby and women’s section of the store. “Now off to bed with you,” he replied as he patted her on the behind.
Lucy chuckled, “good night then.”
Theo nodded as he watched her walk away. He had a lot to do and all night to do it, because as long as Lucy was in his bed, sleep was not forthcoming.
Chapter Three
No!!! Lucy bolted upright in the bed. She blinked as she looked around her—she was safe. She was in Theo's home and she was safe. She released a breath as she laid back down in the bed. She pulled the covers closer to her nose and inhaled. Theo's scent was surrounding her, comforting her. Letting her know there was nothing and no one who could hurt her. Just like the man. All through the store he hadn’t really left her side except once when he had gone to grab a few things. But he had only been gone what seemed like five minutes before he was back by her side, or following behind her with a cart of his own. She smiled whenever another man would come near her. He would walk up behind her and shield her from the other male, making her relax and savor the scent of the man guarding her.
