Mated in Forbidden

by Keira Blackwood

  James’s attention was set on me. “No one makes my sister cry.”

  “I’m not—” I sighed.

  The waiter reappeared with a small plastic box. James snatched it from his hand and held it tight to his chest.

  “Caleb Stone is going to die.” With that, he took off for the door, burger and pie in hand.

  Finn and I watched him go. Then Finn turned in his seat so he was facing me again. “So you want to tell me what that was all about?”

  “Not really,” I said, and took a big bite of my burger.

  Soft greasy meat, buttery bun, crisp veggies, and creamy special sauce bathed my tongue in what should have been ecstasy. But with my brain numb and my heart aching, everything tasted like wood pulp.

  “Okay,” Finn said, turning to his meal. “But you’re driving me home.”

  Chapter 13

  Caleb

  I slumped into the couch in the bed and breakfast’s living room and tried dialing Moira again. Again, there was no answer. I debated whether or not to leave another message.

  Then I decided not to, because she already had a dozen voicemails and even more texts from me. It was a miracle she hadn’t blocked me yet, and I saw a ray of hope in that fact. She hadn’t abandoned me completely.

  She was my mate. She had to know that. Whatever happened with all those women, and any other woman I’d had sex with in this town, Moira was the one who mattered to me. I’d happily warm her bed—or even her couch, if she never wanted to sleep with me again—for the rest of my life. As long as I could be with her, I’d be happy.

  My inner mountain lion growled in discontent. Yes, I needed Moira. Nothing would change that. Somehow, I had to find a way to get her back.

  Of course, none of that would help resolve the other issues in my life. Namely, four angry pregnant women. Or rather, three angry pregnant women and one new mother.

  Holy shit—was I a dad?

  Daphne came into the living room, a plate of cookies in hand. “You look like you can use some cheering up.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “You’re absolutely right.”

  She set the plate down in front of me on the coffee table and hesitated. “Do you need to talk about anything?”

  Flipping my phone up and down in my hand, I sighed. “Yeah, maybe. Maybe you could help me figure this out.”

  “I can sure try,” she said. “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I can do hard things.”

  I looked around the living room, and out the wide opening leading to the hall and polished staircase. “The proof of that is this bed and breakfast. I remember when it was just a haunted old building we used to visit on dares. Now it’s a beautiful place to stay. And the hospitality is even better.”

  I glanced at the cookies to emphasize the point.

  “Aw, thanks,” she said, sitting down on the chair near my couch and smoothing out her fifties-style dress. “So, talk to me.”

  “Okay. This chick—”

  “Woman,” Daphne corrected. “Unless you are talking about a baby chicken.”

  “This woman,” I said, “tells me she’s having my baby.”

  Daphne gave me a look that said she was not surprised in the slightest, because even she, a newcomer to Forbidden, knew about my old ways.

  “But here’s the thing,” I said. “I don’t remember sleeping with this woman in particular.”

  “Well, I don’t want to sound judgmental, but is that entirely surprising?” she asked in a gentle voice.

  I shook my head. “Maybe not. Except she says we had sex last week, and that’s when I impregnated her.”

  “Well, that makes sense, I don’t see the problem. Women give birth a week after they get pregnant,” Daphne said in a matter-of-fact tone.

  I gaped at her. “No.”

  “Yes, they do.” She nodded and looked at me with a completely serious expression. “Why are you looking at me like that? Is that not...this is a Forbidden weirdism, isn’t it? Some kind of funky magic messing with my brain?”

  I nodded. “Looks like it.”

  “So you’re saying that she wasn’t supposed to know she was pregnant that soon?” Daphne asked.

  “She looks to be about eight or nine months along.”

  “What?” Daphne shook her head, then mouthed nine months like she couldn’t believe it.

  “Do you trust me?” I said. “All the humans around are saying one week is normal, but it’s never been that way.”

  “I trust you enough, I guess. Just everything I know says it shouldn’t take nine whole months. What a nightmare! It’s amazing that babies are even born, if it takes that long.”

  “Right?” I said, checking my phone for the zillionth time, even though I would feel it vibrate in my hand if Moira were to message me back. “There’s more.”

  She leaned forward in her seat.

  I said, “There are three more women in Forbidden who say I impregnated them a week ago. And they all look like they’re about to pop. One of them had her baby yesterday.”

  Daphne’s mouth fell open. “Does she need anything? I can cook for her. Is it a boy or a girl? Has she picked a name?”

  “Daphne.”

  “Oh that’s a great name. Daphne.” She grinned. “I approve.”

  “No, Daphne, listen.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “Did you hear the part about four women? All pregnant and about to give birth? A week ago?”

  “Right,” Daphne said. “Sorry. It sounds very strange. And not at all that strange for Forbidden. What did Dec tell you?”

  “Declan? He doesn’t know—shit. I should tell him.”

  “Yeah, there’s your first mistake,” she said. “You should report any suspicious occurences to the alpha. I’m a human and even I know that.”

  “Well, he is your mate,” I said, reaching for a cookie.

  She stood up and took away the plate. “No cookies until you call Dec.”

  Wow, harsh. “He isn’t here?”

