by Kaia Pierce
I’m pregnant, I thought to myself. I still couldn’t believe it, so I tried saying it out loud. “I’m pregnant?”
It was a disorienting thought. I felt like I didn’t know my own body anymore, like this was all happening to someone else and not me.
“I’m pregnant,” I whispered. This time, I didn’t say it like it was a question.
If I was pregnant, it was Caleb’s child, and that meant that there was a piece of him inside of me.
Slowly, my right hand drifted down to my lower stomach. Somewhere down there, a tiny little life was beating its way into existence. A piece of Caleb, and a piece of me.
Chapter 14: Caleb
My cock was hard the entire ride to Liam’s house. By the time we rolled to a stop in his driveway, it was wedged painfully up against my stomach, pounding like a toothache. I needed to get it inside of Caleb, and I needed it bad.
We managed to keep our hands off of each other until we got inside. Once that door was shut and locked behind us, all bets were off.
I forced Liam up against the wall and dug my hips against him, making him moan as we ground our bulges together.
“Please, I can’t wait anymore,” he said in a choked voice as he unzipped his jacket.
Clumsily, we spilled into the hallway, bumping into the walls and each other as we shed each item of clothing. We left a trail of it into Liam’s bedroom, where I finally threw him on his back and fucked him with his legs over my shoulders.
“Deeper, deeper,” he kept whispering.
It was the first time I was fucking him face-to-face, and it was my first time seeing just how much pleasure he felt from me. He moaned uncontrollably with his eyes rolled back in agony. I could barely even contain myself as I stared down at him.
When I came, I shoved my mouth up against his. My abs burned as I buried my cock one last time to let my cream explode into him. My body jerked, and my entire brain sparked with ecstasy.
I reached down between us to touch his cock as I slowly finished emptying myself. Liam shuddered, still impaled on my dick. My fingers closed around him, and I began jerking him off.
Liam threw his head back to expose the strained muscles of his neck as he moaned.
“Oh…oh my God!” he screamed.
His little asshole pulsed. I gave Liam a few more strokes, and he finally came on his stomach.
By then, the second orgasm had mounted. As Liam’s pulsing asshole gripped down on my pounding shaft, a final explosion tore out of me, and the knot swelled up in my cock to seal our two bodies together.
The endorphin rush I got while knotting was like a shot of heroin times ten. I held onto Liam’s legs, still draped over my shoulder, while my mind whited out for a second.
“Goddamn,” Liam murmured.
I closed my eyes and collapsed on top of him, finally spent. His chest was against my ear, and I could hear his breath rattling around inside, hollow as a drum.
He pushed my damp hair off of my forehead and pressed his lips to my skin. “God, that was amazing. We’ll have to enjoy this while we still can.”
Planting my hands on the bed, I lifted myself up so I could look at him. “What do you mean?”
“I’m pregnant,” Liam said with a laugh. “My body’s going to change. Sometimes I won’t even be in the mood. I think I’m already having a little morning sickness.”
Without even meaning to, I found myself gazing down at Liam’s stomach. At the moment, it was taut and flat, with the thinnest trail of dark hair running down the center, pointing the way past his hips to his crotch. He didn’t look pregnant. Not yet, anyway.
I brushed my fingertips across his abdomen. “I still can’t believe it.”
“Do you think this is a crazy idea?”
“Of course I do. But once I get control of the pack—” I began.
“Hang on. You’re not thinking of sticking to that original plan, are you?” Liam swiftly interrupted.
“Actually, I am sticking to the original plan,” I said. “It’s worked so far.”
“So far? Caleb, I got shot. And I’m pregnant. We have a baby to think about now.”
“What’s better than having the pack alpha for a father? Believe me, I’m thinking about the baby all right.”
Suddenly, my cock returned to its natural size, and I could finally pull myself out of Liam’s cavity.
“A stable, violence-free environment, for one,” Liam shot back. “Who knows what Garland could be planning right now?”
