by Terra Wolf
“In about half an hour? Maybe more? I’m going to take her to get some dinner first. Lay the groundwork for whatever kind of relationship we have going on, explain to her that she needs to keep her location hush-hush. Be aware she's skittish, so act accordingly.”
“Treat her like the victim that she is, no problem. I’ll help Lydia get the guest room ready. This blows my mind you know; after all this time you find her. And here she is connected to all this? Little weird.”
“You're telling me.”
I hung up and I waited in the car as I saw the pretty little red had emerge from the store. She had a bag in her hand but she was wearing different clothes.
She was in a loose hoodie. I would have rather seen her in a sweater that hugged her voluptuous curves in all the right places. But she was smart to be comfortable. I remembered for a moment what she had beneath the dark gray fabric. I licked my lips without even thinking about it. My bear was growling in agreement. There were definitely still some feelings there.
She hopped in the Jeep and set the bag next to her. “Thanks. I'll pay you back, I promise.”
I started the car. “Don’t worry about it,” I said over the roar of the engine. “You hungry? There's a good Italian place near here.”
“You're going to buy me dinner too? The best date I've been on in a while.”
“I guess you haven’t been on many dates then.”
“Not really.”
We drove in silence for a few minutes, the restaurant was practically within walking distance. I parked the Jeep and hurried around to the other side to open the door for her. By the time I got there she was already out and on her feet. “Oh sorry, you’re one of those gentleman types aren't you? I don't really remember a lot from that night, so sorry if I forgot that.”
I laughed to myself mostly, the truth was I hardly remembered anything from the night, except how her body felt against mine. Maggie was sexy as hell, images of her naked body was imprinted in my brain. I could learn about her personality, but I couldn't get the suppleness of her skin out of my mind.
“We can learn more about each other over dinner.”
She nodded as she followed me into the restaurant. The hostess sat us at a table near the back, an intimate booth that was clearly made for couples. Neither of us seemed to mind the intimate setting, and after looking over the menu we chose the same thing, spaghetti with meatballs. “An Italian staple.” I said to her as the waitress walked away.
“I haven't had a meal like this in a long time. This place smells amazing.”
I watched as she sipped her soda her eyes flickering from one end of the room to the other. She was taking in her surroundings. Maybe even looking for an escape route.
“Trying to leave already?”
She looked down at the table. “Sorry, bad habit. Every place I've been since I woke up I feel like I need to leave. So I'm constantly making sure I have an exit strategy.”
“You don’t have to feel that way with me. There's no pressure here, this are no strings attached to this friendship.”
“If that were only the case. There's always strings attached Logan, this is the way things are.” She said with a sigh. She had aged so much in such a short time. I couldn’t believe how different she was from the carefree girl I had slept with.
“Fine here's a string, tell me some more about yourself, how did you get into the situation you're in?”
“Well I lived out in the woods with my family, and my fiancé.”
My ears perked up at her admission. A fiancé? We slept together probably shortly before she ended up in the hospital, and she certainly didn't mention that she was engaged before hooking up. “Go on,” was all that I said. I didn't want to spook her, I just wanted information. My bear on the other hand, wasn't so accepting. I strained my neck against him as he pushed against the barriers of my skin. He wanted out, he felt the need to claim her.
“I was involved in an arranged marriage. People out in the woods, they still believe in all that stuff. Old school shifters you know? So I used to go to the bars to interact with human types.”
“Human types? Is that what I was?”
She shook her head, “I didn't know what you were. But I used to look at guys like you as a challenge. One that I happily took on.”
It could've been just my imagination but I thought I saw flicker of the girl I met in the bar that night. Her feisty personality returning to the surface. “So you were engaged? You didn't mention that.”
“Logan I… It's not like we were a couple. There really weren’t feelings there. He was more like a brother to me. He's the one who told me that I couldn't come back to camp. The one who sent me away. He's also the one who put me in that God damned hospital where they tried to kill me. We were out one-night hunting, and I got my legs stuck in a trap.” She looked down as though she could see the wound through her pants. “I got blood poisoning and by the time that they got me to United I was pretty much septic. My parents were going to let me die. They thought that the shifter genes would heal me. Purebloods have that ability. But it didn't work. I was too far gone. Technically they saved me at the hospital, I was doing really well before they put me in the coma. I thought I was going to go home and get married and take care of my people. But instead I’m at an Italian restaurant, which I've never actually been to before, with a cop in his uniform. Somehow life didn't really go as planned. Oh and then there's the baby…”
“Baby?” I asked and my mouth dropped open a little. Was this why she was wearing a hoodie? So that I couldn’t see the outline of her beautiful body? Because she was pregnant?”
“Yeah. When I had my last exam with the doctor, you know the services that they're providing to all of us at the county hospital? They said I'm six months pregnant.”
“But you said that you and I met right before you in the hospital, does that mean it's mine?” I couldn't believe that we were having this discussion. I never thought I'd see Maggie again let alone her having my baby. For a moment my bear seemed content even though the inside of my brain was panicked. This wasn't in the plan.
