A baby.
Just when I thought nothing could surprise me, those two little words tilted my entire world on its axis.
In a few months, our pack would have…a child.
“We need to talk to Preston,” I said.
Hailey shook her head. “No! I don’t want it known I’m bonded to a convict. I told you, that puts my job at risk.”
Her tone was firm, leaving no room for compromise. I hated this. Preston was working—or, at least, I fucking hoped he was working there, and I couldn’t even tell her about it. The mother of his fucking child, for fuck’s sake.
I sighed, offering all I could. “He shouldn’t be there much longer.”
Her glower made me think she didn’tquitebelieve me. And yet again, who could blame her?
Complicated. This was all too complicated, and I was a lawyer, for crying out loud.
Wilder dropped his head, and we exchanged a glance. Weneededto talk to Preston. We both knew it. Despite wanting to do right by Hailey, the situation wasn’t as simple as she might have thought.
There was more going on behind the scenes, though, and she deserved to know about all that. Preston needed to tell her.
“I think I’m going to lie down,” Hailey said.
“Do you want us to join?” Wilder asked, his eyes hopeful.
“No.” She shook her head. “I just want to rest and think for a bit.”
Her face was gray and drawn. She needed to get better, not just for herself, but also because her current state was not good for the baby.
Separationandall those hormonal changes. That was a lot to deal with.
“Okay, but just know that we will take care of you if you need,” Wilder insisted.
We both wanted Hailey to understand that. Her baby was part of our pack, and we took care of our own.Shewas part of our pack, and we all needed to accept that.
“Yeah… Thanks,” she murmured softly before turning and retreating to the nest.
The soft click of the door closing sounded so loud in the quiet of the apartment, and I sagged.
Fucking Preston.
Chapter 16
Hailey
I’d been tossing and turning in the bed for at least an hour. I couldn’t sleep. My mind was running in circles, and it wasn’t getting me anywhere but sleep-deprived and upset.
I wanted to talk about what was happening with someone, but I didn’t know who. Sure, Wilder and Nolan were there, but I couldn’t trust them to be on my side.
They were Preston’s pack mates. I doubted they could be objective about all this.
With little else to do, and because I always wanted some space from all things convict alpha, including his pack, I snuck out of the apartment, out of the window like a common criminal, and hurried down to my car. I wasn’t even sure where I was going before I found myself at Merrick’s place.
God, really?
But he was a safe person to talk to. He was safe in general.
Still, I didn’t want to bust into his house unannounced, so I texted to ask if I could see him. I was hardly surprised when I got a nearly immediate response: “Of course.”
