I stared at the message longer than I should have. Rogues, always rogues. My fingers moved over the keyboard without thinking.
Be careful.
His response came immediately.Always am. Love you.
The familiar ache settled in my chest. Not the mate bond pulling at me, though that was there too. This was older, deeper. The memory of teeth and blood and my parents’ screams as they shoved me toward the trees. I’d been fifteen and terrified, convinced the camping trip would be safe. Instead I’d learned that monsters were real and they had very big teeth.
That had been my first encounter with rogues, but not my last. There’d been the ones who attacked when I first met Knox six years ago. The one who’d tried to grab Thea outside the shop last year. Each encounter left scars I couldn’t see but felt every time someone mentioned rogue activity. If I never saw another rogue in my life, it would be too soon.
“Lina!”
I jerked my head up. Mika stood in the doorway, one purple-streaked eyebrow raised in that judgmental way she’d perfected over the years. Her leather jacket had more zippers than any piece of clothing should reasonably possess, and the multiple piercings in her ears caught the overhead light.
“You good?” she asked.
“Peachy.”
“You’re doing that thing where you stare at nothing and look constipated.”
I flipped her off. “I’m pregnant. Everything makes me look constipated.”
“Fair point.” She jerked her thumb toward the front. “We’ve got a line out the door and Vivi just pulled a fresh batch of those raspberry cream cupcakes from the oven. The ones you’ve been whining about for three weeks.”
My mouth watered instantly. Traitor body. For months I couldn’t keep anything down without wanting to die. Now that I’d finally found my appetite again, I was basically a walking garbage disposal with ankles that had disappeared sometime in my second trimester.
I pushed myself up from the chair with all the grace of a beached whale. My hand automatically went to my lower back, pressing against the constant ache that had become my new normal.
“You know,” Mika said, leaning against the doorframe, “we told you to stay home today.”
“I wanted cupcakes.”
“We could’ve brought you cupcakes.”
“It’s not the same.”
“You’re impossible.”
“I’m pregnant,” I repeated, waddling past her into the main area of the shop. “Sue me if I drag my sorry self here to eat food I actually want for once and be with my friends.”
The shop buzzed with afternoon energy. Tables were full of locals who’d been coming here since my parents first opened theplace. Old regulars occupied their favorite spots, nursing coffees and catching up on gossip. A few teenagers from the high school had claimed the corner booth, textbooks spread across the table. Normal, safe.
Vivi’s head popped out from the kitchen, flour dusting her dark hair. “Lina! You’re still here!”
“Where else would I be?”
“Home. In bed. Not waddling around my shop looking miserable.”
“Your shop?” I grabbed the edge of the counter, hauling myself onto one of the stools. “I own this place, thank you very much.”
“Technically Knox owns half of it now that you’re married,” Mika pointed out, sliding a cupcake across the counter toward me.
I grabbed it before she could change her mind. “Community property laws are sexist and outdated.”
“But convenient when your husband is loaded.”
She had a point. Not that I’d ever admit it out loud.
The cupcake was perfect. Moist cake, tangy raspberry filling, cream cheese frosting that made my eyes roll back in my head. I’d missed this. I’d missed feeling human instead of just an incubator with legs.
