The vulnerability on Tyler’s face vanished, hardening as he grabbed the pot of water. They didn’t have a kettle. He splashed some water into a mug and picked it up.
“Wait.” Max grabbed the peppermint tea from the cupboard. “How about we actually put some flavoring in that hot water?”
Tyler glared at him. “Don’t act like you care for her now. You’ve been acting like a total asshole for the last two months; nobody thinks that you care about her now.”
Max blinked in surprise. Where had this come from? But the glare Tyler gave him awakened his wolf, growling and snapping. He put the tea down and narrowed his own eyes. “At least I’m trying to help. You’re the one who got her into this situation in the first place and—”
“I?” Tyler snarled.
“You,” Max repeated. “It’s clear that this whole scheme was yours. You’re the one who wants to be a dad all of a sudden. It’s obvious that you got me drunk and talked me into this because you want to have your spawn running around.”
“You are the one that this psycho is after, not me!”
Max flinched. That was true enough, wasn’t it? All the evidence pointed toward him, not Tyler, as the target here. “If you hadn’t had this harebrained scheme to get her pregnant, she wouldn’t be in our house with all of this happening. In fact, you were the one who wanted her to move in. So yeah. It’s still your fault.”
“You—” Tyler lifted a fist and Max only grinned at him, showing all his teeth.
If he wanted to mope, then Max would give him something to mope about. Here he was doing all his dreams about turning bedrooms into nurseries and completely changing their lifestyle so that he could have a kid without even thinking about what it meant! Did he think he could just put a kid in the corner and that it would raise itself?
And now because he hadn’t been thinking about any of this, Angela’s life was in danger.
“This is not my fault,” Tyler said, glaring at him. “And you’re just angry because she has been turning to me. But that’s your own damn fault for being such an asshole toward her. I’m surprised that she lets you touch her after the way you’ve been treating her.”
Max flinched. He sucked in a ragged breath, hating that Tyler had a point.
“Maybe she’s just afraid that she doesn’t have a choice,” Tyler continued to hiss. “After all, did you even ask if you could tie her up and whip her? No! You told her that was what you were doing!”
“And she enjoyed it!”
“And that whipping is probably why she’s in such a bad state now!”
Max’s stomach dropped. He had read online. Done research. Made sure that it was safe. He’d kept it light, reddening her skin but making sure that he didn’t even give her a welt. He’d taken care of her afterward. But what if Tyler was right…?
“If those babies die, she is never going to forgive you,” Tyler continued.
Max had to resist the urge to wrap his hands around Tyler’s neck. Everything was about those babies! Tyler could see the state Angela was in but was concerned about whether the babies would survive? She was barely over five months along. The fetuses weren’t viable. And even if they were, why were they so much more important than anything else in this equation?
Max had seized Tyler and was shaking him before he realized what he was doing. “And if Angela dies, I will never forgive you! I get it, you want to be a father and she wants to be a mother. But SHE COMES FIRST! Do you understand me? I don’t want to see those babies die either—” Wait, when had that happened? But his wolf was growling, wanting to protect the babies just as much as he wanted to protect Angela. “—but if it’s a choice between them and Angela?”
“Get off me,” Tyler bellowed. “Of course she comes first! But do you think she won’t be heartbroken if they—”
“They could be killing her,” Max howled. His hands tightened around Tyler’s collar as desperation swept through him. Because that was it, wasn’t it? Angela being so weak and tired, the pallor of her skin. The blood. Was she dying? “You know what sort of heritage I have; you know that the risk for complications is higher—"
“For you, not her!”
“If they’re mine—” Max cut himself off as Kristoff entered the kitchen.
“Guys,” he started but Tyler apparently didn’t care that they had an audience now.
“You are so full of hating yourself for something you have no control over,” Tyler spat. “You mope around as though your father took any chance at happiness you ever had. And you punish everybody around you for that. ‘Cause if you’re not allowed to be happy, if you’re not allowed to have children, then I’m not allowed it either, am I? Fucking Christ! I’m not even allowed to sleep with women unless you’re sleeping with them, too!”
“I never said that.” Max pushed him away and stalked out of the kitchen. Lucas was sitting on the couch, eyes wide. And Angela was standing in the doorway of the bedroom, a hand pressed to her mouth. Max whirled on Tyler. “You were the first one to suggest that we share women. I have never said that you had to share them with me. Hell, I was the one who said it was weird!”
“Guys,” Kristoff pressed.
“Shut up,” Tyler snapped at him. His hands clenched as he continued to glare at Max. “You are such a hypocrite. I’m sick and tired of this. You blame everything on your father. You never take any responsibility for yourself. But newsflash! You aren’t a berserker because of him, and there is nothing wrong with being a berserker! You’re not alone and unloved because of him either. You’re just an asshole.”
Max snarled loudly. “How can you look at what that pregnancy is doing to Angela and say that—”
“We don’t even know if they’re yours!” Tyler looked like he was on the edge of throwing a punch. “And just because you were born because your father raped his daughter doesn’t mean that your children are bound to be incest mutations, too!”
