Dreaming of the Wolf (Heart of the Wolf #8)(60)

He cursed himself for not better understanding her newness at being a werewolf. And vowed to make it up to her. But there was no taking back what they had done.

For life, that’s how werewolves mated, just like their wolf cousins. He wanted to join her in the shower and convince her how right they were for each other. But the shower turned off, and he waited instead.

She finally emerged from the bathroom. He caught sight of her reddened eyes, and he felt his whole world deflate.

“Alicia,” he said, moving to take her into his arms, “we’re meant to be together.”

“I think I might be pregnant,” she sobbed, her tear-streaked cheek planted against his bare chest, her fingers curled into fists at her side, her whole body language showing defeat. “I should have let you know before we were… mated. Now from what you say your kind practices, you’re stuck with me.” She gritted her teeth and looked at him with such a woeful expression, he quickly moved in close to her.

Being stuck with her forever was just how he wanted to be. He gathered her in his arms and tried to console her, but his thoughts were swirling as he tried to sort out the possibility of her being pregnant. “I wanted you from the first time I saw you. This changes nothing between us. But you said you only think you’re pregnant? You don’t know for certain?” he asked cautiously.

“Yeah. I don’t know for certain, but… it’s possible.”

“I couldn’t have made you pregnant,” he said, glumly.

“So you already said.”

That’s what was eating at her. Only one person could have made her pregnant, he thought, if she was right in her assumption. The bastard who bit her.

“Ferdinand Massaro?” He tried to keep his tone consoling, but if the bastard had made her pregnant, he had raped her.

She let out a ragged sigh. “I didn’t think he’d done anything to me. Except bitten me. But I’ve been feeling… different. And my… period is… late. But I thought maybe it was all this stress with the werewolf shifting that was making me feel strange and had thrown me off my regular cycle.”

Jake hugged her tight. “No matter what happens, I love you, Alicia. If you’re pregnant, the child will be ours.”

She sniffled but wouldn’t look at him. He tilted her chin up and looked into her red eyes. “It doesn’t matter. Do you hear me? I’ll love our child as much as I love you. All right?”

She nodded, but she didn’t look like she believed him. He sighed and kissed her lips, then gently caressed her face with his thumbs to brush away the tears trailing down her cheeks. “Do you want to get breakfast?

She hesitated.

“I can bring something up here to you.” He hated to suggest it, feeling that she needed to be with the family, but he realized how difficult this might be for her.

“I don’t want to say anything about this to anyone,” she said. “Not until I know for sure one way or another.”

“About the baby?” he questioned. He wasn’t hiding the fact they were mated.

Her lips parted, then she nodded.

“Certainly.” But that didn’t mean he wasn’t checking into Massaro’s background. And deep down, Jake was disturbed about this whole matter. Not only about the fact she might be carrying Massaro’s child, although he’d love the child as his own, but because of the way Massaro would have gotten her with child. But also because she was reticent about being mated to Jake. He felt bad that he hadn’t given her a choice about that. Although ultimately, there would have been only one choice to make.

“You might want to dress before we go downstairs.” She gave his nude body an assessing look, then gave him a small smile.

He laughed. “Sure you don’t want to stay up here, and I’ll make us a special breakfast after everyone’s left for the day?” He waggled his brows.

“It’s tempting,” she said with a sigh.

He took a deep breath. “You’re really not upset about our mating?”

She gave him a watery smile. “When all I’ve wanted is to be with you, night after night? I could think of hardly anything else, and now I’m with you for real.”

“You’re worrying about being pregnant then?”

She gave a shallow nod.

He took her hand and kissed it. “Everything will be all right, Alicia. You’ve got me, and you have a whole pack to be your family now. You’re not alone in this. You’ll never be again. I’ll grab a quick shower, and we can head downstairs. I’ll show you my grandfather’s home where we’ll live once we resolve some other issues. We’ll have lunch and an afternoon nap after that. How’s that sound?”

“You don’t have to work?” She sounded as though she was afraid he’d leave her alone.

“Not anytime soon. Darien won’t need me for a few days, time enough for you to get acclimated to the pack and to our ways. Besides, until we know that Mario and his men aren’t coming after you, I’m staying with you.”

She shook her head, a small smile appearing that cheered him, and gave a breathy little laugh. “You must have thought it was funny when I said I’d protect us both because I had a gun.”

He chuckled and ran his hand through her thick curls, then held a handful with reverence. “I was thinking, ‘If you only knew.’”