by Jessica Sims
Twins.
I haven’t been able to fathom how I’m going to take care of one baby on my own. How am I going to handle two?
I head back to work in a daze. My brother Austin’s sitting at my desk when I get back to the office, and Ramsey’s sitting at Sara’s desk. He glowers at me when I come in, but I ignore it. “Where’s Sara?” I set my purse down on my desk and lean heavily on one corner.
“She’s taking pictures of a new client,” Austin says, wiggling his brows at me. “She’s a fox.”
“Is she really a fox, or is she just sexy?”
“Legit fox,” Austin says. He leans back in my chair and props his feet on the corner of my desk. “Though she’s not hard on the eyes, either. Where ya been?”
“Doctor,” I say. The moment I do, Austin jumps up from his chair and gestures that I should sit down. Normally I’d roll my eyes, but I’m feeling so miserable that I sit without protest.
“You okay?” Austin presses his hand to my forehead. “Are we putting too much on you with the Primordials? Do I need to talk to Beau?”
I shake my head. “Diarmid and the others are good guys. They’re no trouble.”
“You say that, but when I came in, you had a slice of janky-looking pizza on your desk,” Austin cautions.
I smile, because Diarmid sure hasn’t given up on the idea of being my baby’s father. Babies, actually. The thought makes me dissolve into tears. “Maybe I should take him up on it. I’m having twins, Austin.”
“Oh fuck,” my brother breathes. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.” I don’t tell him that I worry they’re going to be twin wolves. God. I’m having a litter. I clutch my stomach miserably.
“Savvie, I know I’m just your brother, but you know I have your best interests at heart, right?”
I nod, wiping at my cheeks.
“Then maybe it’s time you do find a mate,” he says.
My eyes widen. “One of the Primor—“
He shakes his head and cuts me off. “No! God, no. Look, I love the guys, but they’re nowhere near ready to have a mate and a family. They’re in there right now eating gummy worms and watching a Disney movie. I brought my three to hang with yours. Until they’re ready to hold down jobs and can do more than try to molest every woman they see, we can’t have them mingling with the public.”
He’s right. Taking one of the Primordials as a mate would just give me three people to take care of instead of helping me. I can’t imagine who else he’s referring to, though. “Do you mean going through the agency?”
Austin shakes his head again. “One of the Portland cougars is coming down to work on a project here in Fort Worth,” he begins.
“Oh, Austin, no,” I say, raising my hands. Just the thought of another man is enough to make my sensitive stomach churn all over again. “No one wants a girl in my condition—“
“That’s just it,” Austin says, grabbing one of my hands and squeezing it. “He knows about you and he doesn’t care. He’s ready to settle down and have a family. He’s forty and no mate. Nice guy. Stable job. Works in finance. Wants to buy a nice cabin with some land so his family can have their own running grounds. Private running grounds like we have at home. And you know the house is super crowded right now.”
It is. The Russell ranch normally holds all seven Russell cougars, but in the last year Jeremiah and Josh moved out with their mates, Bathsheba (Beau’s mate) moved in, Ellis’s mate Lily did, too… and so did twenty-three Primordials. Considering we only have five bathrooms, things get hectic at times. I’ve wondered how I’m going to handle having a baby at the house.
If I had a house of my own, maybe it wouldn’t be a problem.
But I can’t mate a guy just because I want a house. I shake my head. “Austin, I don’t know.” Forty just seems…so old. I’m in my early twenties.
“Just think about it, okay? He wants to meet the local shifters and run with us. If you don’t like him, we can tell him to buzz off. ”
“I’ll think about it,” I tell him. I don’t want to think about it at all, but now I have to make decisions for the two in my stomach now, too.
I’m still thinking about it a week later when I smell an unfamiliar were-cougar at the grocery store. He’s not Primordial - they have an unusual, earthy scent to them that can’t be replicated. This is definitely cougar. I sniff the air even as I pull the box of Frosted Flakes out of Eoghan’s hands and put it in the cart. “You can’t eat that until we pay for it.”
