And his wolf was sane, quiet, and at ease in a way Ty couldn’t remember him ever being.
He sucked in a breath as the implications hit him. Could Parker be his mate? His wolf hadn’t spoken the words, but what else could it be? He wasn’t sure there was another explanation, but finding a mate was the last thing he’d expected to happen.
His confusion was replaced with cold, hard fear as he remembered Cassie. Cassie had hated that Jared was a shifter. She wouldn’t even let anyone talk about shifters around her. And when she’d gotten pregnant, she’d freaked out, not wanting to have a shifter baby. She’d started taking foolish risks and Ty knew that Jared wondered if she’d done that on purpose, hoping to lose the baby. That’s how she’d died -- jumping a fence on her horse while she was pregnant.
Ty broke out in a cold sweat. What if Parker reacted the same way? What if she hated what Ty was? What the baby she carried was?
What if, by some miracle, she was okay with it and somehow lost the pup anyway? What if Parker lost her life trying to grow and have his child? Humans were fragile. She could get a papercut and die from infection.
Ty felt like he was going to be sick as he struggled to catch his breath.
How had Jared handled this? Adara was a shifter, true, and a dragon shifter at that, but dragons were hunted and killed often. They’d almost died out and become extinct for that reason alone. And Jared had lost a child before. How had he withstood this agonizing uncertainty?
Ty abruptly stood, sending the desk chair crashing back against the wall. There was only one way to find out.
Chapter Six
Tyler parked his truck in the driveway at Bear Claw Ranch, and then just sat there, clutching the steering wheel. Now that he was here, he was suddenly reluctant to get out. He wanted his questions answered, yes. Wanted to know how Jared had handled all of the uncertainty, how he hadn’t lost his mind with worry.
But Ty had hated Jared for years, and he had let that be known. Even after they’d come to a truce of sorts last year, he’d delighted in giving Jared hell, and it hadn’t all been innocent teasing, as he was sure Jared was aware.
How the hell was he going to approach Jared, of all people, for advice? Maybe he should re-think this.
Jared walked out of the house just then, looking at Ty’s truck in confusion. Ty let out a gust of breath and shoved his door open. Too late to turn back now.
Jared lifted a hand. “Tyler? What’s wrong?”
Ty took a deep breath as he walked up the porch to Jared. “I need to talk to you. In private.”
Jared frowned. “Come on in. We can talk in the office.”
Ty followed Jared in the house, looking around as he did and suddenly feeling nostalgic. Back when he was a kid and teenager, he’d spent almost every hour he wasn’t as school in this house. The last thing he’d ever wanted was to go home, so he’d come over here, dragging Chase with him. Ty, Jared and Jake, Jared’s twin brother, had been thick as thieves back then.
Ty sat down in the chair across the desk as Jared took his spot in his chair. The silence stretched out uncomfortably as Ty fought with what to say.
“What’s going on, Ty? Is there anything wrong?”
“I met a woman a few months ago,” Ty blurted. “I just found out she’s pregnant, and I think she might be my mate.”
Jared blinked, expressionless. Then a slow smile spread across his face, causing the scar on his cheek to catch the light. The scar that Ty had given him when Cassie died.
“Congratulations, man. That’s awesome.”
“How do you do it?” Ty replied quietly.
Jared frowned again. “Do what?”
“After Cassie… how did you get past the fear? Of losing Adara, of losing the babies?”
The confusion on Jared’s face cleared. He fidgeted with the laptop on his desk before answering. “I didn’t, not really. I was a nervous wreck every day of her pregnancy. I just did my best not to show it. Adara didn’t need the added stress of my freak out on top of everything else she was dealing with.”
Ty sighed. “That’s not really the answer I was looking for, man.”
Jared’s lips quirked. “It’s the only one I have to give you.” He looked at the desk in silence for a moment before looking back up, an uncomfortable expression on his face. “Losing Cassie would have been hard enough; losing the baby with her was unbearable. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was scared the whole nine months of Adara’s pregnancy. But it was a totally different situation. Adara is a shifter, and she wasn’t taking risks like Cassie was.”
