Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Irun down an endless hallway.
Footsteps echo behind me as I see an elevator. I throw myself inside it, stabbing at the close button.
A hand slips through the gap of the closing door, a man points a gun at me, and—
“Jane!”
My eyes snap open.
I’m bathed in a cold sweat, and Vaden is lying close beside me. The lamp on the nightstand is on, casting light on his concerned expression. “Another nightmare?”
“Yeah.” My heart is racing, but it never takes long to slow. That has everything to do with the man I fall asleep beside every night. No matter how bad my nightmares can be, Vaden chases the memory of them away with ease.
It’s been three days since the Blackshaws buried two men's bodies in the forest. Vaden warned me I might have nightmares, but I expected blood-soaked bodies rather than my usual garden-variety nightmares I’ve had since discovering my boss was embezzling.
“Come here.” Vaden draws me against his chest.
We sleep naked every night. I stopped bothering with a T-shirt and panties after Vaden kept pulling them off me the second the lights were out. I’d have been pulling his shorts off, too, if he wore them to bed.
“Sorry I keep waking you up with my nightmares,” I say.
“Baby, never apologize for that.” He puts his nose against my throat and inhales. “Your scent is different.”
I suck in a breath, outraged. “I don’t smell!”
He chuckles. “I didn’t say you smell, Jane. Just that your scent is different.”
I deflate. “Oh. Is that normal?”
“It can be,” he says vaguely.
I look up at him, wondering at his strange smile. “What is it?”
“I’m just realizing that we never talked about the future.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Like, where we’re going to live? And what we’re going to do? I assumed we’d live here, and I’d go back to work at the grocery store with Mart.”
Mart said I had a job whenever I wanted it, and with news reports about my former boss being investigated for embezzlement, I figured he would be too busy with his own legal troubles to bother coming after me anymore.
“Are you happy with the cabin? It’s a little small.”
“I lived in a shoe-box-sized studio in New York,” I say dryly. “This cabin is like a penthouse in comparison.”
He chuckles. “Fair enough.”
“I love the cabin,” I admit. “It’s cozy and warm, and we’re so private that it feels like we’re in our own little world.”
My favorite thing is snuggling on the couch in front of the fireplace when it’s raining outside. It’s so peaceful, and I’ve never been so content.
“I love it too,” he softly admits. “But that’s not the future I was talking about.”
“Then what was?”
He rearranges our positions so I’m on my back, with him resting his head on his elbow, looking down at me. “Have I told you about a shifter’s first shift?”
Surprised by the change in topic, I shake my head, guessing this has a point, even if I’m not sure what it is yet. “No.”
“It happens around puberty. My shift was when I was sixteen.”
“Um, I love that you’re telling me more about shifters, but what has that got to do with our future?”
His face softens with amusement. “I wouldn’t want you to freak out, thinking you’re going to give birth to a wolf pup.”
I stare at him. “Why would I… oh!”
My brain stops working as his words hit home.
He can’t possibly mean…
Is he saying that I could be pregnant?
“Breathe, Jane,” he says, smiling fondly down at me.
I suck in a breath and immediately choke on it. Once I’ve recovered from my coughing fit and waved off Vaden’s offer to get me water, I struggle to form a coherent sentence. “Are you telling me I’m pregnant?”
“It is very, very early, but yes. Your scent change is a big clue. We should get you a pregnancy test in about a month to confirm.”
My eyes fill with tears, and I cover my face with both hands.
“Shit,” Vaden curses, “Is this bad news? Should I not have started with the wolf pup stuff? Don’t you want—”
I uncover my face and wipe away my tears with the back of my hand. “It’s not bad news,” I sniff. “I just… I never thought I’d have a family. And I don’t just want a baby. I want one with you.”
“Yeah?” he whispers.
I nod. “Yeah.”
He shakes his head as if struggling to process the unexpected news.
“This is surreal. I never thought it would happen this fast. It’s not easy for shifters to get pregnant, Shelby.
It usually takes a long time. If I’d known it would happen so soon, I would have warned you it could be a possibility, and I’d have been using protection. ”
“I’m not sorry it happened. Maybe I should think it’s too soon, but I don’t. We’re having a baby.” Every time I say it, it feels a little more real. “Are you sure?” I ask, terrified he’s wrong.
“I’m sure.” He grins at me. “We’re having a baby.”
A couple of days later, we’re at the Blackshaw farmhouse for a meal to celebrate.
We could have had the celebratory meal the day after we found out we were having a baby, but neither of us wanted to get out of bed.
But with Averie and Fisher soon leaving to visit Vaden and Averie’s family in Oklahoma, before they head to South America for a month-long vacation, we couldn’t stay in our cabin forever.
The kitchen is loud, full of laughter and conversation, and a toddler throwing a tantrum.
Needing a couple of minutes of peace, I left the kitchen before the meal starts to check the news, since I try to avoid watching it at the cabin.
It’s become my sanctuary, the place where I’m happiest in the world, and I don’t want to bring Sean Linklater, the man who spent the last two years tormenting me, into that space.
I left Vaden talking to Jeremy, telling him I’d be back soon.
Now I stand in front of the TV, remote in hand, as a red-headed reporter in a navy skirt suit stands in front of a familiar-looking office building. It’s where I used to work, and I thought I would never see it again.
“The fallout continues for the former CEO of one of New York’s most successful private finance companies.
Sean Linklater has been released on bail but faces a barrage of criminal charges, not the least of which is embezzlement.
With two co-conspirators said to be cooperating with law enforcement, he could spend a significant amount of time in jail if found guilty. Now, on to the weather.”
Talis takes the remote from me and flicks off the TV. “Enough of that. Tonight is about celebrating the future.”
“Do you think he’ll go to jail?” I ask, not the least bit surprised that someone came looking for me.
She shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe not. If the two others have taken deals, then most likely.”
“And if he sends anyone after you again, we’ll bury them with the others,” Dayne says from the living room doorway. “Come eat, you too. We’re doing a toast, and we’re going for a pack run afterward.”
I trail Talis and Dayne into the kitchen.
“Won’t it be weird if I’m there while you’re all wolves?
” Madi is the only other human, and I kind of assumed I would just hang out at the house with her, maybe watching the kids, while the rest of the pack shifted into wolves.
Well, maybe except for Savannah, who said she’s too far along in her pregnancy to risk shifting and hurting the baby.
“We won’t all be wolves at the same time,” Dayne says. “We have games, too. It’s about bonding. You’re pack now, whether you shift or not. That means you’re as much a part of it as I am.”
Vaden, sitting at the dining table, pulls out the empty chair beside him. Smiling, I cross over to him and lean in for a kiss. “Sorry I ran away.”
“Packs are loud, and everyone needs a break sometimes, " he says. But you’ll get used to it.”
As I scan the full table, taking in the laughter, conversation, and friendly smiles, I wonder what I did to deserve all this. “I think I’m already getting used to it.”