Page 29 of Bullied Wolf Mate

She finally looked at my face, her brow furrowed as though she was scrutinizing me, trying to get a read on my reaction. I wished I could have given her something, except I had no idea how I felt about any of it.

I had never considered being a father. Not that I had thought it was out of the question or anything; it was just something that I’d never thought about one way or the other. But now it was staring me right in the face, forcing me to decide how I felt about it right at that moment.

I stared at Lorelei. Her hands had wrapped around her stomach. She looked so small and frightened.

I closed my eyes. Whatever I felt didn’t matter. She needed me.

“Come here.” I gently took her by the wrist and pulled her into a hug, holding her against me, my hand on the back of her head. “Don’t worry. It’s going to be all right.”

We stayed like that for who knew how long, the silence surrounding us. After a long moment, Lorelei stepped back, her face still full of worry.

“Are you mad?” she finally asked.

I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to figure out how to form my thoughts into words. “I’m not mad. Not at all. I just don’t know how to feel. It’s kind of a lot, especially when I wasn’t expecting it.” I looked at her. “How do you feel?”

She blinked, as if she hadn’t expected me to ask, or she hadn’t even considered for herself. Her brow furrowed. “I don’t know. Scared? Confused?” She glanced up at me again, and her cheeks reddened. “Maybe a little happy? I’ve always wanted a baby. I never thought it would happen, considering I was effectively a hermit.”

I snorted. “Yeah, that’s all perfectly understandable. I think I just need time to get adjusted and figure out what’s going on in my head.”

She nodded, staring at her feet. “I get that you won’t want me around anymore.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “Are you kidding?” I took several steps toward her, reaching out and pulling her toward me again. “If anything, I want to keep you closer to me.”

“You do?” she asked, sounding surprised.

“Of course,” I said. “You’re carrying my baby. No matter what ends up happening, I’m here for you. We’re going to make this work. I promise.”

Tears flooded into her eyes, though they didn’t spill over. “You really mean it,” she acknowledged, choking out a disbelieving laugh. “I thought… I thought...” She trailed off.

Realization struck me. “Is that why you ran?” I asked. “Because you thought I wouldn’t want you around anymore?”

She hesitated, chewing her lip as her hand wrapped almost unconsciously around her stomach. “Partly?” she said. “I don’t know. It’s just… I remember what you were like and how much you hated me when we were kids. Things have actually been decent between us lately. I’ve actually started…” She coughed, trailing off as pink tinged her cheeks. “Anyway, I know you’ve gone to great lengths to show me you aren’t the same person anymore, but I was still worried that something like this, with me of all people, might change things between us.”

I pulled her into a half-hug, wrapping one arm protectively around her shoulder. She stiffened for a moment, then relaxed into the hold.

“It does change things,” I admitted. “But not in the way you think.”

I’d felt protective of her before, but now that I knew she was carrying my cub, that emotion had amplified tenfold. There was no way in hell I was going to let anything happen to her. I’d tear anyone who tried to hurt her into shreds before they could even put a finger on her.

“We’ll figure this out,” I said, stroking her soft, slightly tousled hair. “No matter what happens in the next couple of months, with Inara or between us, I promise you we’ll figure it out.”

She looked up at me, surprise flickering across her face again. “You really have changed,” she marveled.

I shrugged. “Hey, I’m allowed to not be the same idiot kid I was all those years ago,” I said. When she snorted, I jerked my head in the direction of the house. “Come on, let’s go back home.”

Something flickered across her expression. Of course, she didn’t think of my place as her home. Something about that disappointed me more than I would have expected. Still, she gave a half-smile and nodded, allowing me to steer her around and lead her through the woods, my arm still around her.

She slowed as we neared the house, her body tensing. I paused to look at her.

“Is something wrong?” I asked. “Was that too much walking?”

“No, it’s not that.” She kept her eyes on the door. She hesitated, finally turning to look at me, her eyes filled with caution. “You’re not going to lock me in the house again, are you? I don’t think I can take it much longer.”

I frowned and turned to face her. “You just ran away, and you want me to trust you enough not to do it again?”

“Yes.” The word was so blunt it would have taken me aback had I not had way too many other surprises by this point.

I growled, scowling. “You’ll put yourself in danger.”

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