Ty ran his hand through his hair in agitation. “Parker is human. And she doesn’t know what I am. What if… what if she reacts like Cassie did?”
Jared sighed deeply. “Not every human freaks out. Look at Ellie,” he said, speaking of Jake’s mate. “She took us being shifters very well. Not even a little freak out. Parker could be just like that.”
“What would the odds be, though? I don’t know how to tell her. I don’t even think I want to.”
Jared shook his head. “You have to, Ty. She’s carrying your child, who’s half wolf. You can’t keep it from her.”
Ty shifted, irritated. “I fucking know that,” he said crossly. “I’m just saying I don’t want to tell her, not that I won’t.”
Jared smiled slightly. “Don’t put it off until she’s in labor, either.”
Ty hesitated before speaking again. “Even if she takes it well… Humans are fragile. What if she loses the baby? What if something happens to her while she’s carrying or having it? I’ll lose it. Chase will have to put me down. I don’t know if I can do this shit.”
“I don’t think you have a choice at this point, Ty.”
Ty glared at Jared, fighting the urge to deck him. “No shit, Sherlock. I didn’t really come here to hear you state the damn obvious.”
Jared’s lips quirked up as he shook his head. “Look, the majority of human women have perfectly normal pregnancies. Thousands have healthy babies every day, and they come through it just fine.”
“My luck has never been good when it comes to women, Jared.”
Jared studied Ty for a moment before speaking again. “Parker is different, Ty. She’s not Cassie. Odds are you’re worrying for nothing. I know it’s easier said than done, but try to relax. Parker will pick up on your worry, and it will stress her out. It’s hard work growing a baby, and she needs to focus on that, not on your freak out.”
“I know, Jared. I’m just not sure how I’m going to handle this. It hasn’t even been a day since I found out, and I’m already feeling like I’m going to come out of my skin.”
“Focus on what you’ll have at the end of this journey in just a few short months. You’ll be holding your first child, your pup, in your arms. There’s no other feeling like it in the world.”
Ty sat back in his chair, thinking that over. He was going to be a dad. He couldn’t picture it, but determination filled him. He could do this.
Jared spoke up again. “I think I know what you need. Follow me,” he said, rising from his chair.
Ty followed Jared as he left the office and headed upstairs, puzzled. When Jared walked into a room that was clearly the nursery, Ty froze in the doorway.
There was double the normal furniture, of course, because Jared and Adara had twins. The sheer amount of stuff in the room was overwhelming. He didn’t even know what he’d need for his baby. He thought it was time for a Google search when he got home.
Adara was sitting in a rocking chair, cradling a tiny infant. She looked up, surprise crossing her face when she saw Ty in the doorway. Jared immediately headed to her, leaning in to place a kiss on Adara’s lips before pulling back and touching a big hand to the baby.
“How are my gorgeous girls doing?”
A soft smile graced Adara’s face as she looked to the baby in her arms. “They’re wonderful.” She looked back up, her gaze going to Tyler. “Hey, Ty. What brings you by?”
Jared
turned from where he had just picked up the other baby from the crib. “Ty’s going to be a father. I thought it would do him some good to meet the girls and see what’s waiting for him.”
Adara beamed at Ty. “Congratulations, Ty! That’s wonderful. When is she due?”
Ty’s throat tightened as Jared walked closer and he got a glimpse of the baby in his arms. He didn’t actually know when Parker was due, but he knew exactly when she conceived. “She’s four months along.”
“So most likely a November baby, then,” Adara said, beaming. “This is so exciting. Do you want to hold Ava?” She asked, motioning to the baby in Jared’s arms.
Ty put his hands up, alarmed. “No, no, I’m good.”
Jared walked forward with a determined glint in his eye. “Practice, man. You need practice. I know what you’re thinking. You won’t drop her or hurt her.”