Horror came over Tyler’s face the moment the words left his mouth, but it was too late. Rage, hotter and more blinding than anything Max had felt, even in the worst berserker moment, swept through him. He attacked, not even knowing what he was doing. Both his fists struck Tyler in the chest, sending him careening into the wall. A solid thud sent pictures falling off.
Angela screamed and Max’s wolf turned toward her, wanting to protect her. But when he stepped toward her, she shrank back, terror in her eyes.
Tyler came back swinging, getting him in the kidneys and sending him to the floor. They rolled, punching and grappling with each other. Kristoff tried to intervene and got two black eyes for his efforts. Rage built hotter and hotter in Max’s mind. He wanted blood—
Then hands were on him, pulling him off Tyler. Two people yanked him to the wall and pinned him there, while another two pinned Tyler. Max shook the clouds of anger from his mind, fighting to return to himself.
Devon snarled at him, making him flinch. His wolf submitted to the alpha’s second-in-command on instinct, respecting his strength and authority no matter how much he wanted to continue to beat the crap out of Tyler. Theron held his other side, looking absolutely furious.
Sly and Kristoff had Tyler pinned, while Ian held Angela, standing protectively in front of his sister as she wept.
“What the hell is going on here?” Sly demanded.
Max was silent. This was Tyler’s fault. Let him explain.
“Well?” Sly growled.
Tyler huffed. “Max and I are getting a divorce.”
Max rolled his eyes. Of course, he’d turn this into a joke.
“I’m moving out, and I’m taking Angela with me.”
Max’s wolf lunged, throwing his body against Theron and Devon’s hands. They slammed him back and the rage came again. Only this time since he could not lash out with his fists, it was his words that whipped out and slammed into Tyler. “Good riddance to you! But those babies are mine, too. Angela stays.”
“Like hell,” Ian snarled while Tyler growled. “Angela isn’t going
to live with either of you bastards.”
Angela pushed at him slightly but didn’t protest. Sly shot Ian a warning glance. He shook his head, moving his glare from Tyler to Max. “It’s not going to be that easy. Not when we have the Pack returning. You think you two are the only targets?”
“No,” Tyler snapped. “I think he is.”
Max growled in response.
“Fuck you both,” Sly said. “We’re all taking Angela to the hospital now. And if either of you start fighting before I say you can, I’ll castrate you both. Understood?”
Max hated having to nod, but he did anyway. Sly meant it. He let out a heavy grunt as Theron and Devon released him. And then his heart twisted, seeing the tears tracking down Angela’s face. He stepped toward her, wanting to comfort her, but Ian growled a warning.
He hardly heard the orders Sly gave them after that. Because he knew, every tear falling from Angela’s eyes was his fault… and he didn’t know how to handle that.
Chapter Thirteen
The next few weeks saw everything change drastically. Angela still didn’t know the details about what was happening, only that the attack on Max and Tyler’s cabin was not been to be an isolated event. All the wolves packed up supplies to last a significant length of time and then moved to the campground that Adrian Rex owned.
The cabins there were placed close enough together that they had a better time keeping an eye on the parameter and making sure no uninvited guests snuck in, while the heavy tree cover allowed for more privacy in each cabin and prevented any snipers from being able to take them out from long distances.
The biggest problem with this situation was that there was no indoor plumbing and so every time she had to relieve herself, Angela had to call someone to take her to the outhouse. Max and Tyler were never with her at the same time, which broke her heart, but Max had gotten far more gentle with her. She hadn’t brought up the revelation that he was the result of incest and rape, even though her heart ached to tell him that it didn’t make him an evil person.
The circumstances of his birth didn’t make it any more likely for her babies to have health defects. She was certain of that… it didn’t work that way.
“That was a heavy sigh,” Chloe said, bringing a bowl of broth over for her.
Angela had stopped being able to keep things down again. She took the broth but had no desire to eat. “I guess I’m just wondering… if it’s my fault. Because of what we did.”
Sandra, who had been folding laundry, came to sit at her bedside. “Hey, don’t talk like that. The midwife said that it wasn’t the sex, right?”
Angela nodded. She had even told the midwife about the nature of their sex and had been reassured that the complications in her pregnancy were unlikely to have been caused by that. It didn’t stop her from feeling guilty, though. And what if she was the cause of this rift between Max and Tyler, too?
“I actually had a thought,” Sandra continued, “and I think I know what’s going on.”
Angela frowned at her. Since when did she know anything about pregnancy?
“This only happens when you have a significant, sudden stress right?”
Angela nodded.
Sandra smiled reassuringly. “I think it’s the babies responding to that. It’s rare, but there are cases of infants shifting in the womb. And since you’re human and can’t adjust to that, it makes sense that they might cause a bit more damage than is normal. Hence why your bleeding stops so quickly, and the doctors can’t find a reason why. You’re picking up enough shifter traits from the blood exchange to heal up.”
“I hadn’t considered that,” Angela murmured. Her heart ached, hoping that was the case. “But won’t that mean that they’re in danger all the same?”
“No. Just that they’re shifting, which means their development might be progressing faster than what’s usual.” Sandra patted her shoulder. “And it means that you need to keep resting and try not to stress.”
“Easier said than done.”
