* * *
His mouth gaping, Paul stared at Rose in disbelief as the cowboys in the movie fired their six-shooters at the aliens.
Wolves rarely got pregnant if they had sex with a human. Paul had only heard of a couple of cases. He supposed that had to do with ensuring their lupus garou kind survived. When they did have offspring with a human, the baby or babies normally didn’t have the wolf parent’s ability to shift.
In any event, Paul was ready to kill whoever the man was who had gotten Rose pregnant. Not that she was completely innocent in this. Unless…hell, it better not have been one of the wolves at the ranch who forced himself on her. “Howard Cooper?”
She quickly shook her head, her eyes wide, and he realized he’d spoken the ranch hand’s name out loud.
Attempting to get his temper under control, Paul tried to look at this in a more reasonable way. “Are you certain you’re pregnant?” he asked, when he wanted to turn wolf and take on the father.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Pregnancy tests work the same on us. I’ve taken three over the last three weeks, and it comes back positive every time.”
He needed to talk to her alone, not with the noisy movie playing in the background, and without disturbing others in the theater. He turned to Lori and Allan. “We’ll be right back.” He handed their popcorn to Lori. Both Lori and Allan raised their brows in question.
He motioned for Rose to exit the row in the opposite direction, where they were closer to the aisle. “Let’s talk in the car.”
So much for going to the movies. Now this conversation would be what he’d always remember whenever he went to see another movie.
“You need to mate with Lori,” Rose said as they left the theater while she shoved her unopened bottle of water into her purse. He assumed that’s where the licorice was too. “You need to be our mated pack leaders. If you don’t settle down here, Lori’s liable to get herself in the same bind.”
He didn’t think Lori would get herself into a mess like this. Though he did wonder what would have happened if Dusty had taken the business with her further…
Paul glanced down at Rose’s stomach but couldn’t see a difference.
“Who is he?” he asked, trying to keep his cool when he felt anything but, and to keep the focus on Rose where it belonged.
“You don’t know him. He was just passing through. We hit it off, dated for about two weeks, got too drunk on the last day, and went a little too far. He left the following day.”
“Two weeks?” They never dated humans more than a couple of times. “Wait. He was a wolf?” Paul couldn’t have been more surprised. Though he was glad the man hadn’t been human—if that had been the case and the man wanted to share custody of the baby, someone would have had to turn him. What a mess that could be if he had family or was already married. The ramifications could go on and on.
“Yes. Yes. You didn’t think I got pregnant by a human, did you? That’s so rare. I wouldn’t have even considered it.”
“It had crossed my mind. You have to tell your mother and Allan. Everyone will know before long anyway.”
He and Rose climbed into his vehicle.
“I want this baby,” she said, running her hand over her belly.
“You know we wouldn’t have it any other way.” Paul was surprised she was even worrying about that. Unless a lupus garou child lost his pack and ended up being taken in by humans, children born to their kind were not adopted or sent to foster homes. They remained with what was left of the pack.
Paul smiled a little at her, trying to break through the tension in the car. “The family will be happy for you. But you have to know how I feel about it. And how Allan will too, when he learns of it.”
“That’s why I want you to talk to Allan. You can talk him out of searching for the father and killing him.”
Paul took in a deep breath. “He wouldn’t. Hell, he might like the guy.” Paul was sure he wouldn’t. Not at first. Just like Paul wanted to do some bodily harm to the wolf. It wasn’t that Rose and the man might not be right for each other, but he’d left Rose to take care of a baby on her own. “No one suspects that you’re pregnant?”
“No.”
“Who is the wolf?”
“Everett Johnston. He was a lot of fun. He said he had some issues he had to deal with, and he’d be back. He was in town for the two weeks and we went swimming every day, saw movies, and took wolf runs. He loves the water as much as I do. We just really hit it off great. I’ve never felt that connection with another wolf before. Like what you and Lori have. What we shared, well, it was really special.”
“But he took off,” Paul reminded her, growling a little.
“Yeah, like you and Allan aren’t here most of the time. And you have feelings for Lori.”
Paul hadn’t seen that coming. Rose was right, though he hadn’t gotten Lori pregnant.
“I told you he had issues. He couldn’t stay. I kept hoping he’d call or write or text or return, but it’s been eight weeks and, well, I’m pregnant.”
“Have you tried to contact him about the baby?”
“Of course not. He hadn’t planned to mate me. It was just a mistake.”
“We mate for life, Rose.”
“As if I don’t know that!” She looked out the window. “He was fun, but I think he’s like you. Not ready to settle down.”
“He needs to know what his recklessness resulted in.”
“I never got an address for him. I don’t know where he lives or anything. And his phone has been disconnected.”
So she had tried to get hold of him.
She started to cry. “Allan and Mom are going to kill me.”
Hating to see Rose upset, Paul pulled her into a warm hug. “They love you and they’ll love the baby. We all will.” Though because of their wolf genetics, many lupus garous had multiple births and she might be looking at twins or more. Now, he wished Allan and he had been in the area at the time. This never would have happened. Or at least they would have known the wolf before everything had gone this far. “As to the father, that’s a different story.”
