“We already had breakfast,” she pointed out with a hitched smile.
“Let’s put a pin in this until after we’ve had second breakfast,” I corrected.
She grinned. “Like the hobbits?”
“Smart, beautiful, and a Tolkien fan.” I leaned across the armrest to kiss her on the cheek. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I’m not really,” she admitted with an apologetic grimace. “I saw it on a list of‘Books Science Nerds Love,’and I’m a nerd, but it was so boring. I couldn’t get through it. And I fell asleep, like, halfway through the first movie — wait, areyoua science nerd?”
“Suppose I’m somewhat guilty as charged.” I slung an arm around her neck and led her toward the door. “Double majored in hospitality and food science at University College Dublin. My top contributions during my time as the CEO of Norwolf Stout have been establishing our factory tour — which doubled our domestic merch sales — and the stout chocolate quote-unquote secret family recipe, which I developed with a team when I was a couple of years out of uni.”
She scrunched her nose. “You have a degree in food science, but you don’t know how to season porridge?”
“Correction. I don’tneedto season porridge — it’s all just calories in and out to me. Honestly, I’m more interested in the chemistry and economics of making food than the taste of it.”
On that point, I climbed out of the car to grab the Dunnes Grocery Store tote from the boot.
But instead of more ripples of amusement, I felt a wave of sadness crest over her.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she answered, quickly averting her eyes.
“Don’t tell me nothing. I can literally feel it now when you’re lying to me.” I tilted my head at her. “Is this about no longer being able to go to university yourself because of what happened yesterday?”
Her spike of surprise told me I’d hit the nail on the head. Still, she insisted, “I’m okay. Let’s just go inside. It’s cold.”
She was right. It was dead cold, not to mention blowing an icy pellet-like sideways rain.
But her sadness tugged at my heart.
“This — becoming a mother doesn’t have to be the end of your life, you know,” I told her, closing the boot. “I’ve got the resources — a company with a proper paternity leave policy and more family wealth than I know what to do with. We can figure it all out when we get back to —“
I cut off when Wild suddenly came storming out of the Belfast House, his side of the four-way mate bond completely muted and his face a wrathful storm.
“Wild, what are you —”
I didn’t get to finish that sentence either. Wild swung at me, a vicious body uppercut that slammed my stomach into my ribs.
What the hell?I wheezed, doubling over. Jayzus, he hit like a goddamn freight train.
Then he came at me again, fist raised.
“Wild! Don’t!” My view of him was blocked by Naomi, arms outspread as she stepped between us. Her outrage on my behalf rippled down the mate bond. “What are you doing?”
“So that’s how it’s going to be?” Wild called out, ignoring her. “You’re just going to let a pregnant she-wolf protect you from the punch you deserve?"
If I could talk, I would’ve explained I was still working on the breathing part. Next would come standing up — both literally and for myself. Until then, I made do with what I had: flipping him a two-finger salute while I coughed.
“Wild, c’mon, don’t!”
Apparently, Wild had a better view of me than I did of him. Naomi had to shift to block him again when he tried to get around her with hisfist raised.
“Get out of me way, Flower,” he growled.
“No! I’m not letting you hit him because… why, exactly?” She shook her head. “Why are you so angry?”
“Why did you take her, Dublin?” he spat, eyes blazing. “Were you trying to make me lose my fuckin’ mind?”
