“Now, now, Tatum, don’t be like that. You’re the mother of my child and we can’t have that negative energy filtering down into our child.”
Wiatt clenched his jaw tightly. He wanted to yell at the guy and tell him it wasn’t a child, it was a pup. “This baby,” Tatum said looking down deliberately at her top and putting a hand to her stomach. “Will never be your child. Ever.” She said smiling back at Robbie and watching the scowl on his face turn into unpleasantness. “This baby will never know of your existence. You will be nobody to this child. You won’t exist. That’s what I came to tell you.”
“You don’t seem to understand, now that you’re here. That is my child and both you and the baby will be mine. I have no use for your lover here. So he’ll be killed.” Robbie yelled angrily back at Tatum advancing on Wiatt and Tatum. Wiatt pulled Tatum quickly behind him as Robbie marched up to them.
“Not going to happen.” Wiatt said back at him.
“Which part?” Robbie asked staring back at him.
“Any of it.” Wiatt replied staring him back down. “I’ve claimed this wolf.”
“Is that supposed to be the only thing that stops me, your word against mine because you want her too?” Robbie asked putting his hands on his hips. He laughed then and Wiatt let go of Tatum’s hand.
“No, not the only thing.” Wiatt grinned back at him. Wiatt watched Robbie’s eye line shift to behind him and he half turned in time to see Tatum being advanced on by two other male lycans.
“No!” Tatum yelled as they grabbed her by the arms and Wiatt turned and swung his fits out and upwards in a sky searing upper cut to one of the lycan’s faces. Tatum pulled herself out of the grip off the other one as he tried to drag her backwards, away from Wiatt’s reach. She was trying to dig her feet into the floor, but it was floorboards, that merely add to the slide and making it easier for the lycan grappling with Tatum.
Wiatt dropped down low and kicked out at the lycan’s knee joint. The lycan howled as his knee twisted awkwardly and went out from under him, releasing Tatum at the same time as she reached for Wiatt as he stood back up again and reached for her. They regrouped back to back and stepping away from the now floundering and screaming lycan on the floor.
“Very impressive.” Robbie said clapping his hands together. “I should have known, given your declaration of love, that you two wouldn’t be separated.”
“That’s right.” Wiatt muttered back at him. “Which means there is no room for you in either of our lives.”
“Too bad you’re not the daddy and you have no legal rights to her child.” Robbie taunted Wiatt back with.
“It’s amusing that you think legalities will even play into this Robbie.” Tatum panted back at him. “I’d rather me and my child die than ever let you get your hands on either of us again. Wiatt will be the only father this child knows.”
Robbie Harkness couldn’t hide his anger any longer as his face twitched and he fought it. The moonlight was beginning to feel like a comfortable heaviness soaking into their skin through the sky light roof. Wiatt looked around them. The situation could get ugly, as Tatum was already struggling, from throwing up earlier. She needed to shift and he needed to ease her into it so they didn’t loose the baby in the shape shift.
“Tonight’s not your night Harkness.” Wiatt said back at him and looking up at the roof and back at Robbie. Robbie followed his line of sight up at the starry night sky that could be seen through the clear glass top ceiling. As he did, Wiatt leapt at him and shape shifting his hands, he formed wolf paws, and claws, and werewolf teeth as he stabbed Robbie Harkness through his throat and up into the soft underside of his jaw and interior mouth.
“And she isn’t yours.” Wiatt muttered dragging his claws through the muscle and sinew of Robbie’s mouth, till he’d torn a hole, as the younger male, gasped and choked on blood, his hands trying to wrap around Wiatt’s wrists and pull back. “She’s mine and so is that pup in her belly.” Wiatt growled as Robbie’s body laxed a little and his hair began to grow fast as his skin stretched.
Wiatt waited till Robbie was well into his shift, trying to fight his way out of Wiatt’s attack, by healing himself as fast as he could by using his shape shift. He could feel the muscles knitting around his claws and tightening and pulling back the hole he’d torn in Robbie’s mouth shifting back to normal.