Ty swallowed hard as Jared put the baby in his arms. Ava, Adara had said. He looked to her tiny face and felt his breathing stall. He stared at the tiny baby, her weight feeling like nothing in his arms, chest filling with awe. She was beautiful. He touched a finger to her face, sliding it softly across her cheek.
Ava stirred in his arms, yawning and blinking open blue eyes. Ty held his breath, waiting for her to start crying when she noticed that a stranger was holding her, but she didn’t. She wrapped a tiny fist around his finger and seemed to lock gazes with him, blue eyes flickering with dragon pupils for a moment. She was only a couple of weeks old, and yet she seemed to be looking at him with intelligence in her gaze.
He wasn’t sure how long he held the baby. Everything else in the room faded as he zoned out, attention locked on the tiny baby girl in his arms. It hit him for the first time that in around five months, he’d have one of these. Maybe a girl like this one, maybe a boy. He suddenly longed to know what he and Parker were having. Whatever sex the pup was, though, he would love him or her with everything in him.
He might be uncertain about everything else, but there were no doubts about that.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d stood there, gazes locked with baby Ava, but he was jolted out of his daze when his phone went off in his pocket. He looked up to see Jared holding the other baby while Adara smiled at her mate. She looked to Ty and then came forward to take Ava.
“Here, I’ll take her since Jared has Jaylynn. You did very well, Ty. You’re going to make an amazing dad.”
Ty smiled at her as she took Ava, and he took out his phone. It was a text from Parker. Hell, he’d just taken off without a word, and there was no telling how long he’d been gone. It was going to take some getting used to, this having someone in the house that he needed to keep informed.
He looked up. “It’s Parker. I should probably head back to the farm.”
Jared frowned a little. “Her name just hit me. Parker Leighton? Tiffany’s little sister?”
Ty felt himself frowning a little. Parker was Tiffany’s little sister? She had to be, with the last name Leighton. Their family were the only Leightons in town. He felt a little unsettled at the fact that he hadn’t known that. They were having a baby together, but there was still so much they didn’t know about each other.
Not waiting on his reply, Jared went on. “Parker is a sweet girl. I didn’t talk to her much in school, and she was quiet and shy, but she always had a ready smile for everyone.”
Ty shifted, uncomfortable with the fact that Chase and now Jared apparently remembered Parker, but he himself didn’t. He’d been so focused on Cassie back then, though, that he hadn’t really noticed any of the other girls, and someone a couple grades below him, and apparently shy to boot, would never have captured his notice.
“She’s a nice woman. Really… friendly,” Ty finally replied.
Adara lifted an eyebrow. “I hope so. But you’d maybe better work on some better adjectives for when she’s in ear shot. Especially if she’s your mate. Make her feel like you want her, not just that she’s a nice girl and friendly.”
Ty fought an unexpected flush up his neck. He’d never blushed before in his damn life, and he wasn’t starting now.
“Okay, um, I’ll do that. I’d better head back.” He looked to Jared, seriousness written on his face. “Thanks, man.”
Jared inclined his head. “Anytime. Just think about everything I said.”
Ty nodded back and then headed out of the room. It was time to get back to Parker. Who was maybe his mate. And was definitely carrying his baby. How his life had changed, in the blink of an eye.
Parker sat on the porch swing, enjoying the breeze and the sunny day. She wondered where Ty had gotten off to, but she was enjoying just being for a moment. Life was going to change, soon, and as anxious as she was to meet the little person growing inside her, she also wanted to enjoy the time she had before she gave birth. Nothing would be the same after that.
She put a hand to her stomach, where she was already beginning to show. She’d made an appointment with an obstetrician in town this morning and she’d be going in next week. She’d seen one out in California when she first found out she was pregnant, but if she was going to be staying here for a while, she wanted to establish one here.
Who knows? Maybe she’d end up moving back home. She didn’t need to stay in San Diego to work, and she couldn’t deny that no matter what happened between her and Ty, their baby would be better off with both parents present.
Especially considering what her baby was, what Ty was. Parker caressed her stomach, contemplating the fact that her baby was part wolf. She wondered when Ty was going to fess up. She was pretty sure he didn’t know that she was aware of his dual nature.
