by Ranae Rose
“What is it now, Kristen?” Charles’ voice was steady but edged with a hint of censure.
Violet had never witnessed a ceremony like the one she and Ronnie were caught in the throes of, so there was no way of knowing if tribe members were routinely so rude during the proceedings. But it seemed unlikely – Kristen was the only one who seemed to have a problem. No one else was scowling like she was or speaking up.
Kristen took another step forward, crossing her arms a little more tightly across her chest so that her sweater was pulled tight across her breasts. Her brows were still stuck in a deep V and as she opened her mouth to speak again, she stood a little taller. “He can’t be her mate.”
“Why not?” It was Emmaline who spoke this time.
“Because he got me pregnant.”
The spell of silence that had reigned until then shattered as a buzz of startled exclamations and conversation roared to life. For a moment, the sound surrounded Violet, blocking out everything else, and then a shrill voice cut through the noise. “He belongs with me and our baby. Not some she wolf from across the country.”
Violet’s heart twisted along with her gut, the pain so sharp that she was hardly aware of anything else. When she remembered to breathe, she realized that something was clamped down hard on her fingers – Ronnie’s hands. He was gripping hers so tightly that pain radiated all the way to her wrists. “That’s not true.” His voice resonated, deeper than his accuser’s, almost a growl.
“Yes it is.” Kristen’s voice climbed another octave. “Three months ago, when we… I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you.”
A wave of nausea swept through Violet, freezing the breath in her lungs and making her knees go weak. She’d been stupid – so stupid. She’d been intimate with Ronnie for less than twenty-four hours. She hadn’t stopped to ask about any past relationships, or if there was anything that might cast a shadow over their newfound happiness.
She hadn’t asked because it wasn’t supposed to work like that with shifters. Nothing like that had happened to her sister, or Clarissa or Mandy. They’d all been swept off their feet by their mates and were busy living happily ever after. She’d wanted that … too badly. She should’ve asked before allowing herself to fall head over heels, just like she’d always longed to.
“Violet.” The sound of her name on Ronnie’s lips hit her like a ton of bricks.
Instinctively, she jerked her hands away, pulling them out of the shelter of his. The night air chilled them immediately despite the nearness of the fire. The roar of stunned conversation filled her ears and a cold wind blew past her, carrying a cloud of smoke that filled her lungs, so pungent that even Ronnie’s scent was obscured. She coughed, stumbling backwards.
“It’s not true,” Ronnie said, reaching for her. “It can’t be true.”
She dodged his hand as his fingers parted wisps of smoke, nearly brushing her arm. More smoke billowed around her, so thick that she couldn’t smell him at all, couldn’t even see him. It was like she’d been cut off from him, instantly and completely. Her heart sped then slowed, each thump like a drumbeat in a funeral march.
“Violet!” He called her name, just as Kristen called his.
“Ronnie!” Kristen’s voice was half-shout, half-whine. “Stop chasing her. How can you do this to me?”
“How can you do this to me?” he retorted. “Violet is my mate. Why are you doing this?”
“You have a responsibility to me and the child we’re going to have!” Kristen cried, beginning to sob. “I was dreading telling you, but I thought you would honor that responsibility. You’re the war chief… It’s your job to protect the tribe. I thought that would apply to your own child most of all.”
“Kristen!” Ronnie growled. “Stop it! I—”
It was too much. Violet turned on her heel, blinking back tears. Ronnie’s words had stung her as much as the smoke and hot moisture streaked down her cheeks as she lurched forward, pushing blindly past people she couldn’t see.
“Violet, stop!” Ronnie’s boots pounded against the earth as he pursued her. “What she’s saying isn’t true!”
His fingers brushed the back of Violet’s left arm and she reacted instinctively, ancient urges summoned to the surface of her consciousness by the sick sense of fear and dread that had gripped her. Just as Ronnie’s palm touched her elbow, she became a wolf, low to the ground and faster than any of the others could possibly be in their human forms. Sprinting through the crowd was easy on four legs.