“I wasn't pregnant when I went in. I know I wasn't. But even if I was, it wasn't yours. I was on the pill. My family didn’t know, but a bunch of us girls were. I couldn't dilute the bloodline; my parents would have hated me for it.”
“So then who’s baby is it?”
“I don't know.” She sighed heavily looking out her hands. “I honestly have no idea. And that scares me more than anything else.”
“How long were you in the hospital?”
“Almost eight months.”
“You're only six months pregnant? That time doesn’t add up.”
“You think I haven’t realized that? You think I haven't gone over every scenario in my head whose baby this could be?” She was raising her voice slightly. Other patrons in the restaurant started to turn their heads. I grabbed her hands a calm her down.
“It's okay. What do you think?”
“I think that the hospital did something to me. I think they got me pregnant.”
Distrust must've shown on my face because she started to chew her lower lip as she examined my features. She pulled the tendril out of its bind and started to curl fiery red hair around her pointer finger. Whatever my face looked like, I wasn't helping to ease her fears. While she was feeling anxious about the fact that she was having a baby, I was realizing that there was a part of this investigation that I didn't know about. What that hospital was doing was more than we realized, and this situation just elevated our case to a whole new level.
MAGGIE
Logan hardly spoke to me the rest of dinner. Dropping the bomb that I was pregnant was one thing, but I could tell for a brief moment he thought it was his and as much as he looked terrified I think a part of him was okay with it. And the scariest part was, so was I. Why hadn't I just lied to him? I could've told him it was his and we could have made something work. He seems like the type of guy who would've taken care of
me, of us.
But I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn't link him to something that had nothing to do with him. He was already helping me so much, but I wasn't his problem. I agreed to stay with his friends for a couple days until I could figure out something else, but that was it. I wouldn't be their charity case. By the time we arrived at their house, a small Cape Cod on the other side of town, I was practically dancing in my seat. A hot shower, a normal bed that I didn't have to keep my one eye open all the time, and a home. A real one. I’d never seen a place that had luxuries like cable television or hot water all the time. I watched as Shane checked his cell phone five or six times during our introduction. Lydia apologized profusely for him being what she considered rude. I never even owned a phone.
Lydia and Shane seemed like nice, very honest people. Lydia was bubbly and chatty and went on and on about how much she appreciated that I would be saying in the guest room, “No one has visited us once since we moved into this place! This poor room has been lonely. I'm just so glad you're using it for us. Let me know if the bed is uncomfortable, Shane picked it up at one of those mattress warehouse places. I swear we should've gone together and laid on a few, but does he listen to me? No! I'm sure you know how that is.” She talked a mile a minute, but it was nice. To fill the space with something better than the silence that Logan and I had endured after our baby conversation. As Lydia and I arrived back downstairs to tell Logan goodbye I saw Shane give me a judgmental glance. Clearly they were discussing my situation. I should've realized that it would have implications in their case, I just hadn't thought about it that way. I hadn't told anyone I was pregnant beside Logan. I had been too embarrassed.
The only other person I had tried to tell was Zane, I called him right after I found out, he worked at a local lumber yard. One of the few in the camp that had a job outside of the family. But as I described my symptoms he just wanted me to get checked out. He was sure I must have a tumor or something else growing inside of me. I had called him to tell him that Dr. only affirmed my beliefs. That I was pregnant. But when he didn’t even try to believe me, I didn’t tell him the truth. He was so short on the phone too. I knew he wasn’t really a part of my life anymore. I needed to move on.
Since then I tried not to think about it, I certainly didn't have a stable enough place to raise a baby. Before seeing Logan again, I had been considering my options, possibly putting up the baby for adoption. Or maybe just leaving it at the hospital after I'd gone through labor. Something. Anything to give this baby a better life than what I was currently living. But suddenly, in the past several hours things had completely turned around. Logan made me feel safe, and suddenly once again I felt like I could do anything. That girl that my fear had been suppressing for so long was rising back up to the surface. I'd missed it.
“So you're all set then.” Logan said. “I'll be by in the morning, I don't have to work until second shift tomorrow night. Maybe we can talk about some of the options then. How to get you on your feet.”
He didn't talk down to me, he sincerely wanted to help me. I appreciated his honesty. “Sounds good. See you then.”
We stood just six inches apart feeling the tension crackling in the air. Should I hug him? My hands kind of fell by my sides like I didn't know what to do with them. Finally, as if suddenly time stood still I reached up and kissed him on the cheek. I saw Lydia and Shane out of the corner my eye turn around and walk back towards the kitchen, obviously giving us a moment alone. “Thank you for everything. You didn't have to do any of this.”
“But I want to. I want to make you happy.”
The words hung in the air for a moment before he turned, opened the front door, and left.
He wanted to make me happy. I leaned against the doorframe and watched him get into Jeep as I thought about that for a moment. Had anyone in my life before ever truly wanted to make me happy? I knew the answer. But as I raised a hand to wave goodbye to him a piece of me realized that Logan did make me happy, and I wanted to return the favor.