I swung my legs over the side of the bed so I could sit properly. “I can protect us from Garland. I’m working with Kaden and his betas to—”
Liam shook his head. “Don’t tell me that Kaden thinks you’re on his side, when you’re planning to overthrow him behind his back at the same time. That’s a pretty fucked up thing to do, Caleb.”
“I…” I began, before I trailed off.
I actually had to laugh. I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation. I simply shook my head, too.
“My goals haven’t changed. You knew about the plan going into this. A baby doesn’t change anything,” I said, and I immediately shut up afterwards, sitting in silence so Liam could let my words sink in.
I could feel him staring at the side of my face.
“I’m in love with you, Caleb McArthur,” Liam whispered.
My heart stopped.
Liam pushed himself up and sat on the edge of the bed, just a few inches away from me. “Do you love me?”
I growled in frustration. “I…I can’t answer that right now,” I said honestly.
Liam’s first reaction was dead silence.
“Don’t worry,” he finally said, “because you just did. I’d like you to leave, please.”
“Liam, don’t be like that.”
“Just…go,” Liam said. His voice was strained, and a red flush formed on his cheeks.
Liam was crying. My inner wolf roared to life inside of me, but I had to stay strong.
Focus on the goal, I told myself. Things were finally working out for me. I’d been waiting for this moment for my whole life.
Liam stood up and began picking his way around the room to get dressed. After putting on his boxers, he moved into the hallway to retrieve his jeans and tee shirt. I had no choice but to follow suit and get dressed alongside him.
By the time I grabbed my jacket off the arm of the couch, Liam was fully dressed, and we were standing in the living room. He was practically showing me the door.
I ran my hands through my hair. “So now what? Are you going to rat me out to Kaden? Undo my years of work and planning?”
Liam tilted his head back to look up at me. His brown eyes were wide and earnest, and I knew just then that whatever he was about to say would be the absolute truth.
“I still love you, even if you don’t love me. I’ll leave the ball in your court. You can decide how you’re going to fix this. But my first priority is this baby, Caleb. And if things get too dangerous, I’m leaving to find a new pack. My baby is never going to grow up feeling scared or threatened. You’re not the only one who’s made promises to yourself.”
I could only return his stare. Deep inside, I was feeling conflicted. Liam had survived the gunshot, but he was still beyond my reach.
“I’ll just go,” I whispered.
I cupped his cheek and placed a kiss on his lips, a kiss that deepened into something more passionate and hungry. My heart thumped as I felt the first tingling temptation to stay. I had to tear myself away from his gasping mouth before things got too hot.
“Talk to you later, I guess,” I said. When I opened the front door, a gust of icy wind swept into the room.
“Yeah, I guess,” Liam echoed.
Chapter 15: Liam
It was another busy day at the bakery.
After putting out the fresh morning loaves, I was posted at the register behind the counter, accompanied by a pair of baristas. Together, we worked like components of a machine as we tried to
stay ahead of the first morning rush. Already after two hours of opening, we had a line going out the door—
And I was trying hard not to puke.
Of course, it was because of the pregnancy. I was feeling all the symptoms I heard women complaining about over the years, symptoms I never dreamt of experiencing myself. My feet and ankles ached from standing at the register, I had a stabbing pain in my temples, and I was sick to my stomach.
Out of all my symptoms, my morning sickness was just the worst. It didn’t help that an entire week had passed since I’d seen or spoken to Caleb. Thinking about the last time I saw him, about how he just couldn’t say that he loved me, kept my stomach in knots all day long.
I was able to duck into the restroom when the rush finally ended. I dry-gagged for a few minutes, washed my hands, and wiped the back of my neck with a wet paper towel. Afterwards, when I walked back out, I noticed two customers standing at the counter.
“Welcome to Morning Glory. How can I—” I began.
Then, I stopped short.
I recognized the two men standing at the counter.
Unfortunately, that was not a good thing.