“That is a puny looking sabertooth,” he tells me with disgust.
“That’s Tony the Tiger,” I correct, and look around. I’ve lost a Primordial. “Where’s Galen?”
Eoghan shrugs and pulls another box of cereal off the shelf, running his tongue along the top of it. “Grazing, I think.”
“Oh no, no no no,” I mutter. “Stay here, okay? I’m going to go get him.” Grabbing my purse, I head for the produce. Sure enough, tall Galen is examining oranges and chewing on a cucumber. He’s got a sack of potatoes under one arm and I can see spilled fruit all over the floor of the produce section. An employee glares nearby and a shocked soccer mom pushes her cart away from the tall man as quickly as she can.
Just what I needed.
“Galen, sweetie,” I say, grabbing his arm. “You can’t eat things until you buy them.” I put the potatoes back on the nearest counter. “And you should wash all fruits and vegetables before eating them.”
“Why?” He asks, and takes another hearty bite of his cucumber.
“Because they might be dirty.”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Why?”
“Because no one cleaned them before sending them to the store.”
“Why?”
Oh my god, I’m not cut out to be a mother, because right now I want to punch a Primordial. I snatch the cucumber out of his grip and take his hand, dragging him back toward my abandoned shopping cart and Eoghan. At least the meat-eaters don’t rip into the packages. The vegetarian Primordials are more laid back - and have a harder time grasping the rules.
Before I can make it back to Eoghan, I turn the corner and nearly run into someone else’s shopping cart. “Excuse me,” I say quickly. “I—“ The scent of cougar touches my nose again and I stop in surprise, getting a good look at the man I nearly ran down.
“Hi there,” the man says with a smile. “You must be Savannah.”
I must? Then again, there probably aren’t a lot of pregnant female were-cougars running around the area. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one. “Hi,” I say, flustered. I smooth my free hand through my hair and then offer it to him. “I am. Savannah Russell, that is. And you are…”
“Craig Sorkin,” he says, taking my hand in his.
I try not to notice that his grip is a little weak. He seems nice enough, with an easy face and salt and pepper hair. He’s got laugh lines, which are nice, and he’s dressed well. His cart has only a few things in it. “I take it Austin mentioned me to you?”
“He did. Your brother’s a great guy.” His gaze strays to Galen, an obvious question in his eyes.
Oh. Right. I smile and put a hand on Galen’s shoulder. “This is Galen. He’s a…student I’m helping out.”
Just then, Eoghan comes around the corner with my shopping cart. He’s eating a bagel with exaggerated motions of his jaw.
“Annnnd there’s my other student,” I say, rushing forward. I snatch the bagel out of Eoghan’s hands and shove it back into the open plastic bag, then shoo him away from the cart. This is awkward.
Craig just chuckles. “I see you’ve got your hands full.”
I give him a grateful look. “You have no idea.”
“I’m hungry,” Eoghan protests.
“See that counter over there?” I say, pointing at the bakery. “Go and ask the woman there for a cookie.” They keep them mostly for little kids, but I’ve no doubt that two big good looking guys can score a free treat. Both Primordials head over there, and I gi
ve Craig an awkward smile. “It’s a little chaotic at times.”
“Are they special needs?” he asks in a gentle voice.
Umm. Not in the way he thinks. I decide to change the topic. “So how are you liking Texas?”
“It’s hot here,” he says. “But a lot of good people.”
That’s code for ‘lots of shifters’. Our area of North Texas has the largest shifter population in the US. I nod. “There are. So you moved here for a job?”
He grins and launches into a spiel about corporate accounting and a new division that needed his expertise. I try to look interested as he tells me all about corporate jargon and politicking, but I’m a little bored…and I’m trying to watch Eoghan and Galen out of the corner of my eye without seeming obvious. The girl at the bakery counter is flirting with them, and I can hear her giggles from over here as she gives them bites out of all kinds of sweets.
I hope I’m not going to have to pay for all of those.
“So when is the big day?” Craig asks.