MAGGIE
Days of talking about my situation turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Logan and I spent almost every day together, and when I wasn't with him I was hiding in my bedroom trying to give Shane and Lydia some sense of being newlyweds again. But they liked hanging out with me, and honestly I was enjoying having real friends. We would all go out to dinner together, even some of the other guys from the precinct had joined us a few times. They all kind of accepted that I was just a friend visiting, someone who had fallen on hard times.
Even though Logan and I spent so much time together, it was rare for us to get a moment alone. So when I was eight months pregnant and he took me out to breakfast I could tell that he was going to tell me something more serious. He made sure it would just be us, and even though we had had a few chaste kisses and held hands when we were out in public, nothing more had happened. I wondered if he was finally going to make his move.
He was drinking coffee and picking at his eggs while I was on my second pancake. Breakfast was delicious, and I was certainly eating for two. When he set down his fork, I matched him, thinking that this was it, this is our moment.
“Maggie I need to talk to you about something.”
“Oh? What's that?” I tried to sound as innocent as possible but his smile told me that he knew I had already been wondering what was coming.
“Don't do that, don't pretend you don't know what's going on.”
“Logan I just need you to tell me.” And that was all I needed. Tension had been growing, we had already slept together. I knew what he looked like under that uniform, and I was desperate to get another peek. I wasn't sure that he was ready to sign up for this. A baby that wasn't his? It wasn't fair to him. So I hadn’t push the subject. But if he brought it up… then that meant that he really wanted to be with me.
“The investigation has come to a halt when it comes to you and your situation. The medical team has told them about the baby, and I think that they're going to want to run some tests when you have him or her.”
I had chosen not to find out the gender. It was something that my family had never done, I wasn't ready to give up all my old traditions just yet.
“Tests? What kinds of test?” My heart sank into my stomach.
“Well for one, they’re going to want to find the father. I thought you might want to know that. And then any genetic anomalies, we don't exactly know what's going on with the baby.”
“Well no, but Dr. Evans seems to think that everything's okay. I've been going to a human OB/GYN, and Dr. Evans has been consulting. She's the only person I trust. And that is only because you told me that I could trust her. Is she the one pushing for these tests?”
He shook his head. “No the district attorney is. They just want to make sure they know what we’re dealing with here.”
I could feel the blood surging through my veins. What the hell did he mean? “Dealing with? We’re dealing with a baby! My baby. No one else's. I can't believe that you want me to consider this. My family would never ask this of me.”
“I can't even believe that you would bring them up.”
“They’re still my family. They would take me back. If they knew about this baby, they would protect us. Like you said you would.”
“Now you are taking this way too far. And I will protect you. You have to consider what their talking about. You don't even know how you got pregnant. The just want to make sure that the baby is healthy, and not a danger to you or anyone else. We have no idea what their intentions were at that hospital. You’re the only one who got pregnant while you were in there. I just want to know you’re okay.”
“It's a baby Logan! You know what? I lost my appetite. I’ll wait in the car.”
I threw my napkin down and stormed out of the diner.
How could he say those things me? How can he pretend to keep me safe when he was willing to submit my baby for testing? Who knows what kind of tests they were talking about? I came from a land of
midwives and no hospitals, how did I end up here? As I waited for Logan to pay the bill and come out of the restaurant I pulled out the prepaid phone he gave me, to use in case of emergencies. I had the lumber company's number that Zane worked for memorized. I dialed it.
“I'm looking for Zane. Please tell him it's emergency.”
The man on the other end of the line told me to wait just a moment and then I heard his voice, “Hello?”
“Zane it's Maggie, don't hang up. I'm pregnant, and I need your help. I have to come home.”
“Are you really? I thought…” He trailed off.
“I saw a doctor, it’s confirmed. And I’m due soon.”
He sighed. “You know the clan will do anything to protect its cubs.”
“I know. When can you come get me?”
“Tonight. Be ready.”
I shut the phone just as Logan emerged from the restaurant. I thought he was different, special. I'd never been so wrong.
MAGGIE
“What are you going to tell them?”
I shrugged staring out the window as the trees passed us by. I knew that Zane was looking at me, waiting for response, but I didn't have one yet. I'd barely considered what my family was going to say when I went back to the clan. I didn't know what they would do.
“What would you say? That when I tried to return months ago I was turned away by my best friend? Is that you would say?”
He kept his eyes focused on the road, sheepishly pulling into himself. It didn't matter how physically large Zane was, he felt like the shrinking man in the seat next to me. “I was only trying to protect you.” He said in a voice just above a whisper.
“Protect me? I was homeless Zane. I had nowhere to go before…” I didn't finish but his name rolled around in my head. Before Logan. Logan saved me and I had turned my back on him. I told Lydia that I was going out with friends from childbirth class and I left out the back door so she wouldn't notice that I had taken a bag with me. Zane had met me at the gas station on the corner of the road. And then I escaped. Escaped wasn't the right word, that sounded like I was being held prisoner against my will, and that wasn't the case. Logan and his friends saved me, that I had just turned my back on them, just like my family had done to me. What a nightmare.