“It’s not just Mom and Allan. It’s this small town business. Everyone will be whispering behind my back about how I’m having a baby out of wedlock.”
Many wolves didn’t feel the necessity to have a regular wedding because they mated for life, so there was no reason for them to make up a binding document that said they were husband and wife. Even so, they let on to the rest of the world that they were married, so Paul could understand her concern.
“I’ve thought of moving,” Rose said, in a small voice, sniffling and soaking the front of his shirt with her tears.
He knew she didn’t mean it. The pack meant everything to her.
“You can’t. No way would any of us let you run off on your own. You need to be with us. Your mother would be beside herself if her daughter and grandbaby were gone. You’ll need help raising one of our kind. We need a pack to raise the cubs, to show them our ways.”
“Then you and Lori will be our pack leaders.”
“Everyone keeps saying that. Lori and I have never even talked about mating one another.”
“She’s often talked to me about it.”
Hell, why hadn’t she said anything about it to him? “Oh?”
“You’re like the knight in tarnished armor to her.”
He chuckled. He couldn’t help himself. “Really.” He could see Lori thinking of him in terms of a wolf coat, but tarnished armor?
“Yeah. You pulled our pack together when we were lost in grief. You did that as a leader. But you also did it to avoid working through your own grief for your parents’ loss. She recognized that. She’s always wanted to be your mate, but she’s never wanted to push it because she knows how much it means for you to work on these dangerous assignments you go on. She will wa
it for you forever. Why do you think she rarely dates lone wolves who pass through here? She won’t even consider them in terms of a mating because she’s waiting for you. You’re going to be old and gray before you ever get a clue.”
He couldn’t believe it. He knew Lori cared for him, just as he did for her, but he’d never realized she’d sacrificed the chance to fall in love with another wolf because she had been waiting for him to settle down.
“Your team members are all setting down roots. Your family needs you. I need you. And a few months from now, a new member of the pack will need you.”
Suddenly, Paul felt like he was going to be a father, not of a wolf cub, but of a whole wolf pack, as small as it was. He guessed that in the back of his mind, he always knew it would come to this, but still…
He went back to the real issue at hand. “The father needs to know. We won’t push him into anything with you. I only want your happiness and the baby’s. But the father needs to know.” One way or another through their SEAL team sources, Paul was going to locate Everett Johnston and learn the truth. “You have to tell your mother.”
“If you tell her, she won’t get as mad. She never does, because…because she sees you as our pack leader, even if you don’t.”
“This is not the same as breaking her favorite lamp because you were playing chase with Lori and caught your foot on the rug. And she never was angry with you over that. Or any of the other things you got in trouble for in our youth.”
“I can’t do it.”
Paul sighed. “All right. We’ll have to tell her now because if you’re that far along, we need to find a wolf doctor to check you out.”
“And learn how many babies there are.”
He hadn’t wanted to mention it.
“I know I could be carrying multiple babies. Our kind often does.” She took hold of Paul’s hand and placed it on her hard belly. Because of the baggy T-shirt she was wearing, he hadn’t noticed. She wasn’t very big yet and if she hadn’t told him, he wouldn’t have guessed it this early on, especially when he hadn’t known she’d been with a wolf.
“How were you able to go swimming with the Cooper brothers at the lake a week ago without anyone knowing the truth?”
“I was wearing a long T-shirt and said I didn’t want to get sunburned. I didn’t actually plan to get into the water. Besides, I’m barely showing.” She shrugged. “I wasn’t out there long anyway because Dusty forced a kiss on Lori, and she grabbed his balls. He quickly let go of her and they took off.”
Lori hadn’t told Paul about the forced kiss. What was to stop Dusty from trying again? Further, what bothered Paul was that neither Lori nor Rose had said what Howard had done during the fiasco. Paul hoped that meant nothing, but he wasn’t about to assume such a thing. “What did Howard do this whole time?”
Rose didn’t say anything.
Paul let out his breath. “Rose,” he said in the pack leader voice that he hadn’t used in a long time.
“You have to promise me you won’t kill him.”
“I wouldn’t kill the bastard unless it’s warranted.” Beyond that, Paul wasn’t promising anything.
“From the end of the dock, he…he threw me in the lake. I told him I didn’t want to swim. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. I was afraid my T-shirt would cling to my belly, and Lori would be able to tell I was pregnant.”
Paul ground his teeth. “Did he hurt you?”
“No. I shrieked because I wasn’t expecting it. I cursed him, then swam toward the beach. But he jumped in and tried to stop me. I might not know martial arts like Lori, but I rolled over on my back and kicked him in the face. After that, I made it to shore, saw Dusty pull Lori’s necklace off, and you know the rest.”
Paul wanted to take a bite out of the bastard. “He didn’t follow you out? Hassle you any further?”
“Not when Dusty started cursing up a storm. The two of them left then.”
He knew Lori hadn’t told him everything. “Are you sure you’re not farther along, Rose? Wolves usually don’t show this early unless—”
“They’re having twins or triplets.”
