Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 60198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“Oh, you’ve taken the body,” she says. “Good. Perhaps we can bury him with his son.”
“Patrick wasn’t buried. He was eaten.”
My mother flashes a bright smile at me. “Exactly.”
CHAPTER 13
Ellie
I’ll never know if my mom ate her husband after she killed him, because I’ll never ask. She disappeared with the body, and that’s all I know. We have not heard from her since, and we don’t really expect to.
In the aftermath of the events, Karl, Connor, and I all return to New Orleans, where I accept that pregnancy is as good a reason to settle down as any. But accepting that also means dealing with all the thoughts that come along with it. I have feelings I don’t want to face about my past, and about myself.
In the depth of night, while trying to sleep, I ask my mate.
“Karl?”
“Hmm?”
“What if I’m the kind of mother who decides she might eat everyone and has to abandon her kids in the woods?”
“You’re not going to be that kind of mother, because you’re not going to be in that position and because you’re not that kind of person. Or wolf. You’re a shifter, and you already raised one baby successfully. Three, really. You’re going to be more than okay. You’re going to be amazing, because this time you’re going to have everything you need. I promise you that.”
“Karl?”
“Yes?”
“What if I draw our kids into an elaborate plot that sees them arrested and then I try to marry one of them off to the son of my enemy who is also my husband?”
“I don’t think so, dear,” he says, surprisingly patiently.
We snuggle up again. I feel the baby kicking.
“What if…”
“No,” he says, kissing me firmly. “You’re not going to be terrible in any of the ways you’re afraid of.”
“Does that mean I’ll be terrible in new ways I can’t imagine yet?”
He chuckles and groans at the same time. “You’re going to be incredible,” he says. “Now relax.”
“I can’t. I’m bored. Is it going to be boring?”
His hand slides down between us and the tips of his fingers find the bud of my clit. He starts to rub gently, not trying to push me straight to orgasm, but to distract me from the circular thoughts in my head.
I lie back, and I let it work.
Karl
There is no doubt that Ellie is going to have my baby. She is swollen with child, and a new generation of wolves is about to enter the world. I am excited in a way I have never been before. I did not know I was capable of feeling happiness of this kind. It feels so incredible to have what I used to think were the stupid, simple things.
Everything seems to have worked out for the best, and for that I am grateful. The werewolf has retreated into whatever quiet horrors she prefers, and my family is growing. I finally feel as though I am truly in control of myself, the pack, and even the state.
One morning close to the time Ellie is due, I get up and wander to the kitchen, wearing only a pair of boxers. It’s early and I am not expecting anybody else to be in there. I am certainly not expecting the refrigerator to already be in use by someone who stands back and shuts it, holding a quart of milk in her hand.
She is a handsome woman wearing the sort of attire people wear when they want to look respectable. She could be running for district elections. But she’s not that kind of woman. She’s not a woman at all.
“Margaret,” I say. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for the birth of my grandchild.” She smiles brightly. “I can’t wait to be a grandmother. I don’t want to miss a moment.” She sniffs the milk. “I’m not sure if this is still good.”
The absolute nerve of this woman.
“Get the hell out of here, Margaret.”
“You have no right to shoo me out of here like a stray cat,” she says. “I am the reason you are having this baby.”
“You are not the reason,” I reply.
“Of course I am. Without me, there would be no Ellie. If you had any manners, you’d acknowledge that.”
Ellie
I can hear Karl arguing with someone in the kitchen, which is wild because nobody in this house, let alone this state would dare argue with him. I get out of bed, feeling faintly nauseous and entirely confused.
Being pregnant has made a lot of this easier. It’s had this effect on me of completely taking up almost all the space in my head so I can’t really worry about the things I used to care about. I bet I’ll get back to being a certified problem once I give birth, but right now someone I am yet to meet is using my spleen as a football.