Dane
It took an almost disappointingly short time for the two half-baked kidnappers to spill their guts.
In a plot twist so bizarre that I couldn’t have foreseen it, Shelly’s mother -nothis father- was the ringleader behind the kidnapping. If the bitch had told her cronies the truth, the dethroned warden didn’t even know there was a plan to gain his freedom in the works, much less that his wife was planning the death of their only child to make it happen.
The ransom note, missing person report, and tearful pleas to the public for Mitch’s safe return had all been the set up to throw suspicion off his parents when Shelly’s body was discovered, leaving him unable to refute the claims that he’d admitted lying at the warden’s trial. Claims that wouldn’t be able to be rejected as hearsay due to the incredibly convincing deep fake recording she’d made of the so-called conversation.
The kicker was finding out that it had been nothing more than a stupid forwarding order that had put my Omega in harm’s way. The bitch had sent an empty envelope addressed to him at her house markedforwarding service requestedand damned if the post office hadn’t handed over his new mailing address in a heartbeat. From there, the stalking and plotting commenced.
It was an impressively and horrifyingly well-laid plan. It was also a huge pain in the ass since it meant that Shelly was going to have to face a trial to put his other parent behind bars. And it only took a half hour for local law enforcement to arrive to place the three of them under arrest and take Shelly’s statement, putting us on the road home in what seemed like a strangely short period of time, all things considered.
Shelly was exhausted and dozed off squished between me and Colby in the backseat. As he slept, the car was unusually quiet with the rest of us lost in our own thoughts. I assumed the rest of them were running through the events of the rescue or maybe evaluating the effectiveness of our rescue plan but me? I was fixating on Leia’s words before we’d left.
You’re going to get your family back.
I drew in a deep breath, trying to test Shelly’s scent for any sign of a pregnancy but the car was rank with the stink of Alpha pheromones and, based on the level, I was pretty sure their partners were in for a busy night. I stifled a snicker at the thought and wiggled my arm free to drape it around Shelly and pull him even closer to my side. I didn’t know why he hadn’t told me he was pregnant -or, hell, if he even knew himself yet- but if he wanted me, I was completely on board with us raising a cub together.
The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that there was no way Shelly would know that. After every heat, we’d rushed right in for the contraceptive shots. Even once we’d exchangedI love yous, we’d never discussed a future together or even talked about the entirely possible event of an unplanned pregnancy. Wasthatwhy he hadn’t told me he was carrying my child?
Shelly slept the entire way home and once I’d tucked him into my bed and shooed everyone out the door so I could start dinner, I decided that it was past time for me to prove to my Omega that I was one hundred percent invested in us and our future together and if that meant easing back on the mind-blowing sex and focusing on the more emotional parts of our relationship? Well, that was exactly what I was going to do.
~*~
“What’s all this?”
I was bent over the oven, checking the temperature of the roasting chicken when Shelly’s tired voice came from behind me. I straightened up so fast I banged the back of my hand on the top of the oven and the sudden flash of pain from the burn made me hiss.
“Shit!” Shelly swore as he caught my wrist and tugged me over to the sink to hold the burned skin under the cold water. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Not your fault,” I assured him, angling to be able to kiss his cheek. “I figured you’d be hungry when you woke up. I didn’t want you to have to wait to eat but wasn’t sure what you’d want..” I trailed off with a little shrug as I followed his eyes across the countertops crowded with foil covered dishes. “I, uh, may have gone a little overboard,” I admitted sheepishly.”
Shelly grinned and flicked off the water, patting the slightly reddened skin dry with the dish towel. “I am absolutely starving and it smells amazing.” He started lifting the foil off the various containers and then made grabby hands toward me. “I need a plate.”
Laughing, I passed one over and watched happily as he heaped it with pot roast, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, cornbread stuffing, creamed corn, and broiled salmon. Then, remembering the chicken in the oven, I eased it out carefully and set it on the stove top to rest but Shelly snorted.
“I don’t care if it’s dry,” he teased me. “I’ll take a drumstick.”
Grabbing a knife, I sliced through the joint and added it to the mountain of food. “Where the hell are you planning to put all that?” I teased before being smacked in the face with the reminder that he was eating for two and mentally chastising myself before rushing on. “You know I’m just kidding. You need to eat. Have as much as you want.”
“I will,” Shelly snarked, snatching up the drumstick and taking a huge bite. “Hot but so freaking good!” He chewed and swallowed it on his way over to the table before continuing. “Why are you being so weird?”
I shrugged. “I think I feel pretty guilty about how long it took for us to find you.” I began to pile food on my own plate. “You want something to drink?”
“Oh, yeah, but I can get it,” he argued, starting to stand up.
I gently pushed him back into his seat on my way by. “I’m already up, Shelly. I’ll get it.” I moved things around in the fridge before huffing in annoyance. “Why don’t we have any milk?”
“Because we don’tdrinkmilk?” Shelly said in surprise. “We never keep it in the house. Why do you want milk?”
“For you,” I grumbled without thinking. “It’s healthy.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Shelly shake his head. “I’ll take some ice water, weirdo.”
“Fine,” I said with a sigh, filling a glass with ice, “but I’m putting it on the list.”
Shelly snorted. “Okay, Scooby. Whatever you say.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