Just what he suspected. “Catherine isn’t going to like that I’m calling her about this,” Paul said, really feeling it was Rose’s place to tell her mom the truth. He pulled out his cell phone.
“I’d rather you do it,” Rose said.
“All right.” Paul placed the call. “Catherine, I’ve got to talk to you. We’re still at the movie theater. I’ll let Allan know I’m bringing Rose home, but we need to talk.”
“Okay. See you in a little bit.”
He suspected Rose’s mother already knew. Catherine’s voice was tense, but she didn’t push for any further word than that. Since she was so close to her daughter, he thought she must know.
“Let’s go back inside the theater, and I’ll tell Allan and Lori we’ll see them later.”
“I could wait in the car.”
“No, you come with me.” Paul wasn’t sure why he wanted her to, but he really didn’t want to leave her alone. Maybe because she was so upset. He thought someone should be with her until she talked to her mother and brother—well, Lori and Emma even. That was their pack. Everyone should know. And everyone would be behind her on this.
“Paul,” Rose said, taking hold of his hand as they returned to the theater. “We should ask Tara and her mother to join us. They’re in our territory. They should be in our pack.”
He hadn’t officially taken the job. He wasn’t ready to add any more wolves to the equation until he let the original pack have some say in things. Then he thought of how Rose was so upset over this and had to have been for a couple of weeks. Had she waited all this time to speak with him and not said anything to anyone about it? “Did you tell Lori?”
Rose shook her head.
“You should have.”
When he reached the bottom of the stairs to the theater, he said, “Why don’t you wait here while I tell Allan and Lori where we’re—”
“Allan’s coming.”
Paul glanced up to see Allan headed down the stairs. The two of them were so close that Paul swore Allan already knew what it was about.
“You’re leaving?” Allan asked, sliding a glance to his sister.
“Yeah. I’m going to take her home. Tell Lori, if you would, that I’ll see her back up at the cabin after a bit.”
“You don’t want us to come with you?”
“No,” Rose said.
Allan cast her a big brother’s look that promised he would know what was going on before long. It was just the way of the wolf. Paul knew he’d definitely want to find the guy who had made his sister pregnant. “All right. See you in a bit.”
Allan turned and strode back up the stairs. Lori was watching them from her seat. Paul gave her a little wave, she nodded, and then he and Rose headed back outside.
He smelled Rose’s nervous scent and saw her wringing her hands. He glanced at her, checking to see if she was crying again, and she stuck her hands in her pockets. “She’s going to want to kill me.”
It was just an expression the family used and they didn’t mean it literally.
“Your mother might be upset, but everything will be okay.”
“You won’t put a hit out on him, will you?”
Paul smiled at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “No. That’s not what we do. Unless the guy has taken some of our kind hostage or something. Then, if we have only one way of safely freeing the hostages, he could be a dead wolf. But in a case like this, we just want to talk to him and learn more about him. Discover what his ‘issues’ are.”
When they arrived at Catherine’s house, Rose looked like she was going to be sick, as pale as she was. “Are you all right?”
“No.”
He hurried to get her passenger door for her, a
nd then took her arm and led her to the house. To his relief, Catherine quickly opened the door and took her daughter from Paul, moving her to the kitchen. The scent of spices filled the air, and he saw jars in a row where she’d been working on filling them with her spice rubs to sell at Rose’s shop.
“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?” her mother asked softly, her eyes a little misty.
Paul wasn’t surprised her mother knew, and she’d be calm about it. Not happy, but not really angry either. Maybe a little mad at the man who’d gone too far with her daughter and left her in such a way. Well, maybe a little angry with Rose too, for getting herself in this predicament and not telling anyone.
Paul followed them into the kitchen in case they needed assistance.
Catherine sat her daughter down at the kitchen table, then got a wet cloth and ran it over Rose’s face. “Can you get her a little water?”
“Sure thing.” Paul filled a cup of water for Rose.
“I got dehydrated when I was pregnant with you kids. I wasn’t drinking enough water. I nearly passed out because of it. So you need to keep hydrated.” Then Catherine glanced at Paul and raised her brows a little.
He really didn’t feel it was his place to tell Rose’s mother what had happened, but since Rose looked like she might expire on the spot and her mother was waiting for an explanation, he just said what he felt she needed to know. “She can’t get hold of him. He’s a wolf but a drifter, or he would have been in the area, and he hasn’t had any contact with her since…since they met.”
Then he talked about what was really important for now, considering she might be carrying multiple babies. “We need to get her to a wolf doctor. I don’t know of any in the area. That’s the priority for now: finding a wolf doctor she can see and ensuring the babies are going to be healthy. Beyond that, we have connections and we’ll find the wolf father.”
Rose started to cry, and Catherine looked just as distraught as she leaned down to hug her daughter.
“Not to force them to mate,” Paul said, not wanting to upset her further. “This is strictly to learn what we can about him and go from there. If we determine he’s one badass wolf, well, since she’s my sister too…”