Hell's Wolves MC: Complete Series Six Book Box Set

by J. L. Wilder

  She looked doubtful. “I don’t know. I’ve never eaten bird before.”

  “Of course, you have. Haven’t you ever had chicken?”

  “That’s different. Chickens are...for eating. They come from farms.”

  “How very human of you.” He grinned toothily and began to clear a space for their fire.

  “Is that supposed to be an insult?” she asked. “Calling me a human?”

  “You’re just not very in touch with your animal side,” he said. “You’re human, but you’re wolf too, right? Where’s that side of you? Where’s your wild side?”

  “I’m plenty wild,” she snapped.

  “Sure, you are. Then share this bird with me.”

  He spitted the thing on a stick and turned it carefully over the flames. Hazel watched him work, hugging her knees to her chest. When it was cooked all the way through, he removed it from the fire and broke it in half with his hands, passing a piece to her. “Be careful of bones,” he said. “They’ll be little in an animal this size.”

  “Not your first time, I see.”

  “Of course not,” he said. “This is how we eat half the time.”

  “So, this is your life, really,” she said. “Not going from motel to motel and eating omelets in diners, but sleeping in cornfields and hunting birds for your breakfast.”

  “Still want in?” he asked.

  She sighed. “Yeah.”

  He was surprised. “Even though you wouldn’t have a roof over your head half the time?”

  “I’d be with you, though,” she said quietly.

  Emmett rubbed a hand over his face. The truth was that he felt the same thing she did, the same compulsion to be together. But it didn’t make sense. They hardly knew each other. They’d met only a few days ago. Why did it feel as though Hazel had been a part of his life forever? Why did he feel like letting her go would break him in a fundamental way?

  “I’d live in a house to be with you,” was all he said.

  She laughed. “Big sacrifice.”

  “For me, it is.”

  They sat quietly for several minutes, eating the bird, neither of them knowing what to say. A huge part of Emmett wanted to take Hazel in his arms and make love to her again, right here in the corn. But he forced himself not to. He had to start separating from her. The longer he waited, the harder it would be.

  Finally, the bird was finished. He got to his feet. “Come on,” he said. “We’d better hit the road. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover yet.”

  “We’re really going back now, aren’t we?” she asked quietly.

  “We have to,” he said, unable to look at her.

  “I know.”

  But once they were on the motorcycle and making their way down the highway, Emmett found himself driving more slowly than usual. Every moment seemed precious, and yet, they kept slipping through his fingers. He tried to focus on the feeling of Hazel’s arms wrapped around him, but invasive and unwelcome thoughts kept creeping in. Soon, they would be saying goodbye. He would drop her off at that massive, cold looking house, and he would have to turn and drive away. He would never see her again. Tomorrow morning, when he woke up, she wouldn’t be beside him.

  After being with her, he was sure, sex would be ruined for him. It would always be cold, always a pale imitation of what he knew it could be. He couldn’t believe there was another woman out there who could make him feel the way she had. No one would ever drive the thoughts of Hazel out of his mind, and no matter who he was with in the future, he would be thinking of her. He was sure of it.

  And what about the rest of the pack? Would they know what he had done? He could never tell them, he decided. He had put their mission in jeopardy by sleeping with the woman they had been assigned to find and return. Hadn’t Matthew Lang specifically said that he’d wanted her back untouched? Well, Emmett knew exactly what Matthew Lang would think of what he’d done with Hazel. If he knew, he definitely wouldn’t pay Emmett the reward money he’d promised. Which meant that Emmett’s actions had put his pack at risk of losing their reward.

  They’d fought the Savage Rangers so that he and Hazel would be clear to run away together. And in return, he’d slept with her. It felt like an ultimate betrayal of his brothers.

  All this added up to one undeniable truth—he would never be able to talk to them about Hazel. He wouldn’t be able to tell anyone that he was missing her. Once he rode away from her house, he would have to put her out of his mind. Forever.

