Chapter 5
Much to Olivia’s surprise, breaking the news about her pregnancy to Arch and her mother had gone relatively well.
They were initially taken aback, of course, and her brother mostly expressed his concern because of Eli’s connection to Garret.
However, both she and her father assured them that much like Sloane, he had been forced to do Ronan’s bidding, which allayed their fears.
Not having Eli there had been the best decision. Olivia told them that it was best she and Eli process the situation first. She promised them that they could all meet him as soon as they got back from Boston.
Her mother, apparently, didn’t think much of that plan as she showed up the next day at the basement garage of Lone Wolf Investigations and Security’s office building as Olivia waited for Eli, Sloane, and Jacob to arrive so they could set off for Boston.
“Mom?” Olivia exclaimed. “What are you doing here? I thought you were seeing Arch and Renée off today?” Her brother’s mate was going back on tour. Lone Wolf was in charge of her security, which meant Arch traveled with her all over the world.
“Oh, I think they can manage without me,” she said. “Besides, who’s seeing you off this morning?”
“I’m fine, I don’t need anyone sending me off. Jacob’s driving.”
Her mother glanced around. “So, where is this Eli? I kept asking your brother what he was like and, typical man that he is, couldn’t really tell me anything useful. Renée, at least, said he was scary and intense.”
“Wait, Renée knows Eli?”
“Yeah, he was part of her security team when she had that stalker problem. And—” Her mother stopped short, sucking in a breath, her gaze fixing on a spot somewhere behind Olivia.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Eli exiting the elevators.
Her inner she-wolf licked its lips. Olivia would have done the same as he did look good enough to eat.
He was dressed in a white shirt that clung indecently to his well-formed torso, ripped jeans, boots, and his leather jacket slung over one shoulder.
A lock of dark hair fell on top of his forehead and those mossy green eyes locked onto hers as soon as he spotted her.
“Oh my.” Her mom fanned herself with her hand. “I can see why you couldn’t resist.”
Olivia groaned, slapping a hand on her forehead. “And what would Dad have to say about that?”
“What? I’m married, not dead,” she said. “No wonder Renée calls him intense. I’m shocked you didn’t spontaneously combust with the way he looks at you.”
Warmth crept up her neck. “Mom, please—”
“And you’re a grown woman, plus I’ve never shied away from talking about sex with you and your brother. I raised you both to be sex positive.”
“Yeah, I know.” It had led to some rather embarrassing moments in their youth, ones that both she and Arch chose to forget.
“And you know your father and I weren’t married when we had your brother.”
“Can we talk about something else?”
Her mother seemingly didn’t, or refused to, hear her. “He’s your True Mate, so I know that’s a good foundation. And it can be a wonderful thing, falling in love with someone who’s meant for you. It’s not always a guarantee, but it helps.”
Love?
Olivia’s heart slammed into her ribcage. Thankfully, before she could even process her mother’s words, Eli had reached them.
“Hey,” he greeted, his expression softening. As his gaze flicked over to her mother, however, the most comical look passed over his face. “Uh … you must be Mrs. Jones.”
“And you must be Eli.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Yes, ma’am.”
Olivia frowned.
Was he nervous?
Her mother placed a finger on her chin as she assessed him from head to toe. “I suppose it’s too late to ask what your intentions are with my daughter.”
“Well, uh—”
“You don’t have to reply to that,” Olivia interrupted. “Mom, please.”
“It’s not too late for a shovel talk though,” she said rather cheerfully. “Am I going to have to give you that talk, Eli?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Good.” She patted her arm. “You’ll come to dinner at our place when you get back to from Boston.” That did not sound like a request.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Thankfully before her mother could say anything else, a black SUV pulled up in front of them.
“Hey, guys,” Jacob greeted cheerfully as the tinted windows rolled down. “Ready to leave? Oh, hey, Aunt Luna.”
“Hi, Jacob. Is Sloane in there with you?”
“Right here, Aunt Luna,” Sloane called, waving from the passenger side.
“Hi, sweetheart, how are you? Did you take home those egg rolls from the party?”
“Of course, I did. Thank you so much.”
Sloane wasn’t kidding when she said the entire family liked her.
All the women wanted to take care of her after hearing about what she went through, growing up as an orphan in the Boston clan and being forced to steal for Ronan Forte.
The men, on the other hand, admired her boldness in trying to take on the corrupt Alpha by herself and her kick-ass fighting skills.