The heat of the fire evaporated quickly and the night’s chill enveloped her, combing through her coat as she sprinted away from the gathering and the road, toward the heart of the mountains. She’d ruined her second outfit of the day when she’d transformed, but who cared? She didn’t want to be human. Underbrush crackled beneath her paws as she gave the run everything she had, speeding through a forest muted by night and shrouded in a hundred different shades of grey.
A while passed before the distinct noise of falling paws sounded behind her, prompting her to run faster. She didn’t want to be caught any more than she wanted to be back at the gathering. The deep burning sensation in her lungs was the only thing that distracted her from the pain of the fireside shock as she ran, so she pressed on. She’d always been fast – the fastest female in her old pack back in Alaska. Maybe she should never have left. A prickle of pain crushed her consciousness as she thought of Alaska – endless tundra and safe, boring security. For the first time since Ronnie had kissed her, she missed it. How could she ever show her face to any of the shifters in the Smokies again after what had just happened?
By the time she finally collapsed from exhaustion, it felt like she’d run a thousand miles. A thick carpet of fallen leaves cushioned her as she lay panting on her side, shutting her eyes against the sight of the patchy autumn canopy and star-spangled sky overhead.
What might have been hours or only minutes passed, punctuated by the occasional chirp of a cricket or distant rustling of a nocturnal forest creature. When one animal’s rusting became more distinct than the rest, Violet lifted her head, reluctantly opening her eyes and inhaling, raising her nose to catch a faint breeze.
April. She wove through the tree trunks in her wolf form, making no attempt at stealth and letting her paws stir up dead, dry leaves that skittered through the underbrush, releasing wafts of fragrant decay.
Violet closed her eyes again. It was embarrassing to face even her own sister.
“Violet.” April’s voice was soft, amplified by a night breeze that swept through the pines, oaks and poplars, carrying it to Violet’s ears. “Are you all right?”
She remained in her wolf form but opened her eyes as April approached and settled down in the leaves beside her, kneeling. “Everyone’s worried about you. It wasn’t easy to convince the rest of the pack to stay behind, but I managed to talk them into letting me come alone. I figured that’s what you’d want.”
Sulking was an appealing option, but April had run a long distance – it wouldn’t be right to give her the cold shoulder. Reluctantly, Violet transformed. “Thanks for talking them down. You were right – I don’t want to be surrounded right now, not even by my own packmates.”
“Ronnie really wanted to come,” April said, her voice soft. “He was the one I had the hardest time convincing.”
A cold chill that had nothing to do with the temperature swept over Violet, causing every inch of her exposed skin to pebble. “I don’t want to see him.”
“I could tell he feels terrible over what happened. Maybe you should reconsider. I’m sure it was just as embarrassing for him as it was for you.”
Violet recoiled as if stung. “How can you say that? It’s his fault we were humiliated like that. Maybe he didn’t know about the pregnancy, but he should’ve told me he’d slept with Kristen, that there was a risk.” The other female’s name came out sounding bitter, just like it tasted. What would she have done, anyway, if he’d told her that he had slept with Kristen
? Just the thought brought on a fresh wave of nausea. He was her destined mate … imagining him with anyone else cut deep. She’d waited for her mate – why couldn’t he have done the same?
“He says he never slept with her.”
“What?” A spark of hope flared instantly inside Violet, filling her with a bittersweet cocktail of emotions. Was it possible, or did she just want to believe it?
“I heard him say it before I left to follow you. He says she’s lying.”
Violet’s heart skipped a beat. She’d heard him say that he couldn’t possibly be the father of Kristen’s baby, but had assumed he’d simply been shocked that whatever they’d done together had had consequences. Surely disbelief would’ve been a natural response, at least at first. “Is she even pregnant?”
“I don’t know. She insists she is.”
Violet sighed. “Either way, one of them isn’t being truthful. What if it’s Ronnie?”
