The Alpha's Secret Family: Howls Romance

by Jessie Lane

  Stone heaved a sigh of relief. “It’s done, then.”

  “It’s done,” the Sulphur Springs’ alpha agreed. “I apologize for my daughter’s involvement and hope this will not affect the alliance we have.”

  What was that old adage? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? The Sulphur Springs’ alpha had done the right thing, but Stone didn’t know if he would ever be able to trust him the same way again. Therefore, it would be wiser to keep the alliance intact so he could keep a closer eye on the man.

  “The alliance is still intact, but I would like to know now if there are any more magic-wielding shifters you’re hiding.”

  “None,” the other man said. His voice sounded truthful, but Stone would be wary of that pack from here on out.

  After the two men hung up, Stone sat silently in his truck for a few moments. He couldn’t imagine how hard that must have been for the other man, to interrogate and prosecute his own daughter like that. Not only had the man just lost his daughter, he had just given Stone some pretty powerful ammo to use against him if he had wanted to make a war out of this. Stone could only find himself grateful that the man had done the right thing.

  It was hard to believe that after months of worrying and missing his mate, that it was all over. Now he could give one hundred percent of his attention to wooing his mate back into his arms.

  Getting out of the truck, he slowly made his way to the front door and knocked. The door opened, and the same woman who had turned him away for the seven days prior was there at the door. His heart sank that this would be the same.

  “I would like to see Dia please.”

  The woman gave him a sad look. “I’m sorry, but she says she’s still not ready to see you.”

  Stone swallowed his pride and gave the woman he loved what she needed—space from him.

  Nodding, he turned and walked away, heading for his truck. Hopefully tomorrow would have a different outcome.

  Chapter Fifteen

  One week later…

  “He’s back again, Dia,” Charlotte, the woman who ran the Fresh Start Women’s Center, told her.

  Damn, the man was persistent. But maybe that was because he had told her the truth that day in the hospital and he really was her husband. She couldn’t think of any other reason why a man would come every day for two weeks straight, only to be turned away at the door, time and time again.

  Charlotte looked back at Dia from the window at the front of the house and said, “Maybe you should talk to him this time.”

  “Maybe I should.” She sighed. “He certainly doesn’t listen to directions very well.”

  Yesterday, she’d had Charlotte tell him she needed more time and to give her at least a week before he came back again.

  Dia got up from where she was sitting on the couch when she heard Charlotte mutter, “What’s he doing?” Two seconds later Charlotte said, “Come look, Dia. He has a sign!”

  She picked up her pace until she was standing next to Charlotte, looking out the large bay window.

  There he stood in the grass, wearing jeans; a white, long-sleeved shirt; and a beanie on his head with a big white sign that said in bold, black letters: “As you wish, princess.”

  The feeling of a million bricks crashing down on her brain totally overwhelmed her. Dia had to put her forehead against the window as she cried out in pain. Subconsciously, she could hear the other women in the house running toward her, asking if she was okay. Dia even heard the front door next to her slamming open and shouts of fear from the women surrounding her as the man who claimed to be her husband stormed into the house, demanding to see her. None of it was enough to stop the barrage of memories that crashed into her mind like a Mack truck on steroids.

  It was like a movie on fast forward as bits of her life flashed before her eyes. Her parents. Her twelfth birthday when they gave her a brand-new bicycle. Going to cosmetology school, and then mentoring under Betty Anne.

  Last but not least were the memories of her would-be husband, who she knew had lied about who he was to her but not his name. Stone was her mate, not her husband. And she immediately understood why he had to tell her that lie. Because she was a human mated to a wolf shifter.

  Most importantly, Dia knew there was one very important fact that he had not lied about: he loved her. She knew that with every fiber of her being now, and hated that she had forgotten about his love for even a minute. The thought brought a new wave of tears on.

  Dia and her baby were not truly alone anymore. She had some of her memories back, and now she had Stone. They were going to be a family, and she would never have to feel the crushing emotion of that loneliness again.

  Ignoring all the others around her, Dia threw herself in Stone’s direction and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  He hugged her tight to his body and rocked her back and forth in a soothing motion. “Shhh, it’s okay, princess; I’ve got you.”

  With emotion clogging her throat, tears rolling down her face, and their baby pressing against them, Dia said the only thing that came to mind.

  “I’m not a fucking princess.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  One week later…

  Dia wasn’t sure if it was pregnancy hormones, but she was about to give in to the urge to hit her mate over the head with a frying pan.

  For an entire week, Stone had been babying her and treating her as if she were fragile glass. It was nice at first to be pampered, but it got old really quick.

  The man wouldn’t even let her take a shower by herself, which would be fine if they were having sexy fun times in the shower, but they weren’t. It was because he was afraid she was going to slip and hit her head, and according to Stone, he never, ever wanted Dia to forget who he was ever again.

  Then there was the food. My God, the man kept trying to shove food in her face.

  “You’re eating for two,” he would say. Well, with the way he was trying to feed her twenty times a day, one might think she was eating for a whole flippin’ football team.

  Last, but certainly not least, was the sex … Or lack of it.