  “No, he ran to the store.” She held the cookies up higher because I was staring at them so hard. “He needed...um...groceries.”

  Daphne was obviously lying, but why lie about that? “Groceries?”

  “Well...not groceries exactly. He’s at the store, at any rate.”

  She was acting too cagey.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Practical joke from Brody. His hair is blue.”

  I cringed. I would have laughed, but I’d been on the receiving end of Brody’s jokes. In principle, I couldn’t laugh at someone else suffering the same. Except maybe James O’Malley. He deserved whatever crap his brother dished out.

  “Should I wait until he gets back?” I asked.

  “Seriously? There’s magical mayhem in the works. This is Forbidden.”

  I nodded. “Okay, I’m calling now.”

  While I dialed, she left the room. I wanted those cookies, dammit. I’d have to get one later.

  Declan answered after the second ring. Faint pop music came through the speaker—it sounded like he was still at Eden Grocery. “What’s up, Caleb?”

  “Hey. So.” I coughed to clear my throat. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but something strange has been going on.”

  “Just tell me.”

  I went through the sordid tale again.

  “Why didn’t you tell me immediately, when the first woman approached you?”

  “Hey, I thought she was just kinda nuts. I mean, not all people are rational all the time. We grew up listening to Yelling Man, you know?”

  “True.” He was quiet for a minute. “Okay, here’s what I want you to do. Write down names and dates of everyone you can remember sleeping with. If you can’t remember the exact date, make a guess. Same goes for names. Describe them if you have to.”

  “Fuck, Declan, there aren’t that many of them,” I said.

  “There aren’t?”

  “Nope.”

  “Good.”

 
; I got off the phone and went into the kitchen to find Daphne. “Do you have a piece of paper and a pen I can borrow?”

  “Sure,” she said, digging through a drawer and coming out with a rhinestone-studded notebook and a pink pen.

  “I called your mate,” I said. “Can I have a cookie now?”

  Eyes sparkling, she told me I could, so I took the whole plate and sat at the dining table with my supplies.

  I thought it would be easiest to start with the most recent bedroom partner and work my way back in time.

  Remembering the one before Moira was proving somewhat difficult. It had been before the fart monster that came from Redemption...two whole weeks? It couldn’t have been that long. I stared at the notebook. No way.

  I was having a hard time recalling the woman. Jess? Gina? Gina Billington, that was right. She was a little older, so I hadn’t known her in high school, but I’d known her little sister, Starla.

  Shit. I’d had sex with Starla at some point, too. Oops. That had been over six months ago, though, so maybe neither of them would figure it out.

  Slowly, I recalled different exploits, and I spaced them out in the notebook in some semblance of order. I tried to stay within the past year.

  It still took me two pages, and I was sure I’d missed a few.

  I didn’t like seeing all these women listed out like this. It made me feel funny inside, like I’d done something wrong.

  “There is nothing wrong with sex between two consenting adults, as long as nobody gets hurt,” I muttered.

  It took me a moment of looking at the list before I figured out what it was that bothered me—this list was from my past, and it was a past version of me. A version of me before I found my mate.

  The front door of the B&B banged open. Declan was probably back.

  My phone rang and I checked the ID. Ms. Cortez.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Caleb, you’re in danger,” she said, her words coming fast.

  “Danger?”

  “I just got home. Jonas took the message from James O’Malley, who was extremely angry.”

  “Okay, what’s the message?”

  Her voice was a whisper. “James O’Malley is coming for you.”

  “Hey, asshole!” a man’s voice roared from the front of the B&B.

  Fuck.

  “Thanks for the warning, Ms. Cortez,” I said before hanging up. I cautiously moved to the back door, thinking maybe I could just ease myself outside and—

  “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, fuckhead,” James said from the kitchen doorway. The furious expression on his face spelled a world of pain.

  “Look, I don’t know what you think I did—”

  His eyes were dark and his fists were raised. “I told you to stay the fuck away from my baby sister.”

  “Hey, your sister is old enough to make her own decisions.”

  Daphne came into the room, saw James and me facing off, then quietly backed out again. She hollered, “If you break anything, you will fix it. If you break anything irreplaceable, Dec will break you!”

  “I’m irreplaceable,” I said to James.

  “You made my sister cry,” he said.

  I held up my hands. “Look, I’m trying to make it up to her. It’s a misunderstanding—”

  With a yell, he came at me. I dodged his first blow, but caught the second on my chin, which made my teeth split into my lip. Fuck, that hurt.

  “Moira—can kick my ass—without your help,” I said, dodging a flurry of punches.

  He got me again, so when I came up, I swung back.

  Got him in the nose.

  He narrowed his eyes and charged.

  “James Corbett O’Malley,” a female voice said from the doorway to the kitchen.

  Anna, James’s mate.

  He turned to face her, looking dazed.

  “You get away from Caleb right now,” she said, her golden-brown eyes flashing. “Stop this nonsense.”

  “He hurt Moira.”

  Anna nodded. “Then let Moira deal with him.”

  James shook his head, and droplets of blood from his nose dotted the floor.

  Daphne, as if sensing it might be safe, came back into the kitchen, hands on her hips.