April took one of Violet’s hands in her own and squeezed. “I don’t know Ronnie extremely well, but what I do know of him, I like and trust. He’s saved our pack more than once. Lying doesn’t seem like something he’d do. Kristen, on the other hand… Well, I don’t know her at all.”
April’s words rang true, causing Violet’s heart to speed with a combination of excitement and alarm. What if April was right and Ronnie was telling the truth? If that was the case, she’d abandoned him to deal with accusations that must have devastated and embarrassed him as well. But what if she was wrong and Ronnie really had slept with Kristen?
If that was the case and he didn’t admit it to her, it would be impossible for her to ever trust him again. The thought was heart-wrenching. How could she possibly bear being separated from her destined mate? Even now, she remembered his scent and craved his touch. Would it even be possible to stop wanting him in any case? Her body, heart and mind screamed no.
“It’s just so confusing. And embarrassing. Back there in front of everyone, when Kristen announced that he’d gotten her pregnant… It was like my first day in the Smokies all over again, only worse. I thought Ronnie and I were going to live happily ever after as mates, then that blew up in my face in front of everyone. Now I feel like I might not even know him.”
“I didn’t know Noah very well when we became mates. Sometimes it’s like that with mated pairs, but it doesn’t mean your relationship is destined to be unhappy.”
“Unless Kristen is telling a major lie and confesses sometime soon, I don’t see how Ronnie and I can ever be happy.”
“Maybe she is, and maybe she will. If she’s lying, she has to feel guilty.”
“But if she’s not…” Violet’s mouth went dry as an unsettling possibility struck her. “April, Ronnie and I have already slept together. What if she’s pregnant and … what if I am too?” She and Ronnie hadn’t used protection. At the time, she hadn’t even given it a thought. It hadn’t seemed important when his scent had clouded her thoughts, immersing her in thoughts of forever.
April wrapped Violet in a hug that did a surprising amount to warm her against the autumn chill. A little of the tension went out of her muscles, though her mind still whirled with worry.
“Don’t worry about that now,” April said. “It won’t change anything and it won’t do any good. Let’s at least get to the bottom of Kristen’s accusations before you stress yourself out any more.” Leaning back, she unwrapped her arms from around Violet. “We can head back to the fire now if you want.”
“Will you sit here with me just a little longer? I don’t feel ready to go back yet.” She wanted to see Ronnie so badly, wanted to hear him tell her that Kristen’s accusations were all a huge lie and to miraculously produce some sort of proof. And that was what scared her. If it turned out that Kristen really was pregnant and that Ronnie really was the father, she’d be devastated and humiliated all over again. She wanted desperately to know the truth, but at the same time, the truth was daunting. Because if he’d lied, then he wasn’t the man she’d thought he was. And she loved the Ronnie she’d been getting to know.
“Sure. Do you want to shift? It’s pretty cold out here.”
“Yeah, it is, and we should. But… Why would Kristen lie about Ronnie getting her pregnant?” To make a false accusation of that sort in the middle of a mated couple’s official ceremony – it seemed downright psychopathic. “I mean, who would do something like that? Do you think it’s because I’m a wolf? I admit, I was worried about how they’d react at first, but the others didn’t seem to have a problem.”
“I don’t know. Maybe she really is pregnant and doesn’t know who the baby’s father is or doesn’t want him to be a part of her and her child’s life, whoever he is. Having the tribe’s war chief be the father probably seems a lot more appealing than whoever the real one is if he’s not her destined mate.”
“Yeah, but still. That just seems so cruel for everyone involved.”
“I couldn’t agree more. I was just guessing.”
Violet nodded, her thoughts muddled and circular as she hunched her shoulders against a cold breeze. April was right – they should shift and keep warm in their lupine bodies. She would’ve done so immediately, but the wind carried a scent that froze her, sending the air rushing from her lungs in a gasp.
“What is it?” April’s eyes widened and she looked around as if searching for danger. Violet knew her body language well enough to tell that she was on the verge of shifting into her tougher wolf form.
“Nothing dangerous,” Violet said, though her heart told her otherwise. “It’s Ronnie.”