  Her mate had not made love to her since she remembered who he was. It was like he was afraid to touch her. Afraid that the smallest wrong move would somehow cause her to lose her memory all over again. She couldn’t keep living like this.

  And besides irrational anger, the other thing pregnancy hormones seemed to do was make her horny. She felt like a cat in heat, and her mate wouldn’t soothe the constant ache she carried around these days.

  This just wouldn’t do. So, Dia decided something drastic needed to be done. She needed to seduce her mate.

  That was why, at four o’clock in the morning, she was wide awake, staring at him, trying to decide the best way to plan her move. And as she laid there and plotted, Stone rolled over to his back, and she watched in fascination as his erect dick tented the sheet.

  Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who was horny. That made her decision of what she was going to do next so much easier.

  Slowly, so as to not wake him, Dia pulled the sheet down his body until it cleared his knees and his proud erection stood tall in the air. Then she quietly made her way between his legs and placed her hands on the bed on either side of his hips. This left her hovering over the part of him she was practically drooling for. She then bent her head forward and gave his length a long, soft lick.

  Stone moaned in his sleep at the touch. She loved the way her mate moaned, so she licked him again, continuing the long, slow licks, tracing the slit of his head, teasing him in his sleep. His hips jerked a little here and there at her touches, but Stone had yet to wake up.

  Dia had tasted every part of his length when she finally took him whole into her mouth and began to suck. She loved the softness of his skin as she moved her mouth up and down his shaft. Adding her hand to the base of his cock, she gave a little squeeze and heard Stone’s breath hitch in response. Dia knew now her mate was awake.

  “Fuck, pri
ncess, what are you doing to me?”

  Dia pulled her mouth off his dick so she could answer his question. “Loving you. I need you, Stone.”

  Sliding up his body, she rubbed her core across his length, teasing herself with the rocking motion. Then Dia put one hand on his chest for support as she slid over and over again, hitting her clit and driving her need higher. For the first time, she could feel the sexual changes that pregnancy had brought in her. The fullness and sensitivity to her breasts, and the way her clit felt like it was on a hair trigger.

  “If you’re gonna do something with that, sweetheart, you need to hurry up. I’m about to blow.”

  She moaned as Stone ran his hands up her body, over her belly, and then farther up still to cup her breasts in his hands, teasing her nipples with the pad of his thumbs. Dia was soaking now with want, and he was the only one who could fill her needs.

  Rocking her body upward a little, she let the head of his cock slide to her opening, and then slowly started to sit down on it. Her mate’s hands moved to her hips to help steady her, but at least he wasn’t stopping her.

  “Son of a bitch, that feels so good.”

  Dia paused when she was filled with him, enjoying the sensation and squeezing her inner walls around his length. There was no pain or anything else that implied she needed to slow down, so she lifted up, and then sat down on his length hard again, setting the tempo for how she wanted to take her mate. Fully, as if she were as much an animal as he was.

  She rose and fell, increasing her tempo until all she could feel was that edge of pleasure. On the precipice of falling over into ecstasy, it seemed Stone was right there with her. He held on to her a little tighter with his hands, helping to lift her, then slamming her down on his length as he started to lose control. Dia didn’t mind the help at all as her body tensed up, her orgasm coming, making her limbs twitch erratically.

  “Fuck, I can feel you squeezing me,” he panted out as he lifted her up, then let her fall on his length again.

  “Please, Stone, please,” Dia started to beg, unable to put into words what she needed.

  “I’ve got you, baby. Just hold on to me.” With that, Stone sat up, then rolled them both until he was now on top of her, making sure to put space between their bodies so she wouldn’t feel crushed. Then he buried his face in her neck.

  “Bite me, love,” Dia panted out. “Give me another mating mark. Remind me what it’s like to feel like I’m totally yours.”

  “Mine,” Stone growled against her neck.

  “Yes, yours,” she breathed back.

  One thrust after another, she took his thick cock into her body, loving the way he took control and made them both feel good.

  Dia started to think there was no way she could ever feel better than this, but then Stone ran the edge of his fangs over her neck, teasing her with the hint of what was to come.

  “Please!”

  “I love the way you beg, mate.”

  “I’ll beg all you want,” she panted back, “as long as you make love to me like this from now on. Please, Stone, don’t push me away again.”

  “Never,” he growled against her skin before piercing his teeth on the spot where her neck met her shoulder.

  The flash of pain sent her over the edge and into that euphoric place of pleasure that only he could take her.

  Stone’s hips started to jerk erratically before he filled her with his seed, making her burn from the inside out. Then Dia was running her hand over his sweaty back, petting him lovingly as they both came down from their sexual haze.

  Eventually, Stone pulled back enough to look her in the face and asked, “Did you really feel as though I was pulling away from you, love?”

  Biting her bottom lip nervously, she nodded, not knowing what to say. How did one tell their mate that, because they didn’t seem to want to be intimate with the other, they felt bereft of love and attention?

  He, on the other hand, wasn’t at a loss for words.

