“Oh my god!” Said Amy as she jumped to her feet, “did he do this intentionally? I’ll kill him, he isn’t allowed to do that until the ceremony!”
“Easy!” Said Lindsey, laughing a little bit at her friend’s reaction, “first of all, I wanted this, I wanted it when I first met him. Second of all, this was kind of an accident. He didn’t mean to shift and bite me but we were, um,” she let her voice trail off.
“Oh,” said Amy blushing.
“Yeah, things got crazy and it just happened,” said Lindsey, quickly moving past it, “but I promise you Amy, I have never wanted anything more. I love him more than anyone in the world and he feels the same for me. We have saved each other; we have a bond that I know will go on forever.”
Amy covered her mouth, tears were prickling her eyes, “oh my gosh, Lindsey I am so happy for you. Especially after everything that has happened. You deserve this, you deserve to be happy.”
Lindsey blushed, “thank you. I have some other news too.”
Amy smiled, “I think I already know, but go ahead.”
Lindsey looked at her in confusion, “well, I know how much you hate your apartment in the city and I won’t have any use for this place anymore, so I was going to see if you wanted to live here instead with Colfax.”
“What?” Said Amy in surprise, “are you serious?”
Lindsey nodded her head; she thought it was the perfect solution. The home would be taken care of and it was paid off. They would have seclusion and better yet, Amy would be getting out of her awful apartment. Lindsey had been trying to get her friend to move in with her ever since she had moved in but Amy refused to give up her nightlife. She told Lindsey she was always ‘looking for love before the country life sucks me in.' Now that she had found love, maybe the country life wouldn’t seem so bad.
“Wow, this is amazing!” Said Amy as she hugged her friend. “I would love to live here with Colfax. He is going to be so happy. You should have seen his face when he saw my apartment. I thought the poor man was going to cry!”
Lindsey smiled and laughed with her friend but something was bothering her, “Amy? What did you think I was going to tell you?”
“Oh, well, it’s nothing. I just assumed from what you said that it had happened,” said her friend nonchalantly as she flipped through her phone.
“What are you talking about?” Asked Lindsey, she was confused and didn’t like it.
Amy looked up at her friend now and rolled her eyes like someone would when they had to tell a story that they already had already told a thousand times before. Lindsey loved her friend but she could be a little impatient at times and it would seem that today was one of them.
“Alright, fine,” said Amy as she put her phone down, “Colfax was giving me the entire run down when he let me know what he was. It was sensory overload but a few things always catch my attention. Sex, paranormal happenings and babies. He said that there was only one way that wolves could become pregnant, and that was during a full moon.”
Lindsey breathed a sigh of relief, “okay well I am not a werewolf yet, so where is this going?”
Amy raised an eyebrow towards her, “that’s not the only way that they can become pregnant. Apparently there is more. Have you ever heard of a shifter?”
Lindsey didn’t wait to answer, “sure, I thought that was just fiction too right? Like people who can shift into cats and dogs and whatnot?”
Amy smiled and continued, “well, all fables have to start somewhere. Shifters are real, but they aren’t like you read about in stories. A shifter is a half-blood werewolf. They can change anytime during the day or night but they don’t have the speed, strength or healing abilities that werewolves have. Basically, they are half human and half werewolf, just like you would expect.”
Lindsey looked at her in shock, she didn’t realize that there was so much information she was missing, “so I could be pregnant?” Asked Lindsey, her breathing barely a whisper.
“Well, no actually,” said Amy, growing bored again. “I mean; I guess that the timing has to be perfect for a shifter to be conceived. You have three things that have to line up perfect. It has to be a full moon, the werewolf has to be in his animal form and then he also has to bite his lover at the exact moment of conception. So unless you two were having sex tonight and he was a wolf while you two did it, and he bit you then, you’re in the clear.”
Lindseys face went ghost white as she played the scene over and over again in her head.
“Oh my god,” said Amy in a whisper when she saw the look on Lindsey’s face.
“Oh my god,” echoed Lindsey.
“okay, let’s not freak out yet. I guess there are ways to tell right away. As soon as you are carrying a werewolf child, things will start to change. Let’s see, pregnancies only last for three months. Right after conception, there are things that happen right away. Werewolves have no aversion to silver. It’s another myth that circulated but shifters, shifters can be burnt by gold. As a precaution, like from nature, a woman carrying a shifter will be burnt also. Do you have any gold?”
Lindsey was blown away by everything Amy was telling her but she rose and went into the bathroom. She had the small wooden box her father had left her. Upon opening it, it revealed two wedding rings, they had belonged to her parents. She set the box on the table and Amy reached in and picked one up. Lindsey held out her hand nervously and nodded to Amy. She set the ring down onto Lindsey’s open palm. Nothing happened and both woman let out a sigh.
“Well, that answers that,” started Lindsey.
Suddenly, she dropped the ring and jerked her hand away from where it fell onto the table. She opened her palm and saw it. A perfectly burned circle in the palm of her hand. Lindsey looked at Amy as she spoke in a whisper, “I’m pregnant.”
Chapter Fourteen
Lindsey looked at Amy whose mouth was gaped open like her own. She could tell her friend was about to smile and scream with joy.