A knock on the door made her straighten. The door opened and her chest warmed to see Tyler. She’d been living in the cabin with Ian, Theron, and Sandra but every time she saw one of her boys it lit her heart up warmly. He stepped in, leading Miriam.
“Hey,” Tyler greeted with a tense smile. “Lucas found Miriam here and was giving her the third degree. I figured you’d want to see her.”
Angela nodded as Miriam came over, talking with Chloe in a low voice. Her attention was all on Tyler, though. She wanted to ask him if he was talking to Max again, but when she opened her mouth, he stepped back out the door.
“I have to get back to my shift,” he said and was gone.
Angela slumped against the headboard. Tears stung her eyes as she remembered just how complete she’d felt with Max and Tyler’s hands on her. There was a reason she had refused to leave them for two months… she hadn’t thought she would ever feel as happy as she had then. Didn’t think it would hurt so much to be torn apart like this.
It was so devastating she had hardly any time to worry about what the attack on their cabin had been about or what was going on now.
“Are you three okay?” Miriam asked as soon as they were alone.
Angela drew her attention to her friend with difficulty as Chloe and Sandra frowned at her. “Why wouldn’t we be?” Chloe asked.
“All of a sudden you get rushed up to this place and all the wolves are acting like prison guards. I was barely able to get in here to see you.” Miriam shivered as she glared at the door. “I thought maybe you were being held hostage or Sly Yarbo was starting a cult.”
Sandra sighed. “Nothing like that, Miriam. There is just some… stuff going on. Something connected with their old military work.”
Angela shivered. If they were being watched right now, would someone go after Miriam? Would they think that they could get at Max or Tyler by coming after her? There was no reason for them to, but they might see Miriam here and think that somehow she was connected…
Don’t stress, she told herself. Tyler wouldn’t have brought her here if she would end up in danger.
Miriam sat on the edge of Angela’s bed, frowning in worry at her. “And how are you doing? The last message you sent me, you said you wanted to talk to me.”
Angela flushed slightly as she dropped her gaze to the bowl of broth. “I… I forget what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“That’s a lie,” Miriam muttered, glaring at the quilt Angela was covered with. “You never forget anything.”
By this time, Sandra and Chloe were both looking at her with strange expressions, too. Angela’s flush deepened, not knowing how she was supposed to get out of this one. And then she wondered if she really wanted to get out of it at all. Miriam was the person she trusted most with all her secrets, but Chloe and Sandra both had two mates. If anybody was going to understand this situation she’d gotten herself in with Tyler and Max, it was them.
“Well… you all know that Tyler and Max are the two that contracted my surrogacy, right?” Nods answered her and she hesitated before she blurted out, “The night before we all decided to move out here, the three of us had sex.”
All three of them gave her wide-eyed looks of surprise, but Sandra laughed and clapped her hands. “Well, that wasn’t even going to be too much of a surprise.”
Angela glared at her. “Not now. It’s… it’s more than what you think, and I’m confused, and I need to talk this out.”
While her three friends listened patiently, Angela told them about the details—even the embarrassing ones. When she told about Max whipping her, Miriam’s eyes went wide as dinner plates and Chloe giggled.
“I asked Devon and Sly if they’d like that,” she whispered, blushing furiously. “Devon’s up for it but Sly says that he thinks he’d take it too far and really hurt me. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell him that I know he wouldn’t, or Devon says that he’d make sure that Sly didn’t get too caught up in everything. Was it good?�
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Angela bit her lip and nodded. “It hurt. Like… well, more than you’d expect. But at the same time, it just felt so good. Like…”
“Like they could do anything to you they wanted?” Sandra suggested. “Like you were completely helpless before their lust, but you knew that every pain was going to be answered by a million pleasures?”
Angela blushed as red as her hair as she nodded. “And the midwife said it was safe. I told her because I was worried about the babies, but she said that it can’t be the reason.”
Miriam leaned back, shaking her head. “Should I be taking notes here?”
All three of them stared at her. Angela grimaced, wondering what it was she meant. She knew that Miriam had bounced back and forth between looking at Lucas and Kristoff, but she always swore against relationships, saying they were too messy and complicated.
Miriam ducked her head. “I sometimes write erotica and self-publish it.”
“And that is definitely something I am going to tease you about at another time,” Sandra said. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Miriam glared at her.
“Anyway,” Angela said, bringing their attention back to her. As much as she would have liked to know exactly what Miriam was publishing, she still had more to say. She set the bowl aside and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Afterward… they started to fight. About me. I don’t know what started it. Maybe it was because Max still wants me to terminate my pregnancy.”
“He what?” All three of her friends exclaimed at the same time, horror written over their faces.
Angela hid her face. That’s right, she hadn’t told anybody about that. “He and Tyler were drunk when they agreed to the contract. Max didn’t want me to go through with it. Especially in case they were his. He thinks his genetics are bad or something and that if he sired them, then they’ll be bad, too… he wants me to terminate.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” Sandra spluttered.
“It’s too late for that,” Chloe barked, looking agitated.
Miriam alone took Angela’s hand and squeezed gently. “Go on.”
Surrogate for the Wolves Page 8
