“Thanks for being a true friend, Cass.”
“You got it,” he acknowledged, because he knew that even though I was being sarcastic, I also meant it. The demon imp always had my back, and brutal honesty was just one of his gifts.
Together, my friends guided me into Gran’s cabin, where I prepared to sink onto the couch and not move for a year—or until Brock came knocking to check on me. But Molly caught my arm and shook her head. “Let’s get you out of those wet clothes first. I have the feeling that once you go down, you won’t be getting back up.”
“Right you are,” I agreed, skirting the couch, and heading for my old bedroom, where I’d left my duffle bag full of clothes.
“Good idea,” Cass added behind us. “That bitch drenched me too. I can’t stand having my saucy bits being wet.” He paused long enough for a wicked smile to cross his face. “There are exceptions to that rule, of course.”
Ew.
He riffled through his fanny pack, then pulled out a Ziploc baggie. He brandished a scrap of sequined fabric from inside it, and waved the short shorts triumphantly in the air. “Voilà! I’m always prepared.”
Next he unclasped his fanny pack, set it on the coffee table, and started to wiggle his Speedo down.
“Whoa!” Molly and I called out at the same time.
My good hand flew up in front of my eyes. “Give us a sec to get out of the room, will ya?”
He chuckled. “You two are the only ladies who don’t want to see my goods.”
Molly and I backpedaled into the bedroom, and she shut the door behind us. “Phew. That was a close one,” she breathed.
“Yeah.” I grinned even though I was bone tired.
I actually liked my new life here in the boonies of Oregon. Away from the bustling rhythm of Los Angeles, I’d somehow found my groove. Sure, I was knocked up, but Molly was turning out to be the girlfriend I never had but always wanted—someone else to cringe when Cass tried to pull his man bits out in front of me.
Kicking off my boots, I bent to flip them upside down, but stopped at the sharp pain shooting through my ribs. “Damn,” I hissed.
“Let me,” Molly said, turning my boots upside down so the water could trickle out of them, and onto a towel she placed there.
They were my favorite kickass leather boots. I worked my pants down my legs, and waited for Molly to help me slide my crop top with shelf bra off.
She averted her eyes to protect my modesty. She hadn’t yet realized I didn’t have any of that. A string of past werewolf boyfriends had relieved me of what little shyness concerning nudity I possessed; I’d never had much of it to begin with, honestly. Once you’re around a pack, and you see them shift back and forth between forms enough times, you get over nudity pretty fast.
I pulled a flowy sundress out of my bag and stepped into it, switching out my wet undies after. “That’s much better,” I announced, and she looked my way.
“Now let’s get you to that couch.”
“Sounds like heaven,” I said, leaning into her. By the time we exited the room and I flopped onto the couch with a grunt, Cass was sporting iridescent booty shorts, bare impy feet, and a concerned look on his face.
He slid onto the couch next to me, his pink fur damp to the touch. “You nearly drowned, Ev.” His big puppy-dog demon eyes focused on me.
I swallowed. “I would have if you hadn’t saved me.” I was trying not to think about it because it’d been scary, especially now that I had a passenger.
He waved my implicit thanks off dismissively. “That’s what besties are for. But seriously, are you okay? Is the... is the baby okay?”
“I’m okay, I think. I just need to find a witch healer. I don’t know about the baby, but I sense things are all right.” I really, really hoped they were, because I didn’t know anything about babies. I was so unprepared to be a mother. Chewing at my lip, I brought a hand to my flat belly. “I don’t feel anything different, but what do I know?”
“Maybe we should take you to see the pack doctor, Sabine, to check on the baby,” Molly suggested.
The urge to shout,no way!and fight for my independence rushed through me, but that would be selfish, and I didn’t think mothers were allowed to be selfish. Not anymore. “All right,” I said resignedly. “But we have to do something to get me healed up before we go, or Brock will freak the fuck out, and never let me out of his sight again.”
Not that I was sure I would mind that. The damn werewolf had grown on me. Why couldn’t he be an asshole and ask me for an abortion so I could hate him forever? It’d be easier.
“You’re right,” Cass agreed. “We can’t have the alpha smothering you.” He shook his head. “That won’t do for my beautiful Evie.”
I blinked away tears.Damn pregnancy hormones.