“Don’t you dare, do not say a thing, got it?” Hissed Lindsey to Amy.
Amy frowned but closed her mouth, she couldn’t wipe the smiled from her face though. It was incredibly irritating to Lindsey.
“Hey, what are you guys talking about,” said Jayden as they walked into the kitchen.
“Nothing!” Said both woman in unison.
The men looked at them suspiciously.
“Okay, well, we should go. I wanted to, I don’t know. Go shopping or something I guess. Come on honey,” said Amy to Colfax as she grabbed his hand and drug him from the kitchen and out the front door.
“Oh good, I love shopping,” said Colfax, his voice full of sarcasm.
He waved to Jayden and Lindsey as Amy drug him out of the house.
Jayden looked at Lindsey when they hear the door close, “that was a little bit strange, wasn’t it?”
Lindsey quickly stepped away from Jayden and started to clean up the kitchen, “sure, I mean, Amy does like shopping and they are going to have to start packing.”
“Packing?” He asked her.
“Oh right, I gave her the house, I want them to live here since I won’t need it anymore,” said Lindsey, still avoiding eye contact with him.
“Wow! That’s wonderful! She will be good for Colfax; he had never enjoyed living in the pack like some of us. It happens, he’s a shifter.” Said Jayden.
“Oh! That makes senses now why Amy knew so much about them,” said Lindsey.
“Is that what you two were talking about?” Said Jayden.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Lindsey as she moved to Jayden and put her arms around his neck. She stood on her toes and kissed him as he leaned down to kiss her. “How did it go with the pack?”
Jayden sat down, “it went well. They have dealt with Beyer and now they are getting ready for the move. Aeron sent us back to help you. The transition can be rough, especially with you changing soon,” he said as she listened intently.
She wanted to know as much as possible about what to
expect over the next few months, “okay so what do we do?”
He smiled at her enthusiasm, “well, we will move in a few days but it won’t be far. Our pack has a permanent home base in Colorado. You will love it there; I promise it’s not as rustic as you feel. I have a cabin that I built.”
She smiled, it sounded like heaven, “I can’t wait. How long will we stay there?” She asked him.
“Longer than normal,” he said, “we wouldn’t go so early in the season normally. We would go around and help other packs, it’s our passion, helping others. One of our woman though is pregnant, it’s a beautiful thing but trekking can be hard with a first child. We will head back and wait for her to give birth. Then we will stay through the winter. It’s actually wonderful. The perfect time to have a child, he will be old enough to run the first time we leave in the spring,” said Jayden.
Lindsey started to fidget in her seat, “so, do you like kids?” She asked him.
He looked at her in surprise, “I have never thought about it to be honest, I didn’t think that I would ever find someone I could love enough to have a child with.”
Jayden slid from the chair onto his knees in front of her, “now that I have you, though, I think, when the time is right, I would love to have many children. I have four brothers and two sisters, they are spread out across the world. I chose to stay with my father though, one day, I will lead the pack.”
Lindsey looked at him in shock, “you will lead the pack? Is your father the pack leader now?” She asked him, wondering who he was. She was becoming nervous; she hadn’t thought about all of the other people she would be meeting soon. Lindsey hadn’t grown up with a ton of people in her life. What if they didn’t like her?
“Lindsey? Come back to me?” Said Jayden, he could see the fear growing in her eyes, “they will love you just like I love you, I promise. Already my father thinks you are wonderful. I can’t wait for you to meet the rest of them.”
“Your father?” She asked, “is your dad, Aeron?”
Jayden smiled and nodded to her, “oh wow.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, he could tell she needed the time to think about everything that he had told her. As they sat, he looked at the box on the table and opened it. Seeing the gold bands, he smiled and picked one up. Lindsey was off in her own little world, thinking about things. He took her hand and she smiled at him.
“I’m fine, I promise. I have just got a lot of news today; you know?” She said.
She meant it too, she couldn’t think of anything more wonderful then leaving with Jayden. She wanted to have the child and enjoy their live together forever. Jayden took her hand, as he did, though, she jerked away, “ouch!” She said, then saw what had hurt her.
“Did the ring cut you?” Asked Jayden, looking at her clenched hand in concern.
“No, I’m fine,” she said.
She knew that she couldn’t wait forever to tell him. She had no idea what to expect with her transformation and now with a child on the way, she was scared. Nothing would keep her from being happy with Jayden, but was a shifter an outcast? If her child wasn’t a full blooded werewolf, would they treat him differently?
Jayden went pale as he watched her face, “Lindsey, what’s going on?”
She was out of time. She slowly opened her hand and looked down at her palm where the ring had once again burnt her skin. His eyes followed hers down.
“What happened?” He asked.
She didn’t need to say anything, she watched him working through it on his own, just as she had done. His eyes moving from the woods outside the window to her and finally settling on her stomach.
“Oh,” he whispered, his voice cracked and his skin was pale as her had been when she too put together the pieces of the puzzle.
“Jayden, if this isn’t what you want,” she started, she couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence though.