“Hm?” Oh, my baby. Babies. I put my hand to my stomach. “Not for another four months. Did my brother mention it’s twins?”
Instead of being frightened, his eyes light up. “Really? I’ve always wanted a big family. It gets lonely by yourself.”
Point in his favor. I find my smile returning. “There are a lot of us here, so you’ll be more than welcome at any family occasions we happen to have. I’m pretty sure my cousin Beau’s planning a barbecue next weekend. You’re welcome to come along if you like.”
“I’d love that.” He tilts his head. “Will you be there?”
I nod, feeling shy. It’s been months since I’ve felt pretty - hard to feel pretty when you’re constantly puking and things on your body are swelling out of proportion. But Craig’s attention is doing wonders for my wounded ego. “Give me your number and I’ll send you a text with the address.”
We exchange phones and contact information, and then I make my excuses and round up my two charges. Eoghan leaves the bakery with a bag of donuts and Galen leaves with a phone number - not that he knows what to do with it. I herd them toward the checkout, lost in thought. I’m not sure how I feel about Craig. He seems like a nice guy, but talking to him about dating feels…like betrayal. I’m not sure what to think.
It’s not like I’m with Connor. Not really. I know he’d like to claim me as his mate, but I’m the one with the issues. I’m the one that puts the foot down. We’ve gotten together a few times since the big ‘Heat’ but each time, things haven’t worked out. He says something or does something and it reminds me of the kidnapping. Of the heat. The last time we were together was at the last Russell picnic, when we celebrated Marie’s big ‘turning’. Connor showed up and we tried to make nice for the afternoon. Then, he’d slipped up by casually mentioning his pack, and how he more or less expected me and the baby to join it once the baby was born.
That made my back go up. I ditched him at the picnic, and I haven’t seen him since.
He’s tried hard, but I can’t forget. It’s hard to forget when you have the evidence of your betrayal growing in your stomach. I tried to make it work for a few months, but now I just ignore him. I don’t answer his texts, I don’t talk to him, and I don’t let him into my life. That makes things easier. For me, anyhow. I know it must hurt Connor, and I can’t let myself worry about that. I have enough to worry about.
I’m at the checkout, loading things onto the belt, when the scent of wolf wafts through the human-pungent air. I freeze and tilt my head, tasting the scents, and then turn to the right just as someone walks up.
“Hey, Savannah. You want paper or plastic?” Gracie Anderson stands there, ready to bag my groceries, a red vest over her tight dress. She gives a flirty wink to the two shifters at my side.
This is hell, isn’t it? I must be in hell.
8
CONNOR
Flipping houses in Texas is not a fun job in the dead of summer. The one I’m currently working on doesn’t have a working air conditioner, which means it’s 140 degrees in the attic. And where is the central air unit located? Attic, of course. I’m pouring sweat as I shine my flashlight on the wiring, trying to figure out what’s wrong with the damn thing.
“Hey, bubba,” Gracie calls from downstairs. “You here?”
“In the attic,” I yell back at her. “Don’t come up.” You need shoes to walk on the insulation here, and my little sis isn’t all that fond of shoes.
I hear Gracie’s footsteps as she approaches and her scent wafts up from below. “Jesus fuck, it’s hot in here, Conn.”
“I’m trying to fix the AC,” I tell her, and wipe the flood of sweat from my brow. “Damn thing blew out yesterday and I’m painting tomorrow.” And I’d prefer not to do it in the heat.
“Well, come down and take a break, because I need to talk to you.”
With a sigh, I give up on the AC for now and climb down the attic ladder. The house isn’t much cooler, and I see Gracie fanning herself by the doorway, so I head over there. She hands me a bottle of ice water. I swig half of it before I take a breather to ask, “What’s up?”
“So you know that grocery store job I got?” She crosses her arms over her chest. “The one you made me get?”