  He could feel her shaking against him on the back of the bike. He wondered whether she was crying.

  After a few hours’ drive, he pulled off the road at a small town, hoping to find a convenience store where he could use the restroom and buy something to drink. It was the middle of the night and the place was completely dead, the few people who lived here having turned off their lights for the night, and as a consequence, the twenty-four-hour drugstore in the middle of town shone as brightly as a beacon. Emmett made his way to it and parked his bike in the lot.

  “Do you need anything here?” he asked.

  “Emmett,” she said quietly.

  He turned to look at her. She was standing under a parking lamp and tears were glistening on her cheeks. He hurried to her side and took her in his arms, and for a long moment, they held each other, neither of them speaking.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he said finally, quietly, even though nothing in the world felt okay.

  But she shook her head. “We never got me that plan B pill,” she said.

  He felt as if he’d slammed into a concrete wall going full speed. She was right. He’d been so distracted by the miracle of her existence that he’d completely forgotten to follow up on that. “How long has it been?” he asked, already doing the math in his head. “I think we can still do it.”

  “No,” she said.

  “No?”

  “No, I don’t think we can.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Emmett, I think I’m already pregnant.”

  “You can’t be,” he said. “It was just a couple of days ago.”

  “I’m an omega,” she reminded him. “Things are different. My body wants to be pregnant.”

  God, he’d been stupid. He’d known that. He should have taken that into account, but he’d ignored it. “Even if you are,” he said, grasping at straws, “there’s no way you could know it already. It’s much too soon.”

  “I do know, though,” she said. “I know it doesn’t make any sense, and I can’t tell you exactly how I know. I just have this...this feeling. I can’t explain it. I’ve had it since last night, and it’s been growing stronger all day. I feel different. I feel...fulfilled, somehow. At first, I thought it must be that I was excited to be going home. But that can’t be it. I’m not happy about that at all.”

  “That still doesn’t mean you’re pregnant,” he said. But suddenly, he was remembering the sight of her lying on the ground before he’d gone off to hunt and the idea he’d had that her breasts were fuller. In a normal pregnancy, of course, that shouldn’t have happened this quickly. It didn’t make any sense. But Hazel was right. She wasn’t normal. She was an omega. The usual rules didn’t apply in her case.

  “We have to get a test,” he said, feeling dizzy and hollowed out.

  “A test?”

  “A pregnancy test. You have to take a pregnancy test. We have to know for sure.”

  He led the way into the drugstore, Hazel trailing behind him. He had never purchased a pregnancy test before and had no idea which one was the best, so he chose the most expensive one, figuring there had to be a reason for the price tag. Emmett wasn’t accustomed to choosing the most expensive version of anything, but this wasn’t a place where one wanted to cut corners. He went to the counter, paid for the test, and then handed it to Hazel.

  “Do you know what to do?” he asked.

  She nodded hesitantly. “I think so.”

  “There are instructions in the box, I think,” he said. “In case
you get stuck. Or you can come out and get me.”

  She nodded, looking frightened. “Emmett...if I am pregnant...”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said. “We’ll deal with it when we know for sure. Let’s just take one thing at a time, okay?”

  She nodded and went into the bathroom.

  Emmett could feel the eyes of the store clerk who had sold them the test on him. He wondered how often this happened at the drugstore—people buying pregnancy tests and taking them right there on the spot. He was sure the clerk was wondering what outcome Emmett and Hazel were hoping for.

  What outcome was he hoping for?

  A pregnancy would complicate things horribly. Bringing back an omega he’d slept with and trying to conceal that fact was one thing, but if she was pregnant, there would be no hope of concealing it. The only way to cover up his guilt would be to say that one of the Savage Rangers had fathered her litter, and Emmett refused to do that. He would take responsibility, if there was responsibility to be taken.

