AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I decide to change the subject to something I’ve been wondering about and something I’m certain Lizzie will want to hash out. “Are werewolf babies born human, or like …” I trail off as I think about getting pregnant with Devin’s pups.
“Do you remember in biology when we talked about the difference between altricial and whatever the fuck the other word is?”
I just blink at her before stating flatly, “I fucking hated bio.” My comment grants me a belly laugh from Lizzie that lights up her face and I’m forced to smile in return.
When she recovers, she starts one of her little tidbit tangents she’s known for.
“Some babies are born and they’re completely dependent on their mother, like humans and dogs, whereas other species give birth and the babies go on their merry way, fully independent, like”—she scrunches her nose in thought—“like sharks, I think.”
“You’re such a dork.” My cheeks hurt from grinning at her. My best friend appears to be back to her usual happy-go-lucky self. For a moment, it all feels normal. For a moment, the smallest moment, I forget everything has changed.
“The first one is called altricial and that’s what werewolves are.”
“That doesn’t really answer my question.”
She stares blankly at me. How does she not get this?
“So your baby may be a werewolf, or definitely will be? And … importantly, do they look like human when they’re born or …” I let the question hang between us, not wanting to imagine the alternative.
Her sarcastic smirk tells me she pities me for my complete lack of knowledge. “This form, as humans, is how they’re delivered.” I let out a deep breath at that statement. Her next, though, has me tensing right back up. “They’ll be werewolf. So will yours, by the way.” Lizzie raises her eyebrows at me before continuing. “I just don’t know if they’ll be latent like me or if they’ll be normal.”
Latent. My heart sinks as I watch her shoulders hunch. I don’t fucking like her getting down on herself. “But you said you felt her, right? Your wolf?”
“Just the once since we’ve been here. I don’t know why she left me.” Her somber statement dampens her mood as she spins slowly on the stool.
“What brought her back?” Lizzie blushes at my question, which makes me really want to know what happened. Yes! This is a much better conversation to have. My cheeks burn and I lean in to whisper, “Was it the sex?”
She bites her lip again, looking shy. It’s an odd look for her to give me when she tells me, “We didn’t have sex, just did other stuff.” She shakes her head and composes herself. “But we’ve had sex since then and she didn’t come back. Unless—” Her eyes brighten and she takes a quick inhale.
“What? What was it that brought her back?” I love the hopeful light in her blue eyes.
“Caleb punished me with a belt—”
“What the fuck!” I jump out of my seat, causing it to fly backward and crash on the tile floor. Punished? My head spins as the word registers.
Every hair on my body stands on end as adrenaline has me seeing nearly red.
I practically scream as my body burns with anger. “I’ll fucking kill him. Where the fuck is Dom?” My heart races as my hands ball into tight fists at my sides. How the fuck could he hit her?
“Knock it off, Grace!” Lizzie’s quick to tug at my arm while scowling. “And shut your mouth about Dom.” She hushes me with a tone I’m not used to and a hurt in her doe eyes that I don’t understand. “He didn’t do a damn thing to me.” I step back, the wind taken out of my sails by her offended reaction.
“He hit you.” Staring at her wide eyed with disbelief, I don’t understand how she could possibly be defending him.
“First of all, Dom has never laid a finger on me.” Her voice cracks as she speaks. “Dom loves me and so does Caleb. Caleb’s the one who used a belt to get me to open up to him. And I fucking loved it.” She points her finger at me and pushes out each choked-up word with a tone that brooks no disagreement. “You better not fucking judge me for it, Grace.”
“I—” I don’t know what to say. A numbness of regret runs through me. “I had no right to react that way. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Lizzie.” Putting my hands up in surrender, I walk toward her. My best friend is practically shaking with emotion. “I’m so sorry, babe, it was wrong of me to jump to conclusions.” She leans into me for a hug.
“Please don’t think badly of me. Don’t hold it against him,” she says softly. Lizzie pulls back with her hands on my shoulders and says, “Tell me you won’t think badly of him. Please.” My lips part, although I’m somehow able to hold my tongue. He hit her. He punished her.
“You liked it?” She nods her head and brushes the tears away with the back of her hand. “A belt?” She blushes again, bright red this time.
“I swear, Grace. It was … kinky and I loved it.”
“Okay.” I try to imagine it and then regret it. “If you’re happy, then I’m happy.” Taking a deep breath, I look right into those baby blue eyes of hers when I tell her, “But if either of them hurts you, you know you can tell me, right?”
“It’s a good hurt.” Her cheeks flush beet red before she gives me a hug as if to end the conversation there. “I love them so damn much. I’m so fucking happy.”
To each their own, I suppose. I don’t know if I’ll ever look at Caleb the same again. Between the pair of her mates there’s no way I’d have guessed it was Caleb who’d be into that. An odd feeling comes over me as a weight seems to lift off my chest. I glance at my best friend, so happy and at peace with everything. I feel like I can let go, like for the first time in our lives, she doesn’t need me. She has her mates now. Walking past her to pick up my fallen stool, Lizzie gasps and touches her chest.