His gaze shot up to her, “what?” He looked at her and smiled, a smile that lit up her world, “are you kidding me? I thought that my life couldn’t get any better when you told me you loved me. I thought to myself, ‘I am so blessed, nothing can make this better.’ You have just proven me wrong though! A child, a shifter! Do you know how rare our child will be? He will be loved by all.” Said Jayden.
Lindsey sat looking at him in shock, of all the things she had foreseen, this wasn’t one of them.
“So you are really happy?” She said, her heart was overflowing with joy.
He pulled her into his arms and looked her into her eyes, “I love you, and I will love you and our child forever.”
Lindsey looked at Jayden, “you have made me so happy. I love you too so very much.”
She looked into his eyes and knew that her life would change forever, for the better. The love that she felt would only continue to grow with the child she was carrying. They embraced passionately and she let him lead her upstairs to her bedroom. Lindsey smiled as she shut the bedroom door, ready to start on their new journey as a family.
Chapter Fifteen
Three Months Later;
Lindsey was laying in the plush bed of their cabin wide awake. That’s how she was almost every night nowadays thanks to the little girl growing inside of her. Over the past three months, she had ballooned out to carry the rapidly growing child. Lindsey thought back to the journey they had taken together as a family. After the night that she found out she was pregnant, things moved quickly. She had turned the night that they left her small town outside of Phoenix. The ritual had been purifying for her. She had made loved to Jayden in a circle of burning ash wood to cleanse her soul as it made the transition into that of a werewolf.
The next night, she had awoken feeling more alive than ever. They had run then, her and Jayden. They went ahead of the pack and stopped to make love as much as possible. When they reached their packs home, she was exhausted but joyful. Jayden hadn’t been lying, it was everything she could ever dream of. The cabin he had built with his own hands was rustic but more than what they needed. He has spent the months since their return adding to the cabin for the new child.
When the rest of the pack joined them, he shared the news, and they were met with joy. A shifter child was considered a good luck charm and a woman who brought the child was loved.
It helped that Jayden was a pillar of their community, he helped everyone. Each day that she was with him, in this heavenly escape, she loved him even more. A sharp kick snapped her from her thoughts.
“You need to go to sleep you brat,” she said as she lovingly rubbed her stomach.
To her surprise, though, the pain didn’t stop. It was spreading through her. It took her several minutes to realize what was happening. The doctor said it would come fast, but she didn’t know she meant it would be like this. The pain rang out through her body again and this time, she sat up, sucking in a sharp breath.
“Lindsey, what’s wrong?” Said Jayden, sitting up.
“I think, I believe that it’s time,” she said through ragged breaths.
“What?” He said, jumping out of bed, “oh my god! Oh god, what do I do?”
She smiled at him, “a doctor would help my love.”
He ran from the house into the square and across to where the doctors cabin sat. Lindsey watched through the door as the woman’s lamp came on and she came running across the square. Another sharp pain reverberated through her body and she let out a blood-curdling scream.
***
Moments later, Lindsey lay back on the soft bed, exhausted but holding a beautiful little girl in her arms. She watched her nurse and smiled. Lindsey had never seen a child so perfect. The labor had been fast, just like the pregnancy had been. The doctor had soothed her throughout the process, and Lindsey was grateful for her presence there. She hadn’t always been so trusting of the woman, though.
She had been skeptical about the woman who called herself a doctor from the moment she had met the old woman.
“You are going to bring a girl
! A shifter and a girl, she will be very loved. What an incredible mother you will be to her,” the woman had said to Lindsey within seconds of meeting her.
She wore dark makeup and had wild hair. One month into the pregnancy, Lindsey had such bad morning sickness, she couldn’t keep anything down. Her weight and strength had dropped so much that she could barely stand. When Jayden had brought her to the doctor, it was against her wish. Jayden had begged for her to go and finally, she relented. She was quickly finding out that she couldn’t say no to Jayden, her love for him was just too great.
The woman had mixed her up a tea which Lindsey gagged on but finished, a few minutes later her appetite had returned. After that, she would see the woman daily, learning from her so she too could heal the members of her new family. Now, the doctor had left the small family to bond with their newest member in peace.
“I love you, my little princess,” she whispered to her as she stroked her head.
She looked up at Jayden and saw him smiling. He came around to the bed and lay down next to her and the new baby.
“She’s perfect,” said Lindsey.
Jayden kissed her head softly then looked at Lindsey with tears in his eyes, “you are both perfect, I love you.”
Lindsey smiled at him as a tear fell down her cheek she replied, “I love you too Jayden, both of you.”
Stuck In Between
Prologue
The feel of his skin on hers sent shivers down her spine. The feel of his lips, the feel of his tongue sliding in and out of her mouth, hot and wet, wanton and demanding, insistent and lusting; sent her into carnal ecstasy. The way his hands clawed at her dress, shredding it to pieces until she was left in nothing but lust filled rags. Then her hands entwining, roaming his sweaty, naked body, nails digging into his flesh as he thrust wildly into her weeping hole, a growl of desire ripping from his throat, his face twisting into an animalistic snarl as he dominated the woman beneath him.
Pursuit: A Bad Boy Romance Page 52
