A Wolf in the Fold

  “Ortega’s daughter-in-law was a wolf. Abernathy’s niece. She was abducted, her jaguar mate killed during her rescue.” She smiled. “And Ortega confided in me at the Gathering that if I was to run across a little girl about her age in the course of my searching for dear ole Daddy…” She grinned.

  “You think he… But… Bloody hell!”

  “I’m almost positive of it. Dear ole Daddy was going to do it with Elain Pardie, also his niece, so why wouldn’t he do it with Ortega’s daughter-in-law?” She grinned. “He’s a kinky old bastard, isn’t he?”

  “That’s one word for it. Horrific is another and, dare I say, a more accurate one. Judge me as you will regarding my past, I have never raped anyone. I especially would never stand by and allow that to happen to a child.”

  She reached up and caressed his cheek, her gaze softening. “You need to let your past go.”

  He laid his hand over hers and turned his face to kiss her palm. “Not quite that easy. I wish it were.”

  “Lenny and Edgar were shits. I know it, I admit it. If I’d known everything they were planning to do…” She shrugged. “Brothers or not, I wouldn’t have let them do that to that little girl. If I couldn’t have stopped them, I would have done the same thing you did.”

  He rested his other hand on her baby bump, gently caressing her. “We both have a second chance now, don’t we? To atone for the past?”

  “We do. All that matters now is her and our future.”

  He frowned. “Her?”

  “Lacey told me she’s a girl.” She smiled. “We’re going to have a girl.” Then she felt the baby kick.

  She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her tummy, waiting.

  Then the baby did it again.

  He pulled her into his arms, the paperwork forgotten as he crushed her lips with his. “Love,” he hoarsely said, “I don’t know why the Universe brought us together, but I shall never question it again. I never thought I’d ever know happiness again. Never thought I deserved it.”

  “Of course we do. Just like the asshole in the basement deserves as much torture as can be wrung out of him.”

  “We need to get you to a doctor, love.”

  “Why? I don’t want to risk it.”

  He nibbled on the side of her neck, melting her. “This is my bailiwick,” he rumbled, his teeth lightly raking her flesh. “I say we make sure our little girl is fine.”

  What he was doing to her threatened to take her knees out from under her. Damn the old wolf, he really could read her body. “Okay, I’ll call around in the morning.”

  He nipped, making her whine with need and soak her panties as her pussy gushed. “Good girl,” he whispered. “Good girls get rewards.” He scooped her up and headed toward their bedroom.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  It was their last day at Yellowstone. They’d be leaving later that afternoon, after the Clan Council finished up their last round of meetings.

  Callie had already packed their things and had the luggage ready to load in the car when she headed over to the main lodge for lunch. There, she caught up with Elain, Lina, Lacey, and others talking on the porch and waiting for the cafeteria to open.

  “Well, don’t know about you all, but I need a vacation from my vacation,” Callie said.

  “Amen,” Elain agreed. “This was way too exciting for my first trip here.”

  “But, at least Sir said my nightmares seem to have totally stopped.” She grinned. “I feel bad for the bison, but thank goodness it’s over.”

  Gigi grinned. “Oscar’s still picking bison fur out of his back teeth.”

  “Eww!” Mai said, shuddering.

  “Congratulations, by the way,” Lacey said to Callie.

  “Thanks. I’m glad they figured it out and were able to get rid of it for me.”

  The old Seer laughed. “Oh, I didn’t mean about getting the curse lifted.”

  “Then what do you mean?”

  Lacey pointed at Callie’s stomach. “The baby. Congratulations.”

  Callie’s eyes widened. “But…but…no!”

  Gigi burst out laughing. “Oh, holy crap. I bet the curse kept you from getting preggers. So when you…and Blackie…” She laughed so hard she had to sit down on the porch steps.

  Callie turned on her sister. “You never warned me about that!”

  That made Gigi laugh even harder. “I thought you knew how babies were born, sister.”