Parker thought back to the moment she’d seen him change into a wolf. She’d been fifteen, Tyler seventeen. She’d gone to the river and then followed it along, enjoying the spring day and her time alone. She’d always pushed herself in her studies and that Saturday, she’d been determined to take a little break. She had never had many friends and Tiffany had been in the city with her friends, so Parker had taken herself to the river to read. Feeling restless, she’d begun walking, not realizing until she came upon that clearing and seen Ty that she’d wandered onto MacKeltar land.
She’d still been in the woods, hidden by the trees, when Ty had burst into the clearing. He’d been running and was visibly upset when he arrived, leaning over and grabbing his knees, heaving for breath and face strained.
Parker had wanted to go to him, ask him what was wrong, comfort him in some way. But she’d just stood there, frozen and barely able to breathe. Her social anxiety had been crippling in high school, so bad that sometimes she struggled to speak without stuttering over her words. And Tyler had been her high school crush. She hadn’t been able to even look him in the eye when she’d passed him in the halls at school. Approaching him had been beyond her.
A few moments later, he’d hunched over, grabbing his middle, and Parker had thought he was sick, or that something was physically wrong. There had been a smattering of pops echoing in the clearing, and then a black wolf had burst from Tyler’s body.
Parker had watched, stunned to her toes, as Tyler the wolf had shaken his fur out and then bounded away. When she was finally able to make herself move, Parker had stumbled her way back down the river, falling a few times as she walked in a daze.
She’d tried to convince herself that she’d imagined it. That Tyler had never been there and she’d never seen him turn into a wolf in front of her eyes. But clutched in her hand was a piece of his shirt, the shirt that had shredded when he’d turned. A breeze had blown it over to her, and she’d picked it up. She still had that piece of shirt somewhere.
Parker had never told anyone what she’d seen that day. Part of it was because no one would have ever believed it. Everyone already thought Parker was weird, but that would have convinced them she was crazy, as well. The biggest reason she hadn’t said anything, though, was because that was Ty’s secret to tell. She would never do anything to put him at risk, and people kn
owing he could turn into a wolf was definitely putting him at risk.
Her musings were cut short by the sound of a vehicle coming up the drive. Turning her head in that direction, she saw Tyler’s big black truck pulling into its parking spot. He spotted her as he exited the truck, and he paused for just a second before he headed her way.
“Hey,” he said, reaching the porch swing.
“Hi,” she replied, making room for him to sit down.
Hesitating just a moment, Ty eased down onto the swing next to her. “Sorry I disappeared. I had to run into to town unexpectedly.”
“It’s okay. I’ve been enjoying the down time out here.”
Ty’s gaze dropped to where her hand was caressing her stomach and a look of surprise crossed his face. “Are you showing already?”
Parker looked at him, eyebrows raised. “You can tell?”
The look he shot her, heat in his chocolate brown eyes, warmed her to her toes. “Now that you’re not wearing one of those baggy shirts, yeah. I paid very close attention to your body that night, Parker.”
Parker blushed and turned her head away. She didn’t know if she felt pleasure or embarrassment. This man, this gorgeous man who made her blood heat and her body tingle, had seen her naked. She wasn’t supermodel pretty like Wendy and Hannah, or even like her sister. She was short and chubby, and Ty was definitely out of her league.
Ty cleared his throat. “When are you due? I never asked.”
Parker smiled, rubbing her belly. “November twentieth, they said. I made an appointment at the obstetrician here in town. It’s next week, and you can come with me if you’d like. They’ll probably do an ultrasound. You’ll be able to hear the heartbeat and see the baby.”
Tyler looked at her in surprise, something dark flashing in his eyes, there and gone before Parker could analyze it. “You wouldn’t mind if I went with you?”
Shaking her head, Parker replied, “Not at all. This is your baby, too. You should get to take part in all of it, even this, if you want to.”
Unexpected Mates (Red Moon Shifters Book 1) Page 4
