“Then I’ll just have to eat my way off it.”
29
— • —
Lina
These past few days had been pure happiness. That’s what I’d been living in, pretending the outside world didn’t exist beyond Noah’s property line. Knox brought breakfast every morning, usually from that bakery that knew my order by heart now. He played with the twins, teaching them control exercises that looked more like games. He stayed for dinner, helped with bedtime, then lingered until I either kicked him out or dragged him to my temporary bedroom.
The promise ring had migrated from my right hand to my left, though I’d stubbornly kept it on my middle finger instead of the one he obviously wanted it on. Still, progress was progress, and the way Knox’s eyes lit up when he noticed the change had been worth the admission that maybe, possibly, I was starting to trust him again.
This morning, Knox and Noah were handling pack business, which left Hunt as our designated babysitter. Though honestly, I wasn’t sure who was babysitting whom as another cloud of flour erupted from the kitchen.
“Mama, Hunt doesn’t know how to crack eggs!” Thea tattled gleefully, running to find me in the living room. “That’s the third one with shells!”
I set down my coffee and followed her back to what used to be Noah’s pristine kitchen. Hunt stood in the middle of chaos, covered head to toe in flour, holding an egg like it might explode. Rowan sat on the counter, legs swinging, watching with the intensity of a scientist observing a failed experiment.
“Cooking is harder than fighting rogues,” Hunt muttered, attempting to crack the egg. Shell fragments scattered across the bowl. Again.
“You have to be gentle,” Rowan advised solemnly. “Like petting a butterfly.”
“I don’t pet butterflies,” Hunt said, picking shell pieces out of the mixture. “I pet wolves. Wolves are sturdy.”
“Maybe we should just have cereal,” I suggested, trying not to laugh at the way flour had settled in his red hair, making him look prematurely gray.
“No!” Both twins protested. “Hunt promised pancakes!”
“I did promise pancakes,” Hunt agreed, then looked at me pleadingly. “Help?”
“You’re a grown wolf who can take down rogues with his bare hands, but you’re defeated by breakfast food?”
“Breakfast food doesn’t fight fair,” he said seriously. “It’s sneaky.”
I left him to the twins’ mercy, stepping onto the back porch for some air. The morning was peaceful, birds singing in the trees, sun warming my face. Everything felt almost normal, if you ignored the fact that I was hiding in a werewolf town with my half-wolf children while wearing a promise ring from their father who’d abandoned us.
I touched the ring absently, thinking about Knox’s hands on me that night in Pine Valley, the promises he’d made on his knees. The way he’d looked at me like I was everything he’d ever wanted. Maybe I was being stupid giving him another chance, but when he looked at our children with such wonder, when he held me like I might disappear, it was hard to remember why I’d been so angry.
“Touching.”
The voice cut through my peace like ice water. Mary stood at the tree line, no longer bothering with her sweet mask. Today she wore all black, blonde hair pulled back severely, looking every inch the predator she was.
“I thought I told you to leave,” I said, proud when my voice didn’t shake. “Guess you need another reminder of what happens when you come near my family.”
Mary’s smile was all teeth. “Still playing house? How sweet. Tell me, did Knox mention my pregnancy when he was between your legs?”
The words didn’t make sense at first. Pregnancy? What pregnancy?
Mary stepped closer, and I tensed, ready to call for Hunt. “Oh, he didn’t tell you? I’m carrying his heir.”
The world tilted sideways. Pregnant. Knox got Mary pregnant. The ring on my finger suddenly felt too tight, too hot, burning against my skin like a brand.
“You’re lying,” I managed, but my voice sounded weak even to my own ears.
“Am I? Ask him yourself. The whole pack knows. We announced it at the last council meeting.” Mary examined her nails with studied casualness. “That’s why he’s been so attentive to you lately. Guilt. He needs to keep you happy so you don’t make a fuss when he marries me.”
“He said he never slept with you.” The words came out strangled. Not again. This couldn’t be happening again.
“Men say anything when they’re trying to get back into someone’s bed. Did it work? Did you spread your legs for him again like the pathetic human whore you are?”