  And he couldn’t deny that a part of him hoped there would be. A part of him wanted to see her body ripen with his litter, even though he’d spent years telling himself that babies would do nothing but hamper his way of life. A part of him wanted this excuse to stay by her side. If she was having his litter, he couldn’t leave her.

  He felt a fluttering in his gut. Maybe this was happening for a reason. Maybe this was nature’s way of telling them they were meant to stay together. Maybe she had conceived so quickly—so unnaturally quickly—because he was meant to father her children.

  The bathroom door opened, and he turned to face her, bracing himself for bad news, still not knowing which news he would consider bad.

  She held out the pregnancy test. “It’s positive,” she said quietly. “I’m pregnant, Emmett.”

  He stood still for a long moment, heart soaring, hardly able to believe it. Then he pulled her suddenly and swiftly into his arms. He could feel a change in her body, he marveled, even just embracing her now. She was just a little bit bigger than she had been a few days ago. If he hadn’t known her body as well as he did, he would never have noticed it.

  “You’re happy?” she asked.

  “I’ve never been happier in my life,” he said, holding her tightly. “I can’t believe it!”

  “But Emmett—” she pulled back so that she could look him in the eyes. “What are we going to do? How are we going to make this work? Should we run away?”

  He was on the verge of saying yes. It might be the only sensible thing to do. He couldn’t very well ask Matthew for the reward, now that he’d gotten her pregnant. And the Hell’s Wolves, wherever they were, were apt to be furious with him.

  But a pregnancy on the road...giving birth in the wild...

  “We should still take you home,” he decided.

  She frowned. “You’re not going to leave me, are you?”

  “No. Never. But maybe we can convince your pack to let me stay.”

  Her eyes widened. “You’d join with us? Really?”

  “I told you I’d live in a house for you, didn’t I?” he asked. “Do you think they’d have me?”

  “I think they might! You have all kinds of important skills. You’re a fighter. You could protect me better than any of them, if the Rangers come back. And you’re the father of my children.” She rested a hand on her belly. “They’ve got to at least consider it, right?”

  He hugged her again, overwhelmed at the idea that they might actually be able to stay together and build a life with each other, that they might have their own little pack.

  Two alphas in the same household would be hard. But, he reasoned, they could make it work. He and Hazel would have their own room. He would be alpha over her and their children. He wouldn’t try to assert any authority over the rest of Matthew’s pack They would share space and otherwise leave each other alone.

  And if Matthew wasn’t open to the idea, well, then they would leave. He would take Hazel and they would ride north, maybe into Canada, and live wild. He almost didn’t care which way things went. Either outcome would mean that he and his omega would be together. Either way, he would be happy.

  He bought a bottle of soda for himself and a water for Hazel. “Good news?” the cashier asked, taking in the way he and Hazel were clinging to each other.

  “The best,” she said, giving him a squeeze. “We’re going to be parents!”

  “Mazel tov.” The cashier handed over their drinks and gave Emmett his change.

  They made their way back out to the bike and climbed aboard. This time, as they pulled out onto the highway, Emmett rode slowly for an entirely different reason. He was no longer dreading the return to the Coywolves—in fact, he felt a little excited about it. But he had precious cargo aboard. He couldn’t afford to do anything reckless anymore.

  Chapter Thirteen

  HAZEL

  It felt like a million years had gone by since she had left the Coywolves. Now, as Emmett idled his bike in front of the big house that had once been her home, Hazel stared up at the familiar windows and wondered if there was still a place for her here.

  “Matthew might be angry,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t supposed to get pregnant.”

  “We’ll explain what happened.” Emmett turned off the bike and dismounted. She joined him on the sidewalk, pressing her shoulder into his side for comfort, and he wrapped his arm around her. He must have been nervous, she thought, but he didn’t show it. He was perfectly calm and confident.

  “Promise we’ll figure it out?” she asked. “No matter what happens in there?”