“Hi,” Garland Grayback said with a grin. “Liam, is it? Sorry, I’m not as familiar with Kaden’s omegas. This is my colleague, Carl Henderson, by the way.”
The man standing beside Garland was grayer and thicker than the last time I saw him, but he had the same menacing smile, and the same gold studs in his ears.
“We’ll take two turkey and cheese croissants,” Carl Henderson said.
I stared at his face in disbelief. It had to have been about twenty years since the last time I saw him, yet I never forgot his face. Now, inexplicably, he was standing in front of me. Every last instinct in my body was screaming at me to run, but I couldn’t. I was still on the clock.
Slowly, I trudged toward the register. “Would you like those warmed up?” I mumbled. My fingers trembled as I stabbed the buttons on my screen.
Somehow, I managed to perform the rest of my duties without hurling. I popped two croissant sandwiches out of the display case and into the toaster, feeling Garland and Carl’s eyes on my back the entire time. Once they were done, I bagged them up and ran Carl’s card.
“Can’t wait to dig in,” Carl said. He opened the paper bag I handed him to watch the steam rising from inside. His nostrils flared when he inhaled. “Just like a bun in the oven, right?” He winked.
My body went cold.
“We should get going,” Garland said, turning towards the door. He gave me a stiff, parting nod. “Tell Kaden we said hi. His brother, too.”
I watched them leave, my veins turned to ice. The moment they walked out the door and it slammed shut behind them, I grabbed the closest trash can and retched inside.
“Shit!” my coworker, Kathleen, said, when she walked out of the kitchen to find me.
“Don’t worry. My shift’s almost over,” I said weakly.
“Food poisoning?” Kathleen guessed. She leaned back against the counter, even though our managers told us over and over not to do that. She was still wearing her hairnet.
“Yeah,” I said. Then, I felt another wave of nausea hitting me. By then, there was nothing left in my stomach, so I was forced to endure a few more seconds of painful clenching.
I covered my mouth and held up a finger, and I ran around the corner to the break room, where my phone was stashed in my locker. My first instinct was to call Caleb, but I stopped myself once I got the phone in my hand.
Why should I call him? I reasoned. Sure, he was the father of my child and wanted to try to be a family, but he couldn’t even bring himself to answer a simple question. What kind of man did that make him?
My choice was easy. I decided to call Kaden’s mate, Josh, who was also a deputy sheriff. He picked up on the second ring. Judging by the background noise coming from his end, I guessed that he was at the station. I imagined him in uniform sitting at a desk, his sandy hair neatly trimmed and combed, his face clean-shaven. Out of all the shifters I knew, Josh looked the least like one.
“What’s up, Liam?”
“Grayback knows about the baby,” I blurted out.
It took Josh a few seconds to grasp what I just said. “What?”
“And there’s more,” I said. I reminded him of my experiences with my previous pack before recounting Garland’s visit to the bakery. I told him about the man who kidnapped my mother. “His name’s Carl Henderson. He’s friends with Garland.”
Once I finished the story, I could hear that Josh had fallen completely silent on the other end.
“Why would he do such a thing?” he said.
“To get to Kaden?” I said, but the moment I did, I realized my mistake. “Or to Caleb.”
“And did you tell Caleb yet?” Josh said calmly.
I hesitated before I answered. “Why should I tell him?” I said.
“Because he’s the father of your child.”
“Just because he’s the father doesn’t mean he’s my…”
My throat felt tight all of a sudden. I turned my face away to cough a few times into my elbow.
“Look. You know Caleb and I aren’t really talking right now. The whole pack knows, so let’s just drop it. Garland Grayback and the literal devil just walked into my workplace and threatened my baby. What should I do? I’m asking you both as a packmate and a cop.”
I could hear Josh breathing softly as he considered my words.