Wiatt growled and pulling his claws out quickly, least he get caught and trapped somehow in the healing muscle. Shifting his paws back to hands, Wiatt ignored the bile of a quick shift in his throat and grappled with Robbie as he placed one hand on the back of his neck and fought for position on the lycan’s chin. Wiatt roared as he applied pressure and angled Robbie’s head between his hands and jerked it upright.
The sound of Robbie’s neck snapping was louder than expected and his body laxed and dropped to the ground instantly at an awkwardly odd angle. He looked down at the dead lycan, panting. The presence of Tatum nearby brought him back to reality as he smelt her fear.
“Tay,” Wiatt said spinning around to find her wide eyed and staring back at a pack of shape shifted lycans slowly stalking their way from the end of the room towards them. Robbie’s lackeys had shape shifted and were closing in on them, in a room with four exits. The roof, which was too high to access and break through, the doorway the lycans had entered in through, and the doorway they had entered in through which was also being blocked by growling lycans. Wiatt guided Tatum backwards, towards him, back towards the head of the room, where the throne was located.
“No big, sudden movements okay?” He said back at her as Tatum silently nodded her head. “There’s a door to the side of the throne.” Wiatt said softly to her glancing over his back shoulder. “Once we get through it we’re going to need to run and get the hell out of here. Can you do that for me baby?”
“Yes.” Tatum whispered back at him.
“We’re almost there.” Wiatt said glancing back at the doorway and raising his arm out behind him, waiting for the touch of the door handle.
“Quickly, now, they’re distracted by the body. Now!” Tatum whispered fiercely as Wiatt yanked her backwards and reached for the door at the same time, opening it and pulling them through it and shutting the door quickly as the first of what was sure to be many, lycan bodies it against it.
“That’s not going to hold them back for long. Come on.”
25
Tatum tried to shake off the feeling of faintness as Wiatt and her ran out of the house and onto the grounds of Robbie Harkness’s compound. But it was beginning to affect her more than she wanted to admit, along with the nights moon on the rise.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.” Tatum said tripping over the ground as they ran and Wiatt pulled her up again, not allowing her to hit the ground.
“Tay, “He said pulling her aside to a tree and letting her rest her back against it, looking around them in the darkness of the grounds. Wiatt could see where light from the house was spilling out. “I don’t think we’re far from the front of the house.”
“I think I’m going to pass out.” Tatum panted as her eyes rolled back in her head and she started to slide off the tree trunk. Wiatt reached for her and wrapping his hands around her upper back and under her legs.
“I got you beautiful. Everything’s going to be alright.” He said lifting her up. With a grunt, he started walking as briskly as he could, carrying a limp Tatum in his arms, towards the driveway they had come down. He had to get Tatum to somewhere safe. She had to keep up her fluids and ease into her shape shift. Although the thought crossed his mind that if Tatum was unconscious that she might just as easily shape shift without any resistance or fear or anything going wrong with the pup. Wiatt was debating weather it was the right approach for her, when he spotted the parked car. “Almost there.” He muttered jogging over to the car with her in his arms. Bending down he looked inside the car. “Damn it, no keys.” Wiatt straightened up and looked down at Tatum sleeping in his arms, h
is eyes going over the folds of her clothing to the bump in her belly region. “We’re getting out here. I just need to,” He looked around them. He could either lay Tatum down on the front porch of the house, which was too far away from him to reach in a hurry. Or he could just place her on the ground beside him, while he opened up the car, put her in the back seat and then went in search of the keys. The light glow of light from far back in the darkened grounds of the house, told Wiatt all he needed to know. The wolves were outside now. So Tatum and him needed to be anywhere but outside.
“Ugh,” He grunted and slowly lowered down to his knees to lay Tatum gently down on the dirt covered ground. Pulling on the door handles he found it all locked up. “Damn it.” Wiatt muttered turning his back to the car and looking at Tatum. “We’re getting out of here.” He muttered and walked around the back of the car to the far side and bending his arm, slammed it into the passenger side door’s window. Shattering it enough to clear a hole for him to reach his hand in through and unlock the door. Pulling his hand back out through the glass hole, Wiatt pulled on the door handle to the back passenger side and opened it.