  “But…I…argh!” She stormed off toward the cabins.

  Elain watched her go and fought the urge to follow. She felt badly for her friend but knew Callie needed some alone time to come to terms with it. Having seen her own mother’s shock at finding out the news about an impending baby, she knew it had to be hitting Callie hard.

  Lacey frowned. “I thought she wanted to have a baby.”

  “She does,” Lina said as she watched their friend flee toward the cabins. “I think she thought she’d be in control of when it happened. It caught her by surprise.”

  Elain turned to Lina. “Wait a minute. Did you know that was going to happen?”

  Lina shrugged. “I wasn’t sure. I knew there was a chance.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us that?” Elain asked, indicating her and Mai. “Or her?” She pointed toward where Callie had retreated to the cabins.

  “Because I didn’t know for sure. Frankly, I was more worried about getting rid of the curse without it ending up inside someone else. I was afraid if I brought up the possibility, that she might back out. Or that it might stress her out and screw things up with the ceremony. Or stress out Blackie and make him want to use a condom or something. The ceremony needed sex magick to work. I couldn’t stop to ask, ‘Oh, by the way, are you on the pill, girlfriend?’ It was more important to get rid of the curse than to worry if her mate got her knocked up in the process.”

  Mai remained silent.

  “Oh, don’t give me a guilt trip,” Lina told them. “You guys know how she is. She’s spent the last couple of what, couple thousand years as a control freak? Time for her to suck it up and deal.” She pointed at Elain. “You’re next, you know.”

  Elain shook her head. “Not right now.” Now more than ever she was glad she’d decided to go back on the pill. “I’m happy to wait. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact I’m going to be a big sister. Besides, Gigi’s overdue, isn’t she? She’s older than me.”

  The former Immortal held up her hands. “Everything in due time. I’m not ready to give up unlimited sexy time with my tiger just yet, thank you very much.”

  * * * *

  Callie felt tears bubbling to the surface as she raced back to the cabin. Sure, she’d entertained the idea of a baby…someday.

  Blackie had even said that if she wanted one, they would talk about it when she was ready to have the conversation. Honestly, she’d assumed that there was something wrong with her, or Blackie, and she couldn’t get pregnant. Or that her former Immortal status somehow didn’t mesh well with his lupine genes. She hadn’t even given thought to her fertile times anymore. It didn’t seem to matter when they boinked, because nothing ever took anyway.

  And they’d done more than their fair share of boinking in the past couple of years.

  She’d never thought about it being part of the curse, once that was brought to light.

  Dammit.

  She threw herself onto the bed and let the tears flow. Surprise, relief, joy, anger—she wasn’t sure.

  Hormones hitting me already?

  Possibly.

  Greeaat.

  She was still lying there when she heard the door open. Blackie, holding a take-out container of food, walked in.

  “Are you all right, pet?”

  She’d managed to rein in her tears, but the concern on his face and in his voice started the waterworks flowing again.

  He set the container down on the bedside table and crawled into bed with her, gathering her into his arms and holding her close.

  “I
won’t force you to keep it,” he softly said a few minutes later, once she’d pulled herself together again.

  She sat up, anger flashing through her. “I’m not getting rid of our baby! What the hell is wrong with you?”

  He studied her, taking a few breaths before attempting to speak.

  It was a familiar routine for him when trying to rein his irritation in at her over something. His voice sounded gentle, but confused. “Then why are you upset, sweetheart?”

  “Because…because I…I don’t know!” she wailed, falling into his arms again.

  His body vibrated from the stress of him trying to hold back his laughter.

  “It’s not funny.”

  He nuzzled the top of her head. “Of course it’s not, pet.”

  But his tone revealed he thought it was one of the funniest damn things he’d ever heard in his life.

  “You’re trying not to laugh.”

  “Don’t I get points for trying?”

  “No.” She knew how petulant that sounded.

  Frankly, she didn’t care.

