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She was sitting on the back patio, a glass of green tea beside her and a giant cookie in her hand. Linc didn’t make them; according to Maddi, he went to the bakery that morning to get fancy pastries for her father’s visit. No amount of pretty sugarcould’vesaved that mess though.
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and working through the process of, well, processing. She knew her father would be angry and disappointed. She knew he’d try to throw his weight around and demand control of her life and her pregnancy. Nothing out of character had transpired there. She was prepared, from the moment she found out she was pregnant, fortheconversation to go terribly.
What she hadn’t counted on was Jasper saying he wanted to marry her. Then turning into a wolf themoment aftershe slammed the door on her father. That had been…jarring, to say the least.
The real kicker though? She didn’t care he was a shifter from a long line of magical beings. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to make her brain panic about it. What pissed her off was the abrupt and ridiculous marriage proposal. She didn’t want Jasper to marry her out of obligation. She wanted her marriage to come out of love, respect, desire. Not the baby growing inside her.
“Hey, can I join you?” Maddi stepped out the back door, a chilled glass of wine in her hand. It wasbarelynoon, but Callahan wouldn’t say anything. They’d all had a hell of a morning. “How are you doing, sweetheart?”
“My father hates me, and soon my mother will too.” That broke her heart more than anything. Jasper wasn’t going anywhere. Sheknew that with every fiber of her soul. She wasn’t worried about him or their relationship. They’d patch it, they’d be there for each other and the baby. Her parents though? She might never see them again. “I knew this was coming. It’smy own fault really. I shouldn’t have lied to them in the first place.”
Maddi sat beside her, staring out at the fieldgivingway to dense woods behindthe house. “Your parents don’t hate you.I can promise you that.” She sighed, taking a small sip from her glass. “They’re scared for you, they’re disappointed in your choices. They no doubt feel out of sorts. Theydon’t have any control over their little girl anymore, and that has to be terrifying.”
“I’m scared too.”
“Well, becoming a mom is scary, so your fear is justified.”
She nodded. “Great. I thought maybe you’d come out here to talk me down from the ledge.”
Maddi laughed lightly. “If you want someone to wax poetically about the joys of pregnancy, birth,and motherhood, then I can call Molly. She took to all of it like a woodland fairy, sprinkling goodwill and tears along the forest floor.”Maddireached out, patting Callahan’s arm where it rested on the chair. “Being pregnant is exhausting and wondrous. Birth is horrifying and miraculous. Being a mom is equal parts heaven and hell. You’re filled with more love than your body can contain, but if you think too hard about how much you love your children,thatlove turns to fear because the very thought of something bad happening to them is crippling.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’repretty poetic.” Callahanshoved the rest of the cookie in her mouth, channeling Blake. “You’re saying my parents will come around?”
“No.”
“Did youcomeout here to make me feel better? I’m confused.” She smiled, letting Maddi know she was kidding.Sheloved Maddiandwas grateful for her presence inCallahan’slife.Right now, shewasn’t sure whatshe’ddo without her. She’d miss her terribly once they were back in Greenly.
“You sound more like the rest of this pack every day.”Maddifinished her wine. “Your parents may never get over this, sweetheart, but I promise, they don’t hate you.” She stood, holding her hand out to pull Callahan to her feet. “Now come on, we have plans.”
“I don’t want to see Jasper right now.”
“Good, neither do I.”Maddiwinked as she led her around the side of the house to the driveway. “We’rehaving a girls’ night at Axie’s.” She opened the passenger door as Linc came out front and loaded Allison into her car seat. “Us and the babies. The guys are going for a run, then camping in the mountains.”
Callahanwatched Linc buckle his daughter in. “A run.” Her eyes met his. “Every time he went for a run?”
Linc nodded, his hands on his ship. “He was taking off all his clothes and shifting into a wolf first.”
“Jasper is a wolf.” She closed her eyes, letting her head fall back against her seat as Linc shut the back door.
Maddi started the car, patting her arm once again. “Yes, he is. They all are. And that is why we’re going to have a nice little informative girls’ night with the actual expert of all things shifter.”
***
Blake and Axie transformed the living room, piling the floor with pillows, blankets, and pack-and-plays for all the kiddos. There was chilled wine and sparkling water. Enough snacks to feed an entire army,and MTV’sTeen Wolfplaying on the flat-screen as a joke.Callahanwas moved and grateful they’d gone through all that trouble to help cheer her up. And educate her on the family she’d be linked to through her child. She put her hand on her stomach, loving that the tiniest bump was present now.
“Pen, you’re the professor, how should we start thisclusterfuckof a round table?” Maddi was standing off to the side, bouncing a baby. Itlooked likeone of the twins.Allison was sitting in Callahan’s lap eating the crust off a piece of pizza.
Pen, Baze’s mate, nodded. “Well, we could do a brief history lesson.That sound good?” When no one objected, she took a deep breath and began. “Shifters have been around as long as history has been recorded. The best-kept secret of our world. Men who could transform into wolves to protect their people and their land. Like most real and natural magic, it was born from the earth and the need. Native Americans—”
“Twilightgot it right,” Corey interjected, and Maddi picked up a pillow and tossed it at her head.
“Either way.” Pen rolled her eyes. “Shifters lived together in villages, in tribes. The gene spreading around the earth. As time went on and the world became smaller, their secret became threatened. Humans were getting too close, questioning too much. So shifters decided the best way to avoid detection was to disperse and stop living in concentrated groups.Packs. As the packs thinned out to blend into the fabric of the new world, the magic within thembecamediluted.”
Blake added, “Which is why Riley and Jasper living away from their pack puts their wolf into a hibernation. They are more humanthanshifter until they come home.”
“There aren’t many true packs left in this world. We’re one of the only ones in North America.” Pen cleared her throat, handing Axie Oliver’s pacifierthat’d fallenon the couch between them. “This pack was formed by pure accident. They didn’t even know it was possible. Over time, their magic grew stronger. Baze and Jace rose as alpha and beta, the girls bornfrom our matingshave guardians,andtheir senses became sharper.”
“Riley noticed your pregnancy days before Jasper asked you to come to dinner.” Blake took Hadley from Corey and handed her a cookie. “Riley can always sense the pregnancies first, that’s his superpower. Hecan acutely see the smallest changes in others.”