“Alright, come on baby we’re going home.” Wiatt grunted lifting her up off the ground again and ducking them both under the doorway and laying Tatum down on the backseat. Tucking her legs inside, he closed the car door.
Wiatt raced around to the driver side and pulled down the window visor and slide into the driver seat as a set of keys dropped down off it into his palm. “Thank you Odin.” He muttered slamming the car door closed and starting up the car’s ignition as the howl of lycans erupted from the darkness of the grounds and he knew it was meant for them. Turning the steering wheel quickly, Wiatt peeled the car out of the Harkness compound and drove them the hell out of there.
26
It was an about thirty minutes later that Tatum came to, moaning. “Hey, hey,” Wiatt said quickly by her side, picking up a glass of water and handing it to her.
“Thanks.” Tatum croaked back at him drinking the whole thing down and looking around them. “Where are we?”
“Another hotel.” Wiatt replied taking the empty glass of her. “The other one’s been compromised. Did you need more?”
“Yes, please.” Tatum husked watching him pour another glass. “What happened?”
“We got the hell out of dodge and now my plan is for us to sit tonight out and then get the hell out of Boston in the morning, first thing.” Wiatt replied back at her helping her to sit up on the bed. Tatum put the glass up to her lips and drank it down quickly. “Hey, easy, go easy, I want you to keep it down.” He muttered pulling the glass back from her mouth slightly.
“My stomach,” Tatum grumbled causing Wiatt to sit up in alarm.
“What about your,”
“Hunger pains, I know it’s bad timing, but I need food, big food.” She said back at him. Wiatt bent forward and kissed her forehead, taking the glass back out of her hands and placing it on the table beside the bed.
“I got you covered.” Wiatt said sliding off the bed and wheeling over a tray with three different closhes on it.
Tatum’s eyes widened. “Oh tell me you got hot food.”
“Yep.” He replied unveiling one of the plates. Tatum reached out for it, her fingers wiggling. Wiatt chuckled and handed it to her with her cutlery on the side. He watched as she started to cut up the steak on the plate, running it through the gravy that was on the side.
“Oh god, where are my manners, did you eat? Do you want some?” Tatum asked offering the forked piece of meat to him.
Wiatt shook his head. “I’ll eat once I’ve got you sorted out and our escape plan in motion.”
“I guess my plan to find out more about Robbie kind of fell through. So, is it that bad?” She asked before chewing down on the meat.
“Well, let’s see, I killed Robbie Harkness, and we had what equated to a pack, chasing us out of his compound grounds and we know that the lycans run Boston and we still need to break through the city limits without being detected by them.”
“So bad.” Tatum said with a full mouth. “You sure he’s dead because of what you did?” She asked arching an eyebrow up at him.
“I snapped his neck Tatum. His was mid shift when I did it. You don’t come back from that. Shifting not done at the right time makes an opponent vulnerable, you need to remember that.” Wiatt answered her factually. He looked at her focusing on her food. “Tay, are we good here? I thought we had an agreement, and I was within my rights of our agreement.” Wiatt started as a sliver of panic entered his rationale and strategizing brain.
Tatum nodded her head and looked over at Wiatt. “We’re good. I uh, am surprised I don’t feel upset about it.”
“It could be shock and it could be worse, but honestly, with a pregnant pack mate to tend to, it’s enough.” Wiatt replied picking up a sparkling water bottle and sipping from it. “You’ve still got to shift tonight, which is why we’re not going to try and leave till morning. You’ve already had enough excitement for tonight. I don’t want to making any mistakes from here on in.”
Tatum cut up her food and speared it with her fork. “Mistakes?”
Wiatt sighed. “I could’ve taken those three lycans when they came for us at the hotel. I could’ve done any number of things that would’ve meant we’d never got to Harkness’s compound and you’d be put into danger by it. But I screwed up, I hesitated. I weighed up the options wrong.”
