Chapter 8 Knox #2
Hunt grumbled but got to his feet, herding the twins toward the kitchen with promises that cleanup could be turned into a game if they were creative enough. Their voices faded as they disappeared down the hallway, leaving Lina and me alone in the feather-covered disaster zone.
“Here, let me help you,” I said, guiding her toward the couch. I pushed aside a pile of pillows to make room and settled her down carefully, then sat next to her.
She sighed and melted into me immediately, burying her face in my neck. Her whole body seemed to deflate as the tension left her, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her as close as her belly would allow.
“You good?” I asked quietly.
“I’m just tired,” she grunted against my skin.
“Of everything. Of being inside all the time. Of not being able to check on my shops. Of feeling useless while everyone else runs around trying to protect me. Of being pregnant and huge and uncomfortable every second of every day. I’m tired, Knox. I’m so fucking tired.”
I pressed my lips to her hair and held her tighter. “I know, baby. I know. And I’m sorry. I wish I could make this easier for you. I wish I could fix everything so you didn’t have to go through this.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Feels like it is. You’re stuck in here because of threats against you. Threats that exist because you’re mated to me. Because you’re the Luna of this pack. If I hadn’t...”
“Don’t.” She pulled back slightly to look at me, her brown eyes fierce despite her exhaustion. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence. I chose this life. I chose you. I don’t regret it, Knox. Not for a second. I’m just tired. That’s all.”
Her eyes got suspiciously shiny as she spoke, and I watched in alarm as tears started to well up. Pregnancy hormones had turned my mate into an emotional rollercoaster, crying at commercials and getting choked up over songs on the radio. But this felt different. This felt real.
“Hey,” I murmured, cupping her face in my hands. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. We’re going to get through this.”
“I know,” she whispered, but the tears spilled over anyway. “I know we will. I just... I miss feeling normal. I miss feeling like myself instead of this huge, emotional, trapped version of myself.”
“You’re still you. You’ll always be you. The strongest, most stubborn, most incredible woman I’ve ever known.” I brushed the tears from her cheeks with my thumbs. “And I love you. Every version of you. Even the huge emotional trapped version.”
She let out a watery laugh. “That was almost romantic until the end.”
“I was going for honest.”
“You achieved it.”
Our eyes met and held, and the mood in the room shifted. The playful banter faded into charged silence as I watched her gaze drop to my lips. She leaned in slowly, giving me time to close the distance, and then we were kissing.
Slow at first. Gentle. The kind of kiss that said I love you without any words. But then she made a sound in the back of her throat, a tiny moan that went straight to my cock, and the kiss deepened into heated territory.
We hadn’t been intimate in months. I hadn’t pushed for it, would never push for it.
Lina’s comfort came first, always. If she was too tired or too uncomfortable or just not in the mood, I was content to wait.
I’d been content with my own hand in the shower, taking care of myself when the need got too intense while imagining her face, her body, the sounds she made when I was inside her.
I’d wait years for her if I had to. Hell, I already had.
Those five years apart, believing I’d never see her again, had taught me patience I didn’t know I possessed.
Now that I had her back, now that she was mine, I would never take her for granted.
I would never pressure her for anything she wasn’t ready to give.
But now that I could smell her arousal, now that I could feel her desire flowing through the bond, my body responded with an enthusiasm I couldn’t control. My cock was rock hard in seconds, straining against my pants.
Lina’s hand found me through the fabric, and I nearly lost my mind. She stroked me slowly, deliberately, her fingers tracing the length of me while I groaned against her mouth.
I could hear the kids outside now, their laughter carrying through the window as they apparently played with water while Hunt supervised. Bless that man. He was keeping them occupied without even knowing he was doing me a massive favor.
Lina broke the kiss and pulled back slightly, her hand still moving against me. She looked at me with dark eyes and a wicked smile that made my heart pound.
“Lina,” I groaned, my hips pushing into her touch against my will.
Her smile widened.
Then the doorbell rang.
“Fuck,” I hissed.
“Shit,” she agreed, jerking her hand away.
Her expression shifted instantly from aroused to nervous. Every unexpected knock, every unfamiliar sound made her tense up now. The threats had gotten to her more than she wanted to admit.
“It’s okay,” I said quickly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll check who it is. Stay here.”
I adjusted myself as best I could, willing my erection to calm the fuck down as I walked to the door. This had better be important. If someone was interrupting us for anything less than an emergency, I was going to be pissed.
I opened the door and immediately knew I was going to be pissed. Very.
Isabella didn’t wait for an invitation. She barged past me into the house before I could even open my mouth to tell her to go away.
“Hope you weren’t busy!” she chirped, sweeping into the living room.
She stopped in the middle of the space and looked around at the feathers covering every surface. Her dark brown hair was perfectly styled, her makeup flawless, her expression one of barely concealed disgust as she took in the chaos.
“What happened here? Did you two fight?” She looked between me and Lina with unmistakable hope in her eyes.
I rolled my eyes and closed the door, then followed her inside.
Isabella had been a pain in my ass since she’d arrived weeks ago.
She showed up at random times, appeared at meetings she had no business attending, found excuses to be wherever I happened to be.
I’d tolerated most of it because she hadn’t made any overt moves, hadn’t crossed any lines that would justify me throwing her out of pack territory.
But I’d made it very clear that I was not interested and never would be. I was mated. Married. In love with my wife. There was nothing Isabella could offer that would ever tempt me away from Lina.
That didn’t seem to have discouraged her in the slightest.
“No, we didn’t fight,” I said flatly. “And we were in the middle of things, so we’d appreciate it if you leave.”
Amusement flared through the bond as Lina swallowed a snort. My mate really hated Isabella’s guts. Rightfully so.
Isabella’s face fell into an expression of wounded innocence.
“Oh. I just wanted to check on Lina, see if everything is okay.” She turned to my mate with a look that was pure false sympathy.
“I walked past earlier and noticed the guards are still here. I know it must be so hard to be locked up all the time. Must feel like a prison, honestly. So I brought you more chocolate cake.”
She set a box down on the coffee table with a flourish.
Lina stared at it with barely concealed hostility. “How sweet of you.”
Fuck that cake. I knew Lina was thinking the same thing.
“So,” Isabella turned back to me, her blue eyes wide and innocent. “I was helping some guards earlier and I heard about the incident. Have you caught her yet?”
Everything in me went still.
I froze. My heart stopped. My blood ran cold.
No. She wouldn’t. I’d ordered every single one of my men to keep this quiet. The information was classified, restricted to only the highest levels of pack leadership. There was no way she could know. There was no way one of my guards would have told her.
It couldn’t be what I thought it was.
“Catch who?” Lina asked, her voice confused.
Isabella’s smile widened, and I knew. I fucking knew what she was about to do and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“It’s time for you to go,” I said, stepping forward.
But Isabella was already talking, already turning to Lina with that fake sympathetic expression, already dropping the bomb that was going to destroy everything.
“Mary Thorne. Whoever that is. A dangerous criminal, it seems.” Isabella’s voice was casual, almost bored. “Apparently, she escaped from her house arrest around a month ago and took the beta’s baby with her. But you knew that already, don’t you, Lina?”
Holy fuck.