  “Of course,” he said. “There’s no way I’m going to let you go now, Hazel Lang. We’re going to be a family. I promise you that.”

  She nodded.

  “Are you ready to go in?”

  “I think so. Yes.”

  They walked up the brick path to the front door hand in hand, but when they reached the porch Hazel let go. Breaking the news of their new relationship to Matthew would be complicated. Better not to spring it on him by being all over each other as soon as they came into the house.

  The door opened. With a cry, Rita flung herself on Hazel and kissed her cheeks. “You’re all right!” she cried. “We were so worried!”

  Hazel submitted to being hugged. She had to admit, it was a relief to be home. “I’m all right,” she said.

  “Come in, come in,” Rita said, beckoning Emmett to follow as she hustled Hazel into the kitchen. “Matthew will want to thank you personally, I know. Hazel, everyone else just sat down to dinner. Would you like to eat, or would you rather get some rest? Or maybe a shower?”

  “I’m starving, actually,” Hazel said.

  “Wonderful. We’re having beef stew. I’ll fix you a bowl. Will you stay?” she called over her shoulder to Emmett.

  “I’d like that,” he said. “Thank you.”

  Hazel had to smile at the thought of Emmett tasting Rita’s cooking. That diner food was good stuff, but Rita’s food was on a whole other level.

  Everyone jumped up from their seats when she entered the room. There was a great clamor to hug her and to pat her on the back. Even Gianna joined in, Hazel noticed, although there was something unpleasant in her eyes and Hazel got the feeling she was just putting on a show of relief, just going through the motions. She wasn’t actually happy to see Hazel back. Matthew was the last to reach her, and rather than hugging her, he held her at arm’s length and looked her carefully up and down.

  “You look well,” he said.

  Rather than feeling complimented, Hazel felt as if she had just passed a test for which she’d been unprepared. “I’m all right,” she said.

  “Tell us what happened.”

  “She can eat something first, surely?” Rita interjected.

  “No,” Matthew said. “Tell us what happened.”

  It was an order, and Hazel expected to feel the familiar compulsion to obey. But to her surprise, nothi
ng came. She answered him, anyway, not wanting to arouse suspicion. “It was my fault,” she said. “I left the backyard, and that’s when they caught me. They put me in the back of their truck and took me to a bunker.”

  “Who did?”

  “They call themselves the Savage Rangers.”

  “A wild pack,” Matthew said, looking around at the others significantly. “This is what happens when shifters refuse to live within society’s structures and confines. They become violent. Criminal. Animal.”

  Hazel felt Emmett shift uncomfortably beside her. She felt a bit uncomfortable herself. What had happened to her had been harrowing. It felt strange to hear Matthew use it as a morality tale like this.

  “Then what?” he asked her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, what did they do to you once they had you in the bunker?”

  She stared. Was he asking whether she’d been assaulted? Was that a question he expected an answer to here and now, in front of the entire pack?

  “Hang on,” Emmett stepped forward. “This is getting a bit personal, isn’t it?”

  Matthew looked at Emmett as if noticing his presence for the first time. “Oh, you’re wanting payment, I suppose? Why don’t you step into the living room and I’ll be with you in a moment?”

  Emmett crossed his arms over his chest. “I was invited to dinner,” he said.

  Hazel looked from one alpha to the other nervously. If they were already posturing like this, things weren’t going well. “He saved my life,” she interjected. “I don’t know what the Rangers would have done to me if Emmett hadn’t gotten there when he did.” It was an answer to the question Matthew had originally asked, a show of submission to him. They would have done something, but they didn’t. And it was also a plea for kindness toward Emmett.

  Matthew had been cornered. She could see that he knew it, and she could see how little he liked it. But what could he do? “All right,” he said. “Dinner, then payment. And then you’ll be on your way.” He gestured to a seat at the opposite end of the table from Hazel, and although Hazel couldn’t imagine why, her alpha was deliberately trying to put distance between her and her rescuer.