  Stone shook his head. “I’m so sorry, princess. I promise that’s not what I meant to do. I’m just so scared of losing you again that the wolf and I felt the need to be careful with you. With my shifter strength, and you being a human, I was afraid I might get too rough with you, with as badly as both the wolf and I want you. I promise I’ve wanted to be inside you, wrapped around you, from the moment I had you back in my arms.”

  “No more ignoring this? Because I need your love in all ways, Stone.”

  He shook his head again. “No more, mate.”

  With that, he kissed her sweetly, showing her how much he loved her with his lips and tongue before tucking her up against his body so they could both go back to sleep.

  It was the first time that Dia had a truly peaceful slumber since she had come home.

  Epilogue

  “Do you know what you’re having?”

  Since Dia was currently going through another contraction that felt like someone was stabbing her in the back, she wasn’t exactly in the mood to have idle chitchat with the nurse. That didn’t stop her from telling the lady the truth.

  “Yeah, a fucking bowling ball. Now get him the hell out!”

  The nurse clucked her tongue while Stone wiped her sweaty brow with a cloth.

  “Now, now, dear, it can’t be that bad. Millions of women have given birth before you. You’re going to be just fine.”

  Dia growled, “Says the lady with her hand up my woo-ha. How about you get it out of there so I can push this kid out?”

  The nurse poked and prodded a few seconds more then removed her hand. “You’re at ten centimeters, Mrs. Blaylock!” she chirped with a huge smile on her face. “It’s time to get the doctor and have a baby.”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” Dia wailed as yet another contraction racked her body.

  The nurse left the room, and Stone grabbed her hand, bringing it to his mouth to kiss. “I love you, mate.” The sincere words melted her heart and took her mind off the pain for a few seconds.

  “I love you, too, Stone, but if you ever knock me up again, I’m cutting your dick off!”

  The nervous alpha was smart enough not to answer his mate while she was cranky and in pain. Instead, he stood there, lending her his silent strength.

  Just then, the nurse came back into the room with a doctor and two other nurses in tow.

  As happy as Dia was that she was finally going to be able to hold her baby in her arms, she wanted to strangle all the happy people in the room. Did they not see she was in a shit ton of pain here?

  The doctor pulled a stool up to the end of her hospital bed and sat down, practically disappearing between her bent and spread legs. “Next contraction, I want you to push, Mrs. Blaylock.”

  She pushed, and then she pushed some more. In fact, Dia pushed for half an hour before their baby was finally born, free of her body.

  Happiness and love surged through her in a wave so strong, she would have collapsed had she already not been lying down. And then the doctor said the three most magical words Dia thought she would ever hear.

  “It’s a girl!”

  Dia gasped in delight, then looked over at her mate, who looked like he had been knocked silly. “Isn’t that wonderful, Stone? We have a little girl!”

  “But we Blaylocks always have boys,” he uttered in surprise.

  “Not anymore!” Dia crowed happily. Truly, she wouldn’t have cared if they’d had a boy, but the thought of a sweet, little girl was like icing on the cake. She could already imagine how their daughter would be. Dia’s sass and all her daddy’s alpha confidence. The world wouldn’t know what knocked them on their asses.

  Sort of like her daughter’s father right now.

  Holding her arms out, Dia told the nurse who was weighing their baby, “Hand her over. I want to meet my daughter.” It wasn’t a very nice way to demand her daughter, but it was better than the “Gimme” she had really wanted to say.

  The nurse handed her over with a smile o
n her face. Dia didn’t mind the smile now. Hell, she probably had the biggest one in the room.

  In that moment, as she looked down upon their child, everything in the world was perfect, especially her baby girl.

  Dia then looked over at Stone, who was staring at both her and the baby with tears in his eyes. She nodded for him to come closer, and as he did, he asked her, “What will we name her, my love?”

  She didn’t have to think about it; Dia already knew.

  “Betty. Because if Betty Ann had never talked me into buying her shop, I would have never met you.”

  He nodded as he stared at their daughter some more, the yearning to hold her in his eyes.

  Supporting Betty’s head, Dia held her out to Stone. “Hold her, honey. Say hello to the newest member of our family.”

  The doctor and nurses disappeared for a few moments to give them time with their daughter as Stone picked her tiny, little body up in his giant hands. Cradling her in his arms, he rocked his body back and forth while staring at their daughter as if he were trying to imprint her every little feature to memory. Dia would know, because she had done the same.

  The baby already had her strawberry blonde hair, but Dia was hoping she would end up with Stone’s gorgeous eyes. She watched as her mate dipped his head and inhaled deeply, memorizing Betty’s scent. When he was done, he placed a kiss on her tiny, little head just before Betty started fussing.

  “What is it, little one? You want your mom?” He used a finger to smooth it over her cap of baby fine hair, and then whispered possibly the sweetest thing Dia had ever heard him say as he handed Betty back to her, “As you wish, princess.”

  Note from the Author

  Thank you for reading The Alpha’s Secret Family! You’re the absolute best for giving little ol’ me a chance. For every Indie Author you read, somewhere out there a fairy gets its wings! Okay, maybe not, but it still seems pretty magical.