  He kissed the top of her head again. “Aren’t you happy about this?”

  “I don’t know what I am right now.”

  He rested one hand flat against her tummy. “It’ll be a Christmas baby. Our Christmas baby. That’ll be fun, won’t it? Carla and Liam will probably have theirs not too long before.”

  She laced her fingers through his. “You’re going to hate me by the time I have it, if I’m this emotional now and it’s only been a few days.”

  He squeezed her hand and nuzzled the side of her neck, kissing her there. When he next spoke, his breath warm against her flesh, his tone held no humor.

  Instead, he sounded almost choked up. “Pet, you’re wrong about that. You are the mother of our child. My mate. My wife. My slave and my soul mate. I will love you more each and every day.” Then he lightly nipped her. “But it doesn’t mean I might not spank you every so often if you get a little out of hand.”

  She closed her eyes and pressed her body against his as tightly as she could. “Did I tell you yet today that I love you, Sir?”

  He made her meet his gaze. His sweet green eyes bored down into hers. “I love you, too, pet. Always and forever.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Fortunately, things quieted down after Yellowstone. Two months later, the May Clan Council meeting was held in Maine. Larger than previous years, over seventy people in all were expected as far as Clan representatives, including the whole of the Maine wolf council.

  The RVs were getting a workout, but this time Carla stayed home with Liam in Florida. While the Lyall men were in Maine, Liam would oversee the ranch.

  Everyone expected the expectant parents were getting in some well-deserved alone time while they had the Arcadia house all to themselves.

  During the main meeting, Callie tried her best not to take over, to let Blackie make the decisions. She was happy to see he included Jocko and Lacey in the process as a matter of courtesy, in addition to wanting their input. They closed off the entire meeting hall for the mega-Clan portion of the proceedings. Everyone from the jaguars to the dolphins and alligators, the gazelles, several horse clans—Clans from North, Central, and South America, as well as some from Asia and Europe, such as the dragons.

  It was a melting pot of shifter might, or madness, depending on how one wanted to look at it.

  They’d arranged several long tables together in a U so everyone could see the others and be able to talk. Blackie, the de facto head of the united mega-Clan council, chaired the meeting. It had run late into the night, Callie taking care of having dinner catered to them to keep rumbling bellies and predator appetites from accidentally creating a shifter diplomatic incident.

  Callie watched as poor Mai looked decidedly ill at ease, sandwiched between Lina and Elain and sitting off to the side, observing things.

  For her part, Callie was glad the shifters were all getting along with each other, united against the growing cockatrice threat as warmer weather approached.

  The cipher, as always, remained Rodolfo Abernathy and his MIA status.

  Until he was found, dead or alive, no one would truly rest easy on that matter.

  Not to mention everyone was troubled by Lina’s apocalyptic vision of a nuclear weapon being set off.

  Head jaguar Ortega Montalvo was especially unsettled over the matter of Abernathy. After yet another round of unproductive suppositions regarding Abernathy, Ortega pounded his fist against the table. “I want that bastard in my clutches! I want my granddaughter back!”

  The room went silent. Blackie stared at him. “Say what?”

  Ortega’s face reddened, but he didn’t reply.

  Wally Medved, representing the bear shifters, coughed. Callie spotted the bear shifter’s gaze was locked onto the jaguar.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, since no one else was speaking.

  Blackie glared at her but didn’t give her a command to pipe down, so she stood and walked around the table. “Your granddaughter?” She stopped next to the jaguar. “What the hell? What are you talking about? This is the first I’ve heard of this.”

  Ortega glared at Wally but then looked down at the table. “My son’s mate was Abernathy’s niece. She’d escaped and made her way to our Clan, looking for sanctuary. They fell in love and mated. Unfortunately, Abernathy tracked her down and kidnapped her while they were on a trip to the United States.”

  “So your granddaughter is a cross between a jaguar and a wolf?” Blackie asked.