As his name warmed her lips, a dark silhouette emerged from the black shadows of the forest, huge and heart-joltingly familiar. He’d approached in his human form, silent but smelling of honey and hot spices.
Even as Violet’s mind whirled with apprehension, his scent drifted through her confusion, as appealing as ever. He must have made the majority of the journey in his bear form; her sharp vision combined with the light of a waning moon and a million stars allowed her to make out lots of bare, bronze skin. She was hardly able to look away to meet her sister’s eyes.
“Maybe I should head back to the gathering,” April said. “If I leave you two alone you can talk without the pressure of an audience.”
Maybe Violet should’ve protested, but she couldn’t. Ronnie’s scent grew stronger and stronger as he drew closer and closer, and for every step he took in her direction, her heart pumped out several furious beats.
“I’ll see you back at the gathering,” April said. “I’ll wait for you there until you return.”
Violet opened her mouth but no words came out. Then April was gone, a sleek lupine silhouette disappearing into the forest, little more than a nearly-silent shadow.
Violet remained on her knees as Ronnie approached. She liked – needed – the feel of the earth grounding her. The ancient mountains had seen more and endured worse than she ever had and she needed their strength. God, she needed it. Ronnie’s scent flooded her lungs and mind, making her head spin, telling her body to reach for him as she sat with her hands pressed firmly into her lap.
Ronnie’s gaze roved over her bare body, but there was nothing to cover up with, and they needed to talk. “Is it true?” she asked as he came to a halt a few short feet from where she knelt.
Chapter 7
He dropped to his knees, audibly crushing a layer of fallen leaves. “No. None of what Kristen said is true.”
Relief began to blend with Violet’s heartache, blurring the edges of her inhibitions. But it was too soon – she had to be sure. Absolutely sure. “Did you sleep with her?”
“No. Never. I’ve always avoided sleeping with any of the Roaring Water members, thinking that it could only cause trouble.” His broad shoulders rose and fell in an exasperated shrug. “Like this.”
An invisible weight slid from Violet’s shoulders, freeing her to breathe more deeply. “Then why would she do this?”
“I guess she must be pregnant and despe
rate for a father for her baby.”
“If she’s pregnant, the baby must have a father.”
“Maybe not one she wants.”
Violet sighed. “April said the same thing.”
“Violet…” Ronnie reached out with both hands and laid them on her shoulders. “Nothing Kristen has accused me of is true. Nothing. If it were, I’d be ashamed, but I’d tell you. I’d do anything for you – I’d die for you. You’re my mate. I love you.”
Violet’s body began to warm beneath Ronnie’s touch, but not thoroughly enough and not quickly enough. His words melted her reservations and she leaned forward, letting her cheek rest against the firm, hot plane of his chest.
Quick as lightning, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, crushing her against him. “I’m sorry about what happened and that our ceremony was ruined. But believe me, Violet – the only babies I’ll ever have will be with you.”
“Ronnie…” Her middle felt extra-warm at the thought of carrying his child, of having a family with him someday. But most of all, she was glad to be back in his arms, shielded against the cold night and even colder loneliness.
April had been right – Ronnie wasn’t lying. Violet believed him when he said he’d die for her because the past had proven him brave and noble enough to risk death in the defense of others. After all, he was a war chief. It didn’t make sense that he’d be cowardly about anything and she could hear the truth in his voice and feel it in the way he embraced her. “Sorry I left you. I was just so shocked and so embarrassed, I didn’t know what else to do. I should’ve stayed and listened.”
“It’s all right.”
She pressed herself a little more tightly against him – something that was almost impossible – and let the heat he radiated sweep over more of her skin. He was warm and solid and definitely hard. His cock pressed into her thigh, as thick as she remembered it. Her pussy tightened, taking her back to that afternoon. Now that the shock and fear Kristen’s accusations had caused had faded, Violet craved him in a visceral, undeniable way. Reaching below, she managed to fit a hand between their bodies and wrapped her fingers around his shaft.