“Legally, there’s not much I can do, since they technically didn’t commit a crime. But I can have a talk with him and give him a warning. Even shifters have to have respect for the law,” he finally said. “But you should call Caleb anyway. You can’t be alone right now, regardless of Grayback trying to scare you.”
“I’m not alone. I still have Logan,” I said. Who’s practically never home. “Please just do this for me. I…I don’t want it to happen again.”
“Of course I will. Just try to relax now, and give me a call if you need anything. And I mean anything,” Josh said earnestly.
In that moment, I realized that as bizarre as my circumstances were, I knew only one other person who could understand what I was going through, and that was Josh.
“How did you handle it?” I said, gripping the phone hard to my cheek.
“The pregnancy?”
“No, the morning sickness.”
Josh laughed. “Soup,” he said. “Lots of soup, and saltine crackers. It was the only thing I could keep down for a while. Try broccoli-cheddar chowder.”
“I will,” I said. “Thanks.”
I was smiling when I hung up, but I didn’t exactly feel better.
Chapter 16: Caleb
The River County Sheriff’s Office, located in the heart of downtown Riverrun, was the last place I’d ever want to meet Kaden. But when he called to tell me that Liam had been threatened at work, I had no choice.
I had to come.
The moment I got the call, I hopped on my motorcycle and rode into town. I passed by the Grayback Industries headquarters on the way there, and I resisted the urge to stop. I kept imagining that Garland was up in his office, and I kept imagining that my fingers were wrapped around his neck.
Ignoring the rage building up inside, I gripped my handlebars and pressed on, finally arriving at the beige-colored building. Kaden’s Harley was already parked outside. I parked mine beside his and rushed in.
“Where is he?” I demanded.
I was in a room full of desks. A young, blonde secretary, the only soul in the room, stared at me with a look of alarm.
“Caleb?”
I turned to the left. My brother’s mate, Josh, emerged from a wide hallway. My instincts tingled at the sight of him. It was my alpha bite that had turned him into a shifter, after all.
Josh was in his uniform, and he gestured for me to come with him. “Kaden’s in my office,” he said.
Without a word, I followed him. I felt undeniably awkward, because it was my f
irst time interacting with my sired omega. To think that I could’ve had a small pack of my very own, only to turn into Josh’s office and see Kaden standing in the corner, made me explosively angry.
My wolf was tearing its way out of me. I stuffed my lengthening claws into my jacket pockets until I finally calmed myself down.
“Good, you’re here,” Kaden said as he pulled up a chair.
I couldn’t believe he could sit down at a time like this. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Kaden’s face fell. “Liam didn’t tell you?”
Josh cleared his throat. “He called me first. He wanted us to handle it legally.” He pointed at the chair beside Kaden’s. “Caleb, please. Have a seat.”
“Tell me what happened first,” I said, as calmly as I could.
“Garland paid Liam a visit at the bakery,” Josh began as he sat down at his desk.
Slowly, I took a seat as well.
“He had a colleague with him. Carl Henderson. He’s the alpha who took over Liam’s childhood pack. They know about Liam’s baby.”
“Our baby,” I snapped before I could stop myself.
Carl Henderson. Knowing how close I’d come to actually meeting the man who destroyed Liam’s childhood made me sick with guilt. I began shaking. “Liam hasn’t talked to me in a week. I can’t believe he didn’t even—”
“Let’s just worry about keeping the baby safe,” Josh said.
“And how are we going to do that from inside your office?” I said.
“The truce is…well, we don’t know if the truce is broken or not. So the station is the safest place to have a formal meeting with Garland,” Josh said. “We need to resolve this legally.”
“And if the legal way doesn’t work?” I said.
“If it doesn’t work,” Kaden chimed in, “we’ll try some shifter justice.”
Josh looked appalled, but I gave my brother a nod.
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
“Well, he should be here soon,” Josh said, checking his watch. “How about we go meet him outside?”
“Does it have to be outside?” I said, my teeth clenched. After the day I’d just had, I wasn’t sure if I could keep my anger in check.