“Wiatt, I wasn’t in danger.”
“You threw up everything you’d eaten today, were dehydrated and you fainted mid way through a chase by a pack of lycans. You weren’t exactly at you’re fighting weight.” He replied back at her. Tatum put her cutlery down.
“You mean I endangered the pup.” She said back at him solemnly.
“No, that’s not what I was saying.” Wiatt said reaching for her hand. “I mean, we didn’t know how you were going to react to seeing Robbie again. You took one look at him Tay and started throwing up. Look what matters now is you eat as much as you need to, keep you’re fluids up and I’m going to update Paris on the situation and see if our back up has already arrived and can get us out of here after you’ve shifted.”
Tatum started cutting up her meal again. “And how am I supposed to shift when I’m you know, this anxious. I mean, we know my emotions play a huge part in my shape shift and there’s no way for me to avoid shifting is there? I can’t just wait it out like you can.”
“That would be where I come in.” Wiatt smiled back at her, picking up the room phone. “You just eat and drink and leave the rest to me, I told you, I got you.”
“I know you do and I love you for that.” Tatum replied back at him.
Wiatt dialed Paris’s cell phone number. “Wiatt, where are you? The Manhattan Maen wolves have arrived and said that there’s obvious signs of a fight at your room. Is Tatum okay?”
“We’re safe. But we had a close encounter with Harkness and his pack and it didn’t go down without a fight.” Wiatt waited but Paris wasn’t the type to ask unnecessary questions. “Harkness isn’t going to be a problem, but the rest of his pack might be.” He said softly into the phone glancing back over his shoulder at Tatum who was already started on the second meal he’d ordered for her. Paris sighed heavily down the line in understanding. “Paris they run this town, we have to sit tonight out. Tatum needs to rest. We’re going to leave first thing tomorrow. But that might give them enough time to track us down.”
“Sit tight and I’ll send the Manhattan Maen your way to lend a helping hand too. Give me your address.” Wiatt recited the name and address of the hotel to his big brother. “You two stay safe.” Paris signed off with as Wiatt hung up the phone.
“How do you feel now?” He asked taking the empty plate out of Tatum’s hand and putting it on the trolley with the other plates.
“Better.” Tatum sighed patting her stomach. “Thank you.”
“No problem. What else do you need Miss Lee?”
“Uh, it’s D’arenberg and I could do with a shower.” She said raking her fingers through her hair roughly.
“Sorry, had to lie you down on the ground to get the car keys.”
Tatum nodded her head. “Sorry for fainting on you.”
“All our clothes are back at the first hotel. But they do have bathrobes here.” Wiatt said causing Tatum to smile and laugh lightly. “Don’t worry, the Manhattan Maen werewolves that are here to help us will get our stuff and bring it to us.”
“Good, so you can help me get out of my dirty clothes then?”
Wiatt smiled down at her. “Oh yes.”
27
Wiatt followed Tatum into the bathroom and leaned back on the basin top and watched her do a slow revealing strip tease for his benefit. If he had thought he was anxious before, running away from a pack of lycans carrying his pregnant pack mate, he’d been wrong. His was anxious now, happily anxious in watching the bits of her clothing slowly slip off her, and reveal another bit of her smooth skin to him.
“Tay,” He groaned, unable to wait any longer as he pushed off the bench top and moved towards her. Sliding to his knees, he rested his hands on her hips and kissing her bump, and ran his tongue over her hip bones, as his fingers, walked their way up her, till they reached the underside of her heavy breasts and could feel the weight of her growing breasts in his hands as he slowly stood up, kissing his way up her body, till he found a breast and pulled on her nipple with his teeth.
Her fingers pulled at his clothing and he pulled back enough for her to help him pull his top off him, so she could feel the smoothness of his chest up against her. Tatum’s hands slid down his abdomen, reaching inside his jeans, wrapping around his hard and contained cock. “Loose the jeans stud.” She uttered back at him removing her hand as she grinned at him.
Wolves Bloodlines Page 9
