We walked back to the cabin, avoiding the slippery patches, though my sneakers and socks were clogged with dirty water and thick mud.
“Oh, mushrooms.” Otto peered at my mate’s basket. “Yum. Are you going to cook them?”
We didn’t have anywhere to cook, but my mate said he’d give them to the dining hall chef and ask him to prepare them.
“I’ll look out for them tonight.” Otto headed toward the library. He was doing a shift there today in my place.
We both undressed before going into the cabin. I’d hose down our clothes before taking them to the pack laundromat.
“Your bear was so protective of me when it was raining, and I think that’s how you’ll be with our little one.” Roland patted his belly.
I couldn’t wait to be a dad. Technically I was one already, though the baby was still inside my mate.
“This is a great place for our little one to grow up.” I didn’t want our child surrounded only by bears, and the Stoney River pack had shifters of every kind. Living here would open their eyes to a wider world. And if we could just eliminate the prospect of poachers, everything would be perfect.
“Stop worrying.” Roland rubbed at the creases between my brows. “We're as safe as we can be here, and the pack members are our allies.”
“You’re right. I’m being silly.” I didn’t want to upset my mate, so I pretended I was overthinking the situation. It would all work out.
We linked arms and walked toward the dining hall, avoiding the puddles on the path.
“I hear you picked mushrooms today and they’re on tonight’s vegetarian menu.” Ebony, one of the zebra shifters, was waiting outside the dining hall.
“I did.” Roland’s response was a little stiff because he'd assured me zebra shifters never ate mushrooms.
Ebony rubbed her hands. “Thank you. I adore mushrooms. You must show me where you found them so I can pick some for us next time.’
“Us?” Roland mouthed as we went inside.
I shrugged. Maybe Roland had made a new friend.
21
ROLAND
I rested my hands on my growing belly. It had been several months since I discovered I was pregnant, and not much longer before that when we had become members of the pack. I was living a life that I thought only existed in fairy tales.
With the healer’s permission, I was still going to work. It had been a long while since anyone scented a horse or any other unusual shifters nearby, but we never let our guard down, and I was still being driven to and from work.
I wasn’t huge by any means, but I was noticeably pregnant, and that changed my work quite a bit. My boss no longer wanted me stocking the shelves and checking in deliveries. At first it really bothered me because I knew I could do that work easily, and if the time came I needed to stop, I’d tell him. He refused, saying it was non-negotiable, and then the old man gave me a hug. Just like my pack, he was being protective, and once I saw that, I appreciated my new assignments for what they were—an expression of love and acceptance.
I spent the morning being trained more on ordering and was going to spend the afternoon at the checkout counter, which nowhad a stool for me to sit at thanks to one of my co-workers. It was sweet the way they all had started looking out for me.
This treatment wasn’t exclusive to the store, either. After becoming a regular at Chester’s, we became friendly. I knew about grandbabies and vacation plans, and they knew about my first baby kicks and which pie my mate loved best. And on top of that, recently my pie slices were getting bigger. There was no complaining about that, especially when they made sugar pie, my current favorite.
That sting of rejection I felt that first day when I looked for a job was long gone, and in its place was a feeling of belonging.
The sun was shining and my unicorn longed to be outside, so over my lunch break, I decided to take a walk along the river creek,which ran not too far from the store. I’d found that if I squatted or slept too long, I’d get calf cramps, which were made of evil. Today was one of those days thanks to trying to figure out how many canned veggies I needed to put on the order list. Lesson learned.
One way to counteract that was shorter periods of sleeping. The other was taking walking walks. It wasn’t fun breaking up my sleep, but I told myself it was getting me ready for when the baby came because no sleep would be happening then. The walks? Those I loved.
My unicorn had been acting kind of weird, and I hoped this fresh air would do him well. I was wrong. One minute, I was strolling along the river, minding my own business and enjoying nice weather, and the next minute, I was face to face with three strangers.
I wasn’t scared of random people when I was in town. People came and went all the time, and this was a path many traveled. But with them, fear hit me hard, my unicorn fully agreeing. It wasn’t anything they had done yet. Looking at them, they could easily be workmen on a break. But one long scenting and the air told a different story.
Their scents were off. The scents weren’t human. They weren’t shifter. That wasn’t natural and meant they were using some kind of blocker. Scent blockers were never used for good.
“We’ve been waiting for you to be alone,” the one in a brown coat sneered.