Jacob said when they first met, Sloane had knocked him out with a roundhouse kick to the face.
“She finished them in the car before we got home,” Jacob said, sulking. “Didn’t even leave one for me.”
“I ordered those extra trays for the girls. These True Mate pregnancies will destroy your food budget.” She winked at Olivia. “Eli, I hope you’re ready.”
“Er, yes, ma’am.”
“And you take care of her, okay?”
“Of course, ma’am.”
Olivia sent a pleading look to her cousin.
“Well, we should get on road,” Jacob said. “Nice to see you, Aunt Luna.”
“Same, Jacob. Don’t forget to call your mother.”
Olivia grabbed her mother’s shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. “All right, well, we gotta go. Thanks for coming to see us off, Mom.” When she bent down to pick up her weekender bag, to her surprise it was not on the ground where she left it. Eli had picked it up. “You don’t have to do that.”
He said nothing, and instead opened the door to the passenger side door, which earned him a smile of approval from her mother.
“It was nice meeting you, Eli,” her mom said.
“Likewise, ma’am.” Giving her a nod, he rounded the car to put the bags in the back.
She climbed into the SUV, waving to her mother as she gave Olivia one last knowing smile before heading toward the elevators.
“Here, catch!” Sloane said as she tossed a large object at Olivia.
“What—oof!” Olivia raised her hands just in time to catch the brown paper bag.
“What the—ooooh.” The familiar smell of bread, eggs, cheese, and bacon hit her nose.
Ripping into the bag, she saw it was stuffed with at least a dozen foil-wrapped sandwiches.
“Oh my God, are these all for me?” Truth be told, the emotional turmoil from yesterday had made her forget her hunger.
But now, from the way her stomach growled, it was coming back, and with a vengeance.
“Yep.” Sloane held up a similar sized paper bag. “Got my own too.” She reached in and unwrapped a sandwich. “We can stop somewhere when we’ve finished.”
“You really gonna eat me out of house and home,” Jacob said with a snarky smile.
“Yeah, well you love me anyway,” she said through a mouthful of food.
He grinned at her, then reached over to wipe a spot of ketchup on her cheek. “You bet I do.”
Olivia couldn’t help but grin as she took a bite of her own sandwich.
Over the years, Jacob had never shown interest in wanting to settle down.
As far as she knew, he never even had a serious relationship before, but now here he was, committing to one woman for the rest of his life.
This whole True Mate thing really was a wonder.
The door opposite hers opened, revealing Eli.
Speaking of True Mates …
Even in the roomy backseat of the SUV, his frame crowded the space with his bulk and his presence. Yes, he was definitely intense, though Olivia felt no fear around him, just the opposite. Her she-wolf rolled on its back, belly-up.
As he got settled, Eli glanced down at her half-eaten sandwich then frowned. She had been midway to taking another bite, but lowered her hands to her lap. “Sorry, does this bother you?” Maybe he didn’t like the smell of food inside such an enclosed space.
“Yes, but only because I should have brought you breakfast.”
“You don’t have to do that. And you didn’t know about True Mates having a voracious appetite.”
“I did. It was something your uncles warned me about last night when you and your father left to go back to the party.”
“I barely even thought about it. I don’t think I’ve had anything to eat until now.”
Concern marred his face. “Is anything wrong? With the baby? Shouldn’t you go to a doctor?”
“I’m fine, really.” She took another, bigger bite of the sandwich, finishing it off in seconds. “And I’ll visit the medical wing of The Enclave when I get back, though I think it’s really mostly a formality at this point.”
“Along with invulnerability, women who are pregnant with their True Mate’s baby can’t get any kind of medical scan,” Sloane interjected. “You don’t have to take any vitamins or any tests either. The Lycan doctors just measure your stomach and send you on your way.”
Eli’s nostrils flared. “It seems I have a lot to learn.”
“You and me both,” Olivia said. “But we have time.” She made eye contact with Jacob as he adjusted the mirror.
“By the way, what’s the plan? I mean, do we even have one?
” According to her father, he and her uncles were going to meet after the party to discuss the trip to Boston and they would take care of the details.
“Sort of,” he replied. “Since you and I don’t really know much about the Boston clan, we’ll need Sloane and Eli to fill us in on the way there.
The Alpha would like us to put together a list of who are still active members, and a short list of who could lead the clan to give to the High Council.
” He paused. “Informally, the Alpha and Uncle Killian would like to know who might cause trouble in the future.”