  Ortega slowly shook his head. “She wasn’t pregnant when Abernathy abducted her.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Callie whispered. “The fucker raped her?”

  Ortega nodded. “When we finally located her and attempted to rescue her, my son was killed in the fight. Abernathy cut the baby from her belly and disappeared with her.” His gaze skittered around the gathered shifters before dropping to the table again. She is eleven now.”

  “Okay, no disrespect intended, Ortega,” Blackie said, “but technically she’s not your granddaughter.”

  Ortega slowly tapped his finger against the table to emphasize his words. “I made Melinda a promise as she lay dying in my arms. She made me swear, begged me with her dying breath, to find her baby and raise her.” His glare returned to meet Blackie’s, hard, cold. “And I will do that if it’s the last thing I do.”

  Blackie leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his face with his hands. “You know, again, no disrespect, but it would have been nice if we’d known that before, when”—he leaned forward—“two fucking times we had Rodolfo here in our Clan territory and could have captured him for you, instead of pussyfooting around with other issues. That would have been more than enough for us to take him then.”

  “Do you honestly think he would have divulged the information about her if you had?”

  “Wait,” Callie said, bracing her palms on the table. “You said she’s eleven?”

  He nodded. “Her birthday was a couple of months ago.”

  She let out a laugh. “Son of a bitch.”

  Blackie focused on her. “What is it?”

  She grinned. “I think I know where she is. Well, I know where she was.” She straightened. “Sir, may I?”

  He hesitated before nodding. “Only if you can do it without being spotted or putting yourself in danger. And you will come right back here. Immediately and safely. No side trips, no going rogue. That’s an edict, mate.”

  She nodded and disappeared before anyone else could say anything. Clear in her mind, that night when she desperately searched for Carla, trying to locate her before the hearing so they could rescue her.

  She remembered tracking down Mai’s uncle, and stopping by Abernathy’s compound in Montana.

  That was where she appeared now, grateful for the fact that it was just after dark there. She knelt along a wall outside the house, next to a juniper bush, and closed her eyes.

  Inside, she heard vo
ices, sensed several people. Yes, the older Hispanic woman she suspected was the same person who had been there the first time she went.

  And she heard the voice of a young girl.

  Good enough for me.

  * * * *

  Elain wondered when they’d ever get to the bottom of the gooey, slimy mess that was the rottenness of Rodolfo Abernathy and his disappearance without a trace. Until Ortega Montalvo’s admission, she’d caught herself dozing off a few times through the meeting.

  Cockatrice—bad.

  Abernathy—bad.

  Sky—blue.

  Grass—green.

  Nothing new or exciting there. Frankly, she was beginning to privately wonder if the new mega-Clan council was nothing more than a supernatural bureaucratic shifter circle jerk.

  Until the jaguar’s admission.

  Now he had her undivided attention, her inner Alpha wolf all bushy-tailed, perky, and listening.

  Like the rest of the room, she eagerly awaited Callie’s report. If it was true, if Callie did locate the little girl, maybe it meant a chance to find Abernathy. Then again, maybe the people who had him also had the little girl.

  “I want to go, Blackie,” Lina said. “Let me go in there with Callie.”

  Elain could see that ending badly, the way her friend was almost vibrating with eagerness.

  Fortunately, Jan and Rick were there to help talk her down, as was Zack. “Lina,” Zack said, “we don’t even know if the little girl is there yet, much less if she’s the right one.”

  “It’s Abernathy’s compound, right?” Her expression darkened. “Can’t be a coincidence.”

  “They’re right, lovely,” Jan said, Rick nodding his agreement. “We need to wait.”

  “Waiting is what let Fat Boy get away from me back in Brussels. If I’d been faster, I would have nailed his ass then.”

  Elain knew her friend took it very personally that Marston Hill had escaped her, especially when they realized just how close he’d gotten to Elain in Arcadia, and how he’d been in cahoots with Rodolfo Abernathy that whole time.