  “Sorry, Daphne,” James muttered. “Where are the rags?”

  “Bottom drawer.” She pointed, then went over to stand next to Anna. The two of them watched while James took some rags from the drawer. He tossed one to me. I wiped the blood from my chin, then rinsed out the rag and took another one from him to help wipe the floor.

  “You should’ve stayed away from Moira,” James grumbled. “She’s my baby sister.”

  I nodded. “I tried to. For years. But I can’t anymore.”

  Chapter 14

  Moira

  “How long do women usually stay in the hospital when they have a baby?” I grabbed a teddy bear from the shelf and gave it a squeeze. It was fluffy and soft and hopefully appropriate. I had never considered myself particularly maternal, and shopping for a gift for Brianne’s baby made that clearer than ever.

  Part of me wanted to keep my distance. Seeing Caleb’s baby was going to bring all my feelings right to the surface, but Brianne was my friend, and I couldn’t avoid the truth forever. It had already been over twenty-four hours since I’d shut off my phone so I wouldn’t have to talk to Caleb.

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and turned it on. It didn’t mean I had to take his calls. It just meant that I could deal.

  “How long do they keep mamas in the hospital?” Brody repeated my question. “A day or two.”

  Brody seemed in a better mood, now that the septic job was done. Now that we were getting along better, I felt a little bad for giving him the work to begin with. Then again, someone had to do it.

  “Why do you know these things?” I asked. “Why do I expect you to know these things?”

  I flipped over the bear, which also had a normal looking plush backside. Settled on my choice, I headed for the registers.

  He followed me over. “So are you planning a hospital visit? Or are we going to her house?”

  “I’ll call and make sure she’s home,” I said. “And that she’s up for seeing people.”

  At least I wasn’t going to have to do this alone. I had Brody for moral support.

  On the way out to my truck, I called Brianne. Part of me hoped she wouldn’t be home, but she was, and she said it was a good time to visit, so we drove over and parked in her driveway.

  Holding onto the bear, I climbed out and headed up to the porch. Brody was right with me, a comforting presence when I wasn’t sure exactly how this was going to go down.

  Brianne opened the door before I could knock.

  Dark circles surrounded her eyes, and she was wearing pajamas and a messy bun. She looked exhausted. I tried not to look at the bundle in her arms and instead thrust out my gift.

  “Congrats,” I said. “I brought you a bear.”

  “Thank you,” she shifted the bundle in her elbow and took it. “It’s cute. When Maxwell is old enough to play with stuffed animals that have plastic eyes, I’m sure he’ll love it.”

  He. The baby was a boy.

  “I didn’t know about the eye thing,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I didn’t either. Hard to learn it all with things happening so fast, as they do.”

  “Sure,” I said, not quite understanding.

  “Want to hold him?”

  “Uh, no thanks.”

  “Please? Just for a minute. He cries as soon as I put him down and I really have to pee. When he cries, I cry.”

  I cringed and nodded.

  “Come here. Sit.” Brianne set me up on a big chair.

  I didn’t realize it was a rocker until I slid back.

  “Put your arms like this.” She gestured to her own arms, and I did my best to replicate the pose.

  “Basically just don’t drop him, and keep his head steady.”

  I
nodded my understanding, but she didn’t wait for me to agree before she put the baby into my arms.

  Brianne disappeared, and I had to look down to check the baby’s head. I’d only be holding him for a minute or two, and I couldn’t risk killing the little guy just because it would be hard to look at him.

  So I did—look at him, not kill him.

  He was perfect.

  Tiny fingers. Tiny nose. Tiny mouth. Tiny closed eyes.

  Tiny Caleb.

  I’d never wanted to be a mom, not until that moment, seeing a tiny version of Caleb in my arms. I wanted to be the one having his babies. I wanted him.

  “You’re a natural,” Brody said. “No surprise, given the way you’ve always been with me, Declan, James, and Finn.”

  A weird sound came from my throat.

  And then a big bubbly sound came from my lap, an explosive sound. And the baby’s face squinched up.

  “I think he just pooped,” Brody said.

  I laughed.

  “Better on you than me,” he said.

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  Brianne returned with a huge smile. “Thank you.”

  “No problem,” I said.

  She took her baby back, gave him a quick whiff, made a face, and took him for a change.

  Brody was staring at me.

  “What?”

  “I need to show you something.”

  Uh oh. I turned in my seat, eyeing him with suspicion.

  Brianne came back out to the living room, pushing Brody’s and my conversation to later. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

  “Moira, about the other day—” Brianne gave me a sad smile.

  “No explanation needed,” I said. Really, I didn’t want to talk to her or anyone about Caleb.

  She waved away my response. “I’m honestly in love with someone else.”

  “You are?” I asked.

  She nodded. “I think he might have feelings for me, too. Or maybe that’s just crazy new-mom brain.”

  I was dreadfully curious, but I wasn’t sure if our friendship was strong enough for me to ask. But I couldn’t resist. “Who is it?”

  “Elijah.”

  “The realtor?” I asked.

  “Yes.” She went on, a beatific expression on her face. “He really is the sweetest, nicest man.”