I grin. “You’re not still complaining about it, are you? A job’s good for you. It’ll teach you responsibility.” It’s something our pack’s been lacking a long time, and I intend on drilling it into the heads of the remaining members. Gracie hasn’t been too happy about it, either. She was used to getting handouts from Uncle Levi, who thought women should be kept subservient to the pack men.
No longer. If she wants money, she’s going to have to work for it.
Gracie scowls at me. “I’m not here to complain. I’m here to tell you who I ran into.”
I take another chug of water, not all that interested. “Oh?”
“A certain pregnant lady. And guess who she was talking to?”
My body tenses. I narrow my eyes at my sister. “Savannah? She was there? How did she look?”
She shrugs. “Fat. Pregnant. It’s more interesting who she was with.”
Hot longing fires through me at the thought of Savannah, her belly rounded with my child. Our child. I miss her with a fierce intensity, but she hates me. I think she’s going to hate me forever. She won’t even return my phone calls anymore, and she avoids me. I can’t get anywhere near the Russell ranch without one of her brothers trying to plant a fist in my face—
—Not that that stops me often. But they have a new gal there, and she’s terrified of other shifters, and last time, Ellis Russell didn’t put a fist in my face but asked me nicely to not come around because I was scaring his mate.
And I understand being protective of one’s mate. So I stopped, even though it’s like a knife in the chest every morning when I wake up and she’s not there in bed with me.
I crumple the water bottle in my hand. “Who was with her? Her brothers?” They shadow her twenty-four-seven, and I don’t blame them. Not after she was nabbed by our pack.
“Nope. Two big hot guys. I don’t know what animals they were. They smelled weird. Sexy, but weird.” Her nose twitches. “And they were super friendly with her. Oh, and then there was a new cougar guy. I could smell him on her. Ten bucks says they’re trying to set her up with a mate.”
Red flashes before my eyes. “What?” I growl. I can feel my fangs lengthening.
Gracie ignores my rage. She studies her fingernails, painted a lime green. “Yup. She’s got a baby on the way, you know? And she works for a dating agency. Of course they’re going to try and set her up with a man. I think you have been officially disposed of. Not that it’s surprising - you know everyone hates us wolves.”
I have to walk away, because it’s either that or put my fist through the door Gracie’s leaning on. I take a few steps back into the too-hot house and put my hands on my hips, willing myself calm. I know Savannah and I have been more ‘off’ in the la
st few months than on. I just…thought she would come around. That she’d decide that she’s willing to let the past be the past and let me back into her life. I’ve been determined to let her take as much time as she needs.
But if she’s trying to find another mate to take her and my child?
A snarl erupts from my throat and I plow my fist through a freshly-plastered wall. “Fuck!”
“I know,” Gracie says sympathetically. “They’re assholes. And here we’ve all been trying super hard to turn over a fresh leaf and all. We got more shit done when we were the nasty Andersons than being the nice ones.”
I shake the drywall off my hand and rub my knuckles, fighting the urge to punch the wall again. “I need to talk to her.”
“Good luck with that,” Gracie says. “I bet they keep her locked down tighter than Fort Knox.”
I glance over my shoulder at my sister. “You see her at the grocery store often?”
“Nope. So staking out the parking lot is a bust. Why not try the dating agency?”
I shake my head. I’ve shown up there a few times and each time I’ve been quickly shown the door by a bodyguard. “They don’t want me there.”
“Then you need to think of something, or you’re going to lose her. The moment she’s wearing another guy’s mate mark, you’re history.”
I inhale sharply. A mental image of Savannah under me flashes through my mind. Her smooth, beautiful, unbitten neck arching. And then I picture her with someone else’s mate mark on her smooth neck.
My fist crashes through the wall again.
“I thought you were fixing these places up,” Gracie comments.
I snarl at her.
She rolls her eyes at my rage. “Yeah, well, I thought I’d let you know. You want my help with the girl thing? We can nab her one afternoon.”
I shake my head. The last thing I need to be involved in is kidnapping Savannah again. “I’ll figure something out.” What, I don’t know. Everything I can think of involves stalking her, and I want her to love me, not be